Tortillas de Mano

Address: Corner of 200 E and 300 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84111.

Review: The one thing I always find lacking in taco stands is the tortilla. It's never made by hand; instead, it comes from a plastic bag you can buy at Smith's. Now, I'm not sure about you, but if I want Smith's tortillas, I'll go to Smith's and buy them. A real, quality taco stand should make its own tortillas. And Tortillas de Mano is a real, quality taco stand.

We started our meal with a pair of tacos: chicken and carnitas.

The chicken was dry cooked and not braised or wet cooked, which seems to be a popular taco stand way of ensuring the chicken doesn't turn out dry. In any case, the chicken was slightly dry, but the seasoning added big flavor. The carnitas was juicy and tender. Slathered with the standard salsas, pico de gallo, onions, etc., both tacos were mighty good. Oh, and the tortilla: money. The hand-madeness factor really helps these tacos. Very good.

And then there was the torta, which is a big sandwich made with taco fillins. I had barbacoa on mine.

The procedure for making a torta is kind of interesting. First, they cut the bread in half and slathered on sour cream. They then fried the bread on the skillet, sour cream side down, while they prepared the meat. After adding the meat, you get to add your favorite toppings, and, voila, a torta is born. The bread was a little soft for my taste, but the flavors were money. Good stuff. And for $3, it's a screamin' deal. Honestly, this is a taco stand.

Rating: 7.5/10 (5/10 is average).