I am not a Baja Fresh, California Tortilla or Chipotle hater, neither I’m a fan, and I refuse to pay more than $2 for a taco the days I can drive or walk to El Charrito Caminante, plus the fried yuca, chicharrón and pupusas. Forget the tamarind juice and horchata, they are blend and I have tried them 3 times already, though I will hope they improve them in the future.
The first time I went to El Charrito was because I heard it was cheap, then I went and tried different things, (forget the burritos o tortas), have never tried the quesadilla though, but the “combinación”, meat, goat and chorizo tacos are awesome.
Do not expect sour cream, guacamole or pico de gallo included, these tacos are like the ones I had in Panama as street food, chopped well seasoned meat, with green onions cilantro, that’s it! Did I mention cheap?
If you are like me, you order to go, you stop by Glebe Market first and grab a ripened $0.69 avocado and slice it at home with a side of sour cream and serve it with this taco. Plus it is always crowded and if the drive is less than 15 minutes your food should be fine.
The pupusas I love the cheese ones, the “revueltas” I don’t because the 3 times I have tried them I tasted a different cheese than the one that is only cheese and it wasn’t a positive difference.
Fried Yuca with Chicharrón, there are good days and bad days, most of the time they are a good deal, served with “encurtido” and the chicharròn (for them is fried pork, in Panama though chicharron means Fried Pork Skin), the chicharron is missing flavor and it is dry, but for some reason you always end up eating it, let’s face it, fried pork? you gotta try it!
This time I heard the guy who places the order, which by the way is there every time I’ve been to this joint, he told a customer about how this coca cola bottle doesn’t have corn syrup, etc. So I got one myself, and no, I did not taste any difference, it did feel good to see sugar cane as ingredient instead of High Fructuose corn syrup, but my palate may not be special because it tasted just as a regular soda to me.
Did not have dessert this day, I will saved my sweet tooth for that Banana Bread I will bake this weekend.
¡A comer!
El Charrito Caminante
2710 Washington Blvd Arlington, VA, 22201
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