Taquerias in San Francisco are a dime a dozen in this town, to coin a phrase, and they do run the gamut from fancy, how much for a burrito!? To, I'd only eat there if I was really drunk and hungry. Most fall into the middle ground of, "we can't decide where to eat so let's just go to the taqueria on the corner near the house", kind of variety. So it was one Sunday when the SO and I wanted a quick bite and the first choice we went was closed, leading us to walk 2 blocks over to the next choice, Iron Cactus.
Located at the corner of 4th and Townsend, it's a big cavernous space with community dining tables and, if there is ever a nice day they have an outdoor patio. Fare wise, it's a pretty standard taqueria menu with all the basics and favorites. They do have some healthier additions like salads and probably due to their location in the hot start-up neighborhood of SOMA, prices are also about a buck or two more than your average taco joint. I wanted to eat moderately guilt free so I decided to go with fish tacos.
It's a plate with grilled tilapia (or some kind of whitefish I wasn't too sure), choice of beans, black of course, rice, sour cream, guacamole (gave that to the SO) and a small side salad. I was pleasantly surprised that the fish was grilled and not battered and fried plus it wasn't overcooked. It was nice and light and flaky. Served with some warm corn tortillas, this was a basic simple dish that I liked and didn't feel guilty about eating. They've gone light on the seasoning and spice to the dishes yet you can heat it up with the housemade red or green salsas that are in squeeze bottles on every table. I like the green chile salsa, it has a medium heat kick to it as opposed to the red which is more of a hot sauce. The green blends better with the sweet flavor of the fish, the squeeze of fresh lime juice and corn tortillas to make a tasty little bite. It's one of the better fish tacos I've had in the city.
Is it the best taqueria in the town? Don't know if I'll say that, with so many of them around everyone here has their favorite and you can get into any number of discussions about which ones are better than others. Just search "best taqueria in San Francisco" and see what you come up with. But the food they offer is fresh, tasty and well done and if you getting ready to jump on Caltrain to head home I'd say it's worth stopping in for a snack to get you through the long train ride back down South.
