Well, after the fairly routine nature of our previous stops, we asked for suggestions and decided to go with a recommendation from a friend of Chris's - Tacos Raymundo. The restaurant is located just east of 21st N and Amidon in a small building with a dining area the size of my bedroom. I, too, was a little worried as I approached, as the place appeared.....borderline. But when I walked in, I was greeted with the awesome smell of the kitchen and I was hopeful this might be one of those hole in the wall treasures.
Once we sat down, we took notice of the surroundings during our chit chat - I mean, really what else were we gonna do?!?! We had sat there long enough that I could've gone back to Taco Rio for an appetizer and been back in time to place my order. Once there though, the service was adequate and friendly. They brought us some decently thick chips and two kinds of salsa. The hot salsa was a steaming bowl of soup with jalapeno and onion in it and was very tasty - not so spicy hot you couldn't enjoy it, but with the appropriate amount of kick to it.
When I opened the menu, I knew I was going to be in for an unusual treat as they offered taco fillings that aren't on your everyday menu - Cesos (brains), cabeza (cow cheek), and Tripas (pork intestine). Since my blogmates are pretty much pansies, it was up to me to be the adventurous one and order up something new. I mean seriously you gotta break up the beef and chicken tacos with something new when it comes up, right?!? So I went with the 3 taco plate and rice with a cabeza, a ground beef, and a cesos taco. At Chris' suggestion I also ordered a pork and a shrimp taco. Figured I might as well try them all.
My plate arrived and looked great. All of the tacos were dressed in cilantro, onion, and salsa with grilled onions on the side. No cheese, lettuce, or tomatoes here. I started with the Cesos taco. I had never had brains before and when I got the taco, it was a little mushier than I thought it would be. I expected fried brains and got half boiled. I was able to finish it with no problem. That being said, this is not a taco for the squeamish. If you have the tummy of a 6 year old school girl (like my blog mates) and a hatred for oysters on the half shell, you might want to avoid this one. Overall, the taste was a little bland and the texture wasn't my favorite. I can sum up my other four tacos in one word: "awesome". Oh, and "tasty". Which is now two words, but oh well....these tacos were delicious! The cabeza was a super tender, beefy taco. Don't get weirded out by what it is: if I were to put it on your plate and tell you it was a steak taco, you wouldn't know the difference. The pork and beef tacos were also worth the drive - they were seasoned just right, with a little spice but not overpowering. The shrimp tacos were also perfect. A lot of shrimp tacos come over cooked with chewy little pieces of dry shrimp. No complaints of that kind with this shrimp taco at all.
This place epitomizes what this tour is all about: finding and enjoying new places with good friends. I'm already looking forward to my next lunch there. My overall ratings are as follows:
Food Quality: 4.5 Tacos
Price: $-$$
Value: 4.0 Tacos
Cleanliness: 3.5 Tacos
Service: 3.0 Tacos
Overall Experience: 4.0 Tacos
Likelihood to Return: 5.0 Tacos
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