Spring break week. Not exactly the easiest time to coordinate schedules for a group lunch/review. As it turned out, we weren't able to make things work during our regular time. The good news? It allowed us to catch up (on a whim, thanks to Chris) with one of the local trucks we were all wanting to try. And it gave us an excuse to go to The Wichita Gun Club's Anniversary celebration last Saturday. Guns, friends, and tacos. All we needed was a beer!!
Chris texted on 30 minutes notice that Uno Mas was going to be in the lot for the Gun Club, so naturally we HAD to go. Of course, it would've helped if it was about 10 degrees warmer, but hey... we had tacos. So no complaining allowed. Anyway, when we approached the truck the first thing I noticed was that this seemed like a much nicer operation than our first truck experience at El Dorado Pollo. The staff actually spoke English, so that was a huge plus. The second thing I noticed was that tacos were $3.00 each. I could actually hear the blood rush to my head as bad memories of still being hungry after paying $15.00 for tacos at District Taqueria began to fill my brain. Heck with it, price was out the window - I hadn't had breakfast yet and the tacos smelled AWESOME! So I started with four tacos - Adovo Chicken, Al Pastor, Barbacoa, and Chorizo.
I placed my order and after a fairly short wait, I received my tacos. The tacos came garnished with onion and cilantro. There was some white cheese and a white cream sauce on the chicken. I started with the Al Pastor and it was very tasty. Nice spice to it, but not hot. And not so juicy that you made a mess everywhere. The chorizo and the barbacoa were also very tasty tacos. Plenty of meat in all of the tacos and a nice flavor - nice mix of peppers and spices to all of the meat. Last was the chicken. The chicken was tender and full of flavor. The avocado crema was a nice contrast to both the chicken and the other tacos. This one had a nice mix of flavors and was probably my favorite taco of the four. Once I had devoured these four, I felt a couple of empty spots still begging for more. I PROBABLY could've just left after only eating four..... but nawwwww......who knows when I'll catch this truck again. And I really wanted to try the fish and the breakfast taco. So.... two more ordered. The breakfast taco was ok. Nothing special - egg, chorizo, white cheese. A decent taco, but not my favorite. Then I had the fish taco, fried. After the chicken, this was a strong #2 for the day. It had a vinegary slaw on top of a nice plank of fried fish. I loved the flavor contrasts of the slaw and the fried fish which was cooked perfectly and was NOT just a tiny sliver of fish surrounded by a ton of fried batter. Even though my bill for the day approached $20.00, I was definitely filled when I left and didn't feel cheated (unlike the handful of tacos I devoured at District).
I'm looking forward to catching this truck again and enjoying some more of their tasty offerings. Hopefully on a nicer day than it was last Saturday. My overall rankings on the 5 taco scale are below:
Food Quality - 4.5 Tacos
Price - $-$$
Value - 3.0 Tacos
Cleanliness - 3.5 Tacos
Service - 4.5 Tacos
Overall Experience - 4.5 Tacos
Likelihood to return - 4.5 Tacos
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Uno Mas, yes please!
When it comes to food trucks, I tend to share Bob Belcher's opinion of "idiots in trucks selling food to idiots on the ground".
I have had a slight change in that view after today's experience at Uno Mas.
We decided to hit Uno Mas today as they were at the Wichita Gun Club's anniversary open house. I love tacos nearly as much as the WGC so this was a perfect fit.
I looked over the menu and saw that there was a nice selection of tacos and after some deep thought, ordered 4 tacos. I went with the Chorizo, Baja Fish, Al Pastor and Breakfast tacos.
It only took about 5 minutes for them to hand craft my order. They came out looking and smelling delicious.
I absolutely devoured these tacos. All of the meat was flavorful, tender and delicious in every way. Please accept my apology for bot providing any pictures of today's meal. The tacos didn't last long enough to take a photo.
The Baja Fish was awesome. The fish was cooked perfectly, nicely seasoned and lime crema was fantastic.
The Al Pastor was absolutely delicious and likely the best al pastor taco I have had.
The chorizo had a nice spice to it but was not overwhelming. Usually chorizo is on the greasy side but not at Uno Mas.
The breakfast taco was a new thing to me and I enjoyed it. I think tacos are definitely better than burritos for breakfast!
After downing these tacos, I saw Travis with this orangeish taco that looked amazing so I went back for the Adovo Chicken taco. It came out quickly and was absolutely amazing.
In total, I spent too much money on tacos and that is absolutely ok in this instance. I now feel sleepy but it's time to sell some cars!
Gun Club- 🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮
Service- 🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮
Quality of food- 🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮
Amount of meat on each taco- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
Overall value- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
Overall experience- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
I have had a slight change in that view after today's experience at Uno Mas.
We decided to hit Uno Mas today as they were at the Wichita Gun Club's anniversary open house. I love tacos nearly as much as the WGC so this was a perfect fit.
I looked over the menu and saw that there was a nice selection of tacos and after some deep thought, ordered 4 tacos. I went with the Chorizo, Baja Fish, Al Pastor and Breakfast tacos.
It only took about 5 minutes for them to hand craft my order. They came out looking and smelling delicious.
I absolutely devoured these tacos. All of the meat was flavorful, tender and delicious in every way. Please accept my apology for bot providing any pictures of today's meal. The tacos didn't last long enough to take a photo.
The Baja Fish was awesome. The fish was cooked perfectly, nicely seasoned and lime crema was fantastic.
The Al Pastor was absolutely delicious and likely the best al pastor taco I have had.
The chorizo had a nice spice to it but was not overwhelming. Usually chorizo is on the greasy side but not at Uno Mas.
The breakfast taco was a new thing to me and I enjoyed it. I think tacos are definitely better than burritos for breakfast!
After downing these tacos, I saw Travis with this orangeish taco that looked amazing so I went back for the Adovo Chicken taco. It came out quickly and was absolutely amazing.
In total, I spent too much money on tacos and that is absolutely ok in this instance. I now feel sleepy but it's time to sell some cars!
Gun Club- 🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮
Service- 🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮
Quality of food- 🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮
Amount of meat on each taco- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
Overall value- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
Overall experience- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
Monday, March 20, 2017
Tacos Lopez
We decided to give Tacos Lopez on West Street. We arrived, ordered our tacos and headed to the salsa bar. Our tacos arrived a few minutes later.
Shrimp taco had three or four shrimp in it smothered in sour cream and random veggies. I wasn't really a fan of it.
Carne asada taco had tons of meat inside but was lacking a little on flavor.
Adovada taco was a nice pork taco with a red sauce on it. It was ok... not delicious but not terrible.
The chicken taco was fantastic. The meat has a nice spice to it and was super tender. This was actually one of the better chicken tacos I have experienced on the tour.
I put Tacos Lopez somewhere in the middle. If it wasn't for that delicious chicken taco, they would be much closer to the bottom.
Service- 🌮🌮🌮
Quality of food- 🌮🌮🌮
Amount of meat on each taco- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
Overall value- 🌮🌮🌮
Overall experience- 🌮🌮🌮
Shrimp taco had three or four shrimp in it smothered in sour cream and random veggies. I wasn't really a fan of it.
Carne asada taco had tons of meat inside but was lacking a little on flavor.
Adovada taco was a nice pork taco with a red sauce on it. It was ok... not delicious but not terrible.
The chicken taco was fantastic. The meat has a nice spice to it and was super tender. This was actually one of the better chicken tacos I have experienced on the tour.
I put Tacos Lopez somewhere in the middle. If it wasn't for that delicious chicken taco, they would be much closer to the bottom.
Service- 🌮🌮🌮
Quality of food- 🌮🌮🌮
Amount of meat on each taco- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
Overall value- 🌮🌮🌮
Overall experience- 🌮🌮🌮
Shon's Take - Taco Tour Stop #11 - Tacos Lopez N West St.
Well, if you've stuck with us this far, you've officially graduated to Taco Obsession - Level 10 as we're now 11 weeks into our local taco tour. Travis cheated a couple of months ago and hit Tacos Lopez WITHOUT US (jackass) and since he couldn't make it this week due to his reoccurring toe nail fungus situation (I kid, I kid) Chris and I decided this would be the perfect time to catch up to him and hit this local joint on West St.
Chris and I got there about our usual time of 1130am and there was no one there, save for the couple of employees present. The building is a plain Jane old restaurant building - typical for N West Street. If you're looking for ambience, this place is definitely not for you. When you enter, you go directly to the counter and place your order and pick up. Tacos here were 2.50 each (1.75 on Tuesdays). My first thought was that if I spend 10-15 bucks to have tacos and walk out of here hungry again (a la District Taqueria) then I was going to be a little cranky, considering I hadn't had breakfast that morning. I placed an order for 4 tacos - Adobada (pork), Carne Asada, Tripe, and Shrimp. Once I placed my order, there was a little counter where you could fill up on your choice of sauces and take as much extra onion, lime, or cilantro as you wanted. I kinda liked having the bar for those extras, but two of the sauces they normally make (hot and extra hot) were not available that day for some reason.
A short wait later, and tacos were in hand. No chips and salsa to start, but the plate looked like it would do the trick. There wasn't a shortage of meat and the 4 tacos were surprisingly filling. I started with the pork taco - it was an ok taco. The lady who took our order said it was spicy, but I didn't find it to be spicy at all. It had a pretty mild tomatillo flavor to it. Next up was the tripe. While tripe is just naturally a chewy meat anyway, this taco seemed to be pretty tough even by tripe standards. Given all the energy I had to exert to eat it, the flavor (or lack thereof) just didn't justify the effort. The carne asada was a decent taco - plenty of meat, but only a hint of seasoning in it. It went down much better with a splash of lime and some salsa. Not a bad taco, but nothing special. Lastly was the shrimp taco. Now compared to the first three tacos, I was a little disappointed in the amount of shrimp present. And while the other tacos were basically meat with a little onion and cilantro, the shrimp taco was covered in sour cream and lettuce. I don't mind either of those as a topping, but they completely overpowered the shrimp to the point where I could barely taste it. Huge let down.
Overall, I would say that Tacos Lopez is an okay stop on our tour to date. Not as bland as the tacos last week from El Gordo's, but this won't be my first preference on places to go to eat tacos again. My overall ratings on the 5 Taco Scale are below:
Food Quality - 2.5 Tacos
Price - $-$$
Value - 2.5 Tacos
Cleanliness - 3.0 Tacos
Service - 3.0 Tacos
Overall Rating - 2.5 Tacos
Likelihood to Return - 2.5 Tacos
Chris and I got there about our usual time of 1130am and there was no one there, save for the couple of employees present. The building is a plain Jane old restaurant building - typical for N West Street. If you're looking for ambience, this place is definitely not for you. When you enter, you go directly to the counter and place your order and pick up. Tacos here were 2.50 each (1.75 on Tuesdays). My first thought was that if I spend 10-15 bucks to have tacos and walk out of here hungry again (a la District Taqueria) then I was going to be a little cranky, considering I hadn't had breakfast that morning. I placed an order for 4 tacos - Adobada (pork), Carne Asada, Tripe, and Shrimp. Once I placed my order, there was a little counter where you could fill up on your choice of sauces and take as much extra onion, lime, or cilantro as you wanted. I kinda liked having the bar for those extras, but two of the sauces they normally make (hot and extra hot) were not available that day for some reason.
A short wait later, and tacos were in hand. No chips and salsa to start, but the plate looked like it would do the trick. There wasn't a shortage of meat and the 4 tacos were surprisingly filling. I started with the pork taco - it was an ok taco. The lady who took our order said it was spicy, but I didn't find it to be spicy at all. It had a pretty mild tomatillo flavor to it. Next up was the tripe. While tripe is just naturally a chewy meat anyway, this taco seemed to be pretty tough even by tripe standards. Given all the energy I had to exert to eat it, the flavor (or lack thereof) just didn't justify the effort. The carne asada was a decent taco - plenty of meat, but only a hint of seasoning in it. It went down much better with a splash of lime and some salsa. Not a bad taco, but nothing special. Lastly was the shrimp taco. Now compared to the first three tacos, I was a little disappointed in the amount of shrimp present. And while the other tacos were basically meat with a little onion and cilantro, the shrimp taco was covered in sour cream and lettuce. I don't mind either of those as a topping, but they completely overpowered the shrimp to the point where I could barely taste it. Huge let down.
Overall, I would say that Tacos Lopez is an okay stop on our tour to date. Not as bland as the tacos last week from El Gordo's, but this won't be my first preference on places to go to eat tacos again. My overall ratings on the 5 Taco Scale are below:
Food Quality - 2.5 Tacos
Price - $-$$
Value - 2.5 Tacos
Cleanliness - 3.0 Tacos
Service - 3.0 Tacos
Overall Rating - 2.5 Tacos
Likelihood to Return - 2.5 Tacos
Monday, March 13, 2017
Shon's Take - Taco Tour Stop #10 - El Gordo Mexican Restaurant
Well........not sure what the deal is with Thing 1 and Thing 2, but for the 3rd week in a row we seem to be dealing with chaos during our lunch outing. As you'll recall, 2 weeks ago, Chris picked out a place that wasn't even open for lunch. Last week Travis picked a delicious stop with crappy service and questionable food handling skills. This week, they decided to team up to once again pick a place that wasn't open for lunch. They tried to blame this on me, but were shut down upon presentation of the damning evidence (in the form of their text messages) implicating them in this ridiculousness. So, after everyone got to MoJoe's, I made an executive decision to hit El Gordo's Restaurant at Central and Greenwich in east Wichita.
Upon arrival, my initial reaction was that the place looked promising. It was in a newer looking building and people were beginning to line up around 1145. It's not super fancy, but way nicer than the taco truck situation we had to deal with last week. Anyway, you walk in and order at the counter and wait for your number to be called. I ordered four tacos: carne asada, chicken, tripe, and chorizo. The chorizo taco wasn't on the menu, but they made it for me anyway. As I waited, I saw several tasty looking plates of food go by and when I got my plate I was pretty happy with what I was looking at.
Aaaaannnnnnndddddd....... that's where the happiness ends. Complete opposite of last week. The taco truck looked questionable, served up amazingly tasty tacos. This place looked SO promising..... served up bland, plain tacos. Seriously? Worst of all, after brow beating Thing 1 and Thing 2, I now had to endure my fair share for bringing us to this place. I really don't have much to say about the tacos other than that. The presentation looked good, and there was a little bar with a variety of salsas to pick from, which was kinda handy. Especially since I needed the salsas just to give the tacos SOME kind of flavor. But none of the meat had any real flavors to them. Maybe we were spoiled after Molino's and El Dorado, but man..... the meat tasted almost as if it was completely naked - no seasonings, no sauce, nothing. So my apologies, but that's all I got. Serve me bland, disappointing, tacos and you're going to get a bland, disappointing review.
My overall ratings on the 5 Taco Scale are below.
Food Quality - 1.5 Tacos
Price - $-$$
Value - 2.0 Tacos
Cleanliness - 4.0 Tacos
Service - 3.0 Tacos
Overall Experience - 2.0 Tacos
Likelihood to Return - 2.0 Tacos - only scores this high in this category because people are saying we should try other items and NOT tacos. Guess we'll see.
Upon arrival, my initial reaction was that the place looked promising. It was in a newer looking building and people were beginning to line up around 1145. It's not super fancy, but way nicer than the taco truck situation we had to deal with last week. Anyway, you walk in and order at the counter and wait for your number to be called. I ordered four tacos: carne asada, chicken, tripe, and chorizo. The chorizo taco wasn't on the menu, but they made it for me anyway. As I waited, I saw several tasty looking plates of food go by and when I got my plate I was pretty happy with what I was looking at.
Aaaaannnnnnndddddd....... that's where the happiness ends. Complete opposite of last week. The taco truck looked questionable, served up amazingly tasty tacos. This place looked SO promising..... served up bland, plain tacos. Seriously? Worst of all, after brow beating Thing 1 and Thing 2, I now had to endure my fair share for bringing us to this place. I really don't have much to say about the tacos other than that. The presentation looked good, and there was a little bar with a variety of salsas to pick from, which was kinda handy. Especially since I needed the salsas just to give the tacos SOME kind of flavor. But none of the meat had any real flavors to them. Maybe we were spoiled after Molino's and El Dorado, but man..... the meat tasted almost as if it was completely naked - no seasonings, no sauce, nothing. So my apologies, but that's all I got. Serve me bland, disappointing, tacos and you're going to get a bland, disappointing review.
My overall ratings on the 5 Taco Scale are below.
Food Quality - 1.5 Tacos
Price - $-$$
Value - 2.0 Tacos
Cleanliness - 4.0 Tacos
Service - 3.0 Tacos
Overall Experience - 2.0 Tacos
Likelihood to Return - 2.0 Tacos - only scores this high in this category because people are saying we should try other items and NOT tacos. Guess we'll see.
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Taco Tour Stop #10 - El Gordo Mexican Fast Food @ 11333 E Central
Well apparently not every decent taco joint is open for lunch - which makes them less decent. Added to that list is MoJoe's. They open at 2pm except on Friday and Sat. So having driven across town to discover this, I was told we were going to El Gordo Mexican Fast Food. They were fairly fast - even though they were busy. But that's where the good news ends...
The lunch rush hit pretty hard - which is usually a good sign. One would normally assume a busy lunch means good food. Spoiler alert! This doesn't always hold true.
In line I check out the menu and see that alacarte tacos are $2.50 ea. Um yeah, that's not "fast food" pricing in my book. But maybe they're really good. So I stuck with water and ordered 5 tacos: Carne Asada, Barbacoa, Spicy Chicken, Beef (shredded), and Carnitas.
The service from the counter was friendly but they were a little overwhelmed it seemed. The ice machine wasn't working right so they had to get the ice from the drive through. The 2nd register doesn't have a credit card machine, so she has to walk over to the other register to run cards. The table wasn't clean so we had to ask them to clean it - which she left the register to do... The restaurant is an old Taco Tico I think - or some other previously dead fast food place. Overall, the place is clean - even though they needed to clean the tables.
Even though they were pretty busy, my number was called within a reasonable time. I wouldn't call it fast, but considering the line I was pleasantly surprised when compared to the last few places we've gone.
The plate was FULL of food. Tacos had lots of meat and they were overflowing. I ordered the tacos how they prepare them which means they include a dollop of guacamole on the bottom before the other ingredients are added.
The story for today is lack of flavor - even though they use guac and onion and cilantro and various other ingredients, everything was bland. I even added their "hottest" sauce to everything and it was still bland. I'm actually not sure how that's possible - with everything that was in play, for the flavors to be that flat seems physically impossible.
Carne asada first - no seasoning in the meat. Bland. It was a very meh taco. The only redeeming quality is there was a lot of meat. A lot of very bland meat.
Barbacoa was next - still just merely okay. A little bit more flavor but not much. I would call it very "not bad".
The "spicy" chicken taco was the only redeeming taco of my order. It was tender and juicy and actually had a good flavor - albeit not very spicy. A decent taco, but not even close to being worth the drive (or the price).
The shredded beef taco was a little chewy and even kind of dry in spots. Nothing at all to write home about.
Carnitas was last and very meh. Lack of flavor and the meat was borderline burnt. I picked out a few burnt pieces, at maybe about a third of the taco and decided there was no reason to continue.
Overall, I came away having eaten enough but that's about it. I see no reason to ever go back. El Gord-no is it's new name. If you ever venture over this far, just go somewhere else. If you get hog-tied and dragged in and forced to eat a taco here, just go with the spicy chicken. Otherwise, expect the most bland tacos you've ever had. They didn't win any points in service, cleanliness, or value either since I paid over $13 for 5 tacos - thankfully I didn't need to leave a tip.
| Food Taste: |   |
| Value: | |
| Cleanliness: | |
| Service: | |
| Overall: | |
| Likelihood to return: | |
El naga naga nagacomehereeveragain
Let's start by saying that someone, Travis or Shon, screwed us from the get go. Mojoes was not open and shon decided that we would go to El Gordos instead.
The menu has quite a few taco options on it but each taco is $2.50. Apparently El Gordo thinks they are a gourmet taco restaurant.
While waiting for our tacos, half of Wichita decided to line up to order their tacos making the restaurant insanely loud and uncomfortable.
The tacos came out a few minutes later...
The carne asada taco was pretty bland. It appeared to have been cooked in a nice red sauce of some kind but somehow that didn't translate to deliciousness.
The barbacoa taco sucked. There is no polite way to say it. There was no flavor and zero reason to consume it unless you are about to starve to death.
The shrimp taco had what appeared to be a half jar of sour cream on it with about 4 miniature cocktail shrimp. The first bite caused the sour cream to sploosh out the opposing side of the taco. It turned into a total fuster cluck and I refused to finish eating this mess.
The spicy chicken taco was the only delicious taco I ordered. It is the first crunchy taco I have devoured in a while.
Let me be very blunt. A taco is not a difficult concept. Find delicious meats and whatnot and stuff them in a tortilla of some sort. Then hand them to the customer with a smile.
El Gordo couldn't accomplish any of these things. The tacos were entirely underwhelming, the service was possibly worse than the taco. The highlight of my meal was my Pineapple Jarritos. I have absolutely no idea why people are eating here as it is overpriced and under delivered.
I won't be back.
Service- 🌮🌮
Quality of food- 🌮🌮
Amount of meat on each taco- 🌮🌮🌮
Overall value- 💩💩
Overall experience- 💩💩
The menu has quite a few taco options on it but each taco is $2.50. Apparently El Gordo thinks they are a gourmet taco restaurant.
While waiting for our tacos, half of Wichita decided to line up to order their tacos making the restaurant insanely loud and uncomfortable.
The tacos came out a few minutes later...
The carne asada taco was pretty bland. It appeared to have been cooked in a nice red sauce of some kind but somehow that didn't translate to deliciousness.
The barbacoa taco sucked. There is no polite way to say it. There was no flavor and zero reason to consume it unless you are about to starve to death.
The shrimp taco had what appeared to be a half jar of sour cream on it with about 4 miniature cocktail shrimp. The first bite caused the sour cream to sploosh out the opposing side of the taco. It turned into a total fuster cluck and I refused to finish eating this mess.
The spicy chicken taco was the only delicious taco I ordered. It is the first crunchy taco I have devoured in a while.
Let me be very blunt. A taco is not a difficult concept. Find delicious meats and whatnot and stuff them in a tortilla of some sort. Then hand them to the customer with a smile.
El Gordo couldn't accomplish any of these things. The tacos were entirely underwhelming, the service was possibly worse than the taco. The highlight of my meal was my Pineapple Jarritos. I have absolutely no idea why people are eating here as it is overpriced and under delivered.
I won't be back.
Service- 🌮🌮
Quality of food- 🌮🌮
Amount of meat on each taco- 🌮🌮🌮
Overall value- 💩💩
Overall experience- 💩💩
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Taco Tour Stop #9 - El Pollo Dorado Taco Truck @ 21st & Wellington
This week we went to El Pollo Dorado - which is a "permanent" taco truck located at 21st & Wellington. And I'm just going to be honest, this was an odd experience - so bear with me. This review probably won't read like any of the others...
I arrived and the other 2 dorks were already in line (yeah I was slightly late). When you pull up, the truck is parked in a parking lot next to a semi-permanent car port, the cook is located about 20 feet away at another grill, and there is another building on the parking lot where I guess the supplies are stored. This is an outdoor establishment.
The aroma - MY GOD - the aroma is awesome. Seriously - I could sit there and just smell the dude cooking chicken. It was amazing. Side note: I left my truck windows open and I was downwind - when I left, I enjoyed the aroma all the way home!
She was out of carbon so I ordered 2 Pollo (chicken), 2 steak, and an al pastor taco plus a can of pop which was located in a cooler sitting on the ground. I didn't look in the cooler - but apparently the water was...brown. Ohwell, I wasn't drinking the water.
It took awhile to get our tacos, and there was some drama in line while we waited. In fact someone stormed off pissed off. Oops. It definitely wasn't organized but I think the language barrier was part of the problem. I also got the feeling that ordering a variety of tacos is sort of not the norm and may have caused some confusion. As we had several conversations with people around us, we determined that we should be getting a half-chicken or the lunch special. (Maybe next time).
When our tacos finally arrived they were delivered out the window in a plastic bag and a styrofoam container. The cook ran up a minute later with napkins for us. In case you haven't figured it out, this isn't high-class cuisine (but neither am I). Even though I ordered 5 tacos, there were only 4 in my container - I think she missed the second pollo taco.
As far as taste, all of these tacos were pretty good. The steak tacos were seasoned well and the meat was tender. I would absolutely order these again. The al pastor was decent but nothing to write home about. The chicken taco was very tasty but I did encounter 2 hard bits that I suspect was bone. Since the cook was over there chopping chicken into smaller pieces with a large knife, I gathered that it probably didn't make sense to say anything about it. So I tossed the 2 bits on the ground and shut up. The chicken taco was very flavorful. I really enjoyed it and I would definitely like to go back for the lunch special or just to order a chicken. I had heard that this was THE place to get chicken - touted as the best in town. The grill seemed to be seasoned very well - but don't go here expecting great service.
I also wouldn't go here expecting them to be meeting or exceeding any health code regulations! The other guys ordered additional tacos and each time their total was different - so we're not totally sure how the pricing worked either.
Having said that, I'm going to give them a decent value rating because I think I only spent $5.50 for 4 tacos and a pop - but I could have eaten more. The experience was odd, confusing, but it did include tasty tacos - so I can't really complain about much. It was a fun and unique experience - so I'm likely to go back sometime and try the lunch special.
Out of 5 tacos, here are my rankings:
I arrived and the other 2 dorks were already in line (yeah I was slightly late). When you pull up, the truck is parked in a parking lot next to a semi-permanent car port, the cook is located about 20 feet away at another grill, and there is another building on the parking lot where I guess the supplies are stored. This is an outdoor establishment.
The aroma - MY GOD - the aroma is awesome. Seriously - I could sit there and just smell the dude cooking chicken. It was amazing. Side note: I left my truck windows open and I was downwind - when I left, I enjoyed the aroma all the way home!
She was out of carbon so I ordered 2 Pollo (chicken), 2 steak, and an al pastor taco plus a can of pop which was located in a cooler sitting on the ground. I didn't look in the cooler - but apparently the water was...brown. Ohwell, I wasn't drinking the water.
It took awhile to get our tacos, and there was some drama in line while we waited. In fact someone stormed off pissed off. Oops. It definitely wasn't organized but I think the language barrier was part of the problem. I also got the feeling that ordering a variety of tacos is sort of not the norm and may have caused some confusion. As we had several conversations with people around us, we determined that we should be getting a half-chicken or the lunch special. (Maybe next time).
When our tacos finally arrived they were delivered out the window in a plastic bag and a styrofoam container. The cook ran up a minute later with napkins for us. In case you haven't figured it out, this isn't high-class cuisine (but neither am I). Even though I ordered 5 tacos, there were only 4 in my container - I think she missed the second pollo taco.
As far as taste, all of these tacos were pretty good. The steak tacos were seasoned well and the meat was tender. I would absolutely order these again. The al pastor was decent but nothing to write home about. The chicken taco was very tasty but I did encounter 2 hard bits that I suspect was bone. Since the cook was over there chopping chicken into smaller pieces with a large knife, I gathered that it probably didn't make sense to say anything about it. So I tossed the 2 bits on the ground and shut up. The chicken taco was very flavorful. I really enjoyed it and I would definitely like to go back for the lunch special or just to order a chicken. I had heard that this was THE place to get chicken - touted as the best in town. The grill seemed to be seasoned very well - but don't go here expecting great service.
I also wouldn't go here expecting them to be meeting or exceeding any health code regulations! The other guys ordered additional tacos and each time their total was different - so we're not totally sure how the pricing worked either.
Having said that, I'm going to give them a decent value rating because I think I only spent $5.50 for 4 tacos and a pop - but I could have eaten more. The experience was odd, confusing, but it did include tasty tacos - so I can't really complain about much. It was a fun and unique experience - so I'm likely to go back sometime and try the lunch special.
Out of 5 tacos, here are my rankings:
| Food Taste: | |
| Value: | |
| Cleanliness: | |
| Service: | |
| Overall: | |
| Likelihood to return: | |
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Shon's Take - Taco Tour Stop #9 - El Pollo Dorado Taco Truck
This week was an absolute cluster, trying to get a spot picked out and on the schedule. Doof #1 (Travis) wanted to hit MoJoe's for .75 cent tacos on Tuesday. Then Doofy said he "forgot" he already had lunch plans, so we moved MoJoe's to next week. Then his lunch plans cancelled anyway. Lame. So, after a lot of back and forth, we decided to take advantage of the decent weather and hit one of the local taco trucks. We settled on El Pollo Dorado in north Wichita.
Unfortunately, it seems that some of the disorganization kinda followed us to lunch. And I gotta admit, when I pulled up I had no idea what to think. My first impression was that this place is probably breaking every food ordinance in the book. This particular truck sits in a parking lot at the corner of 21st St N and Wellington. There are some tables and chairs under a cover and that's it. Nothing fancy by any stretch. But, once the aroma hit? I knew we were in for some tasty tacos. The only problem: actually GETTING the tacos. It's a bit of a cruel joke really. I mean, c'mon you walk up, starving, looking for a tasty taco. Your nose is then blessed with the awesome aroma but the service is........ meh. One problem is that there is a definite language barrier. We tried to ask particulars about the tacos, but we weren't getting any answers that we understood. So, for my order I just made it simple this time: 2 steak tacos, a chicken taco, and an al pastor. This plus my can of pop for the grand total of $6.50.
We waited for what seemed like forever (but was probably actually 15 minutes, maybe slightly more). The line really started to form at noon and it was taking the lady in the truck a little while to get everyone's orders out. One guy in line actually got pissed and hollered something at the lady in the truck before stomping off. Anyway, we did finally get our tacos and they. were. DELICIOUS! All of the tacos were served on soft flour tortillas with onion, cilantro, and lime on the side. They came with a side of sauce that was the perfect combo of spicy habanero and pepper, but not TOO hot. All of the meat was well seasoned and cooked perfectly. Not too dry, not tough. But, after four tacos, I still felt like I had just eaten an appetizer, so I went back and ordered a second identical order. Even then, at a 1.00 to 1.50 a taco, we weren't breaking the bank. But I noticed as I waited for my second plate that some of the regulars who walked up were ordering 10 and 12 tacos at a time. It sounds like a lot, but since you're not getting chips or some other filler ahead of time (and they're semi small tacos to begin with) a man with a healthy appetite is easily eating 8-12 at a sitting.
For our 1st taco truck experience, I'd say it was a pretty mixed and disorganized bag. But the overall experience definitely took a hit due to wait time. Just a couple of hints for those of you who might try this truck: First, bring your own drink. All they had for drinks were cans of Coke and Sprite in a cooler. If you had seen the water in the bottom of that cooler, you might be begging for a tetanus shot. Second, don't come at the prime lunch time. We got there about 1130 and barely beat the lunch crowd. If you're coming at noon, don't be in a hurry. Third, order a healthy number of tacos on your first go round. It may sound obnoxious, but if time is an issue, you won't have time to wait to put in a second order.
My overall ratings on the 5 Taco Scale are below.
Food Quality - 4.5 Tacos
Price - $-$$
Value - 4.0 Tacos
Cleanliness - 1.5 Tacos
Service - 1.5 Tacos
Overall experience - this one's tough. I don't normally do this, but I'm breaking this up in two:
Food - 4.5 Tacos
Everything else - 1.5 Tacos
Likelihood to return - 2.5 Tacos
Unfortunately, it seems that some of the disorganization kinda followed us to lunch. And I gotta admit, when I pulled up I had no idea what to think. My first impression was that this place is probably breaking every food ordinance in the book. This particular truck sits in a parking lot at the corner of 21st St N and Wellington. There are some tables and chairs under a cover and that's it. Nothing fancy by any stretch. But, once the aroma hit? I knew we were in for some tasty tacos. The only problem: actually GETTING the tacos. It's a bit of a cruel joke really. I mean, c'mon you walk up, starving, looking for a tasty taco. Your nose is then blessed with the awesome aroma but the service is........ meh. One problem is that there is a definite language barrier. We tried to ask particulars about the tacos, but we weren't getting any answers that we understood. So, for my order I just made it simple this time: 2 steak tacos, a chicken taco, and an al pastor. This plus my can of pop for the grand total of $6.50.
We waited for what seemed like forever (but was probably actually 15 minutes, maybe slightly more). The line really started to form at noon and it was taking the lady in the truck a little while to get everyone's orders out. One guy in line actually got pissed and hollered something at the lady in the truck before stomping off. Anyway, we did finally get our tacos and they. were. DELICIOUS! All of the tacos were served on soft flour tortillas with onion, cilantro, and lime on the side. They came with a side of sauce that was the perfect combo of spicy habanero and pepper, but not TOO hot. All of the meat was well seasoned and cooked perfectly. Not too dry, not tough. But, after four tacos, I still felt like I had just eaten an appetizer, so I went back and ordered a second identical order. Even then, at a 1.00 to 1.50 a taco, we weren't breaking the bank. But I noticed as I waited for my second plate that some of the regulars who walked up were ordering 10 and 12 tacos at a time. It sounds like a lot, but since you're not getting chips or some other filler ahead of time (and they're semi small tacos to begin with) a man with a healthy appetite is easily eating 8-12 at a sitting.
For our 1st taco truck experience, I'd say it was a pretty mixed and disorganized bag. But the overall experience definitely took a hit due to wait time. Just a couple of hints for those of you who might try this truck: First, bring your own drink. All they had for drinks were cans of Coke and Sprite in a cooler. If you had seen the water in the bottom of that cooler, you might be begging for a tetanus shot. Second, don't come at the prime lunch time. We got there about 1130 and barely beat the lunch crowd. If you're coming at noon, don't be in a hurry. Third, order a healthy number of tacos on your first go round. It may sound obnoxious, but if time is an issue, you won't have time to wait to put in a second order.
My overall ratings on the 5 Taco Scale are below.
Food Quality - 4.5 Tacos
Price - $-$$
Value - 4.0 Tacos
Cleanliness - 1.5 Tacos
Service - 1.5 Tacos
Overall experience - this one's tough. I don't normally do this, but I'm breaking this up in two:
Food - 4.5 Tacos
Everything else - 1.5 Tacos
Likelihood to return - 2.5 Tacos
Can great tacos overcome terrible service?
Today was our first taco truck at El Pollo Dorado al Carbon. Google translate says something about The Golden Chicken Carcon. Not sure what the heck a carcon is but oh well.
Full disclaimer here, this is my first time choosing to go to abandon brick and mortar restaurants any sort of food truck. Not entirely sure how I feel about the entire food truck craze.
The setup of this place is...different. They have a tiny parking lot with a truck and carport with tables and mismatched chairs underneath. There is another area with a big grill and smoker where the delicious odors of chicken comes from.
While ordering, I found it odd that their menu had the same tacos were listed in separate categories with different prices. I tried to ask some questions about what I was ordering but there was a major communication issue as the employees speak EXTREMELY LIMITED English. I think I ordered three tacos and a drink.
The drink issue is a whole different animal. The drinks are in a cooler, with nasty brown ice/water at the bottom. Not only are the pop cans nasty but you can choose between Coke and Sprite.
While travis was ordering, they decided to take a to go order while he stood there looking dumb.
While waiting for our food, we hear some gals ordering their food discussing some magical lunch special that we had no clue about.
The food does smell good...
After a longer than expected wait, it turns out I ordered 4 tacos...
On to the tacos... They have carbón right in their name but didn't have carbón tacos today. I don't know what a carbón taco is, but I wanted one. They DID have steak, alpastor and chicken tacos.
The steak tacos are delicious. They meat is tender with the right amount of seasoning and flavor. Add a little like juice and some of their amazing spicy red salsa and this taco is fantastic!
The chicken tacos are made with the whole chickens they chop up from the grill and smoker I mentioned earlier. The flavor is good but not like the steak taco. I will NEVER eat another of their chicken tacos as I bit down on a chunk of bone and tore up the roof of my mouth. Risk vs reward, the steak is a safer option.
The al pastor tacos had awesome flavor and texture. They were spicier than some of the others we have reviewed but still very manageable.
After finishing a plate of tacos that cost 6.50, I ordered the exact same plate again, only to be charged $4. The third time I went back, they wanted $5 for the same order. There is no rhyme or reason for why they charge what they charge.
Today's experience has me questioning whether a delicious taco can overcome piss poor customer service. The answer is no.
This is by far the hardest place to review because the taco's are delicious. But the service and overall experience are TERRIBLE. There is no nicer way to word it.
Service- 🌮
Quality of food- 🌮🌮🌮
Amount of meat on each taco- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
Overall value- 🌮🌮🌮
Overall experience- 🌮🌮
Full disclaimer here, this is my first time choosing to go to abandon brick and mortar restaurants any sort of food truck. Not entirely sure how I feel about the entire food truck craze.
The setup of this place is...different. They have a tiny parking lot with a truck and carport with tables and mismatched chairs underneath. There is another area with a big grill and smoker where the delicious odors of chicken comes from.
While ordering, I found it odd that their menu had the same tacos were listed in separate categories with different prices. I tried to ask some questions about what I was ordering but there was a major communication issue as the employees speak EXTREMELY LIMITED English. I think I ordered three tacos and a drink.
The drink issue is a whole different animal. The drinks are in a cooler, with nasty brown ice/water at the bottom. Not only are the pop cans nasty but you can choose between Coke and Sprite.
While travis was ordering, they decided to take a to go order while he stood there looking dumb.
While waiting for our food, we hear some gals ordering their food discussing some magical lunch special that we had no clue about.
The food does smell good...
After a longer than expected wait, it turns out I ordered 4 tacos...
On to the tacos... They have carbón right in their name but didn't have carbón tacos today. I don't know what a carbón taco is, but I wanted one. They DID have steak, alpastor and chicken tacos.
The steak tacos are delicious. They meat is tender with the right amount of seasoning and flavor. Add a little like juice and some of their amazing spicy red salsa and this taco is fantastic!
The chicken tacos are made with the whole chickens they chop up from the grill and smoker I mentioned earlier. The flavor is good but not like the steak taco. I will NEVER eat another of their chicken tacos as I bit down on a chunk of bone and tore up the roof of my mouth. Risk vs reward, the steak is a safer option.
The al pastor tacos had awesome flavor and texture. They were spicier than some of the others we have reviewed but still very manageable.
After finishing a plate of tacos that cost 6.50, I ordered the exact same plate again, only to be charged $4. The third time I went back, they wanted $5 for the same order. There is no rhyme or reason for why they charge what they charge.
Today's experience has me questioning whether a delicious taco can overcome piss poor customer service. The answer is no.
This is by far the hardest place to review because the taco's are delicious. But the service and overall experience are TERRIBLE. There is no nicer way to word it.
Service- 🌮
Quality of food- 🌮🌮🌮
Amount of meat on each taco- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
Overall value- 🌮🌮🌮
Overall experience- 🌮🌮
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)