Like a lot of my favorite restaurants the exterior of Mi Ranchito belies the quality of the food.

Tucked away in a decrepit quick mart in Southeast Austin, Mi Ranchito is one of the few places in town that doesn’t bother with making their tortillas from scratch yet still manages to turn out A-grade Mexican food.

Their vaunted salsa bar has shrunk by half but the ones that survived the cut are fabulous.

I ran by a couple days ago and sampled a carnitas gordita that weighed in right at one pound of pure deliciousness.

5200 E William Cannon Dr

512-632-9196