Restaurant Review: Overstuffed Tacos at West Valley Carnitas 

• Alex Springer

Though I am still acquiring a taste for skewered intestines and tripe tacos, I like to think that my palate has evolved to the point where I embrace offal wherever it can be found. During a visit to West Valley Carnitas, I got the opportunity to put this culinary conviction to the test.

My visit to West Valley Carnitas wasn't necessarily planned–the restaurant that was originally on my list was unexpectedly closed, so I drove around until I chanced upon this local carnitas shop. It's been in operation since 2013, owned and operated by Roberto Aguilar and his son Ivan. What made my visit even more serendipitous was the fact that West Valley Carnitas has only been in this Taylorsville location for a few months. The restaurant and its menu have undergone some serious changes from what its online presence showcases–the new West Valley Carnitas has almost exclusively shifted its focus to carnitas. At the moment, it's unknown as to whether or not the restaurant will bring back items like birria and tortas.

So what does it mean to specialize in carnitas? What does it mean to dedicate your craft to those glorious chunks of pork shoulder that are slow-cooked confit-style in pork lard? In short, it means doing the Lord's work.

I've enjoyed my fair share of carnitas, and am grateful for its prevalence at our local Latin joints. West Valley Carnitas whips up enormous batches of the stuff that can either be purchased in family packages ($38) with tortillas, rice and beans, or it can be devoured onsite in tacos ($5) or burritos ($10). The restaurant space is large–Ivan Aguilar was on duty during my visit, and he explained that the additional space was ideal for the quantities of high-quality pork that the restaurant produces.

Once I got a look at the solid operation that West Valley Carnitas was running, I decided to order a carnitas taco and a bowl of menudo ($15). From a menudo rookie's perspective, a place that had this much reverence for prepping its carnitas would be a good spot to give the traditional stew a whirl.

The tacos at West Valley Carnitas are not prepared on the silver dollar street taco tortillas–they're big and come packed with an enormous helping of carnitas. I dressed my taco up with the provided onions, pico and cilantro before giving the whole thing a squirt of lime juice and a drizzle of salsa verde. You get all the excellent flavors of street tacos here, but there's just so much more to go around that you'll kind of rethink your whole relationship with those dinky little guys.

West Valley Carnitas is also whipping up its own corn tortillas, and you get a double stack with each taco–each one is definitely a two-tortilla job. The taco garnishes are all perfectly fresh, but it's the carnitas that make you pause for reflection. I've had some great carnitas around town, but I've also had a lot that arrive totally dried out or overly chewy. West Valley Carnitas has definitely secured a place with the great ones as each bite was the epitome of melt-in-your-mouth goodness. The homemade tortillas were also excellent–they're soft but possess the tensile strength necessary to contain all that pork.

The menudo is also picture perfect when it arrives. West Valley Carnitas provides diced onions, cilantro and lime with each bowl, and these should definitely be tossed into the mix. It's a beautiful thing to see the vibrant green of the cilantro contrast with the fiery crimson of the menudo broth. Each bowl of menudo is served with a small stack of tortillas, which are excellent for sopping up any broth that might be left over. The menudo here is mostly meat–cartilaginous morsels of tripe as far as the eye can see. It really is a gorgeous looking plate of food, and the smoky aromas of the broth were enough to help me forget about the negative experiences I've had with meat of the intestinal variety.

For starters, the tripe is great. I've had some rough experiences trying intestines and stomach before, but this stuff has been prepped to perfection. Spooning up each bite with that luxurious broth and letting the fire of all that chili oil warm you up on a cold day makes me understand why menudo is commonly prescribed as a hangover cure. It's got everything you need to wake yourself up from a night of debauchery–lingering heat, a bold flavor profile and plenty of meaty stomach bits.

While I would recommend both the carnitas and the menudo to anyone who was paying this place a visit, they're by no means the only items on the menu. Fans of tacos de cabeza ($5) can indulge that special craving for head cheese, and the menu includes plenty of traditional sides like rice ($4) and pinto beans ($4). At the moment, I would say West Valley Carnitas is at its best when it's whipping up big family portions of their famous pork, but popping in for a comforting bowl of menudo or an overstuffed taco definitely doesn't hurt.