Taqueria El Korita

No quiero Taco Bell! Not with El Korita right down the road, that’s for sure.
Everything we’ve tried has been fresh, favorful, and perfectly seasoned. It’s hard to pick just one dish as a favorite but if I had to, it would be the Camarones a la Diabla — best seafood I’ve had in a restaurant in a really long time.

Goodness gracious. Do not judge this book by its cover. Taqueria el Korita is a little hidden, a little dingy, and definitely not all that impressive from the outside. Once you are inside, however, excellent food awaits.
Two negatives first — on the day we went, it was extremely hot in the dining room, and quite smoky. I’m not sure if this is a regular occurrence, or if it was just that day, but it did take away from the experience a little bit. However, not even that was enough to detract from my stars.
Simply put, the food was incredible. When you have eight people going place to place (seven places in all), it doesn’t seem like everyone would agree that any single stop was the best, but overwhelmingly everyone loved Taqueria el Korita the most. I had the adobado taco, and it was absolutely fantastic.
We had groups of two or three seated at three tables, and everyone was served promptly and got lots of attention. In fact, one of the cooks (an owner?) came out to apologize because when she saw such a big group, she was afraid they were going to be out of something we wanted. I think everyone got exactly what they preferred, but she was very sweet about worrying over us and hearing about our taco tour. There was a little bit of a language barrier, but her friendliness overcame that.
I can’t wait to go back and eat some more of those delicious tacos.

Of all the Mexican restaurants on the Ave (and I’ve tried most of them), El Korita is my favorite. Their tortillas are hand made, and delicious. The restaurant is a little hard to find, as it is not exactly on the avenue, but slightly tucked away half a block south. It is worth finding it. I would eat here in a heartbeat.

I swung by this place because of Lauren H.‘s glowing review. I had high hopes for the place, but was generally disappointed.
As far as the atmosphere, it’s pretty low-​key. The customers are largely Spanish-​speaking and Mexican, the music was loud from the jukebox (though that dissipated pretty quickly), and the décor was nothing to get excited about. Nevertheless, this is a taqueria, so let’s not get caught up in the atmosphere. What about the food?
I ordered a carnitas burrito combo and a Diet Coke, very basic. I had originally ordered tea, but they were out. Their sodas are bottled, not from a fountain, so don’t get anything too spicy where you may need a refill. The combo consisted of a burrito with just carnitas in it, no vegetables, cheese, red sauce, and store-​bought tortillas; pretty average refried beans, and some decent Mexican rice. Considering the Mexican restaurants around, I’m pretty sure one would be better served going to a local Mexican grocery store, buying the necessary ingredients, and making it yourself.
Speaking of being served, the service was generally pretty poor. Although I was seated relatively quickly, once seated, I was generally given a «What are you doing here?» sort of vibe from all the staff. Once I got my food, I was generally ignored, even to the point of me having to flag my waitress down to get my check. While I’m pretty forgiving about ESL, the waitress seemed annoyed that she had to use English. Seeing that she was having a tough time, I used what Spanish I know, and was given a generally insulted response.
I’m giving this two stars because although my experience was pretty blah, it was my first experience with an Independence Ave. taqueria and the novelty, as a recent transplant, skews my perspective positively. However, considering the subpar service I received, it was apparent they didn’t want my money, and I’ll gladly give it to one of the many other taquerias in the area.

My search for Mexican is over. I found it at el korita. Handmade tortillas are like fresh-​baked bread to me, and el korita does them right in both corn and flour. The horchata was fantastic and I loved the bits of ground almond on the bottom. It helped cool down the fire left by the tart and spicy shrimp ceviche, made to order so you’ll have to wait for the lime to do it’s magic. The carnita and beef tongue tacos were amazing. Don’t be scared of the tongue. Honestly, it’s just super tender boiled beef.
I wouldn’t bother with the fajitas. Although, my less adventurous dining partners gravitated towards it.
Not only was the food great, but the service was wonderful. Don’t be intimidated by el korita’s appearance. Just think of it like a coconut. Hard and gritty on the outside, but soft and sweet on the inside.