
5

"East County’s champion of carnitas for many decades, Carnitas Uruapan has been in its La Mesa home for more than 10 years, offering the convenience of a drive-thru and a pleasant dining room. While the dinner plates—with slow-cooked, plush fall-apart pork, fresh garnishes like onions and cilantro, rice, beans, and tortillas—are most popular, the Maggi burrito stands out as my favorite on the menu: a standard carnitas burrito elevated by pork mixed with lardy, creamy beans, pico de gallo, and guacamole, but made special by pieces of chicharrones that have been stewed until rehydrated and softened into super porky morsels with a gentle, springy chew. Their burritos are hefty two-handers, though I prefer digging into the Maggi with a knife and fork to ferret out the nubbly chicharrones, and a few drops of spicy habanero-orange hot sauce help brighten the pork-upon-pork richness." - Candice Woo