La Salsa (not the chain restaurant)California Ave. . Palo Alto

So I convince my co-workers to hit up a local taco joint for lunch. Being able to go eat out and review at the same time is the best thing ever, as the saying goes; it's like killing two birds with one stone.

Anyways, we head to La Salsa, not to be confused with the chain restaurant, on California Avenue in Palo Alto. This one is sort of a hole in the wall spot, sorta. As I walk in, a friend and I notice that the place is extremely clean and it looks very promising, but you can never judge the food by the appearance of the restaurant, especially taquerias.

So I scope the menu and you get 2 tacos for 4.99. You can't buy them separately you have to buy them in pairs, which I thought was odd. The choices of meat are steak and chicken, and that's it. No lengua, no carnitas, no al pastor just steak and chicken. I was starting to really doubt this. So I head to the counter, order my 2 steak tacos and an icy cold glass of Horchata. I get my food pretty quick, I say within a couple minutes of waiting. The taco plate contained my two tacos on flour tortillas which from the bland papery taste it probably was store bought. The cubed steak that was spread over them was pretty dry and the taste was very flat, it didn't seem like they added any spices to the meat or even marinated it, the cubes were a bit too large so when you bit into it you would always end up leaving portions of your taco empty. The cilantros, onions, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese bordered the plate. The ingredients looked very fresh and newly cut. The good thing about having the condiments to the side is that you get to regulate on how much you want on them.

Overall I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to go here. The flour tortillas were bland and they tasted like paper topped with dry flavorless meat for 4.99 a pair. That's almost the price of 5 tacos from recent reviews at other taquerias. Actually, I wouldn't even call this a taqueria, it was missing all the different types of meat you would find at the real deal spots. Especially with a small menu, a very clean place and a nice patio area you would think that the food would even taste half as good, too bad it doesn't.