What's a Dallas-based taco place doing next to Trader Joe's in St. Paul? Probably making a pretty good living: The newly opened Rusty Taco is a bang-on brilliant interpretation of authentic taqueria food. The genius of the place is how it has adapted Mexico's petite cilantro- and onion-garnished street tacos for gringo palates without diluting too much of their old-school charm and flavor.

Make no mistake: Nothing we tasted at Rusty Taco rose to the level of (for example) the carnitas at Los Ocampo or the tacos al pastor at Taqueria La Hacienda, but that's asking quite a bit -- and there were some noteworthy successes in the mix.

In addition to sampling Rusty Taco's breakfast (served daily), we sampled six of the restaurant's dozen or so taco styles ($2.50 each). But first: a quick word about the tortillas. Corn tortillas are the restaurant's default, which is fine, but they're not doubled up, which isn't. Rusty's tacos have an unpleasant tendency to split, break, bust up and generally fall apart at the seams when you try to eat them. The more-durable flour option is probably worth asking for unless you like eating your tacos with a fork. That said, here are the tacos we sampled, from worst to best:

The rajas vegetarian taco was a dud. Despite grilled poblanos, mushrooms, queso fresco, onions and red peppers, it was staggeringly flavorless -- a damp, insipid mistake. And the fried chicken taco violates one of the primary rules of fast food: Don't stuff something breaded into something bread-y. Carb overload. Despite a jalapeño-ranch slaw, its primary taste was "sandy" and "hot." Not terrific.

The picadillo taco was eerily like a Cornish pasty, albeit a spicy one. The ground beef, onions and potatoes eerily mimicked the Cornish miner's lunchtime favorite, and while the effect wasn't unpleasant, it wasn't very taco-like, either. The beef fajita taco was balanced and simple, packing a lowbrow but satisfying steak flavor.

The roasted pork taco was excellent. Substantial, peppery, richly flavored and well balanced, this is about as hearty as tacos come. And the Rusty Taco was terrific. Its achiote pork recalled the flavors of tacos al pastor, and the sweet, acidic punch of its pineapple pieces played wonderfully with the taste of the meat. It's a must-try for new visitors.

Served on robust flour tortillas, Rusty's breakfast tacos have the advantage of structural integrity. All four varieties offer light, properly scrambled eggs and a dusting of grated cheddar, boosted by either chorizo (tasting a bit like ground beef and under-spiced), potatoes (warm and soothing, cut into small cubes), bacon (a bit dry but pleasantly thick and crunchy) or jalapeño sausage (which had modest heat and very little grease.) The breakfast menu could use something approximating real coffee, fresh orange juice, and some kind of fruit and/or vegetable side. But still: tasty stuff.