WARNING:
Not all Mexican food vendors are Taco Shops
In the Taco Shop Review, my focus is on taco shops. I am not concerned with Mexican restaurants where you are waited on, nor am I interested in corporate crap-slingers, like Taco Bell. Please read on for the distinguishing characteristics of each, as it is quite important.
At every taco shop that I review, I will always order two beef tacos, rice, and beans. I will try to always order shredded beef, but not many taco shops offer that. So, I often have to order carne asada (which is good, but I 'm kind of burned out on it as it doesn't often vary in distinctive flavors).
I pay for all the taco meals I review. I'm not beholden to anyone or anything. I always try to keep my receipts.
I'm sick and tired of sanitary, clean, health-conscious, Cal-Mex, Tex-Mex, corporate places that sell pseudo Mexican food. I like real taco shops.
My reviews are subjective, often opinionated. I choose to review a place however I want, when I want, and which one's I want. I'm not 100% focused on food quality. A major component of the Taco Shop Review is the degree to which a taco shop fits the character and personality of a real taco shop. Greasy food and grungy physical property can garner higher points (see this spreadsheet).
1. Taco Shop ** THE SUBJECT OF THESE REVIEWS **
Real food, low cost.
No wait staff. Usually just a walk-up counter, and maybe some type of fiberglass-booth seating. Usually a single, simple menu on the wall. Often have yellow, red, orange paint scheme (like the joyous colors here). Cleanliness is a low priority in some shops, but that's ok. Meats that are usually available include: carne asada, pollo, al pastor, carnitas, lengua, cabeza, birria, camarones, and sometimes shredded beef. Food options (with one of the listed meats) are usually burritos, tacos, enchiladas, tortas, or un plato (a plate with meat, beans, and rice). In some shops, menudo and tamales are available. Overall cost of meal is pretty cheap (~$5-$8 USD), and it can keep you full for a day.
Places like this: most of the places we review in the Taco Shop Review (but not all...will note as we go).
2. Independent Mexican Restaurant
Generally good food, but you pay extra for wait staff and ambiance.
I use the term "Mexican Restaurant" when referring to Mexican food vendors where I would sit down and be served by a waiter. Generally, I avoid restaurants. I don't like paying for wait staff and ambiance at the expense of food quality. That being said, there are a few independent Mexican restaurants that offer somewhat-to-very authentic Mexican food. I'll usually go to one of these places when I take my wife out on a date, but I'll likely never go to one after surfing because I prefer taco shops. Some are small local chains, like Avila's El Ranchito. Avila's El Ranchito is ok, but is starting to qualify as a "Chain Mexican Restaurant" in my opinion (see category below). Overall, the Independent Mexican Restaurants can be pretty good if you have the time and desire to spend more money.
Places like this: Ricardo's Place (San Juan Capistrano), Olamendi's (San Clemente), La Siesta (San Clemente)
Unsure about: El Patio Cafe (Capistrano Beach) - ok independent restaurant, but seemed overpriced for what we got, especially the margaritas. Well, that's for another review blog.
Jumped the Shark:
Avila's El Ranchito: Just too big now. I have concerns of corp-style cost-cutting measures that will result in a low-quantity of low-quality food offerings. Decor is kind of cheesy..."hey, look, we're a Mexican restaurant because we have Mexican stuff hanging on the walls."
El Adobe: Yes, it's independent, but excessively expensive and seems like a tourist trap for people checking out SJC downtown area.
3. Chain Mexican Restaurant
Boring, contrived, superficial, artificial.
Usually you must sit down and have a waiter wait on you. You will usually be served a bowl of crappy chips, some crappy salsa, and (dirty) glasses of water for everyone. These restaurants 10-page menus full of items that have nothing to do with Mexican food or a lame American twists (like TexMex, CalMex,, and fajitas). For example, there is the "chimichanga", which is a pseudo-Mexican food item, invented in America for quantity-focused Americans to shovel into their big guts. Mexican restaurants charge a premium for what they call "fajitas", served on some contrived hot metal plate as though it was cooked on a camp fire out in the back. These restaurants also often serve all beef in the form of "ground beef", which is crap. Ground beef is a cheap, mass-produced excuse for meat (except when on a hamburger). The highlight "soft tacos" on their menu as though it's some kind of rare, authentic Mexican food item, when all they do is microwave a flour tortilla and drop some ground beef in it.
A funny trait of this restaurant category are the advertising campaigns featuring a make-believe "Mexican" chef, from the heart of mainland Mexico, like Michoacan, who toils away in his adobe creating "comida authentica", which is then featured on the restaurant's menu. Such fake Mexican chef identities are often given the stereotypical name "Pedro Luis", "Lupe", or "Juan Jose", as though we're supposed to believe the guy is real and can't speak a lick of English. This is much like the fake coffee bean picker Juan Valdez, who supposedly picks all the coffee beans for all the coffee we drink, while carrying a 100 pound bag of beans on his back and hanging out with his mule. Come on, it's 2009, not 1809. I pity anyone who is so naive as to believe this marketing sewage created by some New York ad agency.
Places like this: El Torito, Acapulco, Chevy's, Chi-Chi's, On the Border, Tijuana Willies, Carlos and Charlies, El Cholo
4. Corporate Crap-slingers
The root cause of obesity in the USA. Get your manufactured crap here.
In Mexico, it's likely no Mexican has ever heard of, much less cooked, an "enchirito", a "rapsalada", or a "tacolada" in their cocina. Those are the names of corp-manufactured crap that the corporate crap-slinging chains try to pass off as Mexican food, and charge you $ for it. It's all high-carb shiat to fill obese guts. Loaded with salt, fat, and partially-hydrogenated chemicals. Wash it down with 62 ounces of brown carbonated sugar water. These places have no idea what beef is, rather they sell mysterieous mixtures of soy mixed with ground up cow entrails. These places have no idea what a corn tortilla is, instead serving everything on a nuked fat-packed flour tortilla. The paper-thin, crumbly pre-formed taco shells are an absolute joke for a taco. They have no concept of shredded or cut-and-grilled meat. I need to puke.
Places like this: Taco Bell, Del Taco
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