VIVA LA VEGAN! Soy curl tacos at Los Gorditos. IMAGE: chrisryanphoto.com

Time was when tofu tortas did not exist outside of the Frito-fueled hallucinations of deprived vegans. Enter Los Gorditos. Its mission: allowing vegans to enjoy the slow fade into portliness as much as their meat-eating brethren. Consider it accomplished. In this dining room, for once, it is a vegan’s world. Oh, there’s meat—cabeza, lengua, encebollados—but it pales in comparison with the animal-friendly options. Surprisingly, it’s the tofu, Soy Curls and Soyrizo that win the day as they take the hit for God’s great creatures. The Soy Curl taco ($2), with a thick and greasy tortilla dressed in beans and grilled peppers, is almost creepily meaty (but with none of the guilt), while the Soyrizo burrito ($5) has a pleasantly tangy kick lurking in its Chunnel-wide heft. Los Gorditos is also home to the best vegan quesadilla ($6) in the universe, with fake cheese that actually melts and cubes of tofu—the other other white meat—doing one hell of a chicken impersonation. Welcome to Mexican food, my vegan friends.

• Best Bite: Soy Curl tacos ($2).
  
• Best deal: The Soyrizo burrito ($5) is big enough for two meals. I hear they’re changing its name to “The Oden.”
  
• I’ll pass: The freezer-burned tinged chicharrón ($1.75 taco) will make a vegan out of you.