By Food Connoisseur and World Traveller Hannah Hall
As a lot of you may know, I come from the south-bay–specifically San Jose, more specifically, not even San Jose but the town over, Saratoga. Being away from home, a lot of the time I find myself daydreaming about the various things that come with the city of San Jose–things such as music, people, malls, and food. Today I am recalling the food. I will now introduce you to the wonders of San Jose’s La Victoria Taqueria, in brief.
La Victoria Taqueria, or La Vic’s to the lazy locals, is my favorite restaurant in the city of San Jose. I don’t know if you can tell by the name of the restaurant, but it serves Mexican food. And let me tell you about it, boy, it’s DELICIOUS! You walk in and instantly are pounded in the face by the smell of savoury goodness. Walking up to the counter you may get a neck cramp because you have to look up to see the soaring banner called the menu. SO many options. They have a variety of food items such as burritos, quesadillas, nachos, tacos, tortas, tostadas, enchiladas, flautas, plates, and chile rellenos–along with a wide selection of meats like carnitas, carne asada, pollo asado, al pastor and much more, . . . not to mention the vegetarian and vegan options available as well! My favorite choice is the hard shell tacos. This is no Taco Bell, no no no. It’s not the generic corn shell manufactured thing that you see at fast food places. I honestly don’t know how they make it, but it’s good; trust me…. I think it’s just a fried flour tortilla that is strained and salted… so it’s like a regular shell that isn’t fake. Sometimes I’ll even get some slices of fresh avocado if I’m feelin’ it. You may be thinking, “This just sounds like any other Mexican place I’ve been to.” Well, sorry bud, you’re wrong. Most people go to La Victoria’s for one reason and one reason only: the orange sauce. This sauce is heaven in a bottle. You get a sweet, tangy, and spicy taste at the same time that wakes up all your taste buds and makes your eyes open wide. And get this, they sell the sauce! To wash everything down, you gotta have a cold bottle of somethin’ on the side. For us kids, there are sodas such as Squirt, Coca-Cola, all the Jarritos flavors too (choose the mandarin!!), and Mundet! As much as I would like to continue, this is about all the explaining I can do to give this spot the justice it deserves while keeping things short. So, if you ever catch yourself in San Jose, you have to stop by La Victoria Taqueria; when you do, be sure I’ll be asking, “Orange you glad you tried La Victoria’s?” (I’m not being cheesy; it’s on the menu).
Here is the magical orange sauce:
Not a very good picture, but this is the menu that often gives (worth it) neck cramps:
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Editor: Makena Behnke