Tanguito

After happily discovering Salty's Famous Fishwich in Fisherman's Whaf Pier 39 area (see post HERE), I'm not as put off by the touristy area when looking for food finds.  I've passed by Tanguito when eating next door at the Codmother Fish and Chips (see post HERE) and its whaffing smell of fantastic bbq meats made me swear to myself that I would come back here.  Living in the city, getting to experience a real bbq is not very common, but the freshly grilled meats and the outside seating makes this girl feel like its really summer.

This stationary food truck churns out Argentinian food that is irresistible.  I've had some disappointing empanadas (El Porteno - see post HERE; Venga - see post HERE) and Argentinian food at Lolinda (see post HERE).  When I think of Argentinian food, I think juicy, flavorful platter of grilled meats.  There is nothing fancy about Tanguito.  No hipster decorations or fancy drinks, just slabs of good meat and flaky empanadas.       

The outer shell of the empanadas here are absolutely fantastic.  They have a thin flakiness to them and when cracking it open is like opening a pinata with even more surprises within.

Bits of salty ham and generous melted cheese make this one of the best empanadas I've had in the city. 

The beef empanada is one of the standard Argentinian empanadas and this one does not disappoint. While I prefer the ham and cheese over this one, the ground beef is juicy and flavorful.

The saffron rice comes as a platter with your choice of meats or as a side dish.  Each kernel of rice is so distinct and flavorful.  Mixed with peppers, onions, mushrooms and topped with a fried plantain, its a nice carb option to this protein centric meal.

Now onto the main event... the meat platter (parrillada).  A combination of almost every type of popular meat you can think of: chicken, Italian sausage, shortrib, tri tip, filet minon.  Each meat was seasoned so well with just herbs and some salt.  Nothing fancy, but so good.  Every piece of meat, even the chicken was juicy, so much so that a couple pieces squirted out juicy when cut.  This meat platter is no joke, its sharable and feeds about three people.  The meat here is just awesome, I can't even describe it in words. 

For an additional $4, you can get a grilled blood sausage.  Usually I find blood sausage to be a little too iron tasting for me, but this one was stuffed with tons of spices and herb.  So good.

   

Address:                 Tanguito
                                2850 Jones St.
                                 San Francisco, CA    

 

Type:                        Argentinian

Popular chomps:       saffron rice
                                   empanadas
                                   skirt steak
                                   burger
                                   choripan
                                   parrillada

Chomp worthy:          saffron rice
                                    empanadas
                                    parrillada