When we eat casual Mexican food, we almost always get different arrangements of the same basic ingredients, namely: tortillas, meat or beans, cheese and salsa, perhaps dressed up with a few other vegetables and condiments.

With this short shopping list, you have the fundamental groceries for burritos, enchiladas, tosadas, quesadillas, fajitas, nachos or tacos. But for all the similarity, each has its own appeal, and lately it is the humble charm of the taco that has captured my attention. Small and usually bargain-priced, tacos can be portioned out individually for any sized appetite and allow for a sampling of varieties in a single seating.

Transplants from Texas and the southwest have long decried the shortcomings of New Orleans’ Mexican dining choices. But the area does in fact have some surprisingly good, authentic Mexican cooking and in particular some excellent tacos.

Forget the drive-thru chains, the only border one needs run to is the one demarking Terrytown on the West Bank, home to Taqueria Jalisco. People who have experienced Mexican taquerias will recognize the style and flavors here, but it can seem quite foreign to those more accustomed to Americanized Mexican fare, where crunchy corn tortillas and combo plates are the norm. The tacos at Taqueria Jalisco are small, inexpensive, simple and utterly delicious. Instead of piles of toppings, tacos are prepared here with a choice of flavorful meats, a streak of self-applied salsa and not much else. At $1.75 a pop, they can be deceptively filling thanks to the traditional two-ply corn tortillas wrapping each one.

The chorizo sausage is spicy and appropriately greasy, while the marinated steak is pleasantly chewy. Cactus tacos offer a change of pace, especially for vegetarians, though a consistency somewhere between steamed green peppers and stewed okra can be off-putting for those sensitive to food textures.

Good as the tacos are here, they are outshined by a close relative, the gordita. The name translates roughly to “chubby little girl,” and its puffy, fried tortilla shell is indeed a bulge with meaty fillings. For $2.50, these fat little darlings are also a true steal. Supplemented with the free chips and salsa delivered with the menus, a single gordita makes a nice light lunch for less than the cost of fancy coffee drink.

The restaurant itself is clean and pleasant, decorated with streamers in the colors of the Mexican flag and the friendly waitresses bring small plates of sliced limes automatically with each fresh round of Modelo or Corona beers.

Taqueria La Mexicana, located just a little further down Terry Parkway near the Gretna border, has a similar menu and family-run ambiance. The small, corn tortilla tacos here are good, especially dressed up with the thin, very hot salsa, though the variety of fillings leaves something to be desired. The carne asada is a good choice; the dry, chopped chicken is not. Get an order of their thick and very good guacamole from the short appetizer list and save some to slather on your tacos.

Trekking to dingy suburban strip malls in search of great tacos will sound familiar to long-time patrons of Taqueros, though that part of the restaurant’s history is over now. Relocated from its obscure Kenner side street to a high profile address on lower St. Charles Avenue, Taqueros is introducing many more New Orleanians to authentic Mexican cooking. The proprietor operates two restaurants from this address, with Taqueros for casual fare and Coyoacán, located upstairs, serving a much more ambitious take on Mexican cuisine, with the trappings and prices of fine dining to boot.

Downstairs is where you’ll find the tacos and they are excellent, starting with their nonpareil tortillas. Soft and just slightly stretchy, they could be eaten on their own as a snack. Filled with baked pork and a few sharp vegetable garnishes (like pickled red onions or fresh cilantro), they are irresistible. The seafood taco here is also distinctive, singing with jalapenos chopped into the hash of fish or shrimp.

While the tacos can be ordered individually for between $2.25 and $3 each, the final bill can come as a shock to those who order food and drinks here as they would at most other taquerias. An order of chips start at $5 with pico de gallo and run to $8 with guacamole, which also happens to be superb. Drinks command premium prices as well, and a quick taco dinner here can easily exceed $20 a head.

Great, simple tacos are not new to Uptown New Orleans, which has had Taqueria Corona at its disposal since 1988. Though the restaurant is Salvadoran-owned, its tacos conform to the Mexican tradition and have been successful enough to spawn sister taquerias in the Warehouse District and Metairie. Combo plates heavy with beans and cheese are predictable enough fare here, but stick to the tacos and you will eat very well.

The fish taco is the king of the menu. Coated in a puffy batter similar to English fish and chips, the taco is finished off with crunchy raw cabbage and a light tartar sauce. Delicious. The carne asada taco is another great combination of flavors, with lime soaking the meat and a strip of grilled green onions (or cebolitas) draped on top. Those curious or savvy enough to order the tongue taco are rewarded with a deeply flavorful meat nearly as rich as liver and smoky like barbecued beef.

The specialty of the house at Juan’s Flying Burrito should be obvious, but the Uptown and Mid-City locations of this Cal-Mex joint also make good tacos. Large and served in baskets of three, they’re much more like the American taco than those served at local taquerias. Still, the smoky, highly-seasoned pork at Juan’s is good enough to transcend these distinctions. In fact, it’s altogether too tempting not to pick some out of the open tortillas to sample on its own. Also good are the fish tacos, a special that is not listed on the regular menu but is almost always available if you ask. The fish is sautéed and chopped into small chunks, then topped with a cheese mix and mango salsa. This last topping is the key ingredient, giving the taco a contrasting sweetness to the heat from the tomato salsas served on the side.

REVIEWED THIS MONTH

Taqueria Jalisco: 2007 Daniels Road, Terrytown, 368-1868

Taqueria La Mexicana: 1160 Terry Pkwy., Terrytown, 433-4013

Taqueros: 1432 St. Charles Ave., 535-9996

Taqueria Corona: 5932 Magazine St., 897-3974; 3535 Severn Ave., Metairie, 885-5088; 857 Fulton St., 524-9805

Juan’s Flying Burrito: 2018 Magazine St., 569-0000; 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., 486-9950