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For Tacos, Simple Worked Best

Our favorites, from the top: third-place Ole, second-place Verole and the one the judges preferred for tacos, Trader Joe's brand. (By Julia Ewan -- The Washington Post)

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Ole

$2.99 for 36 at Yes! Organic Market (also available at some Giant and Shoppers Food & Pharmacy stores)

"Dulce," our visiting Spanish speaker said. Another taster found "lots of layering" but thought it was "breadlike," and still another detected a slight chemical aftertaste.

MIDDLE GROUND

Casa Blanca

$1.29 for 28

Decent corn flavor and fluffy texture, but a little rubbery and, as one taster said, "undercooked in the middle." Made locally.

Mission

$2.29 for 36

Not quite sweet or corny enough for most tasters, with a texture that some found inoffensive but others described as too chewy and underdone.

La Hacienda

$1.29 for 30

"Not much taste beyond the oil," one tester said, while another called it "only vaguely corny." The texture did better: "a little flaky and soft," "layered with bite" and "pleasingly chewy."

LEAST FAVORITES

Pinata

99 cents for 10

Very little flavor, chewy and thin, dry and too dense.

Pepito

$1.99 for 36

Some found the flavor bland, while one reported unpleasant "lime on the back of the tongue."

Whole Foods

79 cents for 12

All-natural, but this one offended the group with its tough, flat, layer-free texture. "Like a corn-flavored Fruit Roll-Up," said one taster. A saving grace: For frying up as chips, these might be perfect.

Moctec

$1.35 for 12

Made locally, and also additive- and preservative-free, this tortilla displayed a leathery texture with no flaky layers. Like the Whole Foods tortilla, it probably would make excellent chips.

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