So....... for whatever reason Thing 1 and Thing 2 have this thing against planning. Tour Stop #17 was no different as we had a plan to go to one restaurant on the west side before Travis heard from someone that the tacos stunk. Personally, I think we have to review every place regardless of reputation, BUT these two dorks seem to have a different opinion. Anyway, another last minute change landed us at a place we've been to once or twice before - Ruben's Mexican Grill in Delano.
Even though we'd been here before, it's not one of our usual spots and it had been quite a while since we came. I've been a couple of times and I don't recall ever ordering the tacos, so this still seemed like a fairly new experience for me. Once we arrived, we were seated immediately. The place is a decent size, with plenty of seating. It's actually a pretty nice spot in terms of the overall condition of the restaurant - not like some of the little hole in the walls we've seen on this tour. We immediately got some chips and salsa and everyone seemed to enjoy the salsa a lot. Almost a little on the tangy side compared to other salsas we've had. A quick glance of the menu and the first thing I knew was that this place was going to rank low on the value scale, especially if the tacos weren't just absolutely amazing. The taco choices were basically divvied up into two groups: You could get Gail's Taco plate for $10.00 (three street style tacos, with beans and rice) or you could order tacos a la carte for what was advertised as $3.00/each. So I decided to go with a Gail's Taco Plate (1 chicken and 2 steak) and I added on a shrimp taco for good measure.
When my tacos arrived, my first impression was that I felt a little shorted on the meat. Even when I look at the picture, I still get the same impression. But once I started dividing everything into the shells, it actually seemed to go pretty far. My three street tacos were pretty decent - they were topped with cilantro and chopped onion, with lime, salsa, and avocado on the side. All of the meat was well cooked, not tough or chewy. Decent amount of flavor, though not as spicy or memorable as some other tacos we've had. I'd call them middle of the road. My shrimp taco came well presented but definitely could've benefited from more shrimp - 3 little shrimp just ain't cutting it, especially once I found out I got charged more than the $3.00 a la carte price because it was shrimp (surely someone could've mentioned it to me, but I guess that's what I get for not asking).
In summary, I'd call them SLIGHTLY better than average tacos at a higher than average price. Come back for the chips and salsa and stay away from the a la carte tacos. My overall rankings on the 5 Taco Scale are below.
Food Quality - 3.0 Tacos
Price - $$
Value - 2.0 Tacos
Cleanliness - 4.5 Tacos
Service - 4.0 Tacos
Overall Experience - 3.0 Tacos
Likelihood to Return - 2.5 Tacos
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