Taqueria El Castillito

Oh man, I have been waiting so long for a Mission burrito. Maybe you have, too. This place is not a bad choice but among Mission burritos I have a feeling there are better picks...though I haven't really eaten very many burritos around there. Posts forthcoming.

Quality of meat (1-10) : 7.9
So I definitely went with the carne asada. I can't figure out if it was the salsa or the meat, but whatever it was tasted slightly of fennel, and it was awesome. The meat wasn't crispy at all and the texture wasn't necessarily brilliant, but I would say that it's precisely the sort of asada one might expect from a Mission taqueria. Definitely flavorful, but not really a highlight of the burrito.

Quality of house salsa (1-10) : 8.8
Soooo good. I usually don't go for the green salsa, for whatever reason. I usually hit up the pico de gallo or its next of kin. The salsa of the latter sort (there was no pico) was pretty good. Clearly made with carrots, which is a much better idea than it may sound like. However, the green salsa was the outstanding item of the night. I can't fully describe the taste, but it definitely contained avocado (and possibly fennel), making it pretty inimitable. That is, I've never had anything like it.

Quality of guacamole (1-10) : ?
This question mark is a much happier question mark for this category than the others. The question mark is there because, like before, there is no guacamole, but there is avocado. For $1.50 extra. I'm not sure what score to give straight avocado as guacamole. Ideas?

Quality of chips (1-5) : 2.7
So the chips were definitely not outstanding. They went okay with the burrito and they only gave me a few. They were certainly not bad, though. They weren't made straight-up from corn tortillas in the style of many other taquerias. I couldn't comment further on the composition of these particular chips, but maybe you could figure out the chief differences between this chip and that chip and help me with this category.

Size/diversity of menu (1-5) : 2.8
Minimalist menu. No messing around. A few tacos, some burritos, and standard taqueria meat selection. They did have some combination plates/specials, but not very many, and nothing terribly unique.

Size of burrito (1-5) : 4.1
So I finished it, but it was real big. There was a pretty good "that's what she said" dropped shortly after receiving our burritos.

Approximate price (for a standard burrito) : $5-7

Locally owned? : Yes

Satisfaction factor (1-10) : 8.6

Overall taste (1-10) : 8.4

Taqueria El Castillito
2092 Mission St. (Between 16th and 17th)
San Francisco, CA 94110