Dos Toros Taqueria

Dos Toros Taqueria is a new place adjacent to Union Square that is getting a lot of press lately. It's a Mission-style Mexican counter service opened by two young San Franciscan brothers who are hoping to approximate their favorite late-night haunts back home. The menu is simple: tacos, burritos or platos of chicken, carne asada or carnitas. While I appreciate their drive and the anachronistic way that RJD2 starts playing when you click on their site, I'm not sure that there's any other way that this equation can work out: White Boys+ Mexican Food+ Earnestness+ The East Coast= A Little Bit Better than Chipotle.

(one glaring exception was Taqueria Pacifica in Providence which stared as a food truck and turned into a reputable and respectable counter at AS220 until it was recently shut down)

Yes, they are introducing Carnitas in a pillowy, appropriately juicy form that will probably make it as common a word as "cupcakes" in NYC soon, but the burrito somehow made me miss the gristly bits of cartilage and weird hazelnut notes of the real Mexican deal. The way that they slap a slice of processed cheese onto things, too, is decidedly Tex-Mex and not for lovers of a sprinkling of Chihuahua or Queso Oaxaca.

Otherwise, they are using quality organic/local ingredients and biodegradable vegetable-derived plasticware and considering that it definitely is a good value. Make sure you ask for "extra-hot" sauce which is tasty and still only marginally hot. They also have beer and good chips and salsa/guac, which cost like 4 dollars, unlike in the Mission where they are usually free.