Conveniently located at the corner of River and Water streets, Taqueria los Pericos is a tasty respite between running errands at Probuild and whatever improvement project awaits at home.
Burritos ($5.80 to $7.95) come with numerous meat choices, including pork, beef asada, chile verde, tongue, tripe, and grilled chicken. Breakfast burritos ($5.55 to $5.95) are made with eggs, chorizo, rice, beans, cheese and salsa, as well as just eggs, potatoes, and either bacon, chorizo or ham.
Grilled chicken, stewing in a cavernous kettle of simmering brick -red sauce, was added to a mountain of ingredients on a large flour tortilla and deftly rolled and folded by the cook in the blink of an eye. This two-pound baby was stuffed with beans, rice, lettuce, cheese, sour cream and salsa. The chicken was tender and spicy.
A pair of five-inch soft corn tortillas enclosed each of the regular tacos ($2.45). Quesadillas ($2.40 to $6.05) can be simply cheesy, or like mine, definitely not finger-friendly. A medium tortilla was topped with delicous, spicy, tender, juicy, and mostly trimmed chile verde, then piled high with shredded iceberg lettuce and salsa fresca with bright jalapeños. It was then drizzled with spicy salsa, sour cream, and puréed avocado, and topped with a brown speckled tortilla backed with melted cheese. | KP
Taqueria Los Pericos, 139 Water St., Santa Cruz, 469-7685. Beer and wine. Open daily at 9 a.m., closing at midnight Monday through Saturday, and at 11 p.m. Sunday.
