We ventured out to Cortez Mexican Restaurant on W 29th Street. You can check out their FB Page here. Cortez has been a Wichita family owned restaurant for 32 years but sadly are closing their doors next month. There is talk of potentially moving to a new location, but as of this writing, that's nothing confirmed.
Even though I've lived here my whole life, surprisingly I've never been to Cortez - and candidly, I'm not going to miss it now that I have. The building is slightly off the beaten path of major roads but it's still easily accessible. I arrived slightly early and waited on the other 2 jokers who got there mostly "on-time". Chris nearly ran out of gas on the way - but he loaded up on beans so was probably just fine after that. The facility is fine - nothing fancy and it looks like what you'd expect from a traditional, family-owned Mexican restaurant. They do have a 1990s era big-screen TV (rear projection) in the corner - so that's a nice modern touch! Definitely some unique aromas as you enter the "fountain foyer" and then again inside the restaurant. And by aromas, I don't mean it was something that suddenly made your mouth water for great Mexican food...
We were quickly seated and presented with menus - which includes a lunch menu and their full menu. The prices were definitely not something I'd brag about as it looked like for a basic 2 taco meal was going to be $6.99. The waitress was courteous but nothing exceptional. Lots of "yeah" and "yep" answers - nothing that would stand out as being great service. Our chips and drinks arrived quickly - but alas they are also a Coke place. We need to find a Pepsi place soon so I can have Dew with my tacos. The Dr Pepper was adequate and cold and I had plenty of refills on the house. The chips appear to be made in-house and were crisp and the hot sauce was a solid "medium" - which is what I expected. (Still looking for a really good hot sauce).
I ordered a 2 taco meal (one corn, one fried flour - both ground beef) and chose the rice (no beans for me). Our chips and my Dr Pepper dwindled quickly and sat empty until our food arrived and was refilled soon after. The tacos were just okay. My complaint is they quickly crumbled into pieces. If I wanted to eat my tacos with a fork, I'd order a taco salad. One requirement for me is a taco that I can hold in my hand and eat. These did not fit that requirement as the contents spilled quickly and the shell fell apart in short order. The taste was okay. Pretty much what you'd expect from this type of restaurant. Nothing bold. But at this point I'm just annoyed by having to salvage my "taco" by what is left on my plate. Plenty of meat and cheese and lettuce to make it filling - but I still like to be able to use my hands to eat it. The fried flour taco was basically the same story. Taste was okay, but nothing great. Contents were full but also spilled and crumbled. The ends of the tacos were overcooked so the meat in the ends was basically burnt. That taste and texture basically put an end to my meal. They give you a huge scoop of traditional style rice and a nice serving of lettuce to accompany the tacos. The rice was again just okay. Kind of an odd taste to it so I didn't dig too deep into it.
When I was done, I was a bit disappointed overall. With tip, my bill ended up over $10 for 2 tacos, rice, and a Dr Pepper (plus the complimentary chips). I did leave full, but I'm going to need a donut soon. I won't need to go back. It wasn't horrible, but there was nothing there that made me sad that they were leaving either. I think there are plenty of other traditional Mexican restaurants in town that will take their place adequately and present much better value and taste.
Out of 5 tacos, here's my ratings:
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