The Abridged version:
Carnitas, shredded pork cooked at a low temperature in lard, are the flagship dish of Michoacán.
These five local spots make some of the best carnitas in Sacramento.
Two are roadside stands, and one is a longtime Franklin Boulevard market.
If you visit the verdant, monarch butterfly-filled Mexican state of Michoacán, you can travel an hour from the stately colonial capital city of Morelia to the carnitas capital of the world: Quiroga.
There, concentrated around the central market, you will find dozens of glass-fronted booths selling carnitas. Everywhere you look, greasy, gleaming piles of pig meat are being chopped with machetes to order. Vendors hand out small carnitas taco samples so that you can test their wares, which include not just meat from pork butt and shoulder, but many different cuts including buche (stomach), costillas (ribs) and cueritos (skin).
So what makes carnitas carnitas? It is the fact that it’s cooked at a low temperature in lard — cooked confit, if you want to be fancy about it. Many recipes have herbs and spices like bay leaves and Mexican oregano; orange juice is also a popular ingredient. But Michoacán-style is often just pork, salt and fat.
Many Mexican restaurants in Sacramento offer carnitas, but these five places stand out. Here’s a look at where to find standout carnitas in the city, from roadside food stands to a notable Downtown newcomer.
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La Esperanza
5028 Franklin Blvd.
Huevos rancheros con carnitas from La Esperanza. (Cameron Clark)
La Esperanza doesn’t need influencer-generated buzz to create business. This market/deli has consistently had lines outside predating social media, when we were all blissfully unaware Mark Zuckerberg even existed.
This deli is part of the Plascencia family empire (which also includes a panaderia and supermarket in this same complex, plus Los Jarritos restaurant on Broadway) and on a recent Saturday morning the line spanned 35 minutes. Most folks were there for the carnitas, which on the weekends includes cueritos and costillas in addition to carne.
The meat is a screaming bargain at $9/pound. You can pick up white onion, cilantro and La Esperanza-made tortillas and salsa verde in the deli to make yourself a platter of tacos at home, or buy takeout carnitas tacos for $2.25 each. The salsa is key, because these carnitas are on the drier side of the spectrum. They are sold in foil-lined bags to keep them warm, and are served as big, craggy chunks of meat with crispy edges. Make sure to secure the bag.
Ricas Carnitas
3837 Franklin Blvd.
Carnitas tacos from Ricas Carnitas. (Becky Grunewald)
If you see a business with a long line for carnitas down the block every Saturday and Sunday, why not open a carnitas stand a few blocks away to siphon away some customers? This stand, with a spray-painted sign simply reading “Ricas Carnitas” (delicious carnitas) did just that.
It’s a simple arrangement: a tent set up in a driveway sheltering a metal cauldron as big as a hot tub, inside of which is a brown brew of broth and pig parts. This stand sells only carnitas, $5 for an enormous taco of either pura carne or mixed buche and cueritos doctored up with salsa, onion, cilantro and lime. You can take it to go or dine at the one table. These are superior quality, moist carnitas.
Drunken Tortilla
801 14th St.
The outside of Drunken Tortilla and No Sabo Concheria. (Martin Christian)
This restaurant is a newcomer on the scene and a welcome addition to Downtown Sacramento. Most of the attention seems to be on attached cafe No Sabo Concheria’s photogenic baked goods and sweet coffee drinks, but don’t miss the tacos wrapped in handmade flour tortillas. They’re made with wagyu beef tallow, which marketing manager Eileen Le said makes them lighter and fluffier with a better chew. This Tex-Mex-inspired spot also folds in some SoCal influence: the branding was inspired by the Los Angeles area chain HomeState.
Carnitas, slow-cooked for five hours, are one of the meats Drunken Tortilla has on offer. They’re served as a breakfast option on chilaquiles on weekends, or in tacos with pickled onions from 11 a.m. to close. Recommended salsa pairings are one charming aspect of Drunken Tortilla’s menu; they endorse the salsa verde with the carnitas, but be sure to try the smoky chiltepin salsa as well. Each bite yields lusciously soft carnitas with crispy edges, rich refried beans and crunchy onions. All these spots are worthy of a visit, but this taco holds the best carnitas to be had on the grid.
Carnitas Michoacán Mi Rey
2844 Northgate Blvd.
Carnitas tacos from Carnitas Michoacán Mi Rey. (Cameron Clark)
The ambiance in Carnitas Michoacán Mi Rey is warm and welcoming, with brightly colored pictures on the wall and music playing. And Mi Rey serves beer, which was represented in abundance both from the bottle and in micheladas on a recent weekend lunch visit.
Mi Rey obviously specializes in carnitas but has a varied menu that can be pieced together from handwritten signs on the walls and glancing around at other tables. No printed menu was offered before the order was taken by a server. A sign touted tacos de sesos (brains), which is a dish you don’t see on Sacramento menus very often.
The carnitas are served with an accoutrement caddy of pico de gallo, limes and lightly pickled white onion and jalapeño slices. Squeeze bottles of red and green salsas are on every table. Best of all, the sizable corn tortillas are made by hand to order. That touch, coupled with the juicy meat and ooey gooey chewy cueritos, makes this spot the “rey” for carnitas.
Carnitas Marquez
6340 Stockton Blvd.
Carnitas tacos from Carnitas Marquez. (Becky Grunewald)
Carnitas Marquez has a more professional sign than the Ricas Carnitas booth, but like Ricas, they are there only on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. until the pig runs out. They make their tortillas by hand; an employee is constantly plucking a ball of masa from a basket and flattening it on a grill. For seating, there’s a picnic table stocked with chopped onion and cilantro, green and red salsas and pickled jalapeños.
In two tacos mixtos (with carne, buche and cueritos), the meat was more subtly flavored and less oily and salty than some of the other selections. The skin and stomach were less plentiful in the mix, creating the overall impression of a high-quality, meaty taco.
Becky Grunewald is a freelance journalist in the Sacramento region.