The Obnoxious Yippy Dog Taqueria

AKA La Fonda Mexican Grill.  This establishment is a short walk from our house in the Inner Sunset.  Warm and inviting, it offers clerestory windows above the entrance on the south side, allowing what sunlight we get here in Fog City to bathe the yellow and orange interior in brilliance.  Five tables cluster by the front window (on warm days there are sidewalk tables as well) and up a short stairway a second floor opens into the room with more tables and chairs.  La Fonda does not follow the tradition of dinge and dirt that many taquerias do.  Clean and friendly, it’s a place you could take your granny for her regular dose of cochinita pibil.

As long as she doesn’t mind ear-splitting barking from a pack of obnoxious dogs.  For some reason, the super cool young folk who stopped in for a burrito didn’t want to do take-out, so they tied up their three dogs right at the entrance to the taqueria.  Followed the inevitable: every time somebody walked by them to get in, these beasts erupted in jarring jags of tinny barks.  It was like listening to sheet metal go through a table saw.`

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And it happened every minute or two.  And their owners thought it was the most goddamned funny thing they’d ever seen.

Me: about to take a bite of my excellent tinga chicken taco.

Dogs: ARKK ARF ARF GROWL ARF ARF!!!

Me: I have tinga chicken all down my shirt.  Crap.

Dogs Owners: HAHHHA HAH HAH!

Me: Insert obligatory old fart lament about the decline of manners here.

Don’t get me wrong: dogs?  Love ‘em.

Their people?  Not so much.  Though you, as a reader of this incomparable blog, are an obvious exception, should you choose to be owned by a dog.

Enough about that.  Let’s talk about food.  First of all, this place offers a staggering array of meats and fillings for tacos, burritos, tostadas, empanadas, quesadillas, and other such conveyances.  In addition to the cochinita pibil and tinga chicken, they have the obligatory carnitas, al pastor, chorizo, shrimp, salmon, chicken mole, carne asada, tofu (whatever), grilled vegetables, poached chicken, and a special taco filetito asado, a small piece of whole grilled ribeye folded into two corn tortillas.

From Left to Right: Carnitas, Tinga Chicken, and Al Pastor at the top.

There is an excellent salsa bar, well stocked and constantly refilled, an array of beers and soft drinks, and a quick, friendly staff.

My tacos were good.  The carnitas was satisfactory, if a bit low on flavor.  The al pastor was passable, but a little dry.  The tinga chicken was outstanding (although, as noted above, messy when nearly throw in the air from fright…).  The chicken is stewed in chipotles and adobo, with a nice bite of heat and rich, almost chocolate flavors.  All in all, a nice lunch.

Matt: I have been to La Fonda before, and I disliked their burritos.  I came and had their tacos, and that was way better.  Like Guerrero’s, they have those awesome mexican sodas.  I loved the carnitas!  It was brilliant.  But, I had their broiled steak, and that is their best.  The place is near our house, so we go there a lot.  Oh, and they define  themselves as a Mexican Grill, instead of a taqueria.

Matt's Carne Asada and Carnitas Tacos

We recommend you give La Fonda a try.  If there are dogs outside, however, go next door to Yancy’s for a beer and wait until they leave.  You won’t be sorry.

Atmosphere: Four Peppers.

Salsa Bar: Five Peppers.

Service: Four Peppers.

Selection of soft drinks and beer: Three Peppers.

Tacos: Four Peppers.

Overall: Four Peppers.