Tacos El Patron just opened in the space where Troje was at South Van Ness and 26th, which was only there for a few months (preceded by the also-short-lived Nayarit.) I understand it’s an offshoot of a taqueria in Pleasant Hill - it’s reviewed here on HO but for some reason I can’t open that post.
Anyone been yet?
I’m super excited about the birria taco. We’re going tonight, as I’m going to be reviewing it for Mission Local. It’s not like we don’t have plenty of taquerias but it’s nice to see something new, and maybe more “authentic?” They have suadero tacos, which I’ve only seen in Mexico City. A chef friend, however, reported that the suadero wasn’t grilled enough so it was kind of meh. But he raved about the birria, which comes with consomme.
I’ve had suadero in the city before. Mainly at La Gallinita Meat Market on 24th street which also happens to have seats to serve up some great food.
Vallarta also sells suadero tacos.
I tried out Tacos El Patron because of Paolo Lucchesi, SF Chronicle Food & Wine Editor IG photo of his meal there.
Restaurant has new owners for 3 months now. They are located at 26th & S. Van Ness, SF Mission.
You order at the register, pay, get a number, and wait for the food to be delivered to you. I got 2 birria tacos ($4.25 ea) and taco patron (shrimp taco $6.25). FREE chips & salsa given without asking if we wanted them or not. I charged it.
Shrimp taco had a bunch of shrimp, lots of cheese, side of guacamole, side of pico de gallo. I liked this a lot.
Birria lots of meat, onions, side of consomme. I liked it ok.
Side of beans you can get FREE if you buy 2 or more tacos. Pinto beans were tasty.
4 bottles of sauces given too. Little orange bottle was the habanero one, spiciest. I liked the guacamole sauce the best.
Service was very good.
There’s one unisex bathroom available.
Taco Tues you can get $1 off any taco. Happy Hr $2 off beer, Micheladas, Sangria 3-7pm
Soleil Ho named them one of the top 10 new Bay Area restaurants of 2019!
I went there on Halloween. Quesabirria yes, but chorizo mulitas FTW. Ho and others have mentioned pinto beans—- at the time their beans were made with mayocoba beans & bacon (veg black beans available too).
Too bad that Troje didn’t last, I ate there once and the owners were nice. Glad to see that its replacement looks good though. Looking forward to trying it.
The Troje owners were very nice, but I think a bit misguided. They wanted to be too many things - chicken and waffles, arancini, etc. I think you will be pleased with Tacos El Patron.
Jumping on the bandwagon. Birria tacos with queso with side of consomme were fantastic. If you order two tacos you can get complimentary side of beans, nopales, roasted onion and radishes - but you have to request them. Chips with salsa are home fried. The carnitas taco wasn’t great - soft roasted pork, not crispy and came covered in chopped onions. Beans were really bland but I doctored them up with onions from the carnitas taco and their habanero hot sauce.
We went yesterday for the first time. Ordered taco patron (shrimp), taco birria (goat - which is listed as “beef” on the menu - why?), taco lengua, some guac, horchata, ceviche tostada, and choriqueso. We liked it all. I was exhausted from travel and on the brink of respiratory virus, so maybe the food was a bit rich for me. The place was very busy and the service drastically suffered, even though they seemed to have a good amount of staff. I had to go up several times and remind them (in the middle and near ending of meal) that we were missing several items. They need better systems on figuring out how to get everything in an order to a table.
I don’t think you get complimentary side of all those items (beans, nopales, roasted onions and radishes) if you order 2 tacos. I think you get ONE of those things, and only if you ask. I could have misread the menu, but my kid ordered 2 tacos and definitely did not receive beans or nopales. She received the roasted onion because she asked for it.
Anyway, they have some issues to sort out, but the food is good and they seem to be successful in getting people in the door.
When I asked if it came with a side of beans the woman said yes, but is that all you want, do you want radish, onion, etc. - you can get them all but you have to ask for each one if you want them.
I overheard another table say they had been waiting an hour for their order, so they may have service issues but we didn’t have any problems.
Went yesterday, finally(!). Place was quite full even at 4 in afternoon. Hyperbowler is dead on about the chorizo mulitas, and of course the quesabirria was a treat.
One thing I wonder–everyone (including Soleil Ho in the Chronicle) mentions quesabirria, but here there is no cheese mentioned, nor seen in any of the photos. It seems like a griddled, birria-filled taco served with broth, not oozing with cheese as in most of the street cart pictures. Is there unmentioned cheese? Is quesabirria an off-menu item? Is it cheeseless as listed? Why don’t I just go and find out?
