On the search for the best tacos in Connecticut brings us to Sayulita in South Glastonbury.
This place gets super busy super fast.
Even on weekdays, there can often be a line at 3:25 waiting for the place to open.
We tried four tacos, and while the lobster + black truffle taco was not one of them, we’ll be back.
The first thing to know is that all the tacos are single-shelled flour tortillas.
There also isn’t any cilantro to be found anywhere.
And the tacos can certainly get afield from what anyone would call “authentic/classic”.
But who cares about that.
It’s big chunks of meat on tortilla shells.
But here’s the thing about the tacos: It feels like there’s too many cooks.
Cook #1 knows meat and blending flavors.
Cook #1 comes up with a taco idea, cooks the meat, and makes a truly wonderful taco.
Cook #2 is like an improv partner who looks at the taco cook #1 created and says: “yes, and…” and then adds completely unnecessary things to it.
We’ll see them in action: here we go, from least favorite to most favorite:
Fried chicken taco
Chicken thigh deep fried with a salty crust.
Its on top of kale and aioli.
The aioli is unnecessary.
The kale is unnecessary.
Hell, the tortilla is unnecessary.
The fried chicken is really good, however.
That means, your best bet is to order this, throw away everything but the chicken, and cover the fried chicken in their very good hot sauce.
But as a taco, it’s just okay.
The Rating: Fried Chicken Taco
6/10
Carne Asada Taco
This is like a completely wonderful bbq taco.
Cook #1 made some excellent beef and bbq sauce.
The beef pulls apart nicely, and the bbq sauce is a little out of place because it tastes like standard KC-style bbq sauce.
Then cook #2 says: “how about we add a bunch of unnecessary crema, and candied jalapenos.
The candied jalapenos on their own are tasty enough, but are almost gummy and are very odd on this taco.
The Rating: Carne Asada taco
7/10
Braised Brisket Suedero taco
This taco is excellent overall.
Suedero (suadero) is a cut of meat that has the consistency of lean pork belly, except its beef…and it’s fried, so be aware of that.
The meat it cooked in a way that feels off, like it’s been slow cooked first and then deep fried.
Turns out, suadero is often pickled first before fried.
It’s in a slightly spicy red sauce, with a little semi-traditional onion and cilantro.
Then cook #2 comes in a says: “yes, and we add an unreasonable amount of guacamole too!”
But the guacamole is good, so it works well.
Very well, this is an excellent taco.
The Rating: Beef Brisket Suedero Taco
7.5/10
Crispy Sweet Chili Shrimp Taco
This.
This taco.
It has it all.
The shrimp are super meaty, perfectly fried.
The pineapple salsa they put on top is very good, although it says pineapple but it tastes a little more like mango.
Then there are the two sauces, a thai sweet chili sauce (who doesn’t like that) and a jalapeno mayo.
Both combined hit that wonderful spicy-sweet combo.
Cook #2 insists on throwing some toasted almonds on top, but there are so few they don’t do anything.
This taco is wonderful, and there are so many meaty shrimps on such a small shell it’s just wonderful.
The Rating: Crispy Sweet Chili Shrimp Taco
8/10
https://www.instagram.com/eatthisct/
Hours:
Sunday 1–8PM
Monday Closed
Tuesday 3:30–9PM
Wednesday 3:30–9PM
Thursday 3:30–9PM
Friday 3:30–9PM
Saturday 1–9PM
Menu
Phone: (860) 430-9941