Taco Azul

Lately I have been hitting up a lot of the Food Trucks here in Cincinnati. I don't know what it is about them, maybe the personal feel to them and the tweeting back and fourth with the people that will be serving you the food that day. Whatever it is, it has me hooked right now.



Today I went to Taco Azul a taco truck (obviously). When I got to the truck there were already about 10 people hovered around it. Most of them had already ordered so I didn't have to wait in much of a line to put my order in. I decided to go with three different tacos since I had never been there before and knew I would be writing about it later. I got the chicken, carnitas and the al pastor. I got cheese and guac on all three of them and some pico de gallo on the side. The guac was $.50 extra per taco (yet it seems like they only charge this sometimes, per my friend who got his for free).



We waited to get our food for a good amount of time, but not to the point where I was getting mad about it. To ease the pain, they offered up some free chips and salsa in small dishes to people waiting in line. I'm glad they did because I got to try some and it was really good. It had just the right amount of kick to it without being overbearing. One thing I did want to note to them was that the truck is so loud that they really need to speak up, I had a very hard time even hearing my own name. I had to keep leaning into them to hear what they were asking or telling me. This also caused a problem with the music, I couldn't hear it unless I was right next to it and even then it was hard to hear. It didn't bother me too much, it was just more of an FYI for them.





We got our food and went to a near by bench to eat it. I reached in and grabbed my first taco, which happened to be the al pastor. First thing I noticed when I opened it up was that they most likely were all going to be served on corn tortillas rather than flour (which I expected). The tacos were good, but the main taste I had in my mouth was the tortillas. Next time, I might ask if they can just use one instead of two to maybe cut down on the taste of them. The guac wasn't the best and didn't add much flavor. I did add some pico de gallo to it to try and add some more flavor and juice, which seemed to help a little. I still enjoyed Taqueria Mercado more, but it is tough to beat the price.



The next taco I pulled out happened to be the carnitas, which happened to be my favorite of the three. It had the most flavor and was the juiciest. I didn't even need to add any of the pico de gallo since it was good on its own. I would probably just get two of these next time, yet they don't always sell this taco (bummer).



My third taco was the chicken. Most chicken tacos I get from Mexican restaurants (except Nada) seem to always be the driest tacos, this was no exception. I added the rest of my pico de gallo to help, but it didn't do much. The guac didn't help much and when I opened the taco up to see where everything was, I pulled out basically 1/4 of an avocado. The guac was so hard (due to this avocado) that I couldn't even put my finger through it. I enjoy more of a paste like guacamole. The good thing about this was the fact that I could tell that they were making the guac right there on the truck and that it was as fresh as it could be. But I still think that the guac is the area they need to work on the most.



All in all I did enjoy the meal and for $8.50 for 3 tacos, guac and a drink, I didn't think it was that bad. Next time I go (and there will be a next time) I will most likely just get two tacos for $2/each and then a drink for $1 and leave there only spending $5 and have plenty of food to fill me for lunch. I have heard great things about the steak (within the few hours AFTER I ate here) and supposedly they are always running out of it, so that should tell you something. I usually don't get the steak tacos anywhere because they seem to always be very chewy. So I need to try them the next time I go.

Taco Azul Ratings

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Nada

I have been to Nada twice now. At first I thought I would never go there since I heard how fancy and expensive it was. Once I went, I was pleasantly surprised on the pricing and the atmosphere. It was still more upscale than I am use to, but for a date night with the wife, it is perfect! I figure it is cheaper than the boat house and about the same as going to an outback or olive garden, but so much better.

The first trip there was with a co-worker for lunch where I got the chicken tacos, chips, guac and salsa. Everything was very good. The chicken tacos were probably the best chicken tacos I have ever eaten. Most chicken tacos I get have dry chicken, but theirs were very juicy and tender. The cheese they paired it with was also amazing. I had never heard of the cheese, but it is called chihuahua cheese. The guac and homemade chips were also very good and fresh. I love that put their guac on almost every one of their tacos. The only negative thing I can take away from that trip was the dessert we got. I believe we got some sort of chocolate cream type dessert (I can't think of the name for it, but I could have done without it). They also let us try something fried (I believe it was a fried churro) which didn't do anything for me either. It was decent, but almost like eating nothing.

The second time I went was with my wife. I was told to get the fish tacos, which I had never had anywhere before. So my wife got the fish tacos while I got the carnitas tacos and we would just share. I have to admit, I am addicted to the fish tacos now and I want to try them everywhere to see if it is just Nada's or fish tacos in general that I love. The carnitas I could have done without. Out of the 3 different kinds of tacos I have had there, the carnitas are by far the worst, but not bad. When I go back I will probably do some sort of mix between the fish and chicken tacos.

WHEN I go back I will have to take some more pictures since I only have the one of my carnitas from the last time I went.

Nada Ratings

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Currito

I just got back from eating lunch at Currito, a burrito place in Clifton. I must say that I love what Clifton and UC have done with that new area with all the restaurants on Calhoun Street. Anyway, we decided to go to Currito after a long debate on whether to go there over Five Guys or even B-dubs (Buffalo Wild Wings). Since none of us had been to Currito and we hadn't had burritos in awhile, we went with it, and I'm glad that we did.



It reminded me a lot of the "Chipotle experience", but I figured it would be pretty similar. It is hard to do a burrito place like this and not be compared to Chipotle at this point. I did the same thing when I went to Qdoba and most "Americanized" Mexican places. The thing I liked about Currito over Chipotle was the selection. They had three different kinds of rice and I was able to get some caramelized onions and buffalo sauce on my normal chicken burrito. It was very flavorful and it had a sweet taste from the onions that I enjoyed, but I think I would do without them and try more of the buffalo sauce next time to try and get more of the spice.



The portions were huge and they could barely fold my burrito, which broke half way through. I did go with the regular size burrito, but they offer a small size for $1 less. I also got the wheat tortilla instead of the flour since I know it is better for me and Chipotle doesn't offer it. With the burrito having so much flavor on its own, I didn't notice the wheat tortilla at all and would stick with the healthy choice. I also split some chips and salsa with the group which were good, but not as good as Chipotle's. I did like that they offered a sort of "combo" type deal if you get chips, salsa and a drink with your burrito for only an additional $2.49 more. So with the combo, you could get a small burrito, chips, salsa and a drink for around $8, which isn't too bad for the amount of food you get.

After going into a food coma, we sat and talked for awhile, letting the food digest itself. Me and one of my co-workers had noticed when we ordered that they had giant chocolate chip cookies for only $.99! So we both were waiting for our stomachs to make some room for dessert and we both knew we wouldn't be able to tackle the whole cookie by ourselves. So at the last possible second while we were walking out the door, we decided to go in on one together and ate it on the car ride home.



I would definitely recommend it to people if they are tired of the same old Chipotle burrito, and I hope to go back myself to try something else and maybe just get a small burrito so I have room for the cookie at the end. :D

Taqueria Mercado

We just got back from lunch at Taqueria Mercado. It just opened downtown on 8th and Walnut in the past week and has replaced another good mexican restaurant Javiers. I had never heard of this restaurant, but I know some of my co-workers have eaten at this place before but at a different location. The biggest difference between this place and Javiers is that Taqueria Mercado is a sit down and order restaurant instead of ordering at the counter as soon as you walked in.



Unlike most mexican restaurants, you do not get any free chips and salsa as an appetizer. If you want some though, it is only $1.50 for a basket of chips and a dish of salsa. We did get a basket, more by accident than anything. My co-worker asked if we got any chips and salsa after we all ordered and he said OK and brought some out. In the end we found on my bill that it cost $1.50, which was no big deal, we will know for next time. I would probably still get them because they were very good, everyone at the table enjoyed them.



I got a small chicken burrito ($4.25) and asked for rice in it (menu said add rice for $.25). I also asked for no sour cream, not only is it bad for you, I just don't like it. Lastly I asked for some guac and I asked if it came with chips and he said yes ($2.25). I will never know if actually does come with chips because I never actually got my guac and/or chips, yet they did try and charge me for it. I also ended up getting sour cream in my burrito which I noticed half way through. It looked like they may have put some in and then realized it wasn't suppose to go in so they stopped adding it and then served it to me anyway. Instead of making a big deal about it, I just scraped some of it out and continued eating it. If it wasn't so good I probably would have made them take it back.



Did I mention how good it was, wow. If it wasn't the best mexican food I ever had, it sure was close to it. Even with the messed up order, it still didn't take away from how delicious it was. And I did get some rice, but it wasn't in the burrito like I thought it would be, it came with some beans on the side, which I think they might have messed up thinking I wanted their lunch platter which, again, I didn't ask for. I am hoping once they are in business for a little longer some of the kinks will get ironed out.



All in all I wish the communication between me and the waiter and the cooks was better, but in the end I did get my burrito with some rice and I paid close to what I was thinking it was going to be ($6). I will definitely be back to try out more items from the menu. If you have never had this at any of their locations, I would suggest going, you won't regret it.

Senor Roy's

Last week I ate at Senor Roy's twice. Senor Roy's is a big truck, just like Cafe de Wheels, that comes downtown a lot during lunch hours. Senor Roy's serves tacos and burritos and more of the mexican items. Being that it was my first time there, I didn't know how the whole "system" worked. So I started down at one end of the truck looking at one menu. There I chose to get two chicken tacos (I had heard from a co-worker that two tacos was plenty to eat, he was right). Then I was told to move down the line to the other end of the truck where another, yet different, menu was located. I tried to figure out what they all had from this menu, but it wasn't too clear and I ended up just asking a lot of questions until I got something that sounds somewhat good. It didn't turn out the best. It was good, don't get me wrong, but I just didn't get as much stuff as I could because I didn't know what they all had since the menu was confusing.

None-the-less, I went back two days later with a co-worker and got one chick and one steak taco. This time I came prepared. I had looked at the website prior to going this time, so I knew all the additional things I could add on my tacos. This time I got shredded cheese, pico de gallo, corn, mild picante, rice, pickled red onions and I think that was it, but it was much better than the first time when I only got rice, corn and diced tomatos on my chicken tacos.



Both times the chicken had very little flavor and was almost dry tasting. I kept comparing it to something I would make at home, which would be just throwing some chicken on a grill or skillet and throwing a little salt and pepper on them without doing much else. We actually told one of the workers as he walked past us while we were eating that they might think of blackening the chicken to give it some more flavor. He said that he would mention it to the higher ups, not sure if he did or not. Either way, the second time was much better than the first since I actually had some flavor in my tacos. I also got some guac and chips the second time and that was pretty good and by adding the guac to my taco, it also helped with the flavor. The guac and the chips, however, were not as good as Chipotle's.



It is hard not to compare it to Chipotle since that is the only other place I go on a regular basis for tacos/burritos, but I have a hard time comparing the two. Chipotle is sort of a "fast food" type joint which I only hear bad things about the food quality and nutrition. Where Senor Roy's tasted very natural and like I said before, "homemade". On most days if I had to choose between the two places, I would sadly have to say Chipotle because I think I am addicted to it. I have a hard time spending over $6 anywhere for food because I know I could get a chicken burrito from Chipotle for that much. I think I may need help.

I still think you ought to try this place out. They do offer a lot more choices than what I get on my tacos and they do stack on the meat and sides (make sure to ask for a fork). When you do go and check it out, let me know what you got and how it was.