Brain Games

I said I’d be back for the brains and as woman of my word I went, I ate, I conquered. Legend has it that eating brain meat results in increased brainpower. Hoping that legend is true I order a brain taco and it is served just like all the other tacos I’ve written about. White paper, check. Red basket, check. Meat piled high atop two steaming soft corn tortillas, check. Except this time I am grimacing at the sight of this taco. The squiggly pattern of the brain is literally visible in the big chunks of meat that are roughly chopped and laced with salsa, chopped onions and cilantro. It cannot be confirmed whether or not eating brain actually makes you smarter but it can be confirmed that brain meat is DISGUSTING. Not El Farolito’s finest. The texture is mushy. Eating brain is like putting a chunk of playdoh in your mouth. It sticks in your teeth, smells weird and forms to any shape your mouth makes it before eventually crumbling into mushy pieces. Its just like eating giblets- the flavor is chalky, flat and gross. Use your heart and not your mind- pass on the brain. 2779 Mission St, (415) 824-7877

Head First

After an exhausting hike in Napa and a few celebratory back in the city cocktails Martin, Aileen and I decide that some tacos are in order. Taking a drunk walk, as San Franciscans often do, we saunter from Elixir to El Farolito taqueria and join the rest of the Sunday night drunks in the mission. There's something about a 2 am meal that just cannot be replicated at any other time of the day. We are salivating at the sight of the glass-protected grill, sizzling away with various meats atop; practically drooling over the assembly line of rice, tortillas and chopped veggies. My drunk eyes scan the meat menu and I slowly realize that there are a plethora of meat choices here that are not available at my local spot, Ocean Taqueria. Beyond the usual fare, carne asada, pollo chile verde, etc. El Farolito offers beef brains, head and tongue. Intriguing. Listening to the suggestions of Martin, a real Mexican (that bitch), I order the brain taco. Shortly after the cashier tells me that they are out of brains. He suggests the head taco instead and I agree. Before I know it there is a head taco steaming on the table in a little red basket lined with white paper. I stare that taco straight in its open face, its meaty scent wafting up into my nostrils. Martin laughs at my facial expression, but it I honestly cannot tell you what was going through my head because, I don't rightly remember. I pick up the taco and take a bite. The tortilla is soft, the meat is tender, like carnitas and the taste- salty. Head, as it turns out is less savory than carne asada, and even more fatty than carnitas. I don't know its actual nutritional value but I do know it's DELICIOUS, especially at 2 am. I'll be back for the brains. 2779 Mission St, (415) 824-7877