BLOCHO'S TACOS

Part One. I have recently returned to life in the USA after a two year stint living in London. I loved London. Life felt more manageable there compared to the hectic hubbub of New York City and I had all of  Europe in my backyard. I took advantage of this...and more than just Europe. In two years, I set foot in 23 different countries, many more cities and made sure to eat my way through all these new lands. One thing I missed the most about the States, about NY...and about some of my favorite American cities, LA and Austin and San Francisco, was TACOS. Apparently Mexican cuisine exists in London. I had my fare share of “Mexican style” food, but I missed the true true warm-tortilla-sizzling-meat-oil-and-toppings-dripping-out-the-back-end-of-the tortilla-all-over-my-hands tacos that I have come to adore in my taco eating adventures. So once happily back in the Big Apple, my friend, Harry, suggested that we catch up over tacos and tequila. Music to my ears. Plus, we were b...

Chipotle 711 Church Street Evanston , IL I do not like Chipotle . I never have. And that was even before eating there. My biggest gripe with the Mexican-style chain restaurant is I believe it drove Burritoville , a NY-only more authentic version of Chipotle , out of business. Despite my feelings against Chipotle , I let me friends Samantha and Lisa convince me to try it. They are Chipotle fanatics. They crave Chipotle the way I crave Mexican food -- always. After a disappointing Northwestern University football game, I walked with Samantha and Lisa to Chipotle to see what all the hype was about. Carnitas have become a favorite taco flavor of mine throughout this journey, so I decided to continue the tradition and perhaps add another favorite carnitas taco joint to my list. I have decided I need to take the "only hard corn tortilla shell" sign as a warning. The shells were flavorless and even a little stale, the meat was over-spiced, the guacamole was tasteless--bo...