Travis - Taco Tour stop #62 - Rancho Nuevo - 2330 N Maize

A few months ago, a Mexican restaurant closed and shortly after another one opened in the same spot.  Sound familiar?  Well it seems to happen frequently around Wichita - not always Mexican joints, but it definitely happens that way it seems.  This week's stop is an example of that - sometime awhile back Los Trojas (sp?) closed and Rancho Nuevo opened. This is in the New Market Square area on Maize just north of 21st.  So we decided we better check it out - because hey, you never know if it's going to last or not...

We wanted to hit this place on Thursday because that's when they have $1 tacos.  So I joined my cohorts and some very lovely young ladies who joined us as guest judges (Chris had his girls with him).  The complimentary nachos were crispy and thin. I like variety in the places we go and I enjoyed these chips - the salsa very mild and they had another grayish warmed up sauce of some sort there as well.  I never did quite figure out what it was, but it wasn't bad either.

They have street-style tacos (with 2 tortillas) on their menu and I was HUNGRY so I ordered one of each of the chicken, al pastor, shredded beef (desebrada?), ground beef, carnitas, and carne asada.  While we waited, I was entertained by toddlers.  I meant Chris & Shon - but Chris's daughters were great & hilarious company too!  The tacos came out in an appropriate time and they provided limes, lemons, and a hot sauce.

 I started with the chicken.  It was nice and tender with lots of meat. I thought it was flavorful but not really moist or dry (which I guess means it was right in the middle).  Either way it was good but the hot sauce gave it that nice extra kick of flavor and I enjoyed it.

The al pastor was next and it also had plenty of meat and the nice red color we've come to expect.  It was very juicy and the marinade dripped out when you bit into it.  The meat was tender and had a really nice flavor thanks to that marinade.  I quite liked this taco - and would definitely get it again if we make it back here at some point.  We've had some pretty stellar al pastor - this one isn't quite in that category, but the flavor was good so you won't go wrong on this one.

The shredded beef was next and it was moist with plenty of meat.  The flavor was good - apparently it was "nice" because I wrote that in my notes twice for this taco. LOL I'm not entirely sure why, but I did.  But I did like this taco and would probably get it again also.

The ground beef taco really wasn't anything special.  The hot sauce brought out a little more flavor - it doesn't taste bad, but it's nothing newsworthy either.  Ground beef on this style taco does feel a little "odd" to me.  I'll just stick to the others when I'm here.

The carnitas is always one I look forward to, but I could tell it was dry before I ever bit into it.  Yep - definitely dry and chewy. Quite chewy.  There really wasn't much flavor on this one - and the hot sauce just basically made it taste like hot sauce.  A bit of a disappointment. This one gets a resounding "eh".

Lastly was the carne asada - and it looked pretty good.  It was just slightly chewy but not bad.  The steak flavor wasn't bold like I was hoping but it was there.  I would call this an acceptable taco and the hot sauce definitely helps a little.  I think the other guys liked this one a little more than I did - so there could have been some slight inconsistencies in this one for our visit.  (Possibly the same for the carnitas).  Anyway, I think this one deserves a second chance if we make it back - because I think it has potential and maybe is better if I ate it earlier.

Overall, I think this place has decent food - but I will tell you it was VERY quiet in there.  For a $1 taco Thursday right during the lunch hour, I think we were one of 3 (maybe 4) parties.  At that rate, I don't think they can be profitable on the high cost retail front on Maize Road.  I wish them luck, but time will tell if they can make it into the black.  In the meantime, go check them out on Thursday for a great value taco deal!

Out of 5 tacos, here are my ratings:

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

Travis - Taco Tour stop #61 - Casa Martinez - 204 W Greenway (Derby)

This week the Wichita Taco Tour went south of the border (to Derby) to check out Casa Martinez.  Yes, I know it's not technically in Wichita - but we still went because we like to find good tacos in the Wichita "area".

The two turds beat me there because they couldn't make up their minds when we were going - so I had to kill time in Derby. Which ultimately made me later than they were - but it's okay, I've waited on them enough anyway!

This place is a sit-down style restaurant - not a huge place, but definitely ample seating to handle a decent lunch crowd.  It's just right off of K-15 in Derby so fairly easy to get to.  But the real question is: is it worth the drive from Wichita to check it out?  We went on a Wednesday which is also their all-you-can-eat taco day.  However that's only for the ground beef style taco - meh.  Chris fell for the temptation of that offer, but Shon and I decided to stick with street tacos.  One complaint - no a la carte option here.  You can order a 3 taco plate and it comes with beans & rice sides - and that's pretty much your option.  If you ask for a la carte, the waiter will just tell you it's the same price because the 2 sides are free... That the "per taco" price is whatever the combo price is divided by 3.  #confusedface  I wouldn't say the value was bad - but I personally like the ability to order more tacos individually, so for the purpose of this trip, I'll deduct slightly on the value scale.

Anyway, I ordered that with a carne asada, al pastor, and carnitas tacos and proceeded to eat chips and salsa.  The mild salsa is VERY mild.  The hot salsa was unexpectedly not hot - in fact I could barely tell a difference.  I asked if they had an "actual" hot sauce and he brought out a warmed up bowl of salsa - it had more of a kick than the hot (but was still pretty tame).  Overall not bad, but I like a little more heat, and personally I'm not a fan of warmed up salsa - but if you like that style, it tasted good.

The tacos arrived in appropriate time and I was pleased to see that they serve grilled onions on the side for you to use.  I'm becoming more of a fan of grilled onions lately so I definitely put some on each of my tacos for this visit.  I went for the asada first with my added grilled onions. The meat was a little chewy but still had a decent steak flavor.  The grilled onions helped to bring out some flavor but I've definitely had better.  It was slightly overdone in spots and even after adding some green sauce, it didn't make much of a taste difference.  This was a middle-of-the-road asada in my book.

The al pastor was next and I also added the grilled onions to this taco.  In my notes I wrote "not bad" - and it wasn't. The meat was tender and there was plenty of it.  It had that nice red color and the flavor was bold.  I would put this slightly above average on the al pastor scale.  It's a decent taco that I don't think you'll be disappointed in - but it wasn't anything that I'd run back to Derby for when there are many closer options.

Lastly, the carnitas.  Again, I put the onions on this one and it definitely helped.  We are finding out that getting a really good, moist carnitas can be tricky.  This one really was pretty decent overall.  I felt like it was just slightly dry but Shon didn't think so.  It really wasn't anything too noticeable nor would it be anything to complain about - it just was ever so slightly not moist.  The meat was pretty good though and the onions brought out more flavor as a bonus.  I definitely like this taco and it was my favorite of the stop.  But, as you know, we've found just as good (and much better) in Wichita.

Overall, I think this stop was worth going to if you're already in the area.  I don't see this as a place that is worth driving to Derby for when you have many options in Wichita that are as good or better.  So for that reason, the likelihood to return takes a small hit.  However, if you find yourself south of Wichita for anything, I will say it could be worth a stop.  I al
so had the feeling this is a place where the other menu items might even be better than the tacos.  Might be worth checking that out sometime!

Out of 5 tacos, here are my ratings:

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

Shon's Take - Taco Tour Stop #61 - Casa Martinez - 204 W Greenway, Derby KS

Taco Tour Stop #61 - so, as you can imagine, we're constantly keeping our eyes open for more and more places to put on the list. Casa Martinez wasn't on our radar, but after a bunch of fiddle farting around with Thing 1 (Travis) who was doing some business down in Derby, we turned to Google to come up with a place near by and decided on Casa Martinez, near K-15 and Greenway.


Casa Martinez is located in a strip mall just off of K-15. The place isn't super fancy, but it is a sit down type of place. Chris was already there when I arrived and had chips with two salsas - mild and allegedly hot. I say "allegedly" because both sauces were pretty mild - if you're a wimp about the spicy, you won't have any problems here. They weren't bad, just didn't have any kick. Our waiter came over and took our order, which was a little confusing because they didn't have an a la carte price on the tacos. Basically, the taco plate is $11.50 for three tacos and they give you the rice and beans for free. That's their logic, not mine. Because as far as I was concerned, if you don't want rice or beans, you're having to pay $11.50 for 3 tacos, like it or not. Which really takes them down a notch on the value scale. So.... that said, I went ahead and took the rice and ordered the carnitas, steak, and al pastor tacos.


After a slightly longer wait than normal, we got our tacos. One of the pluses I did like was that we had sides of grilled onion, pico, guacamole, salsas, and lime which provided some nice options to have with the tacos. I went grilled onion, pico, and lime on all of mine and saved the guac for the chips (where it belongs). I started with the carnitas, which was filled with a good amount of marinated, tender pork. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good taco and would recommend this one for sure. Next up was the steak. I thought the flavor was good, but the meat was definitely chewier than what I was used to. Seemed like they may have skimped on the meat quality a little bit. Last was the Al Pastor. I'll be curious to see what Travis thought of this one - it was definitely on the peppery side, almost having more of a chorizo kind of seasoning to it. It was a little greasy, but as a chorizo fan, I actually liked that flavor.


Overall, I would say the tacos here were a decent find. Not sure that they were amazing enough to trek down to Derby unless I was already there. But if I'm in the area, I could see myself coming back as long as I can convince myself to pay almost $4.00 a taco. My overall rankings on the 5-Taco Scale are below.


Food Quality - 2.75 Tacos
Price - $-$$
Value - 1.5 Tacos
Cleanliness - 3.0 Tacos
Service - 3.0 Tacos
Overall Experience - 2.75 Tacos
Likelihood to Return - 2.0 Tacos

Wichita Taco Fest - Fun Finds and Observations

So yeah.... we went to Taco Fest. You wouldn't know it by the lack of acknowledgement, buuuuutt yes. We made it. And it was glorious. Nothing but tacos, beer, and tequila everywhere. Pretty much a taco lover's dream. And while this may be a bit on the late side, I did take plenty of notes and wanted to get a few shout outs to some of the tasty finds that were on hand.


A couple of quick comments about the festival itself. I didn't make it last year, but according to just about everyone else who went, 2017's version was a total cluster. Long lines and vendors running out of food were just a couple of the most mentioned issues. This year was moved to Lawrence Dumont stadium, which provided a ton of room. All the vendors were told to bring enough food and from what we could tell, no one had to close up shop due to running out. So kudos to WTF (ha!) for their improvements there. It'll be interesting to see where they end up next year, with the alleged demo of LD Stadium. The only thing I might recommend if it's in a similar type setting next year is more shade and more misters. We lucked out with the weather this year, but that's not likely if it stays in June.


So on to tacos! First, let me say that we never got a full plate anywhere. We were on a "try as many DIFFERENT tacos as we possibly could" type of mission, so we only got one taco at each place. When it was all said and done, I had sampled a solid dozen tacos. Plus, there's an acknowledgement from me that slinging tacos out in the 90 degree heat, as fast as possible, away from your normal digs isn't exactly an ideal setting. (in that regard the food trucks on hand had a mental edge over the restaurants) So with these two things in mind, I'm just going to give a few shout outs to some of the tasty finds and let the rest be. I ain't got time to write something about 12 tacos. LOL


So let's start with the Taco Fest winners: Hot 2 Trot had one of the more unique tacos there and won the title of Co-Champion (Taco Fest's judges, not my opinion) with their hot dog taco. Travis said he had it the year before and wasn't interested in trying it again. I gave it a go though and thought it was... interesting? Different? The slaw on top was pretty decent, but the taco I had only had a few slivers of hot dog. No one else was in line when I went, so take that for what it's worth. But my guess is, these guys probably serve up a pretty decent dog. The other Co-Champ was Tacos Beto, which was serving up a pretty tasty Al Pastor. All the tacos were a dollar each, which made for some skimpy tacos on occasion. But Beto handed out a nice tasty Al Pastor, with plenty of meat for a buck. We'll need to find them again for sure.


My personal favorite was the Asian taco from Kamayan Food Truck - pulled pork with lemongrass, jalapeno, and lime cabbage. Taste EXPLOSION! A nice mix of spicy and lime that was perfect together. Highly recommended. One of our other faves was the offering from Kolace's, which is the new kolace restaurant at 13th and Tyler - ground beef in a tasty baked dough that reminded me of a taco bierock. BTW, I've been there for their standard breakfast kolaces - do yourself a favor and go get some. We both also enjoyed Mamacita's Golden Taquitos - rolled fried pork taquito with sour cream and green salsa. Yum! And of course we both hit up some of our personal faves from El Dorado Al Carbon and Pollo Express. Still two of the best taco joints in town.


So there you have it. I'm already looking forward to next year's Taco Fest! Tell us if you have any other tasty taco recommendations that you found!

Travis - Taco Tour stop #60 - Pedro's Express - 602 N Tyler

Well, we ARE trying to get back in the swing of things - this time of year is busy and sometimes it's hard to get into a routine. Oh and hey, sometimes we like to swing back by places we've been - so that might be why we get a little quiet sometimes too!  Anyway, if you remember the old Charlie's Pizza Taco place on Central & Tyler, well it's now Pedro's Express and we decided to see what they were like!

The place looks like a fairly typical fast food taco joint - you order at the counter, take a seat and they bring the food out to you.  It's clean and well decorated and the staff seems friendly enough.  They have a fair selection of tacos so I ordered carne asada, carnitas, and al pastor street tacos.  I also decided to try the chicken and a ground beef (both on hard shells).

The tacos came out in an acceptable time and the first thing I noticed was big chunks of meat on all of the street tacos and a pretty hefty serving on the hard shell tacos too.

I started with the hard shell ground beef and the shell was VERY crunchy.  So crunchy in fact, that the taco basically imploded.  However I still thought it had a good taste and it was hot (temp).  There was plenty of meat with adequate seasoning - but it's definitely a mess.  In spite of the mess, I probably would get this again.

The chicken was next also on the hard shell and once again, the shell disintegrates in your hands when you start taking bites out of it.  Lots of meat again, big chunks in fact.  The taste was pretty decent - nothing special but really wasn't too bad.  It also was nice and hot temp (not spice).

Moving on to the more traditional tacos, I went for the carne asada.  Once again it had big chunks of meat. I was hoping it would have a nice steak flavor, but I felt like it was lacking.  It wasn't bad, but it just lacked that steaky flavor I was hoping for.  The meat was a little chewy too.  I did try a piece of meat by itself and it really wasn't too bad - but the flavor does get lost in the taco - even in spite of the amount of meat and the big chunks.

The carnitas were next and probably my least favorite of the stop.  The meat was dry and a bit crunchy.  Again, plenty of big chunks of meat, but lacking good flavor and being a little overdone kind of put this one out for me - I wouldn't bother again. Meh.

Last was the al pastor and it was very juicy with lots of marinade in the taco running out.  Lots of meat and it had a little kick to it.  Definitely a good flavor in my opinion and the meat was tender.  Out of the traditional tacos, this was probably my favorite.

Overall, I wasn't disappointed by Pedro's - however I didn't really have anything that would just make me come running back.  However the location for me is convenient, so I may keep them in mind if I find myself near to work and want something different than my usual stops.  With the amount of meat, I wasn't disappointed in the value either - so I think this is worth checking out. I don't think you'll come away blown away, but you might find something worth coming back for occasionally.  For me, it's still probably a place I'd put squarely in the middle - just slightly above average.

Out of 5 tacos, here are my ratings:

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