El Cartel

I thought there would never be great Mexican food outside of California. I was so f*cking wrong.

This little tequila and taco spot is clearly a local favorite. With three spots around town, I went to the one-off of Teviot by the college just after 12, and it filled up quickly after that.

I heard about it from an article in Traveler and was simply unprepared for how good the food would be.

I started with a margarita, obviously. It was the bomb with a hint of smoke, so if that's not your thing, I would stick with tequila club soda or another one of their classic cocktails. They have nearly six pages of tequila options with several of my own favorites (even daily flavors of frozen margaritas!!).

I got their duck carnitas tacos and some street corn, and the portions were pretty good sized. They didn't skimp on the meat, and it was even better than pork carnitas at home. The actual tortillas were homemade too! Topped with chipotle pecan salsa, crema, pico de gallo and pineapple salsa, I simply couldn't get over the flavor.

The street corn was delicious, and everything came out so quickly.

This is a spot I'm already dying to go back to.