Taco Primo
Permanently Closed
Cali-Mex tacos, burritos, and bowls with fresh salsa
Cali-Mex tacos, burritos, and bowls with fresh salsa
"Taco Primo, from the people behind The Snug, had a strong showing when they debuted inside the Pacific Heights bar with solid tacos and burritos. But the Thrive City iteration of this Cali-Mexican counter service concept doesn’t live up to its predecessor. The best part of the tacos and burritos at this location is the La Palma tortillas; otherwise, everything tends to fall flat. The meats range from being decently tender and moist to dry and unevenly seasoned. We’d recommend sticking with the tacos—the burritos tend to be mushy and need a generous pour of salsa to inject some more flavor in each bite. Still, this place runs smoothly, so if you need a spot for something quick before or after an event at the Chase Center, it's a fine option. Seating is limited to a couple of tables and window-side stools, but just outside are public benches with a view of Bayfront Park. Food Rundown Tacos We’d go for the beef or chicken tacos. While both have dry patches, they’re the most tender of the meats. Feel free to skip going “primo.” The added sour cream, guacamole, and cheese muddles the flavors and masks the solid salsa lining the bottom of the tortilla. photo credit: Patrick Wong Burritos Like the tacos, we like getting these with chicken. The rice is too soft, and on occasion, we’ve gotten a tortilla that’s wet and soggy. We’d go with the tacos over the burrito every time. PlayMute video credit: Patrick Wong" - Patrick Wong
"From the team behind cocktail bar the Snug and seafood spot Little Shucker comes a new fast-casual restaurant debuting at Chase Center’s Thrive City on Tuesday, April 22; it opens 4 p.m.–10 p.m. Monday–Friday and 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m. Saturday–Sunday, with weekday lunch launching soon. Chef Adrian Garcia—who leads the kitchen at Little Shucker as executive chef and hails from Michelin-starred Benu and Quince, by way of Addison in San Diego—oversees the menu; Ringo says, “It was just a no-brainer, especially when we were chatting with Adrian,” she says. “Given his cultural history and the cooking techniques he had in his back pocket, we were all just really excited about it.” Garcia and the Snug owners worked out a compact menu of tacos, burritos, bowls, salads, and quesadillas with four protein choices (chicken, al pastor, braised beef, and vegan jackfruit); kids options include a cheese quesadilla or a bean-and-cheese burrito, and sides include pico or guacamole with chips. Flour tortillas come courtesy of La Palma in the Mission, while Garcia adds a lime-cured cabbage that adorns the tacos, burritos, bowls, and salads to give the items some crunch and acidity, plus all of the slow-cooked proteins. Ringo praised Garcia’s “light, zippy” lime-coriander dressing on the salads. The salsa taquera, roasted tomatillo, and habanero salsas are all made by Garcia, with the habanero—“made with pineapple and carrot, emulsified into a creamy texture”—touted as a crowd favorite. Churro fries round out the menu as a sweet option, with caramel and chocolate sauce as an add-on. “We wanted to do something that was a tight, concise menu, very approachable — kind of like an In-N-Out-style menu of Cali-Mex cuisine,” Ringo says. This Thrive City location is technically the concept’s second site: the fast-casual restaurant first launched as a pop-up at the Snug in December 2024, eventually taking over the entire menu and opening its own storefront next door in late February. In that changeover announcement on Instagram the Snug team wrote, in part, “Unfortunately, as much as we all liked some of our previous menu items, that food just wasn’t working financially in a post-Covid world with costs skyrocketing, folks drinking less alcohol, and delivery apps becoming increasingly popular. To be totally honest, we had no choice but to adjust to the times and move to a food program that could stand on its own a bit more and do better on the delivery apps.” On the move into Mission Bay, Ringo added, “I think it is a space that brings together sports fans, food lovers, and locals,” and, “We were automatically drawn to that kind of community, and it just felt right. And getting to kind of debut this concept in such an iconic, high-traffic and high-volume part of San Francisco is genuinely exciting.”" - Dianne de Guzman
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