Emily S.
Yelp
A+ for value, variety, and service staff who know the menu and are able to answer questions. While I could have used a few more vegetarian taco options (though the variety of vegetarian options increases dramatically when you simply omit meat items, like chorizo, from certain tacos), there was clearly a genuine effort to make *thoughtful* vegetarian options available, not just obligatory afterthought veggie items. I'm pescatarian, but consequently eat a lot of vegetarian items and am always on the lookout for good options.
Atmosphere is casual. You order at the counter. It is what it is.
I ordered 4 tacos, knowing that these were street tacos, which tend to run small. They are deceptive. I was full after two. Largely this was because 1) they double up the corn tortillas - THANK YOU, and 2) they stuff these to the brim with the actual good stuff. At $5, the value was outstanding, especially considering this included sizeable portions of fish and shrimp.
Now, the caveat, and the reason this is a solid 4 and not a 5, is that I didn't love every taco - though I'm glad I tried them all. The "red" taco, one of the specialty tacos, was the hands down winner of the bunch. Crunchy, spicy, ample, well-balanced - highly recommend. Also impressive was the $4.50 breakfast taco (breakfast tacos available all day!) that I ordered, sans chorizo, with egg omelette and other fixings. The omelette was huge and hanging out of the tortilla, and the whole bite was very flavorful.
I did not love the "Great Big Mexican" taco, which came with a vegan mushroom chorizo and a truffle crema. I appreciate the effort to offer a creative vegetarian option, but it was weird. Too sweet, weird texture. Not for me.
I also was sad that I didn't care for the "Blackfeesh" taco, which was a tempura grouper with a squid ink aioli. I love grouper, and I also love squid ink, and I thought it was brilliant that they offered these options in taco form. Being used to food that has been made black through the inclusion of ink - not blackened, mind you, stealth bomber Culture Hustle Black 3.0 black paint black- I personally didn't mind that it looked like a large black poop on a tortilla, though that might be offputting to some diners. However, as a single holistic bite this was just too fishy tasting. That may have been personal preference, but I think it needed some additional citrus or onion or something to balance it.
I did not try the guava agua fresca in the fridge case but I love that they had it and hope to get some in the future.
Overall, the value here is stellar and there is a really wide variety of creative flavor profiles. You most likely will not like everything you order your first few go-rounds, but that's a natural consequence of a menu that has so much variety and creativity, and is part of the fun, and this also ensures there's something for everyone. Plus, the affordable price point makes taking risks and trying things out very doable.
