Contenders for carne asada tacos

The beef for the carne asada taco at Taco Factory is simply prepared - salted, then grilled.

Two places are in the running for the best carne asada soft tacos in Orange County.

Las Golondrinas, a chain of Mexican eateries in Orange County, held the edge for awhile. The diced meat had a salty seasoning and joined a layer of refried beans, cilantro and pico de gallo inside two corn tortillas. It was pure eating pleasure. The beans made it all sing and added enough heft to make it a filling taco.

But the last two times I had the tacos, they were overly salty. The salt overpowered the delicate taste of the cilantro and the tomatoey, spicy pico de gallo.

But last Friday I had the carne asada tacos from Taco Factory, a long-standing place on Marguerite Parkway in Mission Viejo. In the past I went for their shredded chicken tacos, but this time I tried the asada.

We have a contender for carne asada soft taco supremacy.

Two soft corn tortillas held the right amount of meat. There’s not much to it – the beef is salted, grilled, then chopped. What you add to the taco is up to you. I think I added some pico de gallo and cilantro. Black beans and rice completed the meal.

Both Taco Factory and Las Golondrinas are right there. If the meat were less salty at Las Golondrinas, it would probably have the edge with the addition of beans. But I could always smear beans on the tortilla from Taco Factory to make a similar taco.

Please tell me where you go to find great carne asada soft tacos. The search continues.