Pico Paco taqueria - 4911 Telegraph Ave

Pico Paco is a hole-in-the-wall next to New HoHo's Chinese, and the fact that I'm someone who grew up in L.A. eating with a Partner-in-Chow who lived in San Diego means that we're awfully picky about Mexican food. Things like good salsa (me) and horchata (PIC - I hate horchata and think it tastes like bubble gum milk laced with cinnamon) are important to us, and good chile verde is something that I personally take seriously at any Mexican foodslinger - whether it's a taco truck or Sonora Cafe.

Pico Paco started off on the wrong foot when the gal at the counter told me that they hadn't made chile verde that day. Dammit. My go-to order when reviewing a taqueria is: one carne asada taco, on chile verde taco, one chicken taco.

PIC is also very particular about her Mexican food order. This is what she wants in her burrito at any truck, taqueria or any place that isn't a high-end foodie joint:

Beans (preferably refried, whole pintos are a second choice, black beans come in third)
Rice
Sour Cream
Cheese
Jalapenos

That's it. No, really. No, don't put any salsa in it - she hates cilantro. Occasionally some lettuce will join the lineup, but God forbid someone gets creative and throws in anything that involves cilantro or tomatoes in any way. Yes, that includes guac - just stick with the 5 ingredients and nobody gets hurt.

What we ordered: The PIC Burrito (with refried beans), 1 carne asada taco, 2 chicken tacos - one braised, one roasted, a side of whole pinto beans, horchata, beer, bottled water
Service: friendly enough
Atmo: hole-in-the-wall perhaps not-so-clean taqueria with a blessed lack of the usual awful fluorescent lighting.
Crowd: A regular walked in while we were there, but it was the off-hours. This is a neighborhood joint.
Spent: This place is pretty cheap - but not as cheap as taquerias in Mexican neighborhoods - tacos were around $2 and we spent around $20 including the drinks
Overall rating: 3.5 sporks

The PIC gave her burrito 4 sporks, but the meat quality of the carne asada had something to be desired so I'm only giving a 3 with the tacos.

The chicken tacos were both good - I preferred the roasted one. These tortillas are larger than the usual wee taqueria-type shells, which was fine. I prefer the smaller fresher ones, but if you're not making your own I'm already neutral as to your tortillas.

The salsa was just OK, which also merits the 3. The beans were beans - not much to say there.

The PIC burrito was, however, really good. It can be hard for certain establishments to balance the 5 meatless ingredients - sometimes this burrito arrives with way too much rice, or the cream is all glopped in one section, or all the ingredients are layered as though it were a dip so that it's a huge bite of cheese, then a huge bite of beans...

Pico Paco managed to balance this vegetarian burrito well - not too gloopy, and the beans had great flavor. The horchata was also quite good, according to my PIC, and I tried it to find that the usual Pepto-Bismol flavor was minimized. Not that I wanted to drink any more than a sip, but it wasn't completely awful.

Would we go back here? Yes - for the burrito. The reality is that with La Calaca Loca around the corner (organic meat and delicious tortilla soup, plus margaritas with soju) we'd probably pick up the PIC burrito here and then travel to 52nd to get me tacos or tortilla soup.

New Ho Ho's Chinese - 4871 Telegraph Ave

After Tanjia, my PIC and I were really excited to finally, at long last, be at Dona Tomas.

Problem is that we weren't there yet. There's a bank of little hole-in-the-walls we'd never noticed at the 48th block of Telegraph, and so we resigned ourselves to practicing self-discipline and getting them over with so that when we get to the big DT we can feel good about it.

The first of these hole-in-the-walls is New HoHo's Chinese restaurant. The name made us laugh; the view of the interior made us want to run straight away to Dona Tomas. However, we bravely entered and figured that it couldn't be worse than Louisiana Fish 'n Chips. Seriously.

What we ordered: Hot and Sour soup, mu shu tofu, egg rolls, something we can't remember - I think it was veggie fried rice.
Service: overtly friendly and enthusiastic. I thought the counter lady might invite me home for tea and fortune cookies. This might freak some people out; we liked her.
Atmo: Chinese prison cafeteria. With an overly-friendly lunchlady and lots of Chinese newspapers to read.
Crowd: What crowd?
Spent: This place is cheap - it was around $20
Overall rating: 2.5 sporks

The weird thing about New HoHo's is that they have a counter buffet-type display where you can get pre-prepared food as well as a menu. They also mention dry-fried ribs, which we almost ordered but just weren't in the mood for the KFC flavor.

The buffet scared us and so did the thought of the meat source, so we went vegetarian. I have to say, the food wasn't as bad as we thought it would be and actually had some good points. The hot 'n sour soup was actually sour, which has been a problem with other Chinese establishments on Telegraph. The egg rolls were the usual deep fried version and had a really thick wrapper.

The MuShu tofu was quite good - they made it to order and it wasn't particularly greasy. I can't remember the other entree, but I think I remember not being overwhelmed with it. Since we can't remember, we're settling on a 2.5 given that the cleanliness and atmo have something to be desired - being afraid to eat somewhere due to the visuals has to discount a restaurant rating no matter how good the food is (and in this case, it was just OK).

Would I go back here? Unlikely - Yang Chow is by far my favorite delivery Chinese in the area. But if it's in walking distance to your house and you're broke and hung over, go for it. Just order smart - the buffet looks scary. Asking for "light oil" might also be a good idea here.