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Saturday, February 25, 2017

Shon's Take - Taco Tour Stop #8 - Molino's on N Waco.

Today's stop on the tour was a pleasant surprise that we were forced into by accident. You may have noticed that we didn't post an event this week, mainly because Thing 1 and Thing 2 (AKA Travis and Chris) didn't decide where we were going until the day before. This actually ended up being a good thing, since we went to Chris' first suggestion, Chiquita's Corner, only to find out they didn't open till 2pm. I'm guessing they don't do a very brisk lunch business at that late hour. But what do I know....Anyway, we decided on the spot to hit Molino's on N Waco instead since it was close.


Molino's is tucked into the corner of a small shopping center on N Waco. I've actually driven by several times and had no idea it was there. Once inside, we were greeted immediately with a quick seat and chips and salsa. I really like the salsa here - chunky and perfect for scooping up in chips. Not a thin, no-substance, salsa that barely stays on your chip. We were also given a nice variety of salsas to try - I would recommend their hotter house salsa and the habanero salsa. Both very good but not so hot you couldn't enjoy them.


After looking over the menu I decided to go with 5 tacos from their Tacos de la Calles, listed below by preference:


- Discada - a blend of bacon, chorizo, and steak. This was my favorite taco by far. Maybe my favorite taco on the tour to date. It had a very interesting mix of flavors that I haven't had anywhere else to this point in the tour. As a meat eater, I was in Taco Heaven with this one.
- Cochinita Pibil - pork marinated in a red tomatillo sauce. My first impression was that it looked kinda bland. Once I sunk my teeth in it, my last impression was that it was really good. Not spicy, but very juicy.
- Arrachera - skirt steak taco. The steak was nicely seasoned and very tender. A pretty naked taco with just a nice amount of steak on two flour shells. Amazingly, it really didn't need anything else.
- Shrimp - my shrimp taco came nicely dressed with some fajita peppers and onions on top (unlike the shrimp only kiddie version that Chris is so fond of). A nice taco full of perfectly cooked shrimp, seasoned in pepper and I added just a hint of lime for contrast.
- Chicharron - pork foreskin. Yes, that's what it was. I almost didn't order it, cause I didn't know how long the jokes would continue at the table. But, as the adventurous one in the group, someone has to eat something besides steak and chicken every week, right? Unfortunately, I endured my tour mates abuse for no good reason. This taco was the only disappointment of the day. No real seasoning or flavor to it. Feel free to skip it.


Other than the chicharron, the other tacos here are high up on the taco flavor scale. If you're in a hurry, this may not be your first place to stop as the wait for our tacos took a little while longer than most places. But overall, Molino's has definitely pushed it's way to the top 2 or 3 overall for all of us. Here's my overall ratings below on the 5 Taco Scale:


Food Quality - 4.5 Tacos
Price - $-$$
Value - 4.0 Tacos
Cleanliness - 4.5 Tacos
Service 4.0 Tacos
Overall Experience 4.5 Tacos
Likelihood To Return - 5.0 Tacos

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Taco Tour Stop #8 - Molino's Cuisine 1064 N Waco

So this week we went to Chiquita's Corn--err wait...   No they're closed until 2PM! WHO in their right mind doesn't start serving tacos until 2pm?  Apparently Chiquita's Corner - even though we didn't realize it until we arrived.  So we drove down to Molino's instead - and we're happy we did!

So this week's stop came to Molino's Cuisine and *spoiler alert*, it was great!

So there's not a lot of parking here as it's shared with other shops in the strip, but there was room for us up front and we walked into a small but very nice looking restaurant.  Everything was clean and well organized and it looks like they took the time to decorate it nicely - as opposed to just throwing some stuff on the walls.

We sat ourselves and the chips and salsa arrived quickly. Ordered water right away and looked over the menu.  The chips and salsa are very good. They appear to be made in-house and are thick and crunchy. The salsa is very flavorful without being spicy - definitely on the top end of my salsa rankings so far.  They later brought a few other flavors of salsa to the table - ranging in mildly spicy to really kicking. All of them tasted good and have their own flavor. I like them all, but you really will not be disappointed with their regular salsa - and it's what I later used on my tacos to add some flavor.  I definitely recommend using it!

By the way, side note:  there is a leopard working here. Rawr.

After asking for clarification on some tacos, I ended up ordering the steak, chicken, arrachera (skirt steak), and discada (a mixture of chorizo, steak, sausage and bacon mixture).  I also asked what the other tacos were - and pretty sure I was traumatized because she said one was foreskin. Ex-squeeze me? Foreskin. Uh what? Did you say... FORESKIN? Yes. From a cow?! No, a pig....
OH MY..no, no. I don't what that. no.  (Naturally, Shon wanted to eat foreskin - believe me the jokes were flying).

So my only real complaint about Molino's was the wait. It took quite awhile for our tacos to arrive.  I'd guess at least 15 minutes - maybe a little more.  Enough time for her to bring some additional chips and some samples of other salsas for us to try.



When the tacos arrived, they were presented very nicely and filled with plenty of meat. They were sitting upright in taco holders so the meat didn't spill and with 2 corn tortillas each.  There was plenty of onion and lettuce to add to the tacos, but not much room in the tacos because of how much meat was given.  I squeezed some lime juice on each, dropped some lettuce and onion, and dug in.

First was the steak - WOW. VERY flavorful meat with a very nice seasoning. Probably the best steak taco I've had so far.  I put salsa on for the remaining bites and was not disappointed. I HIGHLY recommend this taco if you go. It might be my favorite so far on the tour.  Really really good.

Second taco was the arrachera. It's a flat meat with excellent flavor.  Slightly different than the steak but still really good and tender.  I again added salsa to the remaining bites and it made the taco even better.  A #2 behind the steak - you won't go wrong with this one either.

Discada came next - a really interesting blend of flavors.  The sausage stands out and you can really taste it - but the additional flavors of the steak and bacon really add to this taco as well. It's like a party of flavors in your mouth as you'll get to experience them all when you eat it.  Added salsa for the second half and it was good too - but honestly you'll be fine without the salsa on this one.  I enjoyed this taco, but not enough to order them all like this.  I'd probably split between the steak and arrachera, and throw one of these in for good measure.

The chicken was last and it was just okay.  The chicken was a little dry and chewy and by the time I got to it, it wasn't hot.  The flavor was okay but really nothing too exciting.  We've had other chicken tacos on the tour that were better.  I'm glad I didn't order more than one of these because I probably would have been a little disappointed.  The salsa helped a little - but in the end, I would definitely just go with an additional steak taco.

Overall the service was excellent - albeit a little slow to get the tacos.  Our waitress was very helpful and kept our waters and chips filled.  She pleasantly offered us samples of additional salsa, so I'm happy with how this worked out.

The value took a hit though - for 4 tacos, water, and the "complimentary" chips and salsa, I spent $15.50 with tip.  I did get full, but that's definitely not a bargain since it ranks among the more expensive places we've gone.

Definitely going to come back here again though - if you're building a must-go list, add Molino's to it!

Out of 5 tacos, here are my rankings:

Food Taste:
Value:
Cleanliness:
Service:
Overall:
Likelihood to return:

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Oh boy...

Today's Taco Tour was a bit of a cluster. We decided to go to Chiquita's Corner at 11th and Bitting but apparently Tacos are not a thing in Riverside until after 2.

We decided that Molinos on N Waco was close so we would hit them instead. We arrived and were immediately seated.

I ordered steak, shrimp, carnitas, conchita pibil and discada tacos. I really have no idea what the last two are but our waitress told me they were good.

They had one Taco listed as chicharron which is pig foreskin. I didn't order that...but Shon did.

The chips and salsa are delicious. Our waitress brought our 5 different kinds of salsa ranging from a super delicious mild all the way to habanero. I was a little congested so the habanero worked wonders.

It took longer than expected for our tacos to arrive. Thank goodness for these chips and salsa otherwise I may starve to death.

The Tacos all came out in little bitty taco holders to make sure your fixins don't fall out.

Here is my taco breakdown, in the order I ate them:

The steak taco was super tender and had a nice flavor to it. This is probably the best steak taco I have had yet. Even after making that statement, I added some of the delicious salsa to the taco and the flavored meshed extremely well. Very satisfying taco.

The chicken taco had some awesome seasoning on it and was quite delicious. Again, I added the salsa and BAM! Made it even better than before.

Discada appears to be chorizo, bacon and sausage. A seemingly random assortment inside tacos is DELICIOUS! Tons of different flavors that balance out each other perfectly.

The carnitas was tender and one of the better carnitas tacos I have had but somewhat disappointing after the others I just experienced.

As for the shrimp taco, it is grilled shrimp, in a taco. You can't mess this up. And they didn't. The shrimp had great flavor, there were probably 6 shrimp in my taco and I enjoyed each and every one of them.

I am super happy Chiquita wasn't open as Molinos is AWESOME! The tacos are delicious, the price was reasonable, the chips were amazing.

I will certainly return as Molinos is currently sitting at the top of my Taco Tour ratings. We shall see how long they hang there as Poncho at Felipe's has promised to throw down his best work soon!

Service- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
Quality of food- 🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮
Amount of meat on each taco- 🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮
Chips and salsa- 🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮
Overall value- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
Overall experience- 🌮🌮🌮🌮

Friday, February 17, 2017

Shon's Take - Taco Tour Stop #7 - Las Mananitas 2347 N Arkansas

Well, seven weeks in and so far, we're really enjoying our trek through all the tacos available in Wichita. Las Mananitas came recommended by some people on our Facebook page and the $1 Tacos on Wednesday basically locked them in as the choice for this week.


The building is a small place with just a few parking stalls. We got there early enough to beat the lunch crowd, but the place definitely picked up a bit as we stayed. BTW I found 10 bucks in the parking lot on the way in. Don't ask to claim it because I already spent it on tacos.


Anyway, once inside, Chris was already there destroying a basket of chips. The chips appeared homemade - they had a thick but crunchy texture and came with three salsas: mild, green chile, and hot. The chips were pretty good, definitely made to dig into your salsas with. The hot was not overbearingly hot which is always my worry when trying it. It had the perfect mix of fire and flavor, with a hint of smokiness to it.


Our waitress was prompt, attentive, and helpful. I don't think she knew what she was getting into when she came over. But hey, it was $1 taco day. Plus I didn't have breakfast AND I had a very light dinner the night before. Needless to say, I had every intent of putting a dent in their profit margin today. There were 7 Tacos listed on the dollar menu: Asada, Al Pastor, Pollo, A La Mexicana, Barbacoa, Desebrada, and Tripe. And just for good measure, I ordered two more that weren't on the dollar menu - a fish taco and a chorizo taco. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were only 1.65 each. My ranking of their taco offerings:


1. - Asada - the steak was tasty and seasoned, much more than most of the other tacos. I'm ready for another round right now.
2. - Chorizo - unlike the Chorizo at Chicos, this one wasn't too greasy and didn't taste like a metal pan. Nice spice, it was worth the extra .65 cents to pick one up.
3. - Al Pastor - another tasty taco, but the meat didn't seem as seasoned as the Asada. Still a high recommendation here.
4 - Mexicana, Barbacoa, Desebrada - These tacos all get an enthusiastic "Decent Taco" rating from me. Not as high up on the list, but still not bad. I think these all would've benefited from a little splash of salsa, but I've been going on this tour eating them the way they're served - no changes from me. The meat on all of these was pretty tasty. The Desebrada and Mexicana had the meat cooked in peppers and tomatos which made for a decent flavor. Still, I tend to prefer the spice to have a bit more kick and the cooked in flavors of these tacos were a little bit more subdued.
7. - Fish taco - high marks for the amount of fish. Fish was cooked nicely and not too dry or chewy.
8 - Pollo - not my favorite. The chicken was pretty bland and tasted more like it had been in a slow cooker all day as opposed to being fried. I'm much more a fan of the fried taste and texture when it comes to my tacos. Boiled tasting meat just isn't my preference, but if it's seasoned well, it can be just as good. This taco was not.
9. - Tripe - bland. Tough. Overall, I could've done without it.


Still when I was done, I was pretty satisfied with our new find. Nine tacos, chips, salsa, and water for 13.00 and that included the tip. My overall rankings are below:


Food Quality - 3.5 Tacos
Price - $
Value - 5.0 Tacos
Cleanliness - 3.5 Tacos
Service - 4.5 Tacos
Overall Experience - 4.0 Tacos
Likelihood to return 4.5 Tacos

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Taco Tour Stop #7 - Las Mananitas 2347 N Arkansas Ave

I had seen several friends on FB rave about Las Mananitas recently, so decided we definitely needed to add it to the tour list.  We also understood that Wednesdays are $1 taco days - so that was enough motivation to bump them to the top of the list!

Shon had a late client so I waited a little before heading over. No reason to go sit and wait on doofus. Chris was impatiently waiting on us (irony) - but Shon and I arrived about 11:45.  This place is actually a small grocery store and diner.  Quaint and no frills - I walked in and went straight to the diner.  The chips were already there since Christopher was chomping at the bit.  I spied the dollar taco menu and liked what I saw.  I was getting excited for sure!  


The waitress arrived quickly took our drink order and taco order after a few of my questions. The chips are fluffy-crunchy! I like!  They appear to be homemade but have a sort of puffiness to them but were very good.  The salsa had a good flavor also.  Then the green chile salsa came out - it's flavor was exactly what I expected.  A small kick and definitely a good compliment to the chips.  The hot salsa was solid with a strong kick.  It takes a moment but doesn't sneak up on you.  Make sure you get some seeds in there for the best heat.  I recommend it if you're not a weenie like Chris or if you're trying to clear your sinuses.  You won't be in pain afterwards either so I'd definitely give it a try!

So for my taco selection, I was feeling hungry:  I ordered a Carne Asada, Al Pastor, Pollo, A La Mexicana, Barbacoa, Desebrada.  I had to ask what a few of these were since I don't know all the lingo yet.  The plate arrived quickly and was arranged with very obviously traditional, street-style tacos with 2 soft corn tortillas on each and protected with a small bit of wax paper between them.

I went for the Carne Asada first. Tasty! Tender meat with a hint of crunch on the edges. Excellent flavor on the meat and Shon and I both agreed that they must have seasoned their grill well.  However, I've come to the conclusion that carne asada tacos are a little too plain for my taste. They're good but I need more flavor personally.  Next time I think I'll go for a little salsa.

Al Pastor is next - this was my favorite taco when we went to Chico's last week.  They are really good here also.  The seasoning in the meat is very good.  Cooked very well, the meat is tender and juicy. This is definitely a taco to get again on the next visit - and will probably be on my list to try at nearly every place we go (if they have one).

Pollo (chicken) was next.  I'd give it a strong "not bad".  The taste was good, but not as much flavor as other chicken tacos I've had. The chicken wasn't overly dry, but I think it could have been a little juicier for my taste.  That doesn't mean this one is bad - but I think it just needed a little something more.  Probably needed some salsa to give a little more flavor or possibly a fried shell might have been what it needed (for me).  I wasn't disappointed, but I was hoping it would be a little better.  

The Barbacoa was my least favorite - but I'm going to give them a pass this time.  It was definitely an "eh" today.  To be fair, I think I got a bad piece of meat - it had a very fatty chunk in my first bite and I pulled off a gristly section that was still in the taco.  I think it was just my taco because the other guys liked theirs. I didn't finish it because the meat had some bad parts to it.  I'd like to come back sometime and try it again because I think I'd like it - but this time it was a no.

A la Mexicana was pretty tasty but the meat was a little chewy.  The meat is cooked with tomato and jalepeno and that definitely gave this one a nice flavor.  The meat was not dry and the mix of flavors was really good.  If the meat was slightly less chewy, this would probably be higher on my list of favorites so far.  

Desebrada. The other guys called it pot roast on a taco. I have to confess, they're not wrong. That's not a bad thing by the way. That flavor of "pot roast" meat on a tortilla is a new twist and it's worth getting one. Having said that, it does seem like it could use one more flavor. Not sure what exactly. Salsa? Something. But it was still a decent taco with a unique flavor.

Overall the service was excellent - she helped us decide on tacos, kept our chips filled, brought us plenty of salsa and was very courteous and polite.  Las Mananitas is going to rank HIGH on the value scale.  I'm out the door for $8 with tip and I had 6 tacos with chips and salsa!

The restaurant itself wasn't dirty, but it's definitely just an average looking place.  No frills.  However they have the most uncomfortable chairs ever. Definitely not going to sit around and chat on these chunks of metal.  Since I don't have a "comfort" rating below, I'm going to dock a half taco on the cleanliness - don't really have any other place to put it.  Overall, this is absolutely a place to return to - especially on Wednesdays!

Out of 5 tacos, here's my ratings:


Food Taste:
Value:
Cleanliness:
Service:
Overall:
Likelihood to return: