Cam V.
Yelp
After much, much hype on the OFL page I wanted to really like Javi's Tacos.
Now I have to give them credit. Their marketing is phenomenal and their social media presence deserves an A+. The food, however, is lacking for me.
If you read any of my other reviews, you'll know that I usually try to eat at a place TWICE if I land on less than a 4 or 5 star review. I've had Javi's twice now, each time trying something different and I stand on my 3 star review.
Ok so the first time we ordered their basic tacos. And that's exactly what they tasted like...basic tacos. Certainly not the worst I've had and not the best. Just very average, mediocre tacos. And maybe this is really good if I ate it in the context of not seeing so much hype...but to their downfall, maybe too much social media set up my expectations really high.
I talked with some foodie friends to really percolate on my experience and see if maybe I caught them on a bad night OR maybe I tried the wrong thing. Well, several of them said to go back and get the Birria Tacos so that is exactly what I did this past week.
On first impression, it looked amazing! (Although for 3 tacos, $15 felt a little steep...$10 or $12 might have felt more fair, but I digress.) The presentation even for their to-go was really nice. Greasy and gooey tacos just like I imagined it would be. Again, I wanted to like this more but it was lacking. It almost needed a bit more salt or seasoning and the consomme was just as lacking as the meat. The rice was good, although you could tell it looked like a pre-packaged box rice. (When they said cilantro rice, I imagined something like Chipotle rice but better.)
Overall, I wanted to like Javi's way more than I did. It was pretty average for me and for the price point, I felt like we should've just driven to South O and gotten something else.
What Mexican joints would I recommend instead??
For West Omaha, definitely hit it El Alambre for nachos, tacos, etc. If I wanted Birria again, I would make the drive to Isla Del Mar and get their Birria pizza.