The first thing we noticed is that the taco selection wasn't great. This restaurant kind of has that Americanized Authentic Mexican vibe if that makes sense. What I mean is, the menu is mixed with items you'd find at a traditional mexican restaurant but also some tex-mex type stuff as well as the decor and feel of the restaurant. Anyway, back to the taco selection... A La Carte tacos are $3/ea but the menu doesn't indicate what they are. They also have a Gail's Taco Dinner with 3 carne asada (but available with chicken). They also have fish tacos, shrimp tacos, and some deep fried flour tacos - but all of these are part of a dinner or combo - not really meant to be mixed and matched. I decided to get the Gail's dinner and changed 1 to a chicken (and shared one of the remaining 2 asadas). I also added a deep fried flour ground beef taco. My dinner came with beans and rice.
I almost forgot the chips - they're great! The hot sauce definitely has a solid kick to it. As someone who enjoys spice, I was very pleased. I think we went through 3 or 4 baskets. The waitress was quick to answer questions, keep our chips and waters full. Overall the service was very pleasant even with some of the crap we (Chris) put her through during ordering.
The tacos arrived in a reasonable and acceptable amount of time. Having chips on the table helps pass the time and I didn't notice it taking very long. First to come were the 3 asada (1 chicken) tacos and the deep fried arrived shortly after. There were some complaints about the amount of meat from the others - but honestly it was probably as much as we've seen at other stops. The illusion is that the tortillas are larger (and only 1) - so definitely not "street tacos".
I squeezed some lime in and topped them with lettuce and onion and dug into the chicken first. The first thing I noticed is it was not hot (temp) - it was lukewarm at best so I was a little skeptical. A few of the later bites were a bit warmer, but I think it may have set out for a few minutes before arriving. Since they are open-face, I'm not too surprised. BUT, the chicken actually was pretty decent. It was tasty, good flavor, tender, not dry, not juicy. Overall it was a satisfying taco. I've had better chicken on the tour, and I've had worse.
The asada taco was next and it seemed to have a very subtle kick. This taco had a good flavor. It wasn't great, it wasn't bad, it wouldn't win any prizes but it wasn't a disappointment. It definitely had more flavor than many of the bland asada tacos we've had, but I've also had better.
The deep fried ground beef taco was next. Immediately I noticed the shell was very flaky and soft (in a good way). It didn't fall apart in my hand (even though it was the last taco). It tasted very fresh like it was just made - I was quite impressed with the shell! The ground beef had flavor but nothing bold. It wasn't as bland as last week at Los Cocos - but it definitely could have been a little more exciting. Nothing to rave about, but nothing to complain about either.
Unfortunately, our experience kind of has a black mark on it because of value... Because it was difficult to get a variety of tacos, I think we got charged some pretty hefty a la carte prices. I don't know my exact bill because it was combined and shared and split... But I think for my share of it, it must have been about $16 (and that's just water to drink). So one of the more expensive stops. I got full, but for that price, I expect better.
Overall, Ruben's is decent, but it's not great. I'm putting it middle of the road for flavor and for the price, you can definitely do better. Service was good and the restaurant is clean, well maintained, and pleasant.
Out of 5 tacos, here are my ratings:
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