Toni M.
Yelp
I had lunch here today w/ Kathy and Joan. Kathy used to work w/ Alan, which is how we became friends. She and her former partner were part of our couples' book group. Joan and I worked together in Vallejo until she transferred to a clinic in East Contra Costa County to be closer to home. When Kathy transferred to that clinic they became friends and discovered they had me in common. We have been talking about getting together for a long time now and today it happened. We decided to meet in Martinez because it was centrally located and Kathy had heard good things about Taco Daddy's from friends. I drove to Kathy's house and she drove us here. As we drove down Las Juntas I spotted a parking space in the block before Taco Daddy's and we took it, parked and walked over to the restaurant. They have outdoor parklet seating. Joan was inside, comfortably ensconced in a roomy, comfortable booth and we joined her.
We were brought menus and studied them. Kathy and I both ordered margaritas, mine a basic one, hers a pretty pink one called Daddy Issues. Actually, hers was a cocktail, not a margarita, because it was made w/ vodka rather than tequila. We ordered guacamole and chips plus a flight of salsas to share. We decided to wait a while to order our mains. The guacamole was very tasty, the chips were house made, thick and crispy and were refilled when we finished the first two cups of them. The four salsas ranged from flavorful, mild-medium spicy reddish and greenish to a couple of creamy ones which were tasty and milder. My margarita was delicious and Kathy liked her cocktail. When it came to ordering our mains, Joan ordered a burrito, Kathy ordered a salad and I ordered the surf and turf tostada. Service was sweet and helpful. I wish I had asked her name.
My tostada was on the small side, perfect for me, given my enjoyment of the guacamole, chips and salsa. I really liked it. It was flavorful, w/ marinated strips of steak, shrimp, salsa jimbo, fundido, guacamole, marinated onions, jalapeño and cilantro on two small crispy tortillas. Joan cut her burrito in half and gave the other half to Kathy to take home. Kathy ate maybe 2/3 of her salad and took the rest home. We lingered comfortably talking until we were ready to go. I said goodbye to Joan, whose parking meter was running low and used the bathroom before getting on the road. There are two gender neutral bathrooms on the way out on the right, the doors colorfully painted. They are roomy and clean. When we got to Kathy's house she offered me the container w/ the rest of her salad and Joan's half burrito, saying she wasn't fond of leftovers. I love leftovers, so I took them, planning to have them as part of my dinner. Until I lifted the burrito, preparing to put it on the plate tonight. It was much heavier than I had expected, so it went in the refrigerator and will be tomorrow's lunch.
Kathy's leftover salad constituted the majority of my dinner tonight. I was less impressed w/ it than I was w/ my tostada. The flavors were much less vibrant. It was a combination of chopped lettuce, beans, corn, tortilla strips, diced tomatoes and maybe cheese w/ some meat--I couldn't determine what it was--and an innocuous dressing. I was very glad I had ordered the tostada. Tomorrow I will see what I think of the burrito. If I don't like it I will put it in the compost bin and have a bagel and schmear. Please read as 4.49 stars.
Update 9/9: I ate the burrito for lunch and it was good, flavorful and full of stuff. I reheated it slowly and ate it w/ a fork until it was small enough to pick up. It wasn't noticeably salty, but there must have been quite a bit of added salt because I was very thirsty as the afternoon wore on. I don't eat burritos because they're too big for me. The last one I ate was close to 20 years ago, so I'm unlikely to order one again, but I enjoyed this one.
