At La Torta Gorda, Jonathan Kauffman Finds a Rare Taste of Puebla

John Birdsall

La Torta Gorda's quezadilla flor de calabaza, squash blossom quesadilla.

​Most Americans don't particularly care if the stuff we call Mexican food reflects subtleties of region. Tortas, tacos, quesadillas: They're pretty much the same, we think, either good or bad or in between, sometimes greasier, sometimes cheesier.

In today's "Eat" column, SF Weekly food critic Jonathan Kauffman slides onto the bolt-down stools in diner-turned-sandwich-slinger La Torta Gorda on 24th Street in the Mission. But wait: In place of the generic, Kauffman finds a portal to Mexico's highland city Puebla, rare in the Bay Area. The quesadillas ― filled with squash blossoms or huitlacoche and bright green leaves of epazote ― are fantastic. Also your new brunch obsession, tlayocos, and the un-emasculated mole. Kauffman:

Mole poblano, too often, is the Muzak version of itself, too sweet, too soft, too chocolaty. In La Torta Gorda's mole, the potency is restored: the toasted chiles reign over the fruit and ground nuts in the sauce, and their faint, charry bitterness melds to the late-hitting note of dark chocolate.

Sweet.