Santa Barbara: La Super-Rica Taqueria and my Disagreement with Julia Child

The outside of La Super-Rica Taqueria, Julia Child's favorite. 

I thought Julia Child could do no wrong. La Super Rica Taqueria, sadly, broke this illusion. (And yes, I realize how much like Julie Powell I am right now and I will promptly forget it.) According to many Yelp reviews and google searches, this place is notorious for being praised by Julia Child herself as her favorite taqueria. Needless to say, I was thrilled to get the chance to try it.

When we arrived to the little shack of a restaurant that is La Super Rica Taqueria, I thought that it must be one of those hole-in-the-wall places with amazing food, and boy was I hungry! But we soon met the first of many obstacles on our quest to try the famed La Super Rica when we found out that they were cash-only. It was no big deal and we found an ATM not too far up the road.

When we returned, however, the uncrowded restaurant that we had left only a few minutes earlier now had a line that was out the door. Although this too was no big deal, I was starving by this point, and I become notoriously unpleasant and incompetent even with the simplest of tasks when I am hungry. Ordering for 6 people, as my family asked me to do, was not the simplest of tasks, and thankfully, my mom took mercy on me (or was simply frustrated with my ineptitude) and took over for me. As we waited in line, we tackled our next obstacle: to find seats for 6 people, a venture that proved to far too difficult for a place described as ‘good for groups’ on Yelp. We thought ahead and tired to save a table, and eventually decided the easiest thing to do would be to split up into two tables, which we were lucky enough to find. But, of course, the people in front of us in line were not smart enough to think ahead and try to find a seat, but instead, rudely hoevered around one of our tables like vultures. (They also made some rather racist comments about the French. They pissed me off.)

All of this, plus the fact that the place was uncomfortably hot and there were flies buzzing around our heads was enough to put my dad off, and he wanted to get the food and leave, to eat at home where we would be comfortable. I selfishly tried to push for staying in the restaurant, despite the fact that everyone was having such an awful time, so I could fully take in the experience for this blog. But my dad couldn’t handle it and went to wait in the car and my mom ordered the food to go. I was disappointed, but soon got over it, thanks to those same rude people. My mom asked me to get some salsa and these people apparently had no regard for restaurant etiquette, or else they hadn’t notice that a line that had formed, and cut in front of me twice! I was perfectly ready to leave the restaurant and was in a terrible mood.

My only comfort was the thought that it would all be worth it once we got our food. It had to be, right? Julia loved it. I was heartened by the fact that by the time our food arrived, our luck seemed to be turning around. People began leaving, it wasn’t so crowded and hectice, and we found a corner table big enough to suit us all, so we decided to stay. The server was very accommodating to our ever-changing plans and graciously put our food on plates for us.

My order at La Super-Rica: one Taco Bistec, Guacamole and Corn tortillas, and Horchata.

Finally, after all that, we were ready to eat our food. I unrapped my taco from the to-go foil, and was immediately disappointed. The Taco Bistec that I ordered was literally only plain beef on a corn tortilla. But I decided to hold my opinion until I tasted the food. Maybe the ingredients were so flavorful that adding to the dish would have made it cumbersome. Sadly, this was not the case. The food was only mediocre at best. Even the guacamole, which was widely praised on Yelp, was not to my liking; I even felt that my homemade guacamole, which has more tartness to it, was better. Though there were a few upsides to the meal, even these were accompanied by drawbacks. Their salsa verde had a twist that is indescribable, but the restaurant lacked the chips to go along with them. The Horchata was also very tasty, the best I ever had even, but only for the first few sips; after that, it was sickeningly sweet. Overall, the meal did not sit well with me and I was disappointed that we went through that much effort for that little pay off.

The Taco Bistec was underwhelming.

But La Super Rica was not a totally lost meal: it was a learning experience for me. Most importantly, I learned to not let myself get that hungry before I eat. It only makes me crabby, impatient and self-absorbed, and my poor family were the ones who had to suffer me this time. I learned that I should use Yelp and judge long lines with discretion, as popular does not always mean good, especially for someone as snobby as me. Also, I learned that Julia Child is not infallible. Or maybe the taqueria has changed greatly since her visit there, which is certainly possible. Either way, La Super Rica’s current hype is undeserved.