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  #561  
Old Posted Oct 19, 2020, 4:45 PM
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Originally Posted by hipster duck View Post
Whoa, that's around the corner from my house, and I didn't even know about it! Thanks for the tip!
I had the birria tacos and tostadas and both were great. Like I said, a little pricey, but worth it if you've got a craving for some great Mexican food.
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  #562  
Old Posted Oct 19, 2020, 4:56 PM
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Thanks!

PS: To get to Dufferin and Rogers by transit, take the 929. It's an express bus that runs along Dufferin every 5 minutes, so it'll take about 10 minutes to get there from Dufferin station.
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  #563  
Old Posted Oct 19, 2020, 4:59 PM
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Originally Posted by hipster duck View Post
Thanks!

PS: To get to Dufferin and Rogers by transit, take the 929. It's an express bus that runs along Dufferin every 5 minutes, so it'll take about 10 minutes to get there from Dufferin station.
Noted! I think the day I went I just took the St. Clair streetcar and walked up to Rogers from there.
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  #564  
Old Posted Oct 19, 2020, 10:44 PM
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Calgary, NB, and London UK

Places I've lived.

Calgary,

- Olive Garden (JK haha): moved away before I truly got a chance to explore more of the culinary scene

New Brunswick,

- Fredericton: Moco Downtown

- Saint John: Mimimi

- St. Andrews: Seasons By the Sea

If you're ever in London (UK),

- Beijing Dumpling in China Town: Michelin recommended, great prices, never had a bad meal; ate there about every other week for 2 years.

- Da Mario in South Kensington: Ignore the many tributes to Princes Diana; a bit tacky but she ate there back in the day I guess; great Italian, great staff, never a bad meal, reasonable prices for that area of town.
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  #565  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2020, 7:07 PM
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On the topic of tacos, my go-to is Taqueria Gus. All the classics - al pastor, barbacoa, pescado, etc - tucked away on a side street near Bloor & Dufferin. There's also a location in Kensington.







https://torontolife.com/torontos-bes.../taqueria-gus/
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  #566  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2020, 10:25 PM
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Indian Roti Kitchen in Vancouver is amazing, always busy for takeaways (has very limited seating inside)
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  #567  
Old Posted Mar 5, 2021, 5:02 AM
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I did a drive by swipe against the taqueria Itacate on St. Clair in Toronto in another thread, so I thought I should add a post in this thread for the benefit of SSP's search algorithm. I went back today and the tacos de carnitas were absolutely out of this world. The pork was moist and delicious. The first bite was an out-of-body experience.

The family running it are actual defeños (they're from Mexico City), so I figure you can't really go wrong. The dry tortillas last time must have been a one-off.

Seems like there's a really groovy Mexican scene going on along Corso Italia.

Last edited by rousseau; Mar 5, 2021 at 6:12 AM. Reason: Typo
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  #568  
Old Posted Mar 5, 2021, 7:03 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin View Post
On the topic of tacos, my go-to is Taqueria Gus. All the classics - al pastor, barbacoa, pescado, etc - tucked away on a side street near Bloor & Dufferin. There's also a location in Kensington.







https://torontolife.com/torontos-bes.../taqueria-gus/
Those look legit.
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  #569  
Old Posted Jul 20, 2021, 6:33 AM
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Los Rolling Tacos in Kitchener is a food truck run by a guy from Mexico City. The tacos al pastor are delicious. Highly recommended if you're in the area.

I couldn't help doing some mental arithmetic when I tipped him $5 on $21 worth of tacos and the guy behind me tipped him $5 on $30 worth of food. Let's say he gets 200 customers a day, and let's say they tip him an average of $4.

200 customers per day x $4 x 5 days per week = $4,000 per week in tips.

Yoiks. Is this a viable business? Uh, looks like it. Can't imagine what his overhead is like, but I'd assume it must be something like half of what he charges for his food, right? And I can't imagine he runs it right through winter (though I don't actually know for sure), but let's say he does it for just nine months a year, i.e. spring, summer and fall.

Why isn't anyone and everyone getting onto the food truck wagon?
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  #570  
Old Posted Jul 20, 2021, 12:09 PM
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Why isn't anyone and everyone getting onto the food truck wagon?
I recall food trucks being somewhat popular in the Before Times. I know personally a couple of people in various towns that have recently started food trucks who seem to be doing ok with it. Really just depends on what you're selling and location, location, location.

As an aside, tacos al pastor are delicious. I know there's a good reason for why they're typically so expensive but once in a while they're absolutely worth it.
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  #571  
Old Posted Jul 20, 2021, 3:40 PM
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Another taco restaurant that I highly recommend is Enchilados Taqueria, which opened up about a year ago at Keele and Eglinton.

I remember when Toronto had a small town taco scene, and now it has exploded. Toronto is rarely the first city to latch onto a trend, but when it does it dives in head first and demands a level of excellence from its purveyors.
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  #572  
Old Posted Jul 20, 2021, 6:28 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JHikka View Post
I recall food trucks being somewhat popular in the Before Times. I know personally a couple of people in various towns that have recently started food trucks who seem to be doing ok with it. Really just depends on what you're selling and location, location, location.

As an aside, tacos al pastor are delicious. I know there's a good reason for why they're typically so expensive but once in a while they're absolutely worth it.
Depending on the location, there have been some restrictions on food trucks because of the pandemic. The operator of a mac-and-cheese food truck in New Westminster told me that he got kicked out of a parking lot at a business that had agreed to host him, because of a complaint to Fraser Health about outdoor gatherings back in April.
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  #573  
Old Posted Jul 20, 2021, 8:41 PM
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Originally Posted by JHikka View Post
Really just depends on what you're selling and location, location, location.
Los Rolling Tacos is in a different location throughout the length and breadth of K-W every day of the week. Looks like six days a week on his Facebook feed, where he announces his schedule. I think he's really got this thing nailed down. Seems like he has loyal customers who know when he'll be in their neighbourhood.

Obviously not just anyone can do this, sure. Real Mexican tacos are having their moment in the sun right now. The proliferation of Mexican taquerias on St. Clair is evidence of this. Meanwhile, the enthusiasm for hipster tacos seems to be waning with the rise of the authentic stuff. At least that appears to be the case in Waterloo, where a place called Taco Farm started out quite deliciously about ten years ago but is now absolute shit (at least the last two times we got takeout during the pandemic--yuck).

Quote:
Originally Posted by JHikka View Post
As an aside, tacos al pastor are delicious. I know there's a good reason for why they're typically so expensive but once in a while they're absolutely worth it.
I guess they're not cheap, but three for $20 or so isn't bad for a meal.
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  #574  
Old Posted Jul 20, 2021, 10:20 PM
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Speaking of Mexican, I really wanted to try out Tam's in Kelowna this summer, but the vaccine rollout in Korea is dire atm.

It's northern Mexican-style in a big sit-down restaurant. I hear it's really good.








Video Link











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  #575  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2021, 2:53 AM
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Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin View Post
On the topic of tacos, my go-to is Taqueria Gus. All the classics - al pastor, barbacoa, pescado, etc - tucked away on a side street near Bloor & Dufferin. There's also a location in Kensington.







https://torontolife.com/torontos-bes.../taqueria-gus/

They are good, one of my favorite Taco places just announced 3 weeks ago they were not reopening after the covid shut downs. It is part of a family of mexican restaurants but it was the best in my opinion.

Barrio Coreano near Mirvish Village.

source: https://onthegrid.city
[IMG]/imager/s3_amazonaws_com/onthegrid.city/assets/grid/toronto/annex-koreatown/barrio-coreano/N_BARRIO_2_299006722e285f47655d17d1c9136337.jpg[/IMG]
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  #576  
Old Posted Jul 26, 2021, 5:50 PM
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First new fave in a while. Tried 3 Sisters Banh Mi this morning. Had a lovely chat with them when they were prepping to open a few weeks ago. It’s delicious!







I got the lemongrass tofu (my meatless May is still going lol) and a Vietnamese iced coffee.

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  #577  
Old Posted Jul 26, 2021, 6:29 PM
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Originally Posted by giallo View Post
^I just don't get it.

Vancouver's food scene is amazing for what it offers, but there are some serious, glaring holes in it. Mexican food seems like a natural fit. One can travel down the coast from Seattle to San Diego, and find insanely good and cheap Mexican food, but once you hit the border, it becomes a green chile and tortilla dead zone. Obviously, the lack of Mexican immigrants is a big factor, but Mexican food is cheap and easy to make. Even in 'high food cost Canada' you can make a basic, four ingredient taco for about $0.40, and sell it for $2. That's 20% food cost. Why do people in Canada insist on making these fusion tacos, and selling them for $6-$8?

I swear, if someone just went back to the basics, and opened an authentic, cheap Mexican hole-in-the-wall taco joint along Main St. or Commercial Drive, they'd clean up.
This post is from 2015, but I've dug it up because this has not changed!
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  #578  
Old Posted Jul 26, 2021, 6:42 PM
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I remember my father wanting to eat at a Mexican restaurant in Toronto c.1995. We found only one place (I believe it was on Bathurst near Dupont.) KW area had nothing. Now even small rural Ontario towns have taco joints - Milverton comes to mind. It was Mexican Mennonites hiring Mexican TFW who got the Mexican immigration ball rolling in Canada.

I made GERD-friendly tacos the other day: ground turkey, beets, collard greens, cilantro, mexican cheese. I always make my tortillas fresh.
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  #579  
Old Posted Jul 26, 2021, 6:48 PM
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Small towns that have a lot of TFWs working on farms have a ton of mexican options often as they are supported by the seasonal workers who mostly come from Mexico. Simcoe has a ton of Mexican restaurants for a small town.

Toronto continues to have issues with affordable mexican options though for sure. I love me a good cheap street taco which is just absolutely everywhere south of the border but there are only a few very limited options for that in Toronto it seems.
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  #580  
Old Posted Jul 26, 2021, 6:58 PM
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Yep many Mexican Mennonites bought farms around Simcoe/Aylmer/Tilsonburg starting in the 1980s; my father being interested in all things Mexican (grew up in San Antonio, often went to Mexico) scouted them out - many became truck gardeners, which obviously needs intensive manual labourers ... immigration from Jamaica, West Indies etc has an equally similar backstory (the men worked the fields while their wives worked as nannies to Forest Hill families.)
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