La Verdad Taqueria/ 1 Lansdowne Street/ Boston, MA 02215

Looks can be deceiving

The only day worth trying La V

There is no doubt that Ken Oringer is a bright man.  And word on the street is that he is a very nice guy.  That is a bit hard to believe, given the fact that he is a chef, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt, especially since I have never met him nor knowingly set eyes on him.  La Verdad is a great idea.  Put a taco place on the corner across the street from Fenway Park and next to Jillian's, and the drunks will come.  Not only will business be slammin' at least 81 days out of the summer, but add in the fact that the House of Blues just set up shop next door, and the proverbial recipe for success is yours.  For that I applaud him.  What is not as applaudable is the food at La Verdad.  Luckily, I happened upon La V. on a Tuesday.  I say "luckily" only in the sense that Tuesday is $1 taco day.  If that were not the case, the $2.50 tacos, $8.00 burritos, and $9 tortas would have probably sent me foraging for cornmeal and pigs somewhere else.  Some may call a $9 sandwich cheap, but if my lunch consists of 3 tacos for $7.50 sin tax, I'm gonna be expecting a Jarritos for free.  Although I never planned to find myself at La Verdad, its pretty pink sign called out to me after a breakfastless morning and I gave in.  With Tapatio and pickled vegetables on the tables, it seemed pretty promising.  I decided on one of each of the three $1.00 offerings-Chicken, Carnitas, and Pork.   I usually have faith in a place that serves its tacos with only onion and cilantro and no yellow cheese.  They looked and smelled good but it all went downhill from there.  The chicken tasted like old rotisserie chicken with some chilli powder on it.  The pork was dry as can be with little flavor.  The carnitas was the best of the bunch, and had some kick to it, but it was far from good.  I did like the teenie tiny handmade corn tortillas that the meat came in, but everything between the Tapatio and the tortilla was pretty sad, and I'm being generous when I say sad.  The Oringer Empire will not suffer because of La Truth, because drunk basbeball fans will pay for tacos and burritos that taste almost Mexican at slightly inflated prices.  People who like Mexican food, on the other hand, will have yet another Mexican restaurant in Boston that they wish were better.