Travis - Taco Tour stop #48 - Taqueria Alteña - 3835 S Seneca

Sometime recently, a gentlemen named Blake Attebury posted on FB about Taqueria Alteña and how it was good and deserved some local love.  I candidly don't know Blake, but his post went crazy - I see it now has over 3200 shares and almost 1500 likes. I was also tagged in or the post was shared to me like 4 different times I think.  So when something gains that much attention that quickly, we must go!

This place is pretty new - I think maybe a donut shop occupied the space recently because of the donut stickers still on the window and in the process of being scraped off.  They are located just south of 235 on Seneca and bring cash!  It's a small place so you gotta watch for it or you'll drive past like we all did.  There's not much inside - maybe 9 tables or so.

Ordering was slightly confusing - there were 4 (?) tacos on the menu but a 5th (carnitas) was available.  I decided to try the shredded beef, carnitas, al pastor, and carne asada - and left the cheek for Shon (and a surprise for Chris).  The food came out in a timely manner and was presented nicely in a semi-fancy bowl-like thing.  Everything was served street-style with 2 tortillas - well, mine were but not everyone's.  Looks like plenty of meat on everything so I was eager to dig in.

I started with the shredded beef - I think. It was hard to figure out exactly which was which because mine had tomatoes but no one else's did. So full disclosure, I'm not 100% sure.  It had a decent flavor but it was a little dry. It honestly wasn't bad - I just had hoped for a bit more flavor on this taco.  I'd be open to getting it again and making sure to know if that's really what it was!

The carnitas (I think) looked exciting to me and I wasn't disappointed.  It had plenty of meat - it was definitely moist and tender and I enjoyed it. A good flavor and was something I would get again for sure.

The al pastor didn't have as much red tint as we usually see, so I wondered if it would be as seasoned as we've seen elsewhere.  It wasn't.  It had plenty of meat and the flavor that was there was good - but it definitely wasn't as bold as we've had other stops.  I'd call this a solid "not bad".  Nothing memorable though.

The carne asada was last - another "not bad" version.  It didn't have a lot of flavor and it was a little chewy.  It had plenty of meat but I still had kind of hoped for more flavor to the taco.  Sometimes we encounter "bland" carne tacos, and this one is on that list.  That doesn't make it bad, but it doesn't make it stand out either.

Overall this new place I think will be fine for awhile. It's not a terrible location if you're headed south - as it's a very quick hop "off" of 235.  There were definitely some odd things that happened though with some tacos for others being served on only 1 tortilla instead of 2. Also, the menu not being quite up-to-date with their entire selection was a bit confusing.  Last but not least, I'm not entirely sure why my taco had tomatoes and no one else's did. So I think they need ramp up the consistency a bit.  I would return to this stop if I'm in the area - although I probably won't go out of my way to get here.

Out of 5 tacos, here are my ratings:

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

Sorry for being a slacker, here is a nice update.

Travis has been nagging at me for a few weeks now about my reviews and it had made me realize, I owe y’all an apology. When we started this thing, we agreed to write about the tacos. The good, the bad and the ugly. 

So far this year, we have had some bad and some ugly tacos. Today’s review/apology will bring you up to date on the goings on thus far. 

We started the year by crowning Pollo Express the 2017 Taco Tour Champion. Ernesto and his team work extremely hard to provide an excellent experience. Frankly, they blew everyone else away last year. We were fortunate enough to meet up with Denise Neal (Dining with Denise) to present Ernesto the award. It was a great time but unfortunately I had to leave early so I could meet a customer and sell a car. 

Before I agreed to give Pollo the nod, I forced the guys to hit Gaga’sGrub, the ugliest food truck in town. Dustin sent us a personal invite months ago. Then, I ran into him at another restaurant and he invited us again. His tacos are fantastic. They are absolutely delicious and I will certainly eat them again, at which point, I will do the detailed review I should have done the first time. 

The first week of February, we headed to El Pollo Dorado al Carbon’s brick and mortar location. Some of you may remember our review of their taco truck, this was slightly better but still left a little to desire. Most of the issues we had were customer service related. Their tacos are pretty good, they are affordable and they come out quick, once they take your order. It was freezing inside the restaurant, the TV was blaring some nonsensical music and it took forever for them to take our order. But the tacos sure are good. 

The next week, some gal ran her mouth on our Facebook page calling Pollo “one of the worst”. None of us took her seriously but we planned a visit to a place she said was better. I got busy working a car deal and couldn’t make it. After the other two ate, it was abundantly clear that there was no reason for me to go, they sucked. 

On February 21, we went to el Viegeto Mexican Restaurant on West Central. Travis has high hopes as this is very close to his office. Apparently we found ourselves here in the first full week of business. The carnitas dry and flavorless. The carne asada was flavorless and chewy. The chicken had a stale, fried shell but the meat inside was nice and tender. It had a terrific kick to it. Chorizo was extremely chorizo-ish. It had a nice flavor and spice to it. I would consider returning, if I was in the area and in a hurry. 

Last week, we went to Taqueria al Tena. This place is in South Seneca, just South of I-235. I was running a few minutes late so I had the yahoos order my tacos. They were kind enough to order a carne asada that was extremely salty yet tender. The Al pastor flavorful but not the best al pastor. Whatever the heck the shredded beef thing was is an extremely leaky taco. It was very fatty and greasy. It produced a fatty, greasy slop. The carnitas was full of flavorless meat and there was some hard crap in the middle of it. 

An update on that unidentified taco, these morons decided to order a cheek taco. It was disgusting. If there is ever a meat on a taco you can’t identify, don’t eat it. It didn’t work out well for me. 

I DO HAVE SOME GREAT TACO NEWS FOR YOU:

Taco Fajita, yes the one that is known to take between 10 and 50 minutes to prepare a plate of tacos, has made significant progress. 

They are now, based on several different visits by multiple people, getting tacos out in the 10-15 minute ballpark. Their food is pretty darn good and the tacos are still just $1. Their service has been their only holdback and it appears that have resolved that issue. 

At this point, roughly 50 taco places in, here are how the top 5 stack up for me:

Pollo Express 

Molinos

Taco Fajita

Gaga’sGrub

El Pollo Dorado al carbon

In short, we are still having a blast. Tacos are amazing and there is no indication that we will be slowing down any time soon. I apologize again for my lack of reviews this year and will stay current by posting future reviews within a day or two of eating the tacos. 

If there is a place that you think we should go, please let us know. Thanks for reading!

Shon's Take - Taco Tour Stop #46 - El Pollo Dorado Al Carbon - 2117 E Central

When this week (I say THIS week, but it was really like.... two weeks ago. So... whatever :-) started I really wasn't sure if we were going to do a review. It seemed like we were waffling back and forth between going somewhere we already liked or going somewhere new. As it turned out, we coaxed the cranky old man (AKA Travis) into going to El Pollo Dorado's brick and mortar location on east Central.


The building is a janky little orange building on the south side of Central, just east of I-135. Blink and you'll miss it. Chris and I had been here a couple of times since they opened, but Travis hadn't been yet, so we talked him into meeting us there to do a long overdue review. Now..... if you've been a long time reader of our page, you'll remember we had quite the challenge with the service when we went to the food truck version of El Pollo Dorado. For whatever reason, that service style (or lack thereof) seemed to follow us to the brick and mortar location. When we got there, there was only one dude working the place - cooking, taking orders, serving. Not that the place needed more people, since there was only one group eating when we came in at noon. But jeez... the guy definitely couldn't multi-task. Chris and I stood at the counter forever, while he finished cooking the other people's orders. Which would've been fine, except for the fact he never even acknowledged us. Not even a "give me just a second guys" or anything. Needless to say, it's annoying to just leave people staring at you at the counter. We had no idea if he was the only person or not. But eventually, he did finally take our order and we were able to cop a squat. I ordered a nice plateful of tacos - al pastors, asadas, and chicken. The tacos are small, but they're only a $1.00. So for $8.00 I was able to get a pretty nice plate of tacos.


Our tacos arrived in a semi quick fashion. Travis had arrived while our tacos were being made and also received the cold shoulder treatment at the counter. Considering how cranky he normally is, I'm surprised he waited. Then he came over and told us they were out of chicken. That's right - the place with CHICKEN in the name was OUT OF CHICKEN in the middle of the lunch hour. A very SLOW lunch hour. Apparently they only had enough chicken to feed 5 people. Which is too bad, because the tacos I got were pretty tasty all the way around. Small, but for a dollar each, a fair deal. All of my tacos had a decent flavor and enough meat in them to make them worth the buck.


Overall, this place serves a decent round of tacos. But the service and location really bring the place down. Their biggest advantage, at least for me, is that there aren't a lot of decent taco places out east. But apparently if you're going to go - go early. My overall ratings on the 5 Taco Scale are below.


Food Quality - 4.0 Tacos
Price - $
Value - 3.5 Tacos
Cleanliness - 2.5 Tacos
Service - 1.0 Tacos
Overall Experience - 2.5 Tacos
Likelihood to Return - 2.5 Tacos

Travis - Taco Tour stop #47 - El Viejito Mexican Restaurant - 5518 W Central

I started seeing signs for a new Mexican restaurant a few weeks ago on west Central.  Since I work on Central, I drive by the place every day and finally noticed they were open.  I immediately put them on our list and today, with actual advance planning (thanks to your truly!), we went to the new El Viejito Mexican Restaurant.  The place is pretty small - but oddly it feels bigger inside than it looks outside.  I think there were only 5 tables or so, but it's spacious and not cramped. They've done a good job of converting it from the Chinese place I can't remember and never went to. It's clean, furnished with matching tables/chairs, and you can even pay with a card! No seriously though - it looks nice inside and out - they've done well on the remodel.

I arrived just ahead of the other two fools so made my way inside and ordered 3 tacos a la carte ($2.25/ea). Al Pastor, carne asada, and carnitas. They also had a chorizo that I skipped - and I heard Shon order a fish taco from somewhere else on the menu.

We sat down and in a few minutes, we were served complimentary chips and 3 salsas. A mild red, a mild green, and a reasonably spicy red sauce.  They were all enjoyable and different and I mixed it up and even used a few on my tacos later.

Even though I ordered first, I was served my tacos last.  I wouldn't say they were slow, but I would have said that if they took any longer.  The tacos looked pretty good and seemed to have plenty of meat.  One tortilla per taco.

I started with the al pastor - it was very hot temperature-wise. That's a welcome thing because sometimes when "open" tacos sit out, they cool off.  It had plenty of meat and in fact spilled out some as I ate. The tortilla started to crumble as I ate it, so I'd say they should probably use 2. It was a little greasy also which didn't help the tortilla.  It wasn't bad but it wasn't anything special either.  It had a nice red color to it that also made its way onto the tortilla, but the flavor wasn't as bold as I expected.  I kind of wanted it to be more than it was but it wasn't bad.

The asada was next and also had plenty of meat - but I managed to keep most of it in the taco.  It had an ok steak flavor but I still felt like something was a little lacking. I think with a bit more seasoning it could have been better.  I did add some green sauce and that helped - but I kind of don't like doing that on this tour because I want the tacos to stand on their own.  This one won't win any awards but it was acceptable.

Last was the carnitas and it ended a little disappointing.  It was dry - and seemed to be overcooked.  The meat was chewy so made it kind of tough to eat. In fact the tortilla managed to be a little dry and chewy too.  Again there wasn't a lot of seasoning - the meat had flavor but just nothing to "write home" about. I added some of the mild red sauce and that helped a little but couldn't overcome the dryness and chewy bits.  I want more flavor so this was a bit of a let down.

Side note, they have very small napkins - and since some was a bit greasy and messy, I used quite a few.  Not a complaint, just an annoyance.  Overall I'm going to call this new spot "middle-of-the-road".  They are VERY close to work for me, so I'll probably slide in again sometime to see if anything changes after they've been operating a bit longer.  I wouldn't call it a bad visit, but it just wasn't memorable.  It's worth my time to make one more stop, but I need the carnitas to be much better or I probably won't return very often (if at all).  They're also a Coke place, so that lowers my returnability by a slight tick.

Out of 5 tacos, here's my review:

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

Shon's Take - Taco Tour Stop #45 - El Tucan

After a little mini hiatus, (where we decided to crown our 2017 Champion and then enjoy the carnage that ensued. You're welcome Ernesto), we're back at it again. Tour stop #45 brings us to a place that was recommended by someone who told us that El Pollo wasn't any good and that this was her favorite place. So let me start by saying that right off the bat, I'm feeling like this statement (made on the Facebook post for Dining with Denise online) had little credibility for me for a couple of reasons: First, if you don't think PE is THE BEST (like us) that's fine. Food is very subjective and not everyone is going to agree and that's what makes this so much fun. But if you're going to call PE "one of the worst", I'm already having serious doubts about your taco credibility. Second, one comment out of a hundred against PE vs dozens, if not hundreds, of people who have told us over the past year or so how much they enjoy it. Lastly, zero recommendations from anyone for El Tucan. Heck I hadn't even heard of it before we went and people have been sending us recommendations for a while now. That said, I hadn't heard of a lot of these little joints that we've been to. So, I kept my fingers crossed that we might stumble into another hidden jewel.


A quick Google search for El Tucan in Wichita popped up an address for 1607 S Broadway, so Travis and I decided to head that way. Whoever does the marketing for the restaurant should start by making the place more visible. I drove by it twice because the front looks abandoned. I only stumbled upon the back door by accident as I was cutting through an alley and saw a sign. I parked and went into what was basically an empty restaurant on a Wednesday at noon. Not a good sign. But the menu looked tasty and I was greeted promptly and got some chips and salsa. The green mild salsa was pretty tasty. The hot red salsa was definitely spicy - even Travis found it a little on the fiery side. I placed an order for 5 tacos - a carne asada, a carnitas, two al pastors, and a buche (stomach) taco.


My tacos arrived in a reasonably quick amount of time and actually looked pretty good. Standard street taco dress with onion, cilantro, and lime. I started with the steak and it was a pretty good taco. Plenty of meat, nicely seasoned, and mostly tender. The buche was next and I actually enjoyed this taco as well. Stomach isn't on the menu in a lot of places because a lot of people just don't care for the texture. Imagine the outside of a ham hock, but a little thicker and fried. But I thought this one was pretty good. The al pastor and carnitas both looked great, but were a bit of a disappointment once I got into them. They weren't horrible by any stretch, but they didn't seem to have the flavor pop I was expecting. Both were also a smidge dry. So I threw on a little bit of the tasty salsas and that helped liven them up.


Overall, I'd say the tacos were a mixed bag of tasty steak and dry pork. The tacos were reasonably priced (I think it was $1.50/taco, but don't quote me on it) but if you come it's cash only so leave your cards at home. In the end though, the lack of anything really amazing coupled with the location (in a part of town, I'm never in) means the chances I'll be back are minimal, unless I'm in the area and hungry for steak. My overall ratings on the 5-Taco Scale are below.


Food Quality - 2.5 Tacos
Price - $
Value - 3.0 Tacos
Cleanliness - 3.0 Tacos
Service - 3.5 Tacos
Overall Experience - 2.5 Tacos
Likelihood to return - 1.5 Tacos

Travis - Taco Tour stop #46 - El Pollo Dorado al Carbón de Wichita - 2117 E Central

Per our usual behavior, we weren't sure where to go this week. Do we hit someplace new? Do we go to an old favorite?  So I guess we sort of combined that and decided to return to try El Pollo Dorado again - but to hit their now brick and mortar location on E Central.  The thing I'm slightly confused about is their Facebook page still shows their location on W 21st - and there is news on the internet about them moving to a spot on West Street. So, honestly, I'm not entirely sure if this is a permanent new location or temporary or exactly what.  Regardless, that's where they are as of writing this review.  If you plan to go, just check their page to see I guess!

This is a very small building tucked in a corner of a parking lot. Due to this arrangement and a large smoker taking up one space, there were literally 2 spaces and they were both taken. So I parked in the "liquor store parking only" spot.  I'm already annoyed - it's been one of those morning already and this place is getting on my nerves - but maybe they'll redeem themselves.  Chris and Shon are already seated in the very small dining room and inform me that they've already ordered at the counter.  I see there is another table of patrons who are finishing their food.  The cook/cashier was preparing tacos for the two dorks so I waited (impatiently) at the counter. And waited. And waited. And waited. Never greeted. Never even acknowledged. In fact I stood at the counter for about 8 minutes. Ironically, before he ever talked to me, he talked "past" me to the ladies that were leaving.  Had I been alone and not wanting to eat with the guys, I would have left. I was pretty much ready to walk anyway.  But since we were there for the tour, I waited.

I knew their tacos were small, so I ordered 2 of each: al pastor, carne asada, and chicken. "We're out of chicken". Hmm - El POLLO is out of chicken at lunch time - and not a late lunch. Right in the middle of the lunch hour.  This place is kind of known for their good chicken, so that's not great either.

The food was prepared in a timely manner and when it arrived it looked good (even though no chicken).

So the reviews are going to be short and sweet - because I'm frankly annoyed and not in the mood by this point.  Here goes:

The al pastor was decent and had a solid kick.  Nothing to complain about here, nothing memorable.

The carne was ... there. Not a lot of flavor.  They serve grilled onions and that helped.

That's it. No chicken. Seriously annoying and poor service. Parking sucks. Location is tiny. TV was loud. And I wasn't in the mood. Maybe I'll go back sometime - but there won't be a rush to go.  At least they had Mtn Dew.

Out of 5 annoyed tacos, here are my ratings:

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

Travis - Taco Tour stop #45 - Mariscos El Tucanazo (El Tucan) - 1607 S Broadway

So after a very brief hiatus, we decided to get back into this crazy tour we started! Because...tacos.  It was very nice to so many positive comments about Pollo Express on the various posts on FB - both on our page, on Dining With Denise, and on the Eagle's page.  They are a great place to eat and a very nice family who takes pride in what they do.  If you haven't made it there, go check them out. They've been SWAMPED, but it's still worth it.

But as I read the comments, I came across a reader who said that Pollo Express was actually one of the worst. Okay, so everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion. Not everyone will like the same things - but this stuck out like a sore thumb. One of the worst? Even if you don't agree that it's the best, I think it would be pretty hard to categorize them among the worst.  So I reached out to this reader - genuinely interested in what it was that made Pollo one of the worst and what they would recommend.  I'll spare you the details - but the cliff notes is, when asked multiple times, there was no specific feedback AT ALL about Pollo Express (which casts doubt in my mind as to the validity and authenticity of such a claim).  At this point I'm not convinced they have even been there... (moving on)

But, I'm not bitter - I wanted to know what recommendations they had! I mean anyone who might be able to say this may have some inside knowledge about AMAZING tacos in town. And let's be honest, that's what I'm all about!  So their recommendation was El Tucan on S Broadway (Mariscos El Tucanazo).  Chris decided he needed to sell cars that day, so Shon and I made our way down there.

Shon made it there first - and how he spotted this place is beyond me. The entrance is NOT off of Broadway. You actually have to enter from the back. There is nothing on the facade to indicate they are there. In fact the only thing remotely close is what appears to have been another Mexican restaurant that is now condemned due to fire damage.  But somehow, Shon spotted them after missing on the first drive by and catching a glimpse when coming around the block.  I still had trouble locating it - only after Shon pointed out it was where they were painting.  I walked up to the door and pulled but it didn't open. So I stumbled around looking for another entrance when someone came and opened the door from the inside. Okay...  Inside the place is a collection of mismatched chairs and tables and piles of things and boxes. Lights are flickering and there is a space for what looks to be a sound system that must be used at other times. Plenty of space as there was maybe 1 other group there.  Oh, and bring cash - yep, this place doesn't accept any other form of payment.  By the way, this isn't the best part of town - but you probably already knew that.

Okay okay, let's step back a moment and get real. MANY great places are holes-in-the-wall - so I'm still VERY interested in what they have to offer!  The chips were pretty good actually. The red salsa is dang hot. Not for the weak. The green salsa is tasty and mild.  A blend of the two would probably be just about right.

I ordered a carne asada, 2 carnitas, and 1 al pastor.  I don't remember them taking long to arrive so the service felt adequate.  They came out street-style with 2 tortillas that looked like they may be made from scratch (not ordered in).

I started with the asada. It definitely had plenty of meat and the seasoning was good.  It had a little bit of chewy texture to it, and there were some parts that were crunchy that had been slightly overcooked.  Overall though it was not bad at all - I enjoyed the flavor.

Next I went for the carnitas.  Absolutely not as good - in fact it had a bit of a greasy flavor to it. More chewy bits in this taco made it unappealing. In fact I didn't even finish the 2nd one - which says something because carnitas are among my favorites. Meh.

Last was the al pastor. It also had a greasy flavor.  We were both a bit surprised too because we could see the meat being cut from the spit from our table. It had a nice red color to it like it had been marinated and seasoned.  But for some reason, the flavor just wasn't there.  It wasn't bold like I expected it to be.  It was mediocre at best - and the chewy bits and some overcooked spots just made this not worthwhile.

Overall, El Tucan didn't live up to the hype - it fell well short actually.  Had the the carne asada not been slightly overcooked, it would probably be in the upper ranks of our asada tacos.  I'm not sure what the motivation was to hype this place and call out PE as one of the worst, but clearly it wasn't legitimate feedback.  Sorry!  Honestly, with the location, the cash only, and the barely mediocre outcome of the food, I wouldn't bother sending anyone here.

Out of 5 tacos, here are my ratings:

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