. "14"^^ . "2011-11-10T00:00:00"^^ . . "16"^^ . "For those of you yinzfolk that consider Mad Mex to be either \"Mexican food\" or even \"good food\", listen up. To quote Kenny Powers, I'm about to eff you up with some truth. This place is the real deal. Unfortunately for most of you, you have no idea what the real deal even is. Well prepare to be satisfied and recognize!\n\nThey call this place the California Taco Shop. Its basically a Tijuana-style taco shop. Pittsburgh, for a long time, has not had ANY fast food outlets serving Mexican food. This place changes that, once and for all. It also does so brilliantly.\n\nFor those of you who have no idea what authentic Mexican food is, consider yourself learned. This place has a large menu full of everything from tacos and burritos to nachos, tortas and carne asada fries. Yes, you black and gold yinzer, you heard me right. Carne asada fries. All of the items are served with your choice of meat. You have the staples like carnitas (shredded pork), carne asada (grilled steak) and chile relleno (stuffed chiles). They also have the good stuff: cabeza (head), lengua (tongue), tripas (guts)....everything that will make you happy.\n\nUnlike Chipotle or QDoba (San Francisco-style burritos), these burritos don't suck. They're not big soggy messes with American food stuffed inside of tortillas. These are real burritos the size of a baby's leg. And not just any baby, a big fatso black and gold baby with a terrible towel and a pack of Menthols. Each burrito is about a pound. And for $3.00-$9.00 this is the best deal in town.\n\nLike Chipotle and QDoba, though, they make it your way. Add beans, salsa, rice, cheese, all the fixings. Either way, you will be pleased. This is seriously what Pittsburgh has needed for years now. Suddenly, this human dump of a town sucks a whole lot less with just this one addition on thr 51. Imagine that!\n\nWe ordered two burritos. I got the carne asada, add cheese. When I asked the guy if it just came with steak, pico de gallo and guacamole, he told me yes. I knew I was in the right place at that moment. Do yourself a favor and pop your cheery with this Southwestern staple, you will not be displeased. My fiance got a chicken fajita burrito, add cheese and sour cream. It was delicious as well, but if you're gonna get chicken at a tacqueria, do yourself a favor and get it shredded. Actually, it doesn't really matter what you get, its all good.\n\nAnd yes...there's the jalepe\u00F1os and carrots. Yes there's the horchata and pi\u00F1a frescos. Yes there's the red sauce and the green sauce. Its all there, just like you remembered it (or are about to). They have breakfast burritos. They have combo plates. They have flautas (taquitos for you yinzfolks). The only thing missing is the pozole and menudo. Though, they're closed on Sundays so that's probably why. They are also not 24/7 yet, but hopefully we can change this.\n\nFor a place as awful as Pittsburgh has needed a dose of this for a while. Eat here. Eat often. Tell your friends."^^ . "8"^^ . . "5"^^ .