Mio K.
Yelp
This place is for the meat lovers and beer drinkers. (I'll tell you why in a bit.) I stopped by this location 2 days ago for Taco Tuesday. They offer a Taco Box on Tuesdays for $9 (regularly $12), which is comprised of your choice of 2 Clasico tacos and a side of salsa and guacamole with some tortilla chips. That pricing is only offered for in person ordering and not online. I thought they have a happy hour from 6-8pm (it's what their website says) where chips and salsa is $4, chips and guacamole is $5, Clasico tacos are $3, draft beer is $5 and frozen drinks are $5. But the frozen margaritas were at full price ($7) when I asked at the ordering window during this time period. They also list a late night happy hour from 10pm-12am, but they close at 10pm. So I guess you shouldn't take the website at face value. However, they do have their own draft beer for $5 regularly, so that could be very nice for someone who wants a beer or 5 with their tacos.
I've had Bodega's meat tacos before from another location, and they were juicy and flavorful. I've even had their lobster taco at a food festival before, which was okay, so I figured they'd do well with their other varieties. I've since stopped eating meat, so my only choice of Clasico taco for the Taco Box was the Aguacate taco. I put in my order, got a pager and retrieved my order 15 minutes later. The inside area is small, certainly geared towards self service dining or take out, since there are window counters and about 3 high top tables next to the soda fountain. There are about 4 picnic tables outside as well. Half of the floor space is taken up by the partial food truck setup with an ordering window next to the handoff window and space, staffed by 2 employees. The food truck decor and metal exterior is cute, complete with handwritten signs on chalkboard for specials and a cooler filled with ice and soda bottles.
Let's talk about the food I got. The box looked pleasing when I opened it. The colors were lovely. The Aguacate taco has avocado, black bean refrito, potato sticks, cilantro, tomato, and red onion. Do you see anything missing in it? What's that? Yes, SAUCE. I appreciate that Bodega does not try to frill up its tacos with cheese or aioli or try to drown the ingredients in sauce that mostly spills out when you pick up a taco. But these tacos were the driest ones I've ever eaten. The black bean refrito was pretty much just partially mashed black beans without any binder, so they were crumbly. I liked the freshness of the vegetables and cilantro on top, and I usually love the junkiness of potato sticks on my food, but the sticks and the crunch of the vegetables made the whole thing even drier. I could barely taste any seasoning because of the dryness of the ingredients. This was after I had squeezed the lime that came in the box over the tacos.
I was so confused. Why does this not taste good? Am I supposed to pour the side salsa and/or spoon the guacamole onto the tacos? But then what do I eat the chips with? Can I get an instruction brochure for eating these? I did eventually pour some salsa over my taco just to get some moisture, but the salsa itself could be better. It is a roasted tomato puree with more sweetness than I would have liked. The guacamole fared better for me, with good savory seasoning in a thick texture.
This experience is why I say this place is good for meat lovers. They have countless pork, chicken and beef varieties, even shrimp, grouper and fried white fish to top tacos, burritos and bowls. Their vegetarian options are the Aguacate and Impossible Chorizo only. In spite of all the meat they use in their food, shouldn't all of their menu be good, not just part of it?
I'll give Bodega props for operating like an elevated food truck with lower prices. Until I hear something else about their offerings, I'd probably go back only to try a froze or Impossible Chorizo and have a margarita.
