Who needs atmosphere?

Super Taqueria is already quite popular. Throughout our hour-long visit, there was a constant line queuing at the counter. At one point, the number of people in line exceeded the number of available seats.

“Where in the world are all of these people going to sit?” my girlfriend Sara asked.

“Well, more than half the people that have come in here have gotten their food to go,” I replied.

“I don’t know why, what with all this great atmosphere ….”

That’s sarcasm, folks. This place isn’t so hot on the atmosphere. The walls are an ugly orange and mostly bare. While we were there, they had the TV sound on and music playing from behind the counter, which was a real discombobulating combination. The place is kind of a mess: There are little bits of napkin and straw wrappers on the floor and some of the tables were in desperate need of a wipe-down. Not exactly a super-romantic atmosphere.

I do want to draw one quick distinction: When I say that this place is a mess, I’m talking about the dining area, not the food-prep area. As far as I could tell, the food prep is clean and up to snuff. It’s just that there is such a constant influx of people in the dining area that staff seems to have a hard time keeping up.

This restaurant has good, cheap eats. And they’re about the only quasi-authentic Mexican place in South Reno.

Our friend Tony was late meeting us. He had trouble finding the place—my directions apparently inadequate—and asked some local teenagers for help. Not only had they been happy to tell him where it was, but they also went on at great length about how great the food tasted and argued among themselves about what dish to recommend him.

Tony was much more decisive and went with the super burrito ($4.50), a big fat thing stuffed with plenty of chicken and all your usual burrito suspects: lettuce, rice, sour cream, guacamole and so on.

“It’s pretty good,” he said. “Though I don’t think I would say ‘super.’ ‘Super’ is a lot to live up to.”

I had a combination plate ($5) with two chicken tacos, rice and beans. Solid tasty fare. The food is somewhere in the middle of the mythical “authenticity” meter. It has a bit of the cilantro-and-lime flair of the cherished local hole-in-the-wall taquerias and the larger portions and milder flavors of the more Americanized restaurants. This combination is probably why this place has such broad appeal. The clientele is quite diverse, but it makes for food that’s less distinctive overall.

Sara had a fish taco ($2) and a quesadilla ($2.50), served with big dollops of sour cream and guacamole. The fish taco was OK, and the three of us debated the guacamole. Tony thought that it was better than average, Sara thought it was below average, and I found it to be perfectly average. And I was right, as you’ll see if you run the numbers.

Super Tacqueria is a good spot for South Renoites to pick up tacos on their way home.