While there is certainly no shortage of cool places in the city to get amazing tacos, the newly opened Mission Taqueria, 1516 Sansom St., is hitting the ground running when it comes to competing with the best of its peers.
Perched above the Oyster House, the lively space has a cheerful, tasteful ’80s vibe and décor, along with quick, cheerful service. Even when Mission Taqueria is busy, the food comes to the table at a brisk pace. There’s also a not-so-subtle androgynous hipster Southwestern aesthetic among the wait staff.
They have some spicy cocktails that are worth checking out. The Bee Sting ($10) is spiked with jalapeño and honey, while the Frozen ($9) cocktail is a curiously refreshing watermelon and cucumber daiquiri with an added kick of serrano chiles. Margaritas ($8-$9) can be ordered in a few different flavors and made spicy as well.
Mission Taqueria has five different salsas, which can be ordered on sampler plates of three ($9) or five ($14). The fresca, verde and habañero salsas will definitely satisfy your traditional salsa cravings, wherever they fall in the mild-to-spicy range. The pepita and the coconut-hazelnut salsas are something different all together, each having a slightly sweet hummus-like texture. With autumn upon us, the pumpkin-ish pepita should be wildly popular.
The snack plates offer some interesting twists on Mexican favorites. The chicharrons ($6) are slightly spicy, crunchy fried pork skins and the esquites ($5) is a dish presented like deconstructed Mexican street corn: a bowl full of fresh-cut buttery corn dressed with lime mayo, chili spice and queso fresco. The Coctele de Mariscos ($12) is a ceviche of grilled shrimp, calamari and clam that was pleasantly bright and citrusy.
But the tacos at Mission are the stars of the menu. They come in threes and are available with a number of fillings, ranging from goat and veal tongue to summer squash. We steered ourselves toward the grilled wild shrimp tacos ($14) and the fried mahi mahi tacos ($15). The mahi mahi tacos were crispy and tasty with pickled cabbage and jalapeño mayo. The shrimp tacos scratch the taco itch as well, with red onion and mole verde.
With a range of tastes and flavors every bit as exciting and complex as its décor, Mission Taqueria is definitely getting the fiesta started in Center City.