Taqueria Arandas Number 5

Taqueria Arandas #5 is a Jalisco-style taqueria just south of Oltorf on 1st Street. I grew up eating Jalisco-style tacos in Chicago, and this place makes me feel right at home.

The menu is big, and you can get breakfast or lunch all day. Someone brings you salsa and warm chips as soon as you sit down. I occasionally get tacos, but my absolute favorite is the avocado tostada. It's smeared with beans and layered with what's probably half an avocado, plus lettuce, tomatoes, Chihuahua cheese, and a big dollop of tangy crema.

They're less than three bucks, and at that price, two people can get in and out of there with a full meal and a couple of beers for under $15. Their breakfast is an even better deal. Plates with eggs, papas, and tortillas are around three bucks.

The food arrives shockingly quickly too. Often, I'll spy the waitress heading toward my table, and I think she must be coming back to ask a question when she's actually carrying my food over.

One word of caution for vegetarians: the bolillos used for the tortas are made with lard. That made for a very sad Mr. M. when he found out.

But my avocado tostadas still make me very, very happy.

Taqueria Arandas #5
2448 South First Street, Austin

Tacodeli Lunch

I eat a lot of tacos. Really, I love tortillas and hot sauce, so if I can have those, with some tasty fillings between them, I'm very happy.

Tacodeli, which now has 3 locations in Austin, is one of my absolute favorite places to get them.

I can't speak to the deliciousness of their meat tacos, but their vegetarian options are stellar. On weekends, they serve breakfast tacos all day, with lunch starting at 11. So on weekends, choosing only two (my usual portion) is not easy. They have tons of ingredients, and they're all very fresh and flavorful. It's tough to pick just a few.

Usually, I start with their excellent roasted portabellos, and go from there. Seriously, they're thick cut, juicy, and earthy. Their eggs are really good too. They're from Vital Farms, a sustainable, happy-chicken-raising operation, which I definitely like.

At lunch, there are two mushroom-based tacos: the Space Cowboy, with corn, peppers, fresh guacamole, and queso freso; and the Frontera Fundido Portabello, with onion-and-poblano rajas and Jack cheese. I love them both, but I go more often for the Space Cowboy.

Then there's the Heather, one of my favorite tacos served anywhere. It's got smooth black beans and crisp lettuce, fresh tomatoes, guacamole, and its crowning glory: a big slab of griddled queso fresco.

They don't mess around with the guacamole here, either. It's obviously fresh, and they pile on plenty.

The Papadulce is another frequent choice. It's got roasted sweet potatoes, corn, toasted pumpkin seeds, and a sweet-spicy sauce.

And everything is even better when topped with their Salsa Dona, a creamy jalapeno sauce that's pretty spicy, but super-flavorful.

We get Tacodeli for lunch or brunch once or twice a week, and if they were open for dinner, I'm sure we'd be there twice as often. The food is fresh, local when they can get local ingredients, and pretty cheap for two people to have lunch.