El Guero

(Blog post updated 2/23/13 to add another menu item!)

El Guero is a Mexican food cart located at the Rose City Food Park (NE 52nd and Sandy) in Portland, Oregon.

Many people who know me are aware that burritos are one of my many addictions. And because I'm a big breakfast fan, breakfast burritos are probably the first thing I seek out at these Mexican carts. Oh, El Guero also has tacos, quesadillas, and the non-breakfast burritos (with the usual beans, rice, choice of meat, etc.), but it's like my internal target locks in on breakfast items first. It certainly helps if there's bacon.

And that's just what we have here. A thick $5 breakfast burrito. A warmed giant flour tortilla gets stuffed with cooked potatoes, bacon, cheese, and eggs. A killer sweet deal, honestly. The potatoes are soft and fluffy. The smoky diced bacon is an automatic win. The proper amount of cheese and eggs for my liking. I can get all the flavors in one bite -- but if I get more bacon, that's perfectly OK. Everything is seasoned properly. Most people should be filled just from this breakfast burrito alone.

Breakfast Burrito
(El Guero)

Cross-section

Bacon!

The burrito came with two sauces, green and red. Perfect for the panda to just drink straight.

Other breakfast items include breakfast tacos, chorizo tacos, and omelets. There's even a Chorizo Con Papas Burrito ($4.75) with potatoes, chorizo, scrambled eggs, onions, beans, cheese, and sour cream inside a flour tortilla.

The regular cheese quesadilla here ($3.75) also comes with beans, rice, and guacamole. For an extra dollar, try the Special Quesadilla with melted cheese, bell peppers, onions, chicken, and guacamole.

Fajita plates are $6. Choice of chicken, carne asada, or a "trio" (asada, chicken, and shrimp).

On the regular burrito options, my eyes darted to the El Guero Burrito ($5) and the Chile Relleno Burrito ($4.75). The El Guero option is pretty much a Chile Relleno burrito with steak added.

UPDATE 2/23/13:

I returned to this cart later in the day on February 19 and had their carnitas burrito ($4.75). Chunks of tender pork with homemade refried beans, fresh onion, cilantro, tomatoes, rice, cheese, and guacamole wrapped in a flour tortilla. Again, I received green and red salsas on the side.

Great, tight wrapping on the burrito

Carnitas Burrito
(El Guero)

Carnitas Burrito (closeup of inside)

Again, the burrito was made fresh to order, and I frankly found out the hard way when taking that first big bite and scalding the roof of my mouth. But wow, this burrito was flat out amazing. Juicy, tender pork. Everything from the beans to the guacamole just screamed fresh, delicious flavors. The burrito was more filling than I anticipated. Sure, I'm easy to please when burritos are involved, but for the size and the price, you can't go wrong.

The breakfast burrito and carnitas burrito were huge hits, and I hope to return and try some more items! 8.5/10