La Pinata Tortas Y Jugos

A random hole in the wall place. I decided to order the only sandwich that wasn’t translated, and I ended up with the meatiest, manliest, greatest sandwich on the planet. I’m not sure how they fit steak, chicken, egg, avo, + the works into that sandwich, but they did it and it was soo good.

Juice is on the loose.
Quite the moment:
Quite the smoothie: $ 3 for 16oz of pineapple and strawberry blended with fresh O.J.
Take a burrito to go too. It’s an impressive mix of freshly grilled chicken, pinto beans, lettuce and pico de gallo. So good the flour tortilla was irrelevant.
O.J. would have been better off spending time here.

A pretty small place with a small staff that actually produces top quality mexican food, and being in the Mission where Mexican is abundant, that is hard to do. I would recommand the Tortas, its in the name they have to do those right and they do. It was my first Torta so it’s special, i’ve gotten Tortas from other places since and nothing compares to this hole in the wall

It was Friday lunchtime, and I was pretty psyched to get a real Torta in the Mission. Good Unilocal reviews here, so I wasn’t weirded out by the fact that almost no one was in the restaurant.
I got the «mother of all Tortas.» It definitely had enough meat ingredients to be the mother of all species of animals. But: none of the meats were particularly tasty, with the possible exception of hotdog, yes hotdog. I thought one of the meats was lengua, which is usually the bomb, so I was kind of surprised by this kind of low-​flavor yet diverse animal flesh pile.
Next time I’d try the one that’s hotdog and lengua.

I don’t want to be a bit too chauvinist, but I much prefer a man to prepare my burritos. I’m also quite picky on my burritos too. «Now you know I’m a spoiled «son of a b!»
However along the Mission Street strip, majority of the workers at this ample restaurant and most torta places are females. It’s not that Joe Cool mind at all!
But can these sweet ladies make a burrito to satisfy Joe Cool?
For $ 7.00, I ordered my usual Grilled Steak Burrito. The super burrito is a very hefty size too. Even for a guy who is monitoring his hourglass-​figure like myself, the silver-​bullet was okay. But the restaurant adds shredded lettuce in the interior of my burrito. My treat:
«Okay, I should eat more leafy greens… that is so funny!»
I also ordered a side of chips and salsa. «Am I at Chevy?»
Instead of giving me chips that has been sitting on the counter since Reagan was president, I get a fat ass plate of freshly fried tortilla chips with fresh and colorful scoop of salsa. Because of my luring charm, I think the plate of chips was free. One bite of the chips, my tongue was burning with appreciative freshness. «Oh, you got to love fresh tortilla chips» My chips:
The dish of fresh chips is definitely a must when I come back. I might try the famous tortas too.
Cash only
Health Department score is: 79. Spit-​shine clean, huh?
Just get the chips and try the tortas and quit whining!

Horrible burrito with old dry meat.

I’d like to like this place. The service was friendly, there’s a big menu, and my friend’s mushrooms-​and-​onions torta was decent.
I, however, ordered a carnitas torta, and had to pick out about half the «meat” – aka big blobs of fat. The rest of the torta was fine, but the meat was rock-​bottom quality. I would never come back here.

Perhaps it’s my own fault for ordering a burrito in a torta spot, but this was the worst burrito I’ve ever had. I ordered a regular burrito with carnitas and salsa verde. Instead I got a burrito with cheese, some chicken mixed with carnitas that were overcooked and regular salsa. The burrito wasn’t folded properly so I had to eat it with a fork because it was bursting open, so it became immediately apparent the salsa components were less than fresh. Also carrots in my burrito, what is that shit? Will never go back.

i probably should have not eaten a burrito and in stead had a torta, considering this places is all about tortas y jugos.
the burrito wasn’t earth shattering, but i can’t say it was bad by any means.

This torteria is very close to my office. You pretty much get what you ask for. If you don’t know what to ask for, you could get mediocre food. The milanesa could be fresh one day, or it could have been sitting around for a while. Ask and observe my friends — you get what you ask for, but that is true of so many other places. Generally when I got to La Piñata I have a carrot juice and eat the orange salad, some times the grilled chicken salad. It is great and satisfying, and way cheaper than what I would pay at some other restaurant in this continuously gentri-​fried hood. Wait a minute mis gringuitos — a Mexican eating salad, you ask??? That is muy loco! To quote Mad Men, it is like a woman thinking for herself or a dog riding a bike!!!
The pace is packed for lunch. The lady that owns the place is very personable and hardworking. She accepted an enormous short notice order for an event I was planning. I had to feed a bunch of adult students. I asked for vegan tortas — I told her not to use lard on the refried beans, and no cheese/​meat. She proudly told me she doesn’t use lard on the beans, ever. She made the tortas with beans, peppers, avocado, lettuce and tomato (Yes «Jesse», Mexican people eat lettuce). The tortas were grilled, crunchy and delicious. You simply can’t beat the price she quoted me. She even gave me a lot of chips and salsa for free!
This place is nothing fancy — but then again, I don’t go there for the «scene». If you want scene, go to Puto Alegre on Valencia. A good litmus test for me is seeing how many Mexicans are eating at any given place on The Mission. If the skinny jean, big glasses, waxed mustache ratio is out of hand, it raises a red flag for me. If you are a snob, go eat brunch at the Hyatt with your auntie Flo. If you get diarrhea from eating at La Piñata, it serves you right. — that means your prissy little digestive system is not ready for the brave new world. 500 years of oppression makes your skin (and stomach) thick as adobe walls.

I came here with a empty stomach knowing that I was going to eat a delicious torta. My bf at the time stumbled upon this place and raved about it for almost 6 months before he took me.
My expectations were high so I was a bit worried about the final outcome. The place is a large hole in the wall Mexican restaurant. It was pretty empty when we arrived which is good for us (no wait). My bf ordered the torta that came with everything and the kitchen sink. I got the modest chicken torta and regretted it once I took a bite of his. You have to see the photo I took of it to believe how big it was. We finished half his torta and I wrapped mine away because I was too full from eating his. We also ordered watermelon juice. OMG, I was in heaven. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a refreshing drink.
I haven’t gone back here since but this place is hands down the best sandwich place I’ve ever been to. I have to come back but I know I’ll have to work out for hours to break even on the calorie count.

This is something I should of Unilocaled about a while back, but after seeing «No Reservations» in San Francisco, I had to let people know there’s other Cubana tortas out there as well. Yes, La Piñata’s Cubana has it all– hot dogs, headcheese, breaded steak, chorizo, and all the fixins. Sounds crazy, but it’s truly flavorful. They have a hefty selection of tortas, even for vegetarians. And if you’re not in a torta mood, I recommend their tacos. La Piñata is all about value as well.

i had the Mother of all Tortas today for lunch. the cubana. basically the kitchen sink of tortas. whatever they have in the fridge, it gets thrown in here. breaded steak, hot dogs, etc. it was good and way too big to finish.
$ 9 but big enough to share with a buddy. crazy stuff!

Great value. I love their super taco for $ 2.50 each. It’s really hard to find lunch for under $ 5 these days. Two tacos with some salsa on the table makes for a good time. Yes, it’s a dive but the staff is hard working and friendly. They clean tables promptly and give out napkins with a smile. Hopefully as they get more business they can invest in making a nicer sit down place.

With energy hung over sapped, I walked in not knowing the name, much less the rep. The only thing that creak-​moaned in my mind was, ‘dear lord just give me something hot, oily, and with carbs’- From what I read (after the brunch fact was that), they specialize in Tortas. I chose a Lomo de Puerco (pork shoulder) taco and a tamale. The tamale was too dense and I wouldn’t recommend it. The tortillas on the taco were a little dry/​stiff and that’s bad news bears. However, the pork shoulder meat was awesome… the best I’ve had in S.F.
Tacos are $ 2; you can find them slightly cheaper elsewhere. Tamales are also $ 2; that’s pretty cheap (tamale lady is $ 4). There’s absolutely nothing special about the salsas.
The atmosphere is pretty sparse/​grunge/​vanilla and includes a huge mural on one wall with an inordinate amount of cats (?)

This place does not have the best atmosphere. Frankly it’s run down. It’s just a Tortas and juice place and I don’t mind run down but clean, unfortunately this place is just plain grubby. They need to scrub the gunk off the floor and the funk out of the corners.
They are also quite disorganized. It took them 20 minutes to make my Torta and there were only three tables including me. By the time it was finally done I had to take it to go.
Oh one more thing; they made me by far the best Torta I’ve ever had, in fact one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had.

Came here because it was raining, was lazy and hungry, and just happened to be across the street. Discovered the la mexicana; which has all 3 of the necessary food groups: 1) carne asada 2) chorizo 3) hot dog. nuff said.
It’s precariously piled on top of lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, toasted torta bread and them smushed together in the panini machine… come to mama my little mexicana…

Pretty average tortas. Three gripes:
(1) To me, milanesa de res is the test of a good torta place, and it’s not very good here. The milanesa is a really thin piece of meat with tons of breading. When the meat is that thin and you fry it, it dries out. Basically like eating breaded jerky. I will say that finding a good milanesa in this town is pretty tough (Tortas Los Picudos is right on, though).
(2) Stingy with the avocado. Come on, you charge seven bucks for a sandwich, give me half an avocado, like most other torta places.
(3) The standard cheese here is mozzarella, not queso fresco. Surprises me every time.
Honestly, no real reason to come here if you are willing to walk over to Tortas Los Picudos.

Ok… I’ve had tortas from several places and I gotta say, this is the place to go. The tortas are really tasty… you almost want to try each one but they are too big. But I can’t deny it… I love em… Their salsas are really good and what got my attention as well, was having a torta with a glass of fresh juices… can’t go wrong. I go there often and it seems they are remodeling the place, which is looking nicer. There is always a new item on the menu. The service is great and the owners are very friendly. It seems everyone knows them personally, which you don’t get much around restaurants.
On the burrito… I used to go to El Farolito and once I had one here, I could tell the difference… the burritos at this place taste fresh. I really like this place and given that I am mexican descendant and really know what true authentic mexican food is, BELIEVE me this is the place to go… I promise, you will like the food. So if you want something quick while your in the Mission or to take home… check this place out.

For too long I have dismissed the torta as the buck toothed, coke bottle-​glassed little brother of my beloved burrito. Well, folks, I was wrong. After reading the impassioned and intelligent reviews of Tory S. thetorta​.yelp​.com/ I began to wonder if I was squandering a natural resource and taking for granted a hidden jewel of the taqueria menu. As I wandered aimlessly down Mission street looking for munchies Torteria Rosita caught my eye. I didn’t even realize there was such a thing as a «torteria.»
The interior is nothing special. It kind of reminds me of an old piñata. It’s really brightly colored but a little dingy. It says, «Hey, hombre, let’s party! But, you know, you really should have come earlier.» That’s cool, I have pretty low expectations for interior design of taquerias and torterias and at 5 to 7 dollars a pop, who cares?
Torteria Rosita is, as their name would imply, mostly tortas. They have tacos and enchiladas but the bulk of the menu is tortas that are a combination of six or seven basic ingredients. All tortas come with lettuce, tomatoes, pickled jalepenos, mayo, cheese, onions and avocado on a toasty roll.
I came here two consecutive days. I would suspect small amounts of narcotics to be the reason I came back the following day but at these prices I highly doubt it. On my second visit I decided to branch out and try the combination called «La Mexicana» which was comprised of carne asada, chorizo and sausage. As I bit into it there was the carne asada, chorizo, mmmm, spicy and flavorful, and the sausage? Well now, amigos, in America we call that «hot dog.» At least they had the good sense to heat it up and slice it lengthwise. But, yeah, still a little weird.
This new discovery, by no means, marks the end of my burrito addiction but it does mean there will be a few more to go around for you suckers who don’t give tortas the time of day.