For my money, the best soft tacos in Bellevue are served at El Maestro del Taco. La Cocina del Puerco served terrific ones too but the restaurant closed a few years ago. Cocina was a sit-down restaurant, while Maestro is a food truck that also sells tortas, cemitas, sopes, quesadillas and a carne asada plate (with rice and beans). It also sells burritos that can be ordered with any meat offered in a soft taco (lengua, cabeza, beef cheeks, adobada, asada and carnitas). My favorite taco filling there is asada, which is the reason I got a burrito filled with the same thing.
I can say unequivocally that El Maestro del Taco’s burrito is in a league by itself.
Let’s start with the flour tortilla wrap. Unlike at most places where the ends of a gigantic tortilla are tucked in before the burrito is rolled, a single turn of an 8-inch one barely covers Maestro’s substantial filling, potentially a big mess if the filling pushed out at one end when the other is bitten into. Fortunately, the whole thing is swaddled in foil. The absence of the tucks eliminates excessive tortilla that can double, even triple upon itself otherwise. A small matter maybe, but one appreciated by me. Plus, the tortilla itself is thin yet stretchy enough not to tear, putting all the emphasis on the filling.
It starts with shredded iceberg lettuce for a pleasant crunch and generous slices of avocado for creaminess. Sliced pickled jalapeños add spiciness and zing. Rather than whole beans, Maestro uses savory refried beans that act as a glue to hold the rice together. The supremely flavorful asada is chopped and in generous quantity that there’s no mistaking it as the main ingredient, unlike other places (such as Casa D Taqueria) where the filling is mostly rice and beans, tasty as they may be. Also excellent is the tomatillo salsa that comes with the burrito. At $5, this classic burrito (☆☆☆☆), like everything else here, is a bargain.
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El Maestro del Taco
15615 NE 8th St
Bellevue, WA 98008
