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.
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