The Early Word: Dos Toros Taqueria

Burger joints aren't the only openings that are generating a lot of buzz these days. Although it's only been open for a week and a half, Union Square taqueria Dos Toros has already gotten the full assessment from the burrito-crazed masses. If this amount of buzz seems a bit excessive for counter service taqueria, remember: New York is full of California ex-pats who hate, hate, the burrito situation in the city, and team Dos Toros modeled the menu and dining room after the cultishly adored Gordo Taqueria in Berkeley. It seems as though the potential for some next level SF-soul food is there -- so, how does the early word measure up?

The Good News: This yelper dropped in on opening day, and mostly loves everything, even if it doesn't bring the full west coast Mexican food expereience to NYC: "The food - as they have promised, it's the 'closest to authentic' SF Mission-style taqueria food you will find in NY. So far, the best option for us, Californians was Bonita in Williamsburg (Lord, their fish burrito was heaven in a tortilla), but the pollo version at Dos Toros is fairly close enough. The rice was more cous-cous like, which one of the owners said will look into, and the salsa could use some spice to it. Everything else has been excellent - the beans were well cooked, cheese, sour cream and most importantly - the final wrapping was professionally done." [Yelp]

The Very Good News: Fork in the Road's Sarah DiGregorio likes the flavors and execution of the Dos Toros burrito, and has a feeling that west coast burrito purists will love it even more: "is it tasty? Sure. The beans and guacamole are well seasoned--skip the rice. Make sure to ask for the extra-hot sauce, a completely delicious concoction of char-roasted green chiles. Of the meats, chose carnitas, slow-roasted pork shoulder that emerges from the burrito (or taco, or quesadilla) in moist, piggy swabs. But if you're not excited about Mission-style burritos, this one isn't going to change your mind. If you are excited about Mission-style burritos, Dos Toros will probably make you very happy." [Fork in the Road]

The Okay News: This Midtown Lunch commenter liked the ingredients in the dos toros burrito, but had some issues with its construction: "It was a very good burito, not quite the bomb-sized burrito from SF, but a good balance of flavors. The burritos need to be wrapped more TIGHTLY though--this is important. Some of the pintos were undercooked, but not a major problem. I was disappointed by the small spoon of guacamole that I paid an extra buck for. Overall, a very tasty burrito with balanced flavors, far better than the Chipotle rice-ball-in-a-tortilla. The spicy salsa added a nice bite. Not sure if it's quite worth $9 for a not-quite-bomb-sized burrito. Could've used a bit more meat. Unlike a SF burrito, I had room after finishing to eat a second." [ML]

The Not-So-Great News: A Yelper, native to California, didn't find too much to love at Dos Toros: "Being from NorCal, I was dying for a good burrito place nearby and with pinche in town, I must say the bar is being raised from what NYC used to be like. And even in NYC, $9 for a burrito means it really has to be good. Unfortunately that's all this really was. Its 9p and they were already out of carnitas - bummer, that's what I came for. No apologies though, just, 'we're out'. Hmmm... thanks....The downsides kind of compounded from there. The ingredients were fresh but honestly, they just weren't very tasty. The rice was slightly mushy, the salsa was completely bland and the chicken (my back-up) was also bland." [Yelp]

The Bad News: This Chowhounder felt that the food didn't live up to its promise: "We got one pork and one chicken taco. It was pretty standard. Not much different from Chipotle, but no cilantro lime rice. So for those of you that don't like Chipotle's rice, you will like this place, otherwise its another Mexican in NYC fail." [Chowhound]

The Twitterific News: @thecoolkidlist: "Just had the most amazing Mexican food ever in NYC at Dos Toros, plus they're from tha bay plus cute boys plus. right nxt to the new think." @bird346: "Kind of obsessed with Dos Toros Taqueria in Union Square - this is going to be a HUGE challenge for my Chipoltle addiction - go if in NYC!!" @trufflesnyc "Dos Toros F&F. It's like my hometown Gordo's. And if you know what that is, you know the magnitude of what I'm saying." [Twitter]