So, after being out of town the last couple of weeks, I assumed I would have to eat tacos everyday for lunch to stay on pace with Thing 1 and Thing 2. Alas, they were lost without me and only hit one place while I was gone: Los Compadres at West Central and Zoo Blvd. Since they were both being buttheads today and couldn't meet up, I figured this was the perfect time for me to catch up.
After being gone the last two weeks, I basically had zero chance to eat tasty tacos. Traveling with the wife and kids was NOT conducive to finding local taco joints. So I was ready to get back at it. Travis said that someone had recommended LC's and that it was (gasp) better than Pollo Express. Pretty high praise all things considered.
Anyway, I went in shortly after 1pm. My first impression was pretty good - small building, clean, not too fancy, but a definite mom and pop joint with some nice aromas working. There were a few customers around. But despite the small size, there were still plenty of tables. I seated myself and was greeted quickly. First negative - no chips and salsa. Yes, this is a Taco Tour and not a Chips and Salsa Tour. Still, I'm always disappointed to not get some on the house. Did I want to pay $2.99 for some? Nope! So I figured I would just buy an additional taco. After a quick run through the menu, I decided on 5 tacos: a carne asada, a deshebrada, al pastor, carnitas, and a Taco Americano.
After a reasonably short wait, my tacos arrived accompanied by two small bowls of red and green salsas. The tacos looked pretty good, (though a little smaller than I'd hoped). The carne asada was first and was a pretty good taco - meat was tender, slightly seasoned and had a decent amount of meat despite the smaller size. Deshebrada was a pulled beef taco and was also pretty good. The carnitas was a little different than most - while a lot of other places seem to want to season them into flavor submission, this one tasted a little more bare boned - not a bad thing either. There was some seasoning in it, but it still had quite a bit of it's porky flavor to it. Almost bacon-y. Which didn't bother me at all. The al pastor was probably my favorite of the bunch - a nice, slightly peppery seasoning to the red sauce it was cooked in. Which reminds me about the salsas - the green was probably barely above the realm of spicy and into the "slightly hot" rating. If you don't like spicy foods, I'd stay away from the green tomatillo. The red salsa they brought was pretty peppery - if I'd have had my eyes closed, I would've almost thought I had swallowed a spoonful of ground black pepper. Go lightly with this one, especially on the al pastor which was already cooked in a similar seasoning. Last was the Taco Americano - basically an American style taco of ground beef on a fried flour shell with sour cream, lettuce, and tomato. The ground beef had just a few bits of potato cooked in which was a nice turn considering most places that use potato try to use it as a filler instead of ground beef. A decent taco, but nothing special about it.
Overall, I'd say this was a pretty good find. My server was quick and efficient and the owner came by to check on my food. The tacos were on the menu for 1.89/each (2.09 for the Americano). I didn't realize it until I was driving home, but I ended up with a receipt for $6.54 plus tip. Not sure if there is some kind of taco special on Wednesdays, so I will have to clarify that on my next trip. For now, HIGH marks for value assuming they got my ticket right. My overall ratings on the 5 Taco Scale are below.
Food Quality - 3.5 Tacos
Price - $
Value - 4.5 Tacos
Cleanliness - 3.5 Tacos
Service - 4.5 Tacos
Overall Experience - 4.0 Tacos
Likelihood to Return - 4.0 Tacos
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