Taco Loco

Mexican food is one of my great vices.  I love the combination of flavors and especially the wide range of meats available.  Sure, I love a regular steak but how can you beat barbacoa, cabeza or lengua done right.  I was turned onto Taco Loco by several coworkers and my cousin, David, who couldn't rave enough about the place.  I put it on the list of places to try and I finally got to chance to try it out with my brother and I also kidnapped a friend.

Lengua Taco
Barbacoa Taco
My brother and I ordered an entree and then a taco a piece.  It's not that we were incredibly hungry, we just wanted to get a little taste of everything.  I was particularly impressed with the tacos.  I has the barbacoa (braised beef) and my brother had the lengua (beef tongue) tacos.  It's basically a tortilla topped with your choice of meat, a mixture of cilantro and onion and served with a wedge of lime.  I squeezed the lime on top and it gave the taco not only a burst of fresh flavor; it also brought out more of the flavors of the cilantro which played perfectly off the meat.  This was the best thing out of the entire meal.  The tacos come sa la carte at 2 bucks a pop.  It's a little steep since I am pretty sure I can put about 7 of these away in one sitting and still be hungry.

Alambres
My brother and I got hooked on alambres at another Mexican joint in town and we thought we try it out at Taco Loco.  It's very much like fajitas but 10 times better.  At Taco Loco, the dish come with  steak, chicken or al pastor mixed with chopped bell peppers, onions, bacon and melted cheese served with tortillas and salsa.  My brother opted for steak.  The alambres were good but not as good as La Cocina's. It was great if you get a bit of everything in the tortilla but you miss any of the components; the flavor profile goes way down.

Milanesa De Res
I ordered what turned out to be the a Mexican chicken fried steak: Milanesa de res.  It's two pieces of flattened steak that have been breaded and fried.  It's served with a refried beans, rice and a side salad.  I could not say I enjoyed my meal. The steak was overcooked so it was rather tough.  It wasn't quite beef jerky but for me it might as well have been.  I have to admit though it was seasoned well  so if it wasn't cooked so well it would have been good.  I typically would not even mention the sides since rice and refried beans are pretty standard at any Mexican restaurant.  However, these were quite different than any I've had before.  The refried beans reminds me of baby food.  I don't think I've had any blended so fine.  The rice was mushy and lacked flavor.  All three of us, left the sides largely untouched.

I mentioned to the waitress I had heard great things about the wide array of salsa Taco Loco serves.  She says she will bring out a sampler which turned out to be three - two tomato based and a tomatillo salsa.  I tried it all out and was not impressed.  It makes me wonder if the waitress was holding out on me.

Chimichanga
My friend ordered the chicken chimichanga.  I did not taste her food but I can tell you she was very disappointed with her meal.  So disappointed in fact that when I said I will try Taco Loco another time before passing full judgment she told me to not invite her to lunch that day.  That's pretty harsh coming from a fairly easy eater.

It took quite a long time for our food to come out. My friend got her food first since I'm guessing it's the easiest to make and it took about 30 minutes.  The tacos came out afterward and the entrees took another five minutes. to come out  I typically wouldn't mind but we were on time constraints this day since I had to get my friend back to work during her allotted lunch hour.   Service was adequate but nothing to rave about. Aside from the tacos, the other items I ordered were not stellar.  I understand from a fan that Taco Loco does use authentic ingredients such as cactus and such and that's what draws some people in.  I think we decided that our favorite Mexican place was much better for everything but the tacos, which I may come back for.
Taco Loco on Urbanspoon

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