So, being a “basement” chef myself, i pulled up my sleeves and decided i wanted to cook. I love cooking. There’s nothing better than creating something amazing out of otherwise normal things. So with that in mind, over the weekend i scrapped up some change from the empty growler jug, and went out and bought some of Rico’s homemade tortillas. The tiny ones that are made fresh that you can pick up at the local markets. I picked some onions from the garden. I dug some old hamburger meat from the bottom of the freezer, and i started to assemble bowls of condiments and toppings. I fried up the tortillas quickly on each side in a skillet and spooned on some crumbly burger meat. I also threw some frozen corn into a cast iron skillet and made a bit of a roasted corn salsa type creation. I topped it all off simply with the green onions and some cheese. I wasn’t going for authentic, or trying to replicate what i might find at a taco stand, but just going over my food influences growing up, and how my mother made her version of tacos. I found a quiet place by myself and ate a few. It felt wrong to be doing this alone. I had cooked up all the tortillas and there was plenty of stuffing for more, so i called my mother up to share them with me. We both felt better after. It clicked in me that life can me simple. Life can be a taco. Love can be like a taco. Uncomplicated, enjoyable in it’s simplicity, and can give you the feeling of a warm hug that lingers around long after.

While I still am lowered to that of a 2nd class citizen who has had to move back home and swallow his pride, i still get a real sense of peace when eating a good taco. I hope some luck and opportunities come my way soon, so that i can get back out on the streets and enjoy the tacos and the love all of these hard working people provide. Innovation is happening in the foodie community. People are coming up with new ideas, and new presentations and different twists on street food in our community. It makes me proud to see such changes and to see how that people are starting to come around, and be less afraid, less intimidated by these little palaces of what i like to call “the other soul food”. So to all those out there working hard and cooking up all of this love, I salute you. Our friends from the south have brought us so much and are very much a part of what America is about, and i for one welcome our taco overlords.

So if you can’t go out and buy a taco from one of the dozens if not hundreds of mexican and south american influenced restaurants, markets, and food carts, scrape up some change and make some for you and your friends. It’ll make you and everyone else feel better. If at least, for a little while.

Regards,

noyen / nairb

The "Chow Truck" everyone has been talking about.

So I am not here to review this mobile dining experience, but to tell you that, YES, it does exist. That, and you can find out more information about them at their website and follow them on their twitter page to find their location.

I plan on trying everything on the menu as soon as i am back in the area and hopefully get a chance to talk to the people behind this truck as well. It looks interesting to say the least! In the meantime go out and try them yourself and let US know what YOU think of them and their menu. We’ll post your reviews here. We would love to know your experiences and what you think this adds to the street taco scene in Salt Lake. It looks like they are trying to mimic what Kogi Tacos did in LA to light a fire and create a new and trendy, hipster driven clientele.

Meanwhile, taco enthusiast Kelly is reportedly on the case and will have a first impression review of the Chow Truck. We will have it posted here shortly. I am curious what our taco enthusiasts think and we’ll see how they hold up to our beloved traditional taco stands. I am wary of a hipster douche bag over hyping so i hope i am not let down by all the chatter generated around this truck so far. It has been reported that many monocle wearing men in turtlenecks, overpriced REI gear, as well as men in girls jeans and “ironic” mustaches with key chains hanging from their belts are showing up at the seemingly long list of “hip” places to park (Twilight Lounge, REI, Eggs in the City, etc), but we will let the food speak for itself and hopefully get an interview with the owners.

Until then, eat everything like it’s a taco.

Yours truly,

noyen

http://www.hernandoshideaway.com/

545 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON

1 out of 5 stars

Not that you guys in the Salt Lake area will care, but i wanted to share some of my experiences while traveling looking for work outside of Salt Lake City. We have a LOT to be proud of in Utah. Here’s my take on one of the restaurants i came across in Canada that is touted as “California Style” Mexican food. Can we all collectively roll our eyes? Good.

I’m up in Toronto at the moment with my girlfriend, and had a chance to check out what is considered Mexican food up here in the far north. I have to tell you, it was just sort of edible and if I had kids or was drunk out of mind i might rave about this place. However, it resembles NOTHING that we are lucky enough to eat down south. The dish i ordered was known as “The Mexican Flag”. It consisted of one cheese, one chicken, and one beef enchilada. None of the meat or cheese was impressive. Slathered in the three colors of the Mexican flag, this was served up in a sort of sports bar slash dumpy mexi-diner setting with exposed brick and gaudy colors and iguanas on the walls and furniture. I did not get to try the tacos,  but we’ll see if i get a chance to later on. I could go on about how bad this was, and i’d be more forgiving, but the food was not good and the server was sort of a dick. See, there really aren’t good Mexican food joints up in Toronto. The enchiladas were over-spiced and had something more like gravy than a dry spice  rub seasoning. I understand that Canadians love their poutine, but the same rules should not be applied to Mexican food when it comes to covering things in gravy. Hernando’s Hideaway should stay hidden if you’re looking for an authentic or even enjoyable experience. You may love the place if your favorite Italian is Chef Boyardee. The tortillas were grainy and spongy, and the beans resembled something an animal would deposit on a lawn. The rice was dry and seasoned far too much. I ended up picking at this thing and suffering pretty awful heartburn after wards. The staff seemed like they had better things to do, and better tables to wait on. Not impressed with the snotty atmosphere and expensive prices for mediocre food. You will not be missed.

The best part of the meal was the Margaritas. It made me forget about where i was and added a beer-goggles effect to what i was eating.

Don’t be fooled – this is not authentic, and is barely better than something you would get out of a can. I’d be more forgiving if this were a chain restaurant like Chili’s or Applebees, but it’s not. It is touted as “California style” Mexican food on their website. I don’t know what that means to people up here other than it’s far away and close to Mexico. It is a disservice to anyone in California as well, as i have had amazing Mexican food all up and down the entire state of California. I suggest the owners visit California or hell, even Mexico. They may learn a thing or two about creating simple, tasty, fresh Mexican dishes and take some hints on hospitality. Not that California is known for it, but it’s better than the holier than thou attitude experienced at this dive.

Next up, I’ll take you along for a trip to Kensington Market where a little gem exists named El Trompo (mentioned a few times in other posts). Stay tuned, as there is a little bit of hope for Toronto and it’s attempts at branding food “Mexican”. The hunt continues…

If anyone has any stories they would like to share and would like them re-printed here, please email them in and we’ll re-post them for the world. Thank you all for your continued support of local businesses and the taco stand culture. Much respect for all those out there who eat, cook and share the taco love!

We decided to check out Latino Mall, located on the south west side of Salt Lake City. While we probably didn’t go at the best time (after 7pm on a cold Wednesday night), i was impressed with this little Latino treasure i had no idea existed in our city. A mini-mall of sorts, it hosts an old school arcade, a full on Mexican market, and dozens of shops including all sorts of food, and even a little frozen treats shop.

As we entered, there were only a few shops open. The first one being directly to our right immediately caught our eye and we proceeded forward to check out the menu. The Paisa grill had the usual fare on it’s menu, but it’s specialty was the Molcajete. The Molcajete is pretty much how it translates to english. It is a mortar (minus the pestle) lined in foil, and layered from bottom to top with cheese, cactus, grilled jalapenos, onions and meats including steak, chicken or a “Supreme” version adding shrimp.

The full size easily feeds at least two people, and would probably feed 3-4 realistically. We were unable to eat the entire contents of our molcajete, but we were particularly fond of the molten cheese at the bottom. Armed with a stack of warm tortillas, this is great comfort food and something good to sit down and share with a friend or two.

Now we needed desert. Thank goodness only a few feet away from Paisa, was Palateria or “The Beautiful One” which specialized in frozen fruit popsicle and drinks, ice creams, etc. There were dozens of flavors to choose from, so we figured we should try something a bit exotic and not just go for a chocolate or straight up fruit popsicle. Kelly opted for the Cucumber and Chile pop, and i went for the Tamarind and Chile pop. Let’s just say these were interesting. Maybe after a messy, drunken trawl across the city is required to truly appreciate one of these Chile infused pops, but it was just a bit too much to handle, for both of us. While mine was not spicy, the conflicting flavors just weren’t happening on my flavor flap. They may go well while smoking crack or eating pickled eggs. That sort of thing. So, not a fan of those – especially after a few burps an hour or so later. Cucumber and Chile just don’t taste right coming up the wind pipe. I almost felt like puking is a better alternative to burping up these flavors. Ever have radishes and then eat some toothpaste and do a shot of tabasco? If you haven’t tried yet, i highly recommend you go out and try it so you know how unnecessary it is in your life.

Something strange to note about Latino Mall, is that while it caters exclusively to Latinos, there is a strange section under construction that will soon host a Vietnamese restaurant. You can be sure we will be checking this place out, as rumor has it it will be spanish speaking friendly and i’m just dying to find out if there is gonna be some traditional mexican flavors blasted into this stuff from the other side of the continent.

Not quite defeated we cruised up north on Redwood Road in hopes of encountering a rogue taco truck or two. While we didn’t find any worth our immediate attention, we did pass a curious little dive that had road construction literally blocking it from all view aside from a glowing “OPEN” sign. The name of the restaurant is El Maguey (I need to double check this as i can’t find them again on Google Maps, so the name may be updated next time you read this).

We had to traverse a bit to find the entrance and park. After we exited the car we were greeted with the back side of a pretty shady looking place with “ENTRADA” sharpie signs all over the place. I felt a little like i was soon to be pounced and stuffed into a potato sack and sold on the black market to pornographers looking to cash in on my pretty boy looks and make some donkey-porn. Sadly, nothing like that happened and we were instead greeted with a Hola! from a tiny woman inside. This place obviously did not cater to those looking for a sanitized, mormon-friendly chow house. This is for all the real dudes. Probably a hit with the blue collar crowd, this place is a little run down and in a bit of disarray given it’s structural integrity and obvious impediment the construction had on it’s attraction. However, the tacos KICKED ASS. We took a seat on the yellow and orange booth seats and were pleasantly surprised with chips and two types of salsa – a traditional tomato salsa, and something else i was not sure of, but was cream based with cucumber and probably a bit of avocado. The al pastor and carnitas tacos were delicious. The pork marinade for the Al Pastor tacos was not as glamorous as, say, Chungas, but these had an undeniable flavor that prompted both of us to make guttural moans of pork eating pleasure. Thoroughly impressed with the food, this is another one we need to put on our list of “must visit again”. Hopefully the construction situation improves and they can maybe clean up the place a bit, and it would be a surefire hit. By the way, the also sold cell phones. So, maybe they like this place looking a little seedy to keep out anyone of an unwelcome ilk (ie; pigs, ignorant caucasians, and mexican food haters). Check it out if you’ve got the time and can speak a little spanish, because the only one who did in this restaurant was a young lad who looked like a skinny version of me. His mother probably shoved him out into the dining area to ask us to speak English with us. Luckily, Kelly (burgersmoke) is 1/8th Latino and speaks Spanish.

Well folks, this concludes another episode of Taco Land adventures, and we hope to bring you more soon! I have severely neglected writing here, and hope to rectify that situation by stuffing my face with more tacos, frequently. If you have a place you want us to check out, email us and let us know. If you run a restaurant and want the professional Taco Journalists of SLCTACOS and our staff of expert Taco Tasters to come sample your food, hit us up as well and we’ll have no problem coming out to eat on your dime.

Taco Stand

900 W North Temple (parking lot of Century Cleaners)

4 out of 5 stars

So, back on the 4th of this lovely and strange month, Kelly rescued me from an unemployed funk day of being stuck in the house. Kelly is probably the most selfless person i know, and offered to pick me up and hit the town for some tacos. No man comes closer to the grace of Ghandi than Kelly. After getting in the taco-mobile, Kelly, sensing i was feeling a little down, asked me what my soul craved besides my girlfriend. I paused and looked out the window, realizing it was a beautiful day. I answered as i normally do: “Tacos…. How about this supposed Liberty Park taco stand?”.

By now, we know this mythical kitchen on wheels does exist, but at the time i was skeptical thinking that the city would never allow a taco stand in the park. I felt that this one was going to be hard to track down. As we drove around Liberty, we did not see anything resembling a mobile haven for tortillas and meats. However, we did spot a dry erase board on the side of the road that seemed to point somewhere off in the distance, maybe Narnia, maybe it was pointed towards hell (Provo), or maybe someone was playing tricks on us.

tacos you say?

We decided we needed to hit this motherf*cker on foot, so we started walking around the park in search of it. We spotted another taco enthusiast in the park looking for this taco stand as well. He had expensive tracking equipment, and clearly had a 1-up on us.

Taco enthusiast with the latest in taco tracking devices.

Weary, tired and beaten down by “the man”, we gave up. “Screw this!” I say. So we do what anyone with an honest hunger for a taco would do. We went to one of the most deadly neighborhoods of Salt Lake, known for it’s presence of land mines, snipers and mean men sitting on couches on their front lawns with flame throwers. Kelly and I, however, are trained to handle these types of situations since we are professional taco eaters.

We used to work up the road from this spot at Microsoft Games Studios/Indiebuilt and would frequent East Seas restaurant, which is across the street from this lovely taco stand. Tacos El Ranchero is situated in the parking lot of a laundry mat. It may look a little intimidating. If you’re a true taco enthusiast you’ll find yourself standing before a lovely array of condiments consisting of one of the best quacamole sauces, salsas, cabbage and other nibbly things.

even Tony Little would get excited at this

Since Kelly and I started working on this site, I made it a point to tell him that i was ready to take some changes and do things I haven’t done before. I promised him that i would sample every type of meat i came across, without fear. So to keep that promise, i ordered up two tasty Lengua (tongue) tacos, two Al Pastor, and two Carne Asada. After dressing my tacos i was ready to chow down on the lovely plate of food.

Naked tacos.... Surely this is illegal in Utah

This is a family site (yeahrite) so i put some clothes on these fellas.

I love cucumbers, so i loaded up on quite a few. The first taco that was going to enter my mouth hole was the tongue taco. I’ve never made out with a cow before, so for a first time french kiss, i must say it was pretty damn good. Once i got past the somewhat sketchy texture, i let the taco do it’s little dance in my mouth. The tongue was tender and succulent, with flavors bursting from each cow taste bud i devoured. I highly recommend trying this if you never had. It tastes like the rest of the cow, kids. That, and you can tell your neighborhood friends you ate tongue and you still sleep at night without guilt.

Next up, i threw the Al Pastor tacos down the hatch. By comparison to Chungas Al Pastor, these don’t really get close to the wonderment that an Al Pastor taco from Chungas can do for your solar plexus. That aside, these were good. Very good, in fact. The red hot sauce kindly provided by the condiment table accompanied these quite nice. Be careful of the red sauce though, as it’s a bit hot in comparison to some other hot sauces I’ve come across at taco stands.

To finish things off, i end things with a solid standby, the Carne Asada tacos. The meat was flavorful, and seasoned wonderfully. It’s hard to do Carne Asada wrong, and the master chef at El Ranchero knows how to grill up this standard.

My belly satisfied, it was time to return back to reality. Kelly returned to work, and i went back to my cave. The feelings I had that day still stay with me, as i fondly look back on March 4th. It was a day i will never forget, and i will definitely try to repeat when i come back to the neighborhood. Tacos El Ranchero is one of the better taco stands in the downtown area. You really can’t go wrong with the street tacos produced here. A good friend, a sunny day, and a warm tortilla in your hand can do wonders for your body and soul. Go check it out.

A happy bunch, enjoying ourselves.

There are some interesting comments on the story on the KSL site i want to address later, mostly dealing with the fact that many people seem to have the opinion that taco stands are not welcome in our communities, and even attract crime. What are your opinions, slctacos readers?

Taco enthusiast and local guitar hero, “alby” writes in:

The Battle of Taco-Jima (February 19–March 26, 1945), or Operation Elpastor, was a battle when the United States fought for and captured the Taco-Jima from Japan. The battle produced some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific Campaign of Taco War II.

The Japanese positions on the island were heavily fortified, with vast bunkers of picante sauce, hidden guacamole, and 18 kilometres (11 mi) of underground refried beans.[3][4] The battle was the first American attack on the Japanese Home Islands, and the Imperial soldiers defended their positions tenaciously. Of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers present at the beginning of the battle, over 20,000 were left without tacos and only 1,083 taken prisoner.[1] The U.S. invasion, known as Operation Elpastor, was charged with the mission of capturing the grand taco on Taco-Jima.[1]

The battle was immortalized by Joe Rosenthal’s photograph of the raising of the grand taco atop the 166 meter (546 ft) Mount Suribachi by five Marines and one Navy Corpsman. The photograph records the second taco-raising on the mountain, which took place on the fifth day of the 35-day battle. The picture became the iconic image of the battle and has been heavily reproduced.

3500 S 8146 W

2 stars out of 5

As i’ve had time to let this “settle”, my opinion on the place just kind of hit the shitter. Not that it was glowing to begin with, but the more i thought about it, the more “meh” i felt. So take me with a grain of salt here, and understand i have a sense of humor that may not “jive” with yours too. So if you are for some reason offended by my dislike/mocking ways, you might want to skip reading this post in particular . So tell me if you don’t agree. I’m cool.

one of the amish things?

So it’s a grey day outside. Its dark and smoggy. Oppressive and cold. Unwelcoming and uninspiring. Kelly picked me up from work as we were very excited to head out to try this stuff called Cochinita Pibil, which is basically a marinated pork dish. I’m stoked about it. I think i’m about to have my mind blown. My expectations are pretty high! So, as i was saying, Kelly picked me up and we headed out to this place, west of salt lake, i’m sure it has some fucked up name and is a cool place to live, but i guess it’s not appealing to the young and timid type who just wanna rock out and have a good time, like me. Well let me be the first to tell you and assure you that in this area apparently, they have education out here. And vinyl fence strip Manufacturers. And a few cul-de-sacs with nice houses but no trees Lots of places that look like meth houses too. Kinda creepy if you ask me! I smell inbreeding. There was even a horse or two. Apparently people subject themselves to living out in this fringe area of an already fringe shit-hole.

She Daisy?

So after we passed many archaic things, such as a dilapidated strip mall and a scary gas station, we reached El Habanero. The parking lot is small. The exterior looks decent enough. We go inside and immediately see one of those Amish heater contraptions. I have a feeling i’m in for something cool.

Creepy Girls

The inside greets us with a “wall of fame”. There’s some creepy shit up here, let me tell you. Besides that, there’s a large L-shaped bar with the drink fountain and waitresses busy as bee’s. We are kindly greeted and seated. I notice the place looks pretty clean and maybe even recently remodeled. I also notice a lot of white people. Not that this is a bad thing, but it’s not necessarily a good thing when you see Bo-Diggity Dog Josephestein with his broseph, Todd the copy machine expert chilling during their lunch hour away and hitting up this place rather than TGI Friday’s (because there isn’t one even nearby!) . So i’m not impressed with the clientel necessarily. Nothing against you guys who were there. I just like want to appreciate what my Mexican and South American friends enjoy.

Chips and Salsa

So the tortilla chips and salsa. Whoa. Warm. Crispy. I bit into one and broke some old man’s ear drum the sound reverberated so loudly. Damn tasty. Refills on the chips were 95 cents. About 10-15 chips a bowl. Not to be a stingy guy, but come on. Talk about gouging.

Next came the menu. Standard white-people fare. I think there may have been a hamburger on there. Anyway. The thing to try was the Pork marinated in Hate Sauce.

Ze Menu

The plate arrives and i’m a bit worried. A giant slosh that looks like sloppy-joes appears before me with a side of red onions, beans and rice and a piddly little side-salad. I fear for my intestines. And for my soul and what sins I’m about to commit against humanity.

Death Taco

Now, don’t get me wrong. I can appreciate a sloppy joe. But tell me that’s what i’m getting! There are ISSUES with this meal… I don’t care who you are, but the pork was far too acidic to be palatable for me. There were some what appeared to be pickled, but i’m not sure, red onions. I thought they would help balance this out and let me TASTE the taco. Didn’t help. So I resorted to piling the beans and rice in too. Let me just explain how painful it was… I was sweating. I was giving Kelly looks of “I don’t know if I’m gonna make it” type of looks. I didn’t think it was right for this to happen. Maybe it was an off day..? It really could have been good. I don’t know what else to say. I ate a lot of my plate, but i left a lot left over. The best part of the meal was the horchata, but it was obviously a straight pre-mixed type dealy-o. If we had been stuck in the wilderness and there was no source of fire or warmth i would resort to rubbing this on my body to stay warm. Might smell good. It may also burn off your skin. I actually challenge one of you to eat an entire plate of what i ate without flinching in pain at some point from the acidity.

Did i get my point across about that? I know i will be told this is how it is prepared, a result of the pork’s preparation. But i can’t forgive making it available to eat in that form. Maybe if there was more of a balance to the acid from the marinating, but you could not even taste the onions through it. I don’t think you’d be able to taste anything through it to be honest.

So this is why i trash on you and take out my anger on you. I’ve had a bad week, and i think you can do better. That’s the bottom line. This dish could kick ass, but it needs someone tasting this slosh before it is touted as the best thing on the menu! Seriously. Not to bash. I have nothing but love for the taco.

My shitty iphone photography

I must also say, i really do need to give this place a second, maybe a third and fourth chance. I really would like to try the carne asada based dishes, and steer from this pork mess. I must also state that i have an allergy to pork. So yeah, might want to disregard me and take a chance for yourself? I would like to try this dish at the Red Iguana… I have not tried it and hear it’s amazing. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Say no more?

I spent the rest of the day wanting to die. To have the sun explode and rain fire on me. Put me out of my misery… Still i search for you. Actually, i have some very good things to say about a taco joint, but i NEED to go there again and take pictures and record things a bit better. And take my girlfriend with me too. And we even have some REAL street taco stand reviews coming. I apologize they are slow coming in. The weather has kinda been crappy lately and that keeps most of us from getting out… Until next time. Goodbye, cruel world.

1259 South Redwood Road

3 stars out of 5

This sign out front..

My review follows up the other side of the table, on our visit to the new El Jariepo Restaurant, located where La Hacienda used to reside. I have fond feelings of the building used, and the old murals inside. However, this is a review of El Jariepo, so i’ll try not to let it’s past inhabitants relinquish any ill feelings towards El J.

The interior, is straight up mid-west diner. It’s a pleasant combination of colors. Yellow, brown. Big new mural on the wall. It’s not a looker. Let’s get that out of the way up front. It might even be considered intimidating to some. But don’t let it’s exterior, or interior push you away from this little treasure.

I don’t know much history on anything Oaxacan. I do know, that it usually means it’s going to be good, though.

Chips and Salsa

I was blessed with a wonderful friendly (and in english, which was unexpected) greeting from a cool dude probably in his 20′s, and a bowl of chips and salsa. Of course, Kelly had told me the story of reading about the dude in the Slayer t-shirt. It turns out of course, that this is the same guy. Dude. Friendly, helpful, excited and a great waiter. I wish i remembered your name. As, you should be addressed, because you kicked so much ass you were actually wearing a Slayer tshirt today, as well, underneath your “uniform”.

I looked at the menu. I was pleased. The previous owners, after La Hacienda, were a group called Guelaguetza. These previous occupants were VERY much, if not the same in feel as the current cooks. The last mole i had tasted similar, if not the same as the last restaurant. Oh, and i must tell you what i ordered.

Horchata
1 carne asada torilla taco
1 chorizo tortilla taco
1 Burrito Zapoteco

The Horchata

The Horchata: This is different stuff, folks. It’s delicious and soothing, but it’s not your cool down splash of sweet that you might be used to. The horchata we have here is THICK. It was topped with fruit, nuts and some sort of fruit jelly. It was also not very cold, despite the presence of ice. This may be the drink’s fault. Loved it, however. You must try this if you think you’ve ever tried “different” horchata. This is the stuff.

The Tacos

Carne Asada Taco: Standard street taco fare. I found the meat to be a bit too dry, and a bit too processed, with smaller pieces than what i would have liked. Accompanied with onions, cilantro, tomato and slices of radish, this was a tasty taco. The tortilla was fantastic. In fact, it blew away the rest of the taco. Good stuff, but you can do better.

Chorizo Taco: See above… really not much to expand upon, other than the meat was even more dry and chopped up… I can’t wait to tell you about “The Special Place” that Rose Park is blessed with… anyway!

The Burrito Zapoteca... Damn

The Burrito Zapoteco: WOW! This thing is freaking HUGE. Hopefully, by the time you read this i will have pictures uploaded. Basically, this was a massive burrito in a tasty, massive tortilla. The filling consisted of roasted cactus, chicken, rice and was covered in an amazing, almost too rich, mole. It was like chocolate sauce. It needed salt… It was good!?! I’m confused here as i really enjoyed it, but it could have been better. I think i may even have the suggestion! If the mole were used sparingly, it would actually add to this, overall. The meal was fantastic, and i ate every bit that i could, sans mole, and a bit of tortilla. Oh, and i must also tell of you the wonderful cheese that is sprinkled on top! Let’s focus on the cactus here, because really, this is the shining star of glory and hope in this burrito. The chicken is okay, but i have had so much better. The cactus, however is special and tasty and a unique suprise of splosions of taste blasting all over your mouth. It took me about half-burrito to get to it, but once i found it, i was in love. I want to try more cactus dishes here.

Overall: This place is cheap in price and is just on the border of something special when it comes to it’s food. The torillas and chips are FANTASTIC. The ambiance is chill and friendly and the food is pretty unique. I think overall, the Red Iguana has a definite plus over this place, but you can’t say you’ve tried em’ all until you try this little jem. I think i would like to return and try some of the other dishes. What i tasted of what Kelly ordered was quite different. There was an overall feeling of bland..  but there is salt at the table! The salt helps! Really, i’m not joking. I liked this restaurant, but i was not blown away. I have a review in progress on one of the best restaurants i’ve ever been to, and i hope putting these two places side by side will explain the trancendental feeling of an amazing meal. It was okay, it just wasn’t the best food-sex i’ve had.