Taqueria Los Ocampo

The textural differences of various dishes at Los Ocampo are riveting: The tlacoyo ($3.50)--in which the masa is combined with pinto beans and cheese, griddle-fried, and topped with radishes, lettuce, and crema--is rustic and rough-hewn. Meanwhile, the gordita ($4) has almost polenta-like swaths of creaminess. The quesadillas at Los Ocampo are so different from those at other places it's like comparing chicken nuggets to a whole roast chicken. Order one here (solo, for $4, or with rice and beans for $8) and one of the many women behind the line molds some fresh masa into a disk, claps it into a press that flattens it into a pancake, griddles it, flips it, folds it around any choice of meat (or mushrooms and cheese for a vegetarian version), then tucks in fresh radish slices, lettuce, crema, and queso fresco. This Los Ocampo also offers several versions of fancy, such as the huarache de costilla ($6.54), a long, flat, masa cake topped with a three- or four-bone section of pork ribs that have been cooked so long they are utterly gelatinous and meltingly tender. The kitchen here is well equipped for takeout and is ringed by easy parking.

• Cuisine(s): Mexican

  Hours: Sun-Thu 9am-11pm, Fri-Sat 9am-2am

• Price: $

  Features: Takeout

• Reservations: Accepted

  Parking: No Parking