Lunch Break: Some like it hot at Taco Mexico Rico

Taco Mexico Rico is an interesting spot. It is a busy restaurant, located in a bit of an obscure location near Vancouver Community College and Victory Square park on Pender Street at Hamilton. It has been around a for awhile now, I had previously known this place to be just down the street from it's current location. In a past life this place was known as Mexico Sabroso so if you've been wondering where it moved, now you know.

Inside we found a quiet table in the corner and the EU Cup playing on the screen. There was a wait once at the table and a bit of confusion on our part about what to order but we eventually figured everything out, finally settling on some drinks from an unspecified cola company and some enchiladas and a quesidilla as the main course.

What did we find? This is the place you want to go when you want good spicy food without the window dressing. "Rustic" is a good way of characterizing the place, but "well traveled" might be a better term. I think this place would be great spot at 4am but they keep hours which are pretty much limited to standard business day.

The plate, when it arrived, gave me a bit of concern because it looked rather bland. Being the spice daemon I am I had opted the verde sauce with my enchiladas and I was concerned that I was being handed something a little toned down. My mistake. It burns and it burns good. What the enchiladas lacked in appearance they made up for in taste. The quesidilla was similarly good, also surpassing expectations.

If you poke around the Internet you will hear people raving about how this place offers authentic Mexican food at pretty decent prices. I think this is a fairly accurate characterization. Fusion food this is definitely not. If you like spicy foods and need a reminder of past trips to Mexico this is the place for you.

309 West Pender, Vancouver
604-688-7426

Photo by Ryan Weal