Mr. Taco, a cozy restaurant just outside downtown Wichita Falls, provides memorable Mexican food basics and an authentic atmosphere.

The tiny shop has a nondescript exterior except for the giant painted anthropomorphic taco painted on the sign, and the inside is clean and vibrant with a handful of tables and lots of natural light coming in.

We ordered at the front counter from a personable and helpful man before seating ourselves beside the large windows. The food took about 20 minutes to come out, but the time passed quickly thanks to the free chips and salsa. It was also worth the wait because the food was freshly prepared and made-to-order. The homemade salsa had good flavor and it wasn’t overwhelmingly spicy. I was able to keep eating it until our food came without feeling like my mouth was burning, and I’m not big on spicy.

I ordered a brisket burrito combo which included brisket, beans, cheese, avocado and potato, along with a Coke bottled in Mexico and made with real sugar. I was a little surprised at just how authentic and fresh the menu was—even the guacamole was freshly prepared.

My burrito was delicious and even though it was slightly over-sized, I had to try to eat it all just because it was so good. We also tried the “pork with red chili sauce” served street taco style on soft corn tortillas with lettuce, diced tomatoes and onions and cilantro. The flavor of the red chili sauce was excellent, but be warned that is also doubles as orange lip stain.

We also tried a barbacoa plate that came with rice, refried beans a flour tortillas on the side. The barbacoa was of the finer-shredded variety, but that didn’t affect the taste at all. It was excellent, tender and juicy just like barbacoa should be.

We ended the meal with sopapillas for dessert. They were pretty big and and the flavor was good, although they could have been slightly less dense. But after being so impressed by the previous parts of my meal, I wasn’t too concerned with the minor room for improvement with the dessert.

To top it off, my meal cost $13 including a 20 percent tip, so I wasn’t bothered by the price either.

Mexican food is not my personal favorite but I loved my lunch at Mr. Taco and would definitely go back anytime I had a craving for a burrito. Mr. Taco is definitely my new go-to for Mexican food and even though it’s not located right by campus like my usual haunts, I’ll be a return customer.