Travis - Taco Tour stop #58 - El Vaquero - 1320 E Central

We've heard a lot about El Vaquero over the last few weeks - it's a newer establishment on E Central with a real live Mariachi band!  I mean hey, how much more authentic can you get?!  We actually tried to go last week but Chris got there first and said the door was locked and couldn't get in. We're still not sure if Chris was pushing instead of pulling or vice versa.  I called a day early this week and they're open 7 days a week - sooooo, yeah. Not sure.

Anyway, the restaurant is on Central, BUT you actually park behind (on the North side) off of Cleveland ("Cleave - Land?" - note to self: rewatch Howard the Duck).  Park on the back side, come in through the "back" and it's a spacious restaurant.  Not much activity on a Wednesday but the waitress informed us that Tuesdays are hopping thanks to $1 tacos. Dang.

I sat down and Chris was already there consuming chips and salsa.  The table we sat at was conveniently located below a ceiling fan which was quite pleasant. The fan was INconveniently located below a fluorescent light - the strobe effect all lunch was quite UNpleasant.

The chips and salsa are TASTY!  I think we refilled the basket 3 or 4 times. They have "Tacos Mexicano" - which are street tacos for $2.25 with the normal flavors. So I ordered my typical carne, carnitas, al pastor, and pollo.  I also added a ground beef taco in a hard shell ($1.99).  It did seem like it took quite awhile for our tacos to arrive.  That's probably why we ate so many chips.  I'm not entirely sure why either because they weren't busy at all - and typically these meats are already ready, they just need served.

When they finally did arrive, they looked pretty good and fairly typical with 2 tortillas and what seemed to be an adequate amount of meat. Unfortunately, I'm wondering if they sat for awhile because most of them were barely warm and by the time I was done, some were no longer warm at all.

I went for the pollo first - it had enough meat to be an adequate taco. Not sure why the other 2 didn't like this one because I actually kind of liked it. The meat had a nice grilled chicken flavor to it - something that is sometimes hit or miss at our other stops. It was sort of tender (but not awesomely tender). Overall I did enjoy this one.

The ground beef was next. Eh. Not bad - it wasn't warm. The shell was a little soft on the bottom even though I ate this one second. It had plenty of filling in the shell. We've definitely had better - and frankly, you can get just as good at "fast food" taco joints.

The carne was my next taco and it was slightly chewy but it did have plenty of meat.  The flavor was okay - but nothing amazing.  I tried the hot salsa on this one and it definitely brought out a little more flavor and a good kick.

Carnitas is one of my favorite tacos so I'm always anxious to try new ones at our stops. This one wasn't bad. It didn't have a bold flavor like some of my other favorites do, but it did taste good. It was a little on the chewy side. It had a subtle flavor that sort of comes in as you're eating it - but not obvious right when you take the bite.  I kind of liked that about it, but it wasn't anything that will have me raving about it.

The al pastor was last and it was really an interesting taco.  The meat was the nice red color we've come to expect from al pastor. It had an interesting sauce on the meat - a marinade that I don't recall having at our other stops.  I couldn't figure out the flavor I was getting until Shon said it - pineapple. The more I thought about it, the more I liked this. It had that sweet but tangy touch and you definitely can taste the hint of pineapple. This would have easily been the best taco we had IF it would have been hot.  Really kind of bummed it wasn't.  I might go back and try this one again.

Overall, if you compare our reviews you'll see some consistencies and inconsistencies. I think you'll notice that most of our tacos weren't hot in temperature. Not sure if they sat waiting or what. The food definitely needs to come out hot - especially for "open face" tacos that cool fast.  I think we all liked the al pastor - but the others were a mixed batch because of inconsistencies in meat quality.  Last but not least, service was a little slow in spite of excellent chips and salsa.  I found myself wanting to like this place. I'll probably give it another go - maybe on a Tuesday.  Strictly out of curiosity, I also want to come back for the mariachi band.

Here's my ratings out of 5 tacos:

Out of 5 tacos, here's my ratings: 

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

Armando’s by Chris

On May 2, we made the trip up the north side at Armando’s Mexican Grill. They are located at 2227 N Arkansas in the building that El Paisa and Casa Del Charro were in. 

I arrived a tad early and enjoyed their CHIPS AND SALSA. Their chips were nice and fresh and the salsa was tasty. 

They had a nice selection of tacos on the menu and I chose 5 of then. We waited roughly 12 minutes and our tacos arrived. 

My carne asada was room temp. It was well cooked (other than the temp) but severely lacking in flavor. The meat was nice and tender. 

Al pastor was room temp and lacking in flavor. Normally, al pastor is my favorite taco but theirs was totally underwhelming. 

Their chorizo was spicy but not too spicy and not too greasy. This one was actually at an edible temperature. Chorizo tacos are hit or miss, this one was a hit. 

The carnitas was room temp, lacking in flavor and huge clumps of meat that you have to really work to bite through. It almost seems like this was yesterday’s meat that they didn’t serve. 

My first chicken taco had two small pieces of chicken on it. Obviously that is not acceptable. The second attempt, the chicken was grossly over cooked. The meat was extremely tough and the flavor was not fantastic. 

I won’t be back for a few reasons. Of all of the tacos, the only one with ever thinking of again was the chorizo. The servers attitude about the meatless taco was less than acceptable. The meat temps are concerning to me. 

Chris

Mr Taco for the win?

A couple weeks back, we finally made it to Mr Taco. This is a tiny building at 25th and Arkansas. There are a few tables outside but no seating inside. Most importantly, they are cash only. 

To order your tacos, you have to go insure the tiny building and speak over the people sitting at the three seats at the bar to place your order. There is a bit of a language barrier. 

We placed our orders and found a seat at the concrete tables. 

When the food arrived roughly 15 minutes later, it looked amazing. Unfortunately, I had to send mine back as they put raw onion on my tacos. I think this was largely due to the language barrier. On the positive side, they only took a couple of minutes to remake my tacos. 

I ordered a total of 4 tacos, barbacoa, carnitas, al pastor and carne asada. They came out looking and smelling absolutely delicious. 

I was starving when my food came out so I didn’t get you details on each taco. The tacos had plenty of meat on them, it was all very tender and nicely cooked. There is not a single complaint that I can come up with about the tacos. 

A member of our party went off topic and ordered a quesadilla. I must say, the quesadilla was absolutely fantastic. The tacos were good, this was amazing. 

I must say, this stop shocked me. I had been to Mr Taco roughly 10 years ago and was totally disappointed. This visit was the polar opposite of what I experienced last time I was there. 

I will most definitely be back. I may have a hard time sticking with the tacos though based on how delicious the quesadilla was. They have certainly found a place in my top 10. It will take at least one more visit to determine where in the top 10 they fit. 

El Vaquero, how about El VaquerNO

Today we are at El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant on E Central. We have had a few people ask us to go check it out. I guess they have a mariachi band on weekends and whatnot. So here we are. 

Upon arriving, the parking is weird. You have you park around the back of the building and there are no windows. 

I was immediately seated. The place was nearly empty. I reviewed the menu and decided on 4 tacos Mexicano (street tacos) and a ground beef white boy taco. 

We devoured some chips and tomato sauce (salsa). It took roughly 20 minutes for the food to arrive. 

Ground beef taco had a soggy shell at the bottom and a stale shell up top. The meat wasn’t very warm. This was a lose-lose for this taco. 

The carnitas was cold and had very taste to the taco. When I say cold, I don’t mean room temperature, I mean cold. 

The al pastor was very flavorful and well cooked. It had an interesting spice to it. I think they put some of the marinade on each taco as there were a couple delicious chunks of pineapple on the taco. 

The chicken was rubbery and lacking in flavor. I don’t know if the meat was undercooked or severely over cooked but after 1 bite, I was uninterested in learning more. The meat was also room temperature. 

My carne asada was tough but had a nice taste to it. Guess what the biggest problem with the carne asada was...seriously, guess. If you guessed that it was room temp, you are correct. 

Assumptions to be drawn from this visit is that our food sat in the back for a while. That is the only logical explanation for the room temperature food and the extremely long wait in an empty restaurant. 

We were informed that they have $1 tacos on Tuesday but I don’t think that I will bother with visiting again. IF I visit again, I will likely only order al pastor tacos. I would rate them somewhere in the bottom 1/3 of all of the places we have visited. 

Travis - Taco Tour stop #57 - Mr Taco - 711 W 25th St N

So many moons ago when we first started on our tour, we heard about this place called Mr Taco.  Mr Taco has been on our list for quite awhile and it had rave reviews from quite a few people.  We actually attempted to go there a couple of times but either they were closed or we didn't have cash or some other factor made us go elsewhere.  We also learned earlier this year that the owners had started a new place (that we already reviewed) so we weren't entirely sure if/when we'd make it there.  Well oddly, we were headed somewhere else that was closed so we decided to try Mr Taco again this week - and I'm glad we did!

Oh, and there is an unofficial FB page here or an official page here:  Not sure which is most correct since the "official" one shows the name as Alondra's (which is the new place they opened over on 21st St). #confusion

I'm going to get the warnings out of the way first.  This place has VERY limited parking. They also ONLY accept cash. There WILL be a language barrier if you're a mostly uncultured white dude like me. (I regret taking German in HS and not Spanish). They also only have outdoor seating - and not very good seating at that.  So plan ahead and maybe even have an alternate plan in your back pocket.  But spoiler alert, it's worth the trip if you can get in...

We arrived at random intervals since we were actually headed somewhere else first. Getting there first, I ordered my tacos - which if I remember correctly were $1.90 each.  They were out of pollo by the time I ordered, so I ordered a barbacoa, carnitas, al pastor, and carne asada.

The wait was slightly more than expected but they had a few patrons ahead of us so it wasn't unreasonable.  We sat outside in metal chairs at a slightly unlevel concrete patio table.  Definitely not the best decorated joint we've been to, but hey, we're there for tacos!  When they arrived, I was pleased by the amount of meat that I was seeing and was anxious to dig in.

I started with the barbacoa - it had plenty of meat. One thing that seems consistent with a lot of places is the barbacoa tends to be a little fatty - and this was no exception. It wasn't bad though - the flavor was decent and the salsa was a nice addition and added a nice kick.

Carnitas was next and is always one I look forward to wherever we go. This one had lots of meat for sure. It had a really nice flavor in the meat - this was an excellent choice here as I really enjoyed it.  I'll definitely get this taco again whenever we make it back. I added a little red sauce to the mix and it brought it up a notch higher.  Yay!

Side note - I took a bite of the quesadilla asada. WOW. It was really good. Excellent steak flavor and cheesy yummy goodness. I will probably get that next time I'm here!

The al pastor taco was next and it had a nice familiar red color to it. The flavor was good and it had a little bite - especially after I added the sauce.  There was an ever so slight crunch on the edge of the meat being just slightly "blackened". I like this extra bit of texture so it was a good choice of taco for the day.

Last but definitely not least was the carne asada. It had lots of meat too. The steak flavor that I enjoyed sneaking a bite of in the quesadilla was also in this taco.  They know how to cook their steak here. I really liked this taco and will look forward to coming back and having this again.

Overall, I'm really glad we didn't give up on Mr Taco. I'm happy to report they are still there (and it looks like they might even have a new and improved sign).  The cooking is excellent and I definitely want to come back and get more of anything that has steak on it.  To all of you who recommended them - in spite of our struggles to get here - thank you.  Mr Taco lands among my favorites - I just have to remember to have cash with me and either plan on carrying out or visiting on a weather-cooperative day.

Out of 5 tacos, here's my ratings: 

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

Shon's Take - Taco Tour Stop #56 - Armando's Mexican Restaurant - 2227 N Arkansas

This week's Tour Stop (ok..... maybe it was two weeks ago... or more.... sue me) brings us back to a familiar building with a new tenant in it. This location at 2227 N Arkansas has had several restaurants there over the last several years starting with the demise of longtime tenant El Paisa (Rest in Peace), which was then followed by Casa Del Charro, which didn't seem to be there very long at all. Maybe a year? Didn't feel like a long time. Anyway, we're back to give the new guys a try! A second location for a restaurant out of Clearwater - Armando's Mexican Restaurant.


My first thought before we got there was that the food must be pretty good. I mean, it's good enough to start a second location right? So apparently business is good in Clearwater. Of course, that's just all conjecture, considering I haven't set foot there. But still, I had high hopes. Armando's seemed to keep a lot of the same stuff from the previous tenants. I definitely didn't feel like I was walking into some place new, more like "same place, new management". Like it's previous tenants, Armando's is a sit down restaurant with a full menu of food and drinks. Speaking of the menu, if you go there looking for street style tacos, apparently you'll have to ASK for them as they're NOT listed in the menu. Why? Silliness.... Anyway, after we finally figured out we could get what we were looking for, I went with an order of 5 tacos: asada steak, al pastor, carnitas, chicken, and chorizo.


We placed our order and snacked on some tasty chips and salsa while we waited. After a short wait our order came out and they looked pretty good, with the standard street dress: onion, cilantro, and lime on the side. I decided to start with the chorizo taco - I really enjoyed this taco. The taco had a nice peppery taste, without the lousy after burn taste that some places have. It was a little greasy, but still, probably one of the better chorizo tacos I've had on tour. The steak and carnitas tacos were next - both were filled with plenty of meat and the shells had a nice crisp to them, like they were thrown on the grill a little bit as well. The steak was definitely the better of the two here, a nice meaty flavor with a decent spice to it. The carnitas was of the fried variety, as opposed to the marinated type. I thought the carnitas was a little dry and lacked any real flavor to it. Maybe I'm just more partial to the marinated ones, but this one definitely improved with some added salsa. The al pastor was next and was also filled with a nice quantity of tasty marinated meat. I enjoyed this one as well, and I would say it was probably the best of the five, followed closely by the chorizo. Last was the chicken. Not sure why I can't get a really flavorful chicken taco (outside of 1 or 2 stops) but the chicken taco here was just middle of the road. Not horrible, by any means, but it looked better than it tasted.


So just to summarize - if I were to go back, I'd load up on the al pastors, chorizo, and steak. Put the chicken and carnitas on the "I'll taste it cause I'm curious" List. Still, I would say overall this was a pretty decent find and I could definitely see myself coming back here. $2.00 a taco isn't the worst price around, but given the location in the heart of some tasty taco places, there are some more economical spots available depending on the day of the week. My overall rankings on the 5-Taco Scale are below.


Food Quality - 3.0 Tacos
Price - $
Value - 3.0 Tacos
Cleanliness - 3.5 Tacos
Service - 3.5 Tacos
Overall Experience - 3.0 Tacos
Likelihood to return - 3.0 Tacos

When pigs fly into taco shells...

The other day, Travis was tagged in a Facebook post about a BBQ place on the west side called When Pigs Fly. They had a special for one week which was BBQ brisket tacos. 

So that’s where we went.  Travis and I were on time, Shon was late. We ordered our tacos (they come 3 tacos to an order) and found a seat. 

Before I jump into the tacos, let me start by saying that I have been to WPF on a number of occasions and really like their BBQ. 

Let me get my complaints out of the way first, then get to the positives. 

The shells were extremely stale. Have you ever bought Old El Paso taco shells, eaten a few of them and put the rest in the cabinet then eaten them 6 months later? They were that stale. 

My second and final complaint is that the tacos were overpriced, for tacos. I get that it came with beans (which were delicious) and creamy corn (which I could have done without) but $12 for 3 tacos is steep. 

Ok, I am done griping. The brisket inside was amazing. I love my brisket slathered in BBQ and this was perfect. The meat was super tender and they were not shy about loading the tacos up with brisket. 

In short, they are very good at meat but less awesome at tacos. So if you want tacos, go to a taco place. If you want BBQ, they know their way around that topic. 

Travis - Taco Tour stop #56 - Armando's Mexican Grill - 2227 N Arkansas

We recently heard that a new place had opened in the previously El Paisa and Casa Del Charro spot near 21st & Arkansas.  The recent addition is a Armando's Mexican Grill - but it's their second location (they also have a location in Clearwater).  This part of town is heavy with authentic Mexican spots, so we were hopeful we'd find another gem (in spite of the previous 2 occupants not making it).  At least they've already got a location in operation, so hopefully the experience will help them with longevity...

Anyway, on to the review.  This is a "sit down" style location - the hostess seated us and presented us with menus to look over.  We were greeted with some tasty chips and salsa and a pretty big selection of food to look over.  Looking over their options, it seems like they didn't have a selection of street tacos. In fact, the a la carte options for tacos seemed a little expensive.  But never fear - when we asked our waiter, apparently a "hidden" menu item of $2 street tacos was available. They have many of the standard options you'd expect so I ordered carne asada, pollo, al pastor, and carnitas.  

When the tacos came out, I noticed right away that there was something unique about them.  They did come with what seemed like an appropriate amount of meat - and they were definitely street style with 2 tortillas. But the unique aspect is that the outer tortilla is soft and the inner tortilla is fried and more crispy. It definitely makes for an interesting texture and I quite enjoyed it on every taco we had.

I started off with the carne and right away I was excited by how this was going to turn out.  It had a really nice steak flavor. It had just a slight crunch to the outer part of the meat (think burnt ends). It had adequate meat and I definitely enjoyed this taco. The meat was tender and not chewy.  By far my favorite of the spot.

The next taco was pollo and I almost couldn't close the taco it had so much meat.  The flavor really wasn't too bad. I wouldn't say it was bold, but it still had a decent taste. The chicken was tender and not dry - although not really moist either.

The al pastor was next. There wasn't as much meat on this taco but it was still enough. The meat had a nice red color like I've come to expect.  However, the flavor wasn't as bold as I expected it to be. It was still a decent flavor but nothing too memorable.

The last taco was the carnitas. It was definitely a bit dry but still tender. There really wasn't much flavor to this taco. It probably could use some salsa - however we weren't given any except what was in the bowl for the chips.  

Overall this stop wasn't bad - I really enjoyed the carne asada however the others just kind of left something to be desired. They weren't bad - but I just kind of kept expecting more and I felt like it wasn't delivered.  The unique texture of the tortillas definitely made up some ground - but I don't know if it's enough to keep me coming back.  As of right now, I'd kind of like to give them another shot (maybe in a few months) to see if the quality and taste comes up a bit - but as of right now, for $2/taco, I think there are still better options out there (and not too far away from this spot).

Out of 5 tacos, here's my ratings:

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