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
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Taco Tour stop #18 - Taco Pronto - 7333 W Central
Well, I'm not entirely sure how we ended up here, but this week we went to Taco Pronto. I was thinking we were saving some of the fast food joints for later, or to round them up into one combined review. But whatever, our planning sucks - so that's where we landed...
The place looks like a nicer version of Taco Shop - decor on the walls, clean, and it was quiet when we got there at 1145 but it definitely picked up at noon and past. Plenty of room for us and the service is fairly quick. They have a few different tacos to pick from so I selected a regular fried corn ground beef, a fried flour ground beef, and a "taco combo" - which is sort of like a double-decker from Taco Bell (hard shell with the stuffings, then a layer of beans, and a soft shell around it). Hot sauce on all of them.
The tacos arrived within a reasonable time - enough to keep this in the "fast food" category especially with the counter ordering and pickup and wrapped in paper on a serving tray.
I started with the fried corn taco - this is a pretty basic "fast food" taco and is probably in-line with most other ground beef fast food tacos you will encounter. Nothing special. Not bad, not great, edible. Ingredients tasted fresh and I have no complaints.
The fried flour taco was next - and it literally crumbled as soon as I picked it up. It was a pain to eat, but honestly it tasted pretty good. The shell tasted fresh as did the other ingredients. Probably above average for a fast food taco taste. Honestly if I go back, I'll definitely have another one - even though it's kind of annoying to eat it in pieces.
Last (and least) I ate the "taco combo". Honestly, meh. If you like beans, you'll probably enjoy this one. I don't and I didn't. I ate it, but I wouldn't do it again simply because of the beans.
One big plus about this place is the ice. I would probably called it "shaved" ice - definitely crunchy and easy to "eat" with your drink. They serve it from behind the counter - otherwise I'd probably have gone back for a lot more of it. :-) Too bad they have Coke products!
Overall, I wouldn't rush right out to Taco Pronto - but if you're in a hurry or in the mood for fast food tacos, they're definitely acceptable. I'd probably put them slightly above Taco Shop as far as quality, service, and atmosphere. I'll still frequent Taco Shop because I'm pretty loyal - but I'd like to stop here again and try their chips and a few other things.
Out of 5 tacos (on the fast food curve), here are my ratings:
The place looks like a nicer version of Taco Shop - decor on the walls, clean, and it was quiet when we got there at 1145 but it definitely picked up at noon and past. Plenty of room for us and the service is fairly quick. They have a few different tacos to pick from so I selected a regular fried corn ground beef, a fried flour ground beef, and a "taco combo" - which is sort of like a double-decker from Taco Bell (hard shell with the stuffings, then a layer of beans, and a soft shell around it). Hot sauce on all of them.
The tacos arrived within a reasonable time - enough to keep this in the "fast food" category especially with the counter ordering and pickup and wrapped in paper on a serving tray.
I started with the fried corn taco - this is a pretty basic "fast food" taco and is probably in-line with most other ground beef fast food tacos you will encounter. Nothing special. Not bad, not great, edible. Ingredients tasted fresh and I have no complaints.
The fried flour taco was next - and it literally crumbled as soon as I picked it up. It was a pain to eat, but honestly it tasted pretty good. The shell tasted fresh as did the other ingredients. Probably above average for a fast food taco taste. Honestly if I go back, I'll definitely have another one - even though it's kind of annoying to eat it in pieces.
Last (and least) I ate the "taco combo". Honestly, meh. If you like beans, you'll probably enjoy this one. I don't and I didn't. I ate it, but I wouldn't do it again simply because of the beans.
One big plus about this place is the ice. I would probably called it "shaved" ice - definitely crunchy and easy to "eat" with your drink. They serve it from behind the counter - otherwise I'd probably have gone back for a lot more of it. :-) Too bad they have Coke products!
Overall, I wouldn't rush right out to Taco Pronto - but if you're in a hurry or in the mood for fast food tacos, they're definitely acceptable. I'd probably put them slightly above Taco Shop as far as quality, service, and atmosphere. I'll still frequent Taco Shop because I'm pretty loyal - but I'd like to stop here again and try their chips and a few other things.
Out of 5 tacos (on the fast food curve), here are my ratings:
| Food Taste: |  |
| Value: |  |
| Cleanliness: | |
| Service: | |
| Overall: | |
| Likelihood to return: | |
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Tacos Pronto
Today we went with Taco Pronto for some fast tacos. We visited the location at Central and Ridge.
I started with 5 tacos to see where they got me.
The pork soft taco was delicious but dripping wet. There was a ton of meat in the taco and it was nice and tender.
The fried corn taco was exactly as expected. It was loaded with meat and quite delicious.
The fried flour taco seemed to believe in NuWays business model as it crumbled the second I picked it up. But it was quite yummy.
The beef soft taco was delicious but next time I will stick with the crunchy beef tacos.
Their chicken soft taco tastes like someone went to Walmart and bought the nasty bagged microwavable chicken and slapped it in a taco. There was a lot of meat inside but in this case, that didn't make it any better.
In conclusion, this is a fast food taco place. It isn't gourmet but it is effective for a quick taco lunch. Taco Pronto has some of the best crushed ice in town. I will be by for more Taco Pronto soon.
Service- 🌮🌮🌮
Quality of food- 🌮🌮🌮
Amount of meat on each taco- 🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮
Overall value- 🌮🌮🌮
Overall experience- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Taco Tour stop #17 - Ruben's Mexican Grill - 915 W Douglas
So in typical fashion, there were last minute decisions made and we changed plans and decided on Ruben's Mexican Grill over in Delano. We've actually eaten here before, but it was pre-Taco Tour days. I seem to remember it was decent, so I was hopeful!
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:
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:
| Food Taste: | |
| Value: | |
| Cleanliness: | |
| Service: | |
| Overall: | |
| Likelihood to return: | |
Ruben, you have some work to do.
We decided to hit Rubens Mexican Grill today.
I ordered 4 tacos at $3 each, a carne asada, fried ground been, fish and shrimp.
I started with the carne asada taco. It came out on an 8 inch shell but for the mean on it, they could have used a 4-5 inch shell. The meat was a little over cooked and lacking in flavor.
Then the fried beef taco came out. It was well cooked but I thought it was lacking in flavor. Even after adding lime and salsa, it just wasn't delicious.
My fish taco was next. The tilapia was well cooked and there was a fair amount of fish on the oversized shell.
The shrimp taco only had 3 shrimp on it but it was the clear winner out of the bunch.
Overall, the highlight of the meal was the warm chips and salsa. IF I was to come back, it would be for chips and salsa, fish and shrimp tacos. But with Los Pinos up the street, I likely won't be back.
Update, they decided they wanted four dollars for two of these tacos. I never met a taco worth four dollars in my life.
Service- 🌮🌮
Quality of food- 🌮🌮
Amount of meat on each taco- 🌮🌮🌮
Overall value- 🌮
Overall experience- 🌮🌮
Los Cocnos
Shon and I visited Los Cocos in derby last Friday. I stared with the ground beef taco. There was TONS of flavorful, tender meat. With a little squeeze of lime, it was pretty darn good.
Then I devoured my chicken taco. It was good and had a lot of meat on it but not as wonderful as the beef.
Then the main event arrived. My fish, shrimp and combo chicken/steak taco came out lined up beautifully.
The fish actually looked like grilled chicken.
The shrimp wasn't bad but there was nothing special about it.
The combo steak and chicken was 100% underwhelming. Maybe it could have been that I was totally stuffed when I got to it but there was no flavor. None. Not even a little.
After reviewing the Derby location, I said that I will be back but it will be for fish and the ground beef tacos.
Begin the second review at the west Wichita location on North Tyler.
I could spend a bunch of time telling you about each individual taco and how it broke down but the moral of the story has all of the tacos there sucked except for the fish taco.
We just didn't have a great experience and the tacos didn't overcome it. It's not that the service was bad but there was nothing special about this place.
After reviewing the two locations, if I was to return to either location, it would definitely be the Derby location.
Service- 🌮🌮🌮
Quality of food- 🌮🌮
Amount of meat on each taco- 🌮🌮🌮🌮
Overall value- 🌮🌮🌮
Overall experience- 🌮🌮🌮
Monday, May 15, 2017
Shon's Take - Taco Tour Stop #16 - Los Cocos Mexican Restaurant
Well, you may have noticed that we didn't post a Taco Tour Review last week. Originally, Thing 1 (Travis) wasn't able to make it out for tacos on Cinco De Mayo. So after Chris and I revoked Travis' Taco Card, he and I decided to hit Los Cocos in Derby for some tacos. Then last week, as we tried to figure out where to go, I threw out the option of hitting the Los Cocos at 13th and Tyler as well. So this is our first foray into a multi-location review - both locations for Los Cocos Mexican Restaurants.
It had been a while since I had been to either location, but I had it in my brain that the food was pretty decent. You might think that trying to review two different locations would be hard. But in actuality, the restaurants and their food were pretty much the same. The buildings themselves are pretty decent, with the one in Derby being a bit newer. But similarly decorated in a Mexican party theme. We were seated immediately and got some chips and salsa to start. The first thing I noticed when I glanced at the menu is that this one wouldn't be high on the value scale, unless the tacos were just absolutely amazing. Your typical ground beef/chicken taco on a corn/flour shell (tex mex style) tacos started at 1.99/each. Steak or chicken street tacos were 2.49/each and Fish or Shrimp Tacos were 2.99/each. Between the two locations though, I was able to get around to trying one of each of them. I have them listed below in my order of preference.
Fish taco - sadly, I wasn't terribly impressed with any of the tacos at either location. But I would say the best of the mediocre bunch was definitely the fish tacos, which I did have at both locations. They came with a bit of pineapple salsa and lettuce and plenty of fish. Overall, not a bad taco and they would probably be my go to if I return.
Shrimp Taco - a close 2nd place, I also had this one at both locations and was satisfied with my choice, if not really overwhelmed. Plenty of shrimp, and perfectly cooked with some grilled onions on top. Could've used a bit more seasoning, but went down ok with some salsa and lime.
Steak and Chicken Street Tacos - I'll lump these in here both together because they were both pretty similar. Lots of mostly bland, unseasoned meat. Nothing else. I threw some salsa and lime on them to make them tolerable. But overall, not an inspiring taco whatsoever.
Ground Beef Tacos - I only got this one at the west side location, on a flour shell. It was the first taco I picked up and it was the first taco to totally disintegrate in my hands just seconds after arrival. Travis' had one that met the same, messy, fate. So I ate the rest with my fork, hoping maybe the flavor would justify the effort and save this taco from a disastrous review. It did not. The meat was bland, the shell was crap, and the lettuce on top looked like it was three days too old to be served. Needless to say I was NOT impressed with this one.
So..... there you have it. I started thinking about my prior thoughts on the restaurants, that I had remembered the food was decent. Then I remembered I always got the enchiladas when I was there. Guess I'll stick to those, IF I go back. My overall rankings on the 5 Taco Scale are below.
Food Quality - 2.0 Tacos
Price - $-$$
Value - 2.0 Tacos
Cleanliness - 4.0 Tacos
Service - 4.0 Tacos
Overall Experience - 2.5 Tacos
Likelihood to Return - 2.0 Tacos
It had been a while since I had been to either location, but I had it in my brain that the food was pretty decent. You might think that trying to review two different locations would be hard. But in actuality, the restaurants and their food were pretty much the same. The buildings themselves are pretty decent, with the one in Derby being a bit newer. But similarly decorated in a Mexican party theme. We were seated immediately and got some chips and salsa to start. The first thing I noticed when I glanced at the menu is that this one wouldn't be high on the value scale, unless the tacos were just absolutely amazing. Your typical ground beef/chicken taco on a corn/flour shell (tex mex style) tacos started at 1.99/each. Steak or chicken street tacos were 2.49/each and Fish or Shrimp Tacos were 2.99/each. Between the two locations though, I was able to get around to trying one of each of them. I have them listed below in my order of preference.
Fish taco - sadly, I wasn't terribly impressed with any of the tacos at either location. But I would say the best of the mediocre bunch was definitely the fish tacos, which I did have at both locations. They came with a bit of pineapple salsa and lettuce and plenty of fish. Overall, not a bad taco and they would probably be my go to if I return.
Shrimp Taco - a close 2nd place, I also had this one at both locations and was satisfied with my choice, if not really overwhelmed. Plenty of shrimp, and perfectly cooked with some grilled onions on top. Could've used a bit more seasoning, but went down ok with some salsa and lime.
Steak and Chicken Street Tacos - I'll lump these in here both together because they were both pretty similar. Lots of mostly bland, unseasoned meat. Nothing else. I threw some salsa and lime on them to make them tolerable. But overall, not an inspiring taco whatsoever.
Ground Beef Tacos - I only got this one at the west side location, on a flour shell. It was the first taco I picked up and it was the first taco to totally disintegrate in my hands just seconds after arrival. Travis' had one that met the same, messy, fate. So I ate the rest with my fork, hoping maybe the flavor would justify the effort and save this taco from a disastrous review. It did not. The meat was bland, the shell was crap, and the lettuce on top looked like it was three days too old to be served. Needless to say I was NOT impressed with this one.
So..... there you have it. I started thinking about my prior thoughts on the restaurants, that I had remembered the food was decent. Then I remembered I always got the enchiladas when I was there. Guess I'll stick to those, IF I go back. My overall rankings on the 5 Taco Scale are below.
Food Quality - 2.0 Tacos
Price - $-$$
Value - 2.0 Tacos
Cleanliness - 4.0 Tacos
Service - 4.0 Tacos
Overall Experience - 2.5 Tacos
Likelihood to Return - 2.0 Tacos
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Taco Tour Stop #16 - Los Cocos - 1335 N Tyler
We're definitely not great planners - so as usual, we decided on the tour spot last minute: Los Cocos. Chris & Shon went to the Derby location last week, but today we went to the 13th & Tyler spot. Even though the meeting time was supposed to be 1145, shockingly, doofus and dumbus weren't there at that time. So I enjoyed some cool water and chips and salsa for about 10 minutes. The peace and quiet was nice while it lasted...
Los Cocos kind of has that "AmeriMexican-chain" vibe, and it actually translated into their food as well (as you'll see in a moment). However the staff is courteous and the place is clean with plenty of seating. The water was cold and watery and the chips were quite yummy with a good crunch and salsa was tasty. I definitely got my share of that during this visit.
They don't have a big taco selection, and having been at a lot of traditional Mexican joints, it was a bit confusing. Carne Asada tacos are available in steak or chicken... Yes you read that right. I'm still scratching my head, but I did order 1 of each. I also ordered a standard beef taco on a corn shell and a beef taco on a fried flour shell. My cohorts placed their orders and the waiter didn't use paper... This usually turns out bad - especially since we were a la carte orders of 12 different tacos. Amazingly, they all arrived correctly - and the wait wasn't short, but it wasn't an unacceptable wait either.
The first thing I noticed is that the "asada" tacos didn't look like they have so far on the tour. They have 1 flour tortilla and no onion or cilantro. Literally just the meat. So I started with the steak, put some lime juice, salsa, cheese, and lettuce on it and took a bite. Not bad. It had a decent flavor - a small bit of tough meat, but flavor was fine. It just didn't feel like a carne asada taco.
The chicken "carne asada" taco was next and I put the same toppings on it. Honestly this taco is very good - among the best chicken tacos I've had on the tour. Seriously. The flavor in the chicken was really good. Good enough that I'll definitely order it again if I make it back here.
The beef corn taco was next - the cheese and lettuce was already on the taco but I added some lime, salsa, pico, etc. Meh. The meat flavor was very bland. I've had better ground beef tacos at fast food joints. Really nothing exciting about this at all plus the shell was soggy and falling apart.
The beef on fried flour taco was last and I was already expecting bland based on the other beef one. I picked up the taco and the juice had already soaked the bottom - so much so the bottom half of the taco was still sitting on my plate. Very soggy mess - disappointing, and the meat was bland as expected. I used chips to finish this one off but don't really know why. It wasn't really worth the effort.
Overall, kinda disappointed. I got out of there for less than $12 and very full thanks to lots of chips and salsa - and to be fair the helping of meat on the tacos was good. No complaints about serving sizes or the service. But overall the chicken taco is the only thing worth coming back for. (Although on a previous visit I confirmed they have really good margaritas).
Out of 5 tacos, here are my ratings:
Los Cocos kind of has that "AmeriMexican-chain" vibe, and it actually translated into their food as well (as you'll see in a moment). However the staff is courteous and the place is clean with plenty of seating. The water was cold and watery and the chips were quite yummy with a good crunch and salsa was tasty. I definitely got my share of that during this visit.
They don't have a big taco selection, and having been at a lot of traditional Mexican joints, it was a bit confusing. Carne Asada tacos are available in steak or chicken... Yes you read that right. I'm still scratching my head, but I did order 1 of each. I also ordered a standard beef taco on a corn shell and a beef taco on a fried flour shell. My cohorts placed their orders and the waiter didn't use paper... This usually turns out bad - especially since we were a la carte orders of 12 different tacos. Amazingly, they all arrived correctly - and the wait wasn't short, but it wasn't an unacceptable wait either.
The first thing I noticed is that the "asada" tacos didn't look like they have so far on the tour. They have 1 flour tortilla and no onion or cilantro. Literally just the meat. So I started with the steak, put some lime juice, salsa, cheese, and lettuce on it and took a bite. Not bad. It had a decent flavor - a small bit of tough meat, but flavor was fine. It just didn't feel like a carne asada taco.
The chicken "carne asada" taco was next and I put the same toppings on it. Honestly this taco is very good - among the best chicken tacos I've had on the tour. Seriously. The flavor in the chicken was really good. Good enough that I'll definitely order it again if I make it back here.
The beef corn taco was next - the cheese and lettuce was already on the taco but I added some lime, salsa, pico, etc. Meh. The meat flavor was very bland. I've had better ground beef tacos at fast food joints. Really nothing exciting about this at all plus the shell was soggy and falling apart.
The beef on fried flour taco was last and I was already expecting bland based on the other beef one. I picked up the taco and the juice had already soaked the bottom - so much so the bottom half of the taco was still sitting on my plate. Very soggy mess - disappointing, and the meat was bland as expected. I used chips to finish this one off but don't really know why. It wasn't really worth the effort.
Overall, kinda disappointed. I got out of there for less than $12 and very full thanks to lots of chips and salsa - and to be fair the helping of meat on the tacos was good. No complaints about serving sizes or the service. But overall the chicken taco is the only thing worth coming back for. (Although on a previous visit I confirmed they have really good margaritas).
Out of 5 tacos, here are my ratings:
| Food Taste: | |
| Value: | |
| Cleanliness: | |
| Service: | |
| Overall: | |
| Likelihood to return: | |
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