By Tony Fazio –
Every once in a while you just want something quick that doesn’t take much effort to order and eat. San Francisco is full of Taqueria style restaurants. Not much seating and not many frills just really good food cheap. At Taqueria Can-Cun I am always awed by the long lines at the counter and how fast they get people through and still turn out consistently great food.
Taqueria Can-Cun is a little hole in the wall Taco shop. From the manager I learned that the burrito we commonly see at most Taquerias is not actually all that familiar in Mexico. In the U.S. the burrito has been modified from its original form in Mexico, where it is just meat and beans with salsa. The U.S. version, of course, includes meat, beans, rice, onions, cilantro, avocado, sour cream and salsa and is wrapped in an enormous tortilla. I have tried many different ones in the Mission District in San Francisco, which is home of a very large Hispanic population. Taqueria Can-Cun rises above the rest.
Although they have more than one location, Taqueria Can-Cun is not a chain operation but is family owned. It was voted the Best Taqueria by the SF Bay Guardian 10 years in a row and the Best Burrito 10 years in a row by the SF Weekly.
They also make incredible Carne Asada Tortas, which is actually a burrito using a French roll. I had one recently and it was an interesting change from the regular burrito. Nothing on the menu is over $7.75. Most items are around $5.00 to $6.00.
Taqueria Can-Cun is located at 2288 Mission St. in San Francisco. Phone number is (415) 252-9560. There is no web site.
