Finding ‘worth it’ Tacos proves tough

The BuzzFeed series “Worth It” has racked up millions of viewers and fans since its introduction by creator Steven Lim in September 2016. In each video, fans are introduced to a dish that is offered at three drastically different prices and the people who try the food determine whether or not the price tag attached to the item is worth it — hence the title of the show.

We decided we had to try this concept for ourselves (on a much smaller scale of course) with one of our favorite foods that BuzzFeed has yet to review: tacos.

Before we began our experiment, we had to do some research on where to find cheap, moderate and expensive tacos. Perhaps not surprisingly, we had a hard time finding expensive tacos, while the low end of the price scale was crowded.

Starting our search for cheap tacos, we went to a small restaurant in San Jose called Los Dos Compadres. There, we ordered two regular tacos for about $2 each, a pretty normal price for a taco.

The location of the restaurant was pretty hidden and can’t easily be seen from the street; however, the inside of the store was clean and inviting.

The tacos themselves were pretty average: They weren’t outstanding, but weren’t dry or falling apart either. Los Dos Compadres also offers free extra toppings, like lime or salsa, which we all tried. Considering that the taco was only $2, we got what we paid for.

Next, we went to Big Basin Burger Bar in downtown Saratoga where they sell a plate of three tacos for $12, with each taco around $4. These cost twice as much as the previous tacos, so we were hoping for something special.

While the interior of the restaurant was friendly and clean, the tacos themselves proved to be to be greasy and uninviting and certainly not worth the extra cost.

For our expensive restaurant, we went to La Victoria in San Jose. We wanted to get the most expensive tacos they offered, so we decided to order the super tacos, which were about $3.99 each, but came out to around $4.50 after tax.

The super tacos came with beans, cheese, guacamole, salsa, sour cream and your choice of meat inside. The filling was much more generous than any of the other tacos we had before, despite its similar price to the tacos from Big Basin Burger Bar.

Each of these tacos was about double the size of the other tacos we had and were much more filling, so the price made sense. It also had much more flavor and complexity to it than any of the other tacos we had eaten.

After eating all three types of tacos, it was time for each of us to decide which was the most worth it. For Jayne, it was La Victoria because their classic orange sauce made the tacos worth the extra couple dollars. Megan and Callia picked Los Dos Compadres for its overall value.

In the end, the “drastically different prices” part didn’t work out as well as for us as it did for BuzzFeed since we didn’t have as large of a budget that Lim must get from BuzzFeed. In the future, we would want to review something with a wider price range than tacos.