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.