Sheena W.
Yelp
Hola has officially opened and based on my first experience I'd say they are A-Okay. Looking forward to trying them out again in a couple months after they improve a bit more and get their flow going.
So here are the details. I arrived around 5:30pm during the week and scored one of the 5 parking spots on site. Otherwise you'll need to find street parking. There were two friendly guys outside ready to take my walk up order. You can wait there next to the counter by some heaters or you can sit in your car and they will bring your to-go to you. Again, friendly and helpful staff.
For food I went with the mix and max taco option where tacos are $4.25 each. I think the price is a little high, but I still bought them. I went with the al pastor/pork, chicken tinga/chicken, and the birriacoa/beef tacos (total $12.75). I also got sides of rice $2, refried beans $1.50, and the esquite/corn $5.
For the tacos I thought the chicken was dry and it appeared to be missing the pickled onion & habanero salsa and queso fresco. The pork was hard and dry and it was on a smaller tortilla shell than the other tacos. The beef was the best of the three tacos that I tried. For the sides I thought the refried beans and rice were too salty and I did not finish either of these. I don't put salt on anything though so it comes on strong to me, but it might be just fine tasting to others. The corn was very tasty and I would definitely get this again. For sauces I liked them all, you've got a spicy one, an avocado cream, and sour cream. These were definitely needed for the dry meat I was served.
Their soft opening menu had different items on it that are no longer offered (like molletes, birrias de res, and the quesadilla). I was told this was because they do not have the space to make them but might do so in the future if they get another grill top.
All in all not a bad visit, there are just several places you can stop for good tacos on the west side so they need to be on top of their game if they want repeat customers. I will give them another try, but at this point in time I've had better tacos elsewhere.
Their mother restaurant, Barroco, is tasty so hopefully Hola will get on that quality/tasty level soon enough.