Rigo's Tacos

After a few days without any tacos I was back in the saddle and decided to check out Rigo's Tacos on Washington and Arlington. Having been to Rigo's once before I wanted to try something other than carne asada. I recall the asada being above average but since it was before this taco hunt I will just stick to what I ordered this time around.

Rigo's has asada, al pastor, carnitas, lengua, and cabeza to choose from. I ordered two al pastor tacos and one carnitas taco. My tacos came with some fresh tortilla chips with a dollop of refried beans on top of them. It's a nice touch and the hot tasty refried beans prepared my palate for the tacos.

One of the good things about Rigo's is their salsa bar. It is a circular bar in the middle of the resteraunt with several different salsas as well as limes, marinated carrots,jalapenos, and sliced cucumbers. If you like a mild salsa I suggest the salsa verde. It's a tomatillo and jalapeno salsa that wont make you sweat or reach for that cold beverage. But if you are like your humble taco correspodent and like to sweat it out go with the roja. It's worth it.

And that's what I did. I doused my tacos with salsa roja and dug in. First up was the al pastor. The tortillas and salsa roja were just right completing 2/3 of the the taco triangle. But something was not right and although it took eating a whole taco to realize it I noticed that the al pastor was mostly fatty bits and very little edible pork. The sheer power of the perfectly grilled and oiled tortillas and aromatic and spicy salsa roja hid this defect in the first taco. The second al pastor taco didn't go down as well and I started to finger aside fatty bits until I was left with just salsa, tortillas, and a few slices of pork.


Ultimately dissapointed in the al pastor I eyed my carnitas taco. There was no worry of getting a gob full of meat fat but as I bit into the taco the only thing that saved the dryness of the carnitas was the salsa roja. While I did enjoy the carnitas more than the al pastor the truth is both tacos were saved by a good foundation of corn tortillas and salsa and in the end I can't say that either were good tacos.

I didn't come away entirely dissapointed however. The salsa roja and the corn tortillas as well as the refried beans on top of tortilla chips left a good impression. If I can find a meat at Rigos I can enjoy I'll chalk this up as a taqueria to visit more often.

It could have been a bad day for carnitas or I could have gotten a bad cut of al pastor.Ordinarly I wouldn't make excuses for a taqueria but the salsa roja has seduced me into giving this one a second chance.


Rigos Tacos is at 2512 Washington Blvd. Tacos are $1.25 each