Day 20: Taquería La Única (Central Ave location)

The task of assessing Taqueria La Única is much akin to that of critiquing an older brother's basketball skills. It misses the point: of course he's not Kobe, but he still taught you everything you know. That is to say, La Única isn't perfect, but Goles y Frijoles wouldn't exist without it. It was largely the discovery that I could get such good Mexican food within a mile of home at an establishment that seemed to abjure restaurant essentials like atmosphere and advertising so vehemently--check out the faceless exterior above--that prompted me to explore the existence of such places throughout the city.

So, it was only for a sure thing that John, Jordan, and I risked our lives yesterday in the throes of torrential afternoon thunderstorms, flash flooding, and a seemingly un-defoggable front windshield. When we arrived at our sanctuary, starving, soaked by the walk through the tiny parking lot, all three of us bypassed the usual favorites (chorizo tacos and the chicken quesadilla) for the enormous California Burrito, which, for the burrito-challenged out there, merely means you'll be getting your rice and beans inside the tortilla and not on your plate. Though it was served covered in queso sauce--I am much more a fan of cheese on the inside--the burrito's creator was thankfully an opponent of big government because as soon as our plates hit the table, we knew the California Burrito was too big to fail. Typical of La Única dishes, the vegetables in the burrito are not the standard shredded iceberg lettuce and chopped, unripe tomatoes. Rather they are the sauteed onions and peppers usually saved for that unadventurous lot who order fajitas. Curiously egalitarian, yet undeniably delicious.

The Score: You have no excuse not to visit Taquería La Única, especially since Central Ave is only one of a handful of locations in the greater-Charlotte area. (I guess sometimes word of mouth is loud enough, even when filled with burrito.)