After picking up this week's shipment at Omni Comics in West Hartford, Chris, the manager, asked how I was adjusting to life back in Hartford. I told him that there was very little that I missed that I couldn't get in the Hartford Area. The only thing that I really missed was the fact that there were no taquerias here in Hartford.
A-Ha! Chris said. A new place just opened up down the street called Coyote Flaco, and it's fantastic. Since Janet was at a work function, I decided to scrap my plans for leftovers and decided to search out this Coyote Flaco to see if it was as good as Chris said.
I came to find out that this was the third branch of Coyote Flaco, the first being in New York (I don't know where the second one is). The fare was the typical taqueria sort of stuff: burritos, enchiladas, tacos, fajitas and quesadillas. You order at the front counter, and a few minutes later they come out with your order. Coyote Flaco is takeout or delivery only, and does not have any tables (or chairs) to sit at.
The taste test
As of today, I have had a number of different dishes from Coyote Flaco. The
first dish I sampled was the pork burrito, which was excellent: pork in a
rich red sauce wrapped in a tortilla and served with rice and beans. It was
a pork version of the classic Mexican Chili Colorado, and was rich
and meaty. The beans and rice were nice and flavorful as well.
When I went back with Janet on Thursday, I decided to try the quesadilla linda with carne asada (beef) and the California burrito with pork. Janet had the California burrito with carne asada. The quesadilla was very nice, with creamy cheese and good sized chunks of beef. The usual downfall of the quesadilla is that it gets too greasy when the cheese melts, but this quesadilla was not greasy at all.
The California burritos were like what we were used to from San Francisco: large tortillas filled with beans, meat and rice. The only problem with Coyote Flaco's interpretation is that they didn't allow us to customize the fillings. You see, in San Francisco, when you order the burrito, you can usually pick what type of beans you want (pinto, refried or black) and also specify if you want guacamole, sour cream and/or pico de gallo inside the burrito. Maybe it is because their computerized cash register can't handle that sort of request, or maybe they just don't make any substitutions... but if you want any add-ons, you have to order them on the side and put it on top of the burrito when you get home. Once I put sour cream, guacamole, pico de gallo and their great green salsa on top, the end result was an excellent burrito. Janet was less than thrilled with her beef burrito, but I think that has more to do with the blandness of the beef than anything else.
The end result, not only do we finally have a place for a decent burrito in Hartford, but it takes credit cards and it delivers. Who could ask for anything more?