Today we find ourselves at El Mexico on South Seneca. This is a place that has been around for a long long time and we are here to find out if they make a decent taco. 

Before we get into anything about the tacos, we must realize that the standard for this part of town is extremely high as Pollo Express is 1 mile away.

They have some lovely awards hanging from the wall from the Wichita Eagle for best taco in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015. They have some awfully big shoes to fill. 

After waiting a decent amount of time, we were finally seated. The menu showed 3 types of tacos; chicken, beef and Monterrey tacos. The Monterrey tacos come as a bowl of meat and whatnot and is an assemble your own type thing. 

What blows my mind at this point is that the tacos are 3.99 EACH!!!!!! You have the option to do a 2 taco plate with beans and rice for $.01 more. I didn't really want rice and beans but I also didn't plan to spend $4 per taco ether...

Their beef taco is a fried flour shell. There is quite a bit of meat and cheese inside. The meat is lacking in flavor but for a fried flour beef taco, it was pretty decent. 

The chicken has better flavor than the beef. There was almost too much cheese as it drowned out the flavor of the meat. 

The Monterrey thing was a glorified carnitas taco. The meat was just ok. It certainly wasn't my favorite...

Overall, the food was just ok. It wasn't terrible but it certainly wasn't delicious. As for the number of awards they have won, apparently the voters don't know good tacos. Either that or it is nothing but a popularity contest...

These are a LOOOOOOOOONG way from the best in town. And I do mean a long way...like a mile...from Pollo Express. 

Tacos Y Mas

This weeks taco tour has been complicated by my inability to go Wednesday and Travis' inability to go Friday. Naturally, as had to improvise. 

The old man got a little pissy when I informed him we were eating at Tacos Y Mas at Kellogg and Oliver because he would have to travel the entire 12 minutes from his house to eat. The drive must have been nearly unbearable. 

I arrived first and was tired of waiting on the slowpokes so I ordered an al Pastor and carne asada taco while I waited. 

They brought out chips and salsa while I waited. Their menu includes chicken, carne asada, barbacoa, lengua, al Pastor, chorizo, buche?, and ground beef tacos. They are all priced at $2.25/taco. 

I started with the al Pastor. It must say, it is delicious. Plenty of meat in the taco and it was nice and flavorful. 

The carne asada was pretty decent but was a tad tough. 

The chicken had pretty decent flavor and was likely the best is the bunch. The meat was tender and flavorful. 

The chorizo just wasn't delicious. There was something about it that I just didn't like. I ate 2 bites and couldn't finish it...

I really wanted to like this place as it is close to work but for some reason, I am just not a huge fan. I may be back but it would only be for the Al Pastor and chicken tacos. 

Shon's Take - Taco Tour Stop #33 - Cholita's Mexican Restaurant - Central and Tyler

Where should I start with this one? First, as a group, we missed National Taco Day on Wednesday. Mainly because I was out of town for work. Still.... a YUGE taco FAIL. Then we tried to set up today's taco stop and Thing 1 (Travis) and Thing 2 (Chris) decided to go completely opposite directions: we decided on Cholita's at noon but then Travis bailed last minute and Chris went there and ate 15 minutes early. Guess that whole "setting a time" thing isn't actually necessary. Anyway, it got even worse as I pulled up and Chris calls me and says "Don't even go. This place sucks." As he's leaving. So, do I go? Or do I bail? Since Chris stuck to ground beef tacos only, I decided I would go in anyway and see what else they had.


Cholita's is similar in standing to me as our last stop at El Patio - a local favorite that I hadn't been to in forever. I kinda remembered that the food was ok, so I wasn't going to let Chris and his kiddie taste buds scare me off automatically. When I arrived at about noon, the place was pretty busy. I was greeted immediately and got chips and two types of salsa at my table quickly. The chips were ok and the mild salsa was basically runny tomato sauce. The "hot" salsa (I used quotes, because that's what they called it, though I considered it spicy vs hot) was quite a bit thicker and had more flavor to it. I perused through the menu - basically your taco choices, are ground beef, chicken, chorizo, fish, or ham. You can get a two taco plate with a side for $6.75-$7.99 or the a la carte prices for each taco was in the $2.50-3.00/each range. Allegedly. Anyway, I went with a ham and a chorizo on a soft flour shell, and a ground beef taco on a fried flour shell.


Tacos came out fairly quickly and I thought they looked average. I started with the ham taco, which was a small amount of ham basically diced and put in with some beans, tomatoes, and onion. It felt pretty whimpy really, as there seemed to just be a spoonful of diced ham in the taco. Taste wise, it was below average. I didn't care for the ham and beans combo at all really. The ground beef taco was next. This one came Tex-Mex style with lettuce, tomato, and cheese. Chris' main complaint was that his taco was dripping in grease. Thankfully, I didn't have that problem. Not even remotely actually, which is odd, since I went in right after he did. One bite in though and my taco became a taco salad as it crumbled all over my plate. I didn't think it was a horrible taco, but the ground beef was pretty bland. The chorizo taco rounded out this plate and I would say it was a fairly mediocre taco. A little spicy, but somewhat dry for my taste.


Overall, I would rate the tacos as somewhere between MEH and BELOW AVERAGE. As I always do, I looked around to see what everyone else was eating as there was quite a decent crowd there and I didn't notice anyone near me eating tacos. Really odd. Also, Cholita's gets low marks on the value side, as my 3 tacos came out to a total of $10.91 before tipping the waitress, which was one of the few positives, as she was attentive, friendly, and quick. My overall rankings on the 5 Taco Scale are below.


Food Quality - 1.5 Tacos
Price - $-$$
Value - 1.5 Tacos
Cleanliness - 4.0 Tacos
Service - 4.5 Tacos
Overall Experience - 2.0 Tacos
Likelihood to return - 1.5 Tacos

Travis - Taco Tour stop #32 - El Patio Cafe - 424 E Central

One stop that has been on our list that we keep forgetting about is El Patio Cafe.  Well this week we decided to give it a shot.  It definitely looked promising because the parking lot was pretty full and there was a decent crowd inside.  By the way, if you happen to pass this place headed east, don't try to get in the back way unless you're prepared to go off-road.  (Oops).

It's small inside, but there is still plenty of seating.  Even though they appeared busy, we were greeted quickly with chips & salsa and their service didn't seem to lag.  Their menu was a little different but it was still possible to order a la carte tacos - so I went for a chicken taco, carne asada, and a "puffy taco" (explained below).

The chips and salsa were tasty and a nice little kick.  It seemed like the wait was appropriate for our food and when it arrived, I dug into the asada first.  It had the right amount of meat. The meat chunks were smallish so it made it easy to bite into the taco and not have to "rip off" a piece of meat.  However the meat was slightly chewy - although not problematic.  The flavor was decent.  It wasn't memorable but it was an acceptable taco.  There was a slight kick to the meat - which I was a fan of.

The chicken was tender and not dry like I've encountered with other chicken tacos.  It had plenty of shredded chicken in there and had a good flavor.  I would get this one again if we make it back here and it's one you should try.

The puffy taco is basically just a ground beef taco but in a deep fried flour shell that makes it sort of puffy.  It wasn't bad - but it wasn't exciting.  It had plenty of meat but honestly it's tasted like your average slightly bland ground beef taco.  There didn't seem to be any seasoning in the meat so nothing really worth mentioning here.  Add some salsa so it has some flavor if you go this route.  Some might like the "novelty" of the puffy taco, but personally I really didn't care one way or the other.

Overall, as much as we've heard about El Patio, there just wasn't anything memorable.  I'd put it middle of the road on our list.  If you're in the area, I don't think you'll hate it. But there are places worth the drive that I'll go to every time over this one.  Having said that, it ranks above the "bad places" for sure.  Service and value was fine and the place was clean. No complaints on that front.  I just can't find a specific reason that makes me compelled to come back...

Out of 5 stars, here are my rankings:

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

Travis - Taco Tour stop #31 - Taco Fajita - 1004 S Meridian

We have been hearing some good things about Taco Fajita - and since they were relatively conveniently located, we decided this was the week to go.  I can tell you - *spoiler alert* - we were not disappointed!

This is a seriously unassuming joint to walk into.  It doesn't look like much outside or inside.  But we've not been discouraged by that in the past and you shouldn't either - sometimes these are hidden gems!  There are enough tables to handle a small crowd, but even though there was a decent number of people here too, they didn't seem ready to be able to handle that many at once. Our initial orders came out very slowly.  I think it took about 20 minutes for my food to be ready - and even a little longer for Shon's.  Normally this would turn me off immediately, but patience won out today.

My order of a carne asada, al pastor, and pollo was called out from the counter and I brought it back to the table to enjoy.  These are pretty small tacos, but the $1 price is acceptable.  They only have 1 tortilla instead of a traditional 2 for a street taco.  I'm throwing a pic of the menu in here - in my haste, I didn't realize that one half of the menu was for white boys like me, and the other half was the name in Spanish.  I had intended on ordering 4 different tacos but mistakenly ordered 2 Carne Asada - ohwell!

I went for the asada first and it's definitely a pretty tasty taco to be enjoyed.  It had enough meat to be just right.  The meat was just a tiny bit chewy, but really not enough to complain about or to turn me off from getting it again.  It's a taco you should have if you come here - I don't think you'll be disappointed.

The al pastor was next and again I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor.  The meat was just right, and it was a tasty combination of flavors that were good.  Again, this taco is one I'd totally get again and I can recommend it without hesitation.

The pollo was nice and tender.  The chicken was cooked right and had good flavor in the meat.  It wasn't anything super memorable - but again, you won't go wrong if you get this.

At this point I realized there were 2 more that I'd like to try (and they're only $1), so I ordered the Suadero and Choriqueso also.  They were prepared much more quickly since the rush was gone.

The suadero was slightly crunchy but tasty.  It was a little chewy and definitely had a bold flavor.  I enjoyed it, but not as much as the others.  Some will probably like this taco more than I did - it wasn't bad, just wasn't one I would rave about.

The choriqueso seemed to be rushed because it was a little burnt.  As the name suggests, there was cheese on this one.  I think the taste was okay, but being that it was burnt in a few places, that didn't help the taste.  I don't know if I'd go for this one again, but if I could get it not burnt, I might consider it.  I didn't see much that would drive me to get this one over the first 3 that were more enjoyable.

I'm glad we found this joint, because it's conveniently located and definitely one I'd try again. The $1 tacos make this value excellent! They also have some massive thing called the Machete that I feel like is my duty to conquer.  I'll have to give that a go.  Only complaints on this stop is the long wait at first, and the rush/burn job on my second order.  I'm going to ding them on service, but if you go when there's not a rush, you'll be just fine.  Otherwise, I'm down for coming here again.

Out of 5 tacos, here are my ratings:

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

Shon's Take - Taco Tour Stop #32 - El Patio Cafe - 424 E Central

If you ask people who frequent Mexican food downtown for a suggestion, El Patio is a name that comes up pretty often. It seems to be a local favorite and even though it's been forever since I had been there, I seem to remember that the food was pretty decent. Since our schedules worked out to meet downtown, we decided to make it stop #32 on the tour. Again. So let me explain.....


A few weeks ago, Chris and I actually decided to go to El Patio for the tour. Travis couldn't make it that week, but we decided to go anyway. A few days later when I asked Chris why he hadn't written his review, he basically said he'd "forgotten what the food was like." Not a good sign. But then again, Chris doesn't exactly have an eidetic memory. So.... we decided to go again. This time with Thing #1. When we got there, the place was pretty busy, much as it was the first time around. We were seated and helped immediately and got our complementary chips and salsa. I liked the chips here, but the salsas were meh. The mild was just runny tomato juice. But the hot salsa had a little kick to it. I decided to go with three tacos - asada, barbacoa, and chorizo.


After a reasonably short wait, the tacos came out with the usual street dressing - onion, cilantro, and lime. I started with the chorizo taco, which also had some egg mixed in as well. Apparently chorizo isn't on the taco menu, but they'll make it for you if you ask. I thought the chorizo was ok. It did seem to have some of the burnt after taste, but not as bad as some other places. Barbacoa was next, and I could honestly say the same for this taco - pretty middle of the road. The meat was tender almost to the point of mushiness. But flavor wise, I thought it fell a little flat. The asada was probably the best of the three tacos. Decent amount of steak, and with some lime and salsa on it, I thought it was a decent taco. On the service side our waitress was very nice and did a great job, although I think Chris is still waiting on his pineapple Jarritos. Bleh. Actually he should thank her for forgetting.


In the end, I think if I were downtown and had a hankering for some Mexican I would come back but maybe go for something else. I looked around and noticed that the crowd for the most part wasn't eating tacos, so maybe that's what I remember about it from a long time ago. Also, for the price (2.50-2.75ish/taco) I can get better tacos at other places not too far from there for a better price. My overall rankings on the 5-Taco Scale are below.


Food Quality - 2.5 Tacos
Price - 2.0 Tacos
Value - 2.5 Tacos
Cleanliness - 3.0 Tacos
Service - 4.0 Tacos
Overall Experience - 2.5 Tacos
Likelihood to Return - 2.0 Tacos

Shon's Take - Taco Tour Stop #31 - Taco Fajita - 1004 S Meridian

Let me start by saying "Thank you" to everyone for the recommendations and in particular to whoever recommended this one. Our readers have given us some pretty good places, so please keep it up. We're always looking for more. So.... what's the deal with Taco Fajita? Strange name. Good Food. What else is there to say? Tour stop #31 brings us to a little hole in the wall that I, personally, had never even noticed before: Taco Fajita, at Kellogg and Meridian.


When I pulled up, I actually had a good vibe about this place. Your typical hole in the wall joint for sure. When I got there right around noon, there was already a line at the counter and several tables of people waiting for their food. My tour mates had already ordered, so I went ahead and got in line. FYI the tacos here are only a buck. But.... they're also a little on the small size. But for a dollar, that would still be fine, if they're tasty. So since I pretty much assumed I was getting smaller bites, I went ahead and ordered one of each type of meat: asada, chorizo, Al Pastor, Pollo, Suadero, and Choriqueso.


This is where it got frustrating..... the wait was painful. Seriously. That said, I did hear someone remarking that they hadn't seen this many people in there before, so maybe, MAYBE, they just got unexpectedly overrun. But still.... it took well over 30 minutes to get my food. But when I did? They looked and tasted awesome. Thankfully. Because if not, it might've gotten ugly. All of the meat seemed to have the same type of seasoning which was fine, because it was really pretty good. And even though they were dollar tacos, I thought they were still pretty meaty for the price. All of the tacos came with standard street dress: cilantro, raw onion, and a couple of different salsas. Again, you can't go wrong here, although I did like the chorizo and the asada a little more. As I mentioned last week, a good chorizo seems hard to find, but this place definitely had one of the better ones.


Still, despite the wait, I'd highly recommend it. We hung out and chatted for a bit before we each ordered a second round of tacos and (thankfully) that next round came out in a reasonable time. So, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for a return trip (but not for this current review). Even though we had to order round two, I still had a very tasty lunch for 10.00 plus tax. My overall ratings on the 5-Taco Scale are below.


Food Quality - 4.0 Tacos
Price - $
Value - 4.0 Tacos
Cleanliness - 2.5 Tacos
Service - 1.5 Tacos
Overall Experience - 3.5 Tacos. I docked 'em a half taco for the wait, but I'm already looking forward to the next trip.
Likelihood to return - 5.0 Tacos