It’s not for everyone. But Masa y Taza is drawing crowds for its distinct take on chorizo and its massive, Chihuahua-style tortillas sobaqueras used for breakfast burritos. For owners John Beck and Chef Gabriel Pulido, the idea is simple: to bring freshly crafted Mexican-American food that reflects the households they grew up in.
John emphasizes that TikTok might be pulling in the lines, especially on weekends—”One day we sold out of chorizo, so I was literally counting down the line of people, waiting to get to the person I had to inform they couldn’t try the chorizo”— but it is meant to be a space for the community and used by the community.
Not your traditional chorizo: Masa y Taza goes herbal and earthy for a pork and chicken chorizo that harken to California and Mexico.
John and Chef Gabriel tout their proprietary blend of spices—which one can infer as some form of chiles, like the distinct guajillo and ancho you can taste in the rojo, to things like cumin and allspice—as the ultimate key to their distinct forms of chorizo. And they keep it very straight with two styles of chorizo: a pork-based rojo and a chicken-based verde.
Each comes out paste-like, with its meat ground to a fine, almost disintegrating point. For the rojo, a guajillo-ancho combo with a Middle Eastern quality. And for the verde, a completely Californian take where kale and parsley partner with the more traditional cilantro and jalapeño to give a hyper-earthy, peppery-but-not-spicy quality that is certainly the space’s most unique offering. Paired with an array of salsas that never reach anything outright spicy—something the more hardcore salsa fans like myself admittedly lament—they are, rather smartly, catering to the everyone crowd.
And while both deviate from traditional, say, chorizo rojo from San Luis Potosà or the famed chorizo verde of Toluca—sausage-like chunks of heavily seasoned meat—they harken to a feel that John and Chef Gabriel have shared through generations of Mexican-American upbringings. With relatives in Chihuahua—a state that loves its wheat, like the neighboring Sonora—flour tortillas rule the day.
That means house-made tortillas that are genuinely solid, especially in a town ruled (rightfully) by Sonoratown’s par example flour tortillas. They have an option for just a tortilla with butter—an option no one should dismiss.
Yes, there’s wifi. And the drinks, tortillas, and sweets are where it’s at. So, yes, come hang out.
In essence, John emphasizes that Masa y Taza is ultimately a place he hopes the community hangs out.
“We have solid wifi, so yes, come and just grab a coffee and pastry with your laptop,” he said happily. “Just like our tortillas, all our drinks are made in-house. Everything on the menu is crafted by hand using fresh ingredients—so whether you need a hefty burrito or just a small cafecito, come in.”
They have classic cafe de olla—the cinnamon-tinged coffee that leans heavily into the pilloncillo in Masa y Taza’s version—as well as a variety of house offerings like horchata latter and Mexican mochas.
And the real treat? Churro French toast with cajeta—and at less than $10, an absolute gem of an offerings.
Masa y Taza is located at 1538 E. 4th St.
