Anna, How I've Missed You

Anna's has been my favorite Boston-area taqueria since Day One. When I was in college, we would eat at the Davis Square branch at least once a week. Nowadays, though, I don't get there often enough... it's just don't get off at that T stop. I finally stopped by today to assuage my craving for veggies and cheese.

After years of experimentation, I have come to the decision that the Veggie Quesadilla is an amazing food. The tortilla is oiled and grilled to crispy perfection. The cheesy is creamy and not too bold. The myriad of veggies are fresh and delicious. In the production line of various fillings, there is a bin filled with cooked veggies of all sorts - zucchini, summer squash, broccoli, red onion, sweet potato and corn on the cob. You just let the guy behind the counter know which ones you specifically want or don't want, and he'll chop them up and wrap them in the crispy shell (be sure to get some of the sweet potato, though, because it really elevates the dish). The fresh salsa is a perfect accompaniment to the cooked veggies (although if the salsa is too cold, it can be a bit jarring against the warm veggies and cheese). And can you see all the cilantro in the salsa? Delicious!

And don't forget the chips and guacamole! The chips aren't stellar, just good. The guac, though, is great. The avocado is creamy and smooth, while small chunks of tomato, white onion and cilantro give some texture. It's not uniformly mixed, allowing for each bite to have a different nuance - a crunch of sweet onion, the coolness of the avocado, a hint of black pepper.

I've been hearing a lot of grumbles from various sources, especially on Chowhound, about how awful Anna's is. This visit only strengthened my view that my standard quesadilla order is far superior at Anna's than at the Boca Grande near my office. If only that Boca Grande, which opened just a few months ago, could have been an Anna's...