The Unvegan » Mexican

Tacos Por Favor, Please

The Unvegan — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:00:16 +0000

Por supuesto.

Santa Monica doesn’t exactly have a reputation for good food. And what reputation it does have usually tends to lean on the upscale. But reputation alone does not simply make a city, and Santa Monica actually has a surprising number of little gems hidden in its nooks and crannies. One of these, I had heard, was Tacos Por Favor.

Yet, aside from actually hearing of Tacos Por Favor, I hadn’t really been told what was good on their menu, so when I arrived and found a vast menu full of nearly every Mexican dish I had ever heard of, I was in trouble.

So I did what any rational gringo lost in a sea of Mexican food would do – ordered tacos. In this case, I went for their 2 Soft Taco Combo, which came with beans and rice. The tacos were topped with meat of my choosing (one carne asada and the other al pastor), salsa, cilantro and onions. As always, I had no tolerance for onions, so I ordered without and then got a side of guacamole to make up for it.

Pretty soon, my combo was ready and I grabbed it along with a couple of additional salsas to accompany my meal. To say that I was disappointed by the portion of my $1.25 side of guacamole would be an understatement. If there was more than one ounce in there, I would have be shocked. But maybe the guac was awesome, so I forked it out onto my tacos and went to work. It was good, but nothing near awesome and nothing close making the $1.25 worth it. The tacos themselves were good and packed pretty nicely with meat, but didn’t exactly offer much more than I could get at your average taco truck. This is not to knock the tacos in any way, but to simply say that such tacos are a dime a dozen.

So maybe I ordered the wrong thing and Tacos Por Favor has some intensely amazing burrito that deliciously sat in the corner crying as I ordered the wrong thing. In any case, Tacos Por Favor is worthwhile if you happen to be nearby, but if not you can probably do better in your own part of LA.

Taco Bell Goes Doritos Locos

The Unvegan — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:33:38 +0000

What dreams are made of!

How many times have you sat around late at night eating either Taco Bell, Doritos or both and thought how amazing it would be to combine the two? I know I have. So when Taco Bell first started testing their new Doritos Locos in Fresno and Bakersfield last year, I was almost tempted to pay one of those cities a visit. Thankfully, I did not make the mistake of setting foot in one of those cities, and the testing was obviously a success, because at midnight this morning Taco Bell rolled out their Doritos Locos Tacos for the nation. If you’re unfamiliar with the Doritos Locos, they are essentially your regular or supreme tacos, but with a giant Nacho Cheese Dorito as the shell. Usually I can wait to try Taco Bell’s new products, but for this I had to be there right at midnight.

When we pulled into the drive-thru, we were shocked to find the place deserted. The clock had just struck midnight and I had expected a throng of people to be eagerly anticipating the launch of their glorious new tacos. Confused, we asked if they were doing the Doritos tacos thing and they replied by asking us if it was midnight yet. Hell yes it was (wait, were we one about to be one of the first few people to get our mitts on these things on the West Coast?), so we proceeded to order our tacos, mine without lettuce of course.

Before going any further, I should mention here that the shell (at least on opening night) could only be used for regular or supreme tacos. There was no room for chicken tacos or gordita crunches because apparently the shell isn’t equipped to handle them. This was sad, but I can only hope that in time the same engineering geniuses that made a Dorito into a taco shell will be able to make the taco shell strong enough to handle other meats and/or cheese dousings.

Seriously, at this point anything is possible.

But back to the tacos.

These guys were so special that not only did they come in a regular wrapper, but also a sort of Doritos Locos Tacos envelope sleeve. This struck me as a potential waste of packaging, but it also occurred to me that these sleeves were likely there to preserve the shell and prevent it from cracking under pressure like hard shells often do.

Finally, I bit in and came face-to-face with glory. This shell was everything I had ever wanted it to be and nothing more. How could there be anything more? My expectations were so astronomically high that they couldn’t possibly be exceeded, but they were met. The combination of that perfect Doritos taste combined with the Taco Bell meat flavoring that simply can’t be reproduced (even when you buy the Taco Bell branded seasoning at the store) joined each other in perfect harmony. It was a match made in fake Mexican food heaven, and it was all mine. Really, the only downside was the saltiness, which should be expected when you eat such things, so be sure to keep water on hand if you are going Locos.

I really hope this thing gets big and stays big, because I know more than a few people who would love to see the Doritos Locos expand into Cool Ranch and Spicy Nacho. Hey, if Taco Bell could pull off something of this magnitude with Doritos, I’m pretty sure they could do anything.

Patriotismo at El Abajeno

The Unvegan — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:00:09 +0000

The old one-two punch.

You can’t throw a stone* in LA without hitting a Mexican place that someone happens to call their favorite. It could be a shack, a hole in the wall or even an old-fashioned sit down restaurant. The variety seems only limited by the amount of physical space in LA and those damn zoning laws. As I’ve eaten my way through the city, I’ve creativity galore and more Mexican foods than I knew existed growing up on Taco Bell in Michigan. Some have been delicious, while others have failed me. On my latest foray into someone’s favorite Mexican place, I ended up at El Abajeno in Culver City.

El Abajeno shares its building with a liquor store and works with a counter-style ordering system. The menu is vast, but after a short stare down with it, I found the perfect unvegan fit – the Fiesta Burrito. I’ve always wanted a party in my mouth, and this burrito seemed to want to start it. This thing was filled with pork, beef, rice and beans, then topped with cheese guacamole and red sauce in a wet burrito style. But I didn’t stop there. I had heard their taquitos with carnitas were delicious, so I ordered one of those as well, with cheese and avocado on top.

Quick, what's the Mexican burrito anthem?

When they were finished, I was astonished to find the Fiesta Burrito in unique form. Rather than dousing the whole thing with guac, red sauce and cheese, they had been spaced out in thirds. If only they had carved out an eagle shape in cheese, the burrito would have been the spitting image of the Mexican flag, but instead I was wondering why a burrito would display an Italian flag. These people were certainly patriotic (for the enemy), but I hoped that this strange distribution would make for good eating.

After a few bites, I completely forgot about my concerns. This was one packed, greasy and delicious wet burrito. The blend of steak and pork made for a nice mix and rather than being filler, the rice and beans made a nice addition to temper the onslaught of meat. And it tasted fantastic as well. As for that wet stuff on top, I definitely would have liked it better of they had been distributed evenly across the burrito, but the Mexican flag was a damn nice touch. Also, I found the guacamole to be a little disappointing. It was much wetter than your average guac and completely lost its texture in the process. The taste was still there, but this was more of an avocado sauce than what I would consider guacamole.

More like taquissimo!

Then, there was the taquito, which was actually bigger than most authentic full-sized tacos I’ve encountered. The double tortilla was greasier than a watermelon, but the carnitas and avocado that filled it in were a delight. In surprising contrast to the tortilla, the carnitas were not greasy, but simple, delicious pulled pork.

So did El Abajeno become my new favorite Mexican joint? Not quite…that honor still belongs to La Paz down in El Segundo, but El Abajeno is certainly a worthy contender. It’s just that I felt the taquito was greasy just for the sake of being greasy and the guac could have used a little work. Yet, there is no question that I will be back to El Abajeno, for despite its minor flaws, its strengths are unquestionable.

*Please don’t throw stones at Mexican restaurants.

No related posts.

Chipotle x 8 at Ocho Mexican Grill

The Unvegan — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:00:09 +0000

The S stands for stubby.

Chipotle is kind of the gold standard of Mexican fast food (I mean, unless we’re talking Taco Bell). You can find it pretty much anywhere, the prices are pretty good and there is no doubt that it’s fast. But it is not alone…all over there are copycats and similar joints that may or may not have existed before the rise of Chipotle. Ocho Mexican Grill in downtown LA is one of those copycats…sort of. A combination of my buddy Joel and a 50% Scoutmob discount convinced me to visit this downtown twist on Mexican fast food fare and I entered with high expectations.

I quickly found Ocho to be a twisted version of Chipotle. It offered burritos, bowls, salads and tacos, then just like Chipotle, there were troughs of ingredients to pick and choose from. I learned that the “Ocho” stood for the 8 different “meat” choices and I use meat in quotes because one of those choices is vegetarian. This was definitely more options than Chipotle, with the exotic options of mahi mahi and tiger prawns making things a bit exciting.

Mmmmm cheese sauce.

I opted for the grilled steak and then moved on to where Ocho truly upped the ante – toppings, salsas and sauces. Sure, I went with classics like their organic brown rice and organic pinto beans, but got a little crazy with their hica-mango (a mix of chopped jicama and mango. They had intriguing yellow and fiery habanero salsas, but I decided to play it safe with red hot, which was one spice level below the habanero. Finally, Ocho made it just a little more interesting with sauces like southwest, agave vinaigrette and buttermilk ranchero. There was only one sauce that I had my eyes on, though…three cheese. Oh and let’s not forget the regular shredded cheese on top of that. Then, while I usually shun away from chips at Chipotle, I put my 50% off to good use and picked up some chips and guac.

Name that guac!

Once it was all rolled up, my burrito looked a bit stubby and while I lamented the larger size of Chipotles, I also considered the resulting food comas and thought this might just be the perfect size. I tore away the foil and went to town. Town was delicious, by the way. They had clearly stuck to the safe side as far as the Chipotle elements, as the combination of steak, rice, beans and hot red salsa were right on par. But where these parts lacked in originality, the hica-mango and three cheese sauce took the burrito to a shiny new level. And while I hate to say it, the cheese sauce was even better than Qdoba. The chips and guac were quite tasty, but indistinguishable from Chipotle in the same vein as the steak.

It’s hard to review a place like Ocho, because while it is awesome and brings a few new things to the table, it seriously lacks in originality. I hated to mention Chipotle so much in this review, but it was too hard not to. Cafe Rio took the Chipotle concept and completely blew it away with unique offerings, but Ocho seemed content to maintain much of the status quo. It’s executed well, and the new choices make for a great meal, but in the end it is just a damn good copycat.

Impregnated by El Nopal

The Unvegan — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:00:44 +0000

Impregnate me!

For a few months now, I have driven by El Nopal in Palms nearly every single day. And on just about every one of those days, I say to myself, “I want to eat there.” But it is not simply because I love Mexican food, it is because of what is written just below the name of the restaurant on their sign: Home of the Pregnant Burrito. I’m a pretty literal guy and assumed there was some sort of burrito fetus residing in the larger burrito. This proved to not be the case, but it does give me an idea for an awesome burrito if I ever open up my own Mexican place (read: never). Anyway, onto the burrito.

Inside the restaurant, we were greeted by a passionate and friendly host/waiter. Excitedly, he told us about all their food, but all I cared about was the pregnant burrito. This guy came with chicken, onions and avocado. Simple as that, and served wet-style. But I made it my own by removing the onions and getting ground beef instead of chicken. Soon enough, my pound-plus burrito arrived, looking quite beautiful. He brought out onions on the side in case I wanted them (do you know who I am?!), and they were left on the side to rot for eternity.

I dug in and met with meaty bliss. Sure there was avocado in there, but this was pretty much ground beef, wrapped in tortilla and doused with cheese and enchilada sauce. It was an unvegan dream come true and it even tasted pretty good. It wasn’t quite as good as the spectacular burrito from La Paz, but was certainly good enough that I would have eaten more after I finished my full pound-plus burrito. I may have felt pregnant, but only 1st trimester pregnant and I wanted to feel myself dilating. Pretty picture, eh?

Nonetheless, I was glad I walked to El Nopal, because the walk back made me feel a little less pregnant and also gave me time to reflect on the goodness of the Pregnant Burrito.

I shall be back, that is for sure.

Compunding Words at MexiKosher

The Unvegan — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:00:30 +0000

Fun with puns!

Who doesn’t love a good pun? Or even better, who doesn’t love an awesome compound word. Combining giant and enormous gave us ginormous. Combining lion and tiger gave us liger. And combining terrible and institution gave us Ohio State University (yes, I know that is technically three words, but I stand by it). Now joining the ever-growing list of compound words is a restaurant named MexiKosher in (surprisingly) Pico-Robertson. I love a good compound word as much as the next guy, but could this new Kosher Mexican restaurant make a happy unvegan? I intended to find out.

The set up of the place is pretty awkward and we we walked in we had no idea where to order or who to order from. Eventually, we found our way to someone willing to help us out. It seemed they were trying to do things the Chipotle way, without pork or cheese, but still hadn’t gotten the organizational efficiency together.

Of course, as an American, I lamented the lack of cheese. Jew or not, I expect cheese on my Mexican food. To those who know true Mexican food, however, the lack of cheese should not have been surprising. Few Mexican dishes actually involve cheese, so I was still excited. What didn’t excite me, though, was the price. The cheapest meat offered clocked in at 10.99 for a dish.

Just like bubbe used to make.

I chose one of these 10.99 dishes, the grilled chicken tacos. This came with three tacos and my selection of toppings, which I simply limited to guacamole (an extra 75 cents) and cilantro. They were incredibly generous with the guac and I ended up with guacamole tacos with a bit of meat in each. I also got some beans and rice in my family picnic-style divided plate. Then, at check out, we discovered something amazing. Checking in on Facebook resulted in a 20% discount. Now I don’t do that Facebook check-in stuff to remain incognito (just don’t ask me about foursquare), but my buddy checked in and we piggybacked his discount.

That's what I call a salsa bar.

We snagged a table and I went to work devouring the tacos. What I found was pretty delicious. These weren’t some sort of Jewish fusion, but simply tacos prepared with delicious Kosher meat. The chicken was moist, with a hint of citrusy goodness, and then there were the crazy sauces offered. These sat near the register in condiment bottles, keeping the place unique compared to your ordinary Mexican salsa bars. These bottles changed the game in two ways: 1) No more accidentally mixing salsas with an unsteady ladle and 2) they could be easily shaken up to ensure even distribution of flavor. I tried a few of them and found each to be pretty tasty and creative. The Chipotle Marmalade and Serrano Aioli were definitely my two favorites.

Yet, as delicious as this all was, I realized that I couldn’t justify the price of Kosher. Not when I could walk down the street or stroll up to a taco truck and get a similarly tasty Mexican meal for half the price.

Mexikosher is certainly a good addition to Pico-Robertson. For those who keep Kosher, it certainly provides the necessary taste. But for the treif in this world, MexiKosher is probably only worth a dabble.

A New Beginning at Taco Plus

The Unvegan — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:00:49 +0000

This is more of a burrito plus.

Moving to a new place is never easy. Driving habits and living habits have to change, but more importantly, eating habits have to change. This can be easy for some, but when you have a meat blog it can be tough to say goodbye to the Taco Bell that once resided across the street. But it is also an opportunity to try new things, so as I woke up on my first real weekend in my new place, I realized it was time for a stroll around the area in search of food. Quickly, I found Taco Plus.

Yes, I had driven by Taco Plus countless times in my life, but there are so many little nondescript taco places in LA, they all blur together eventually. Taco Plus is now no longer a blur to me, and is instead a local taco reality. But was that reality any good?

I ordered an old classic, the Burrito de Carne Asada. At $6.35, the price was competitive with the likes of Chipotle and I hoped the flavor could be even better. It came with the steak, beans, rice, cilantro and onions. As always, I ordered mine without onions to keep away from the veggies. I also noticed they had the option to turn the burrito wet for a buck or so more, but I wasn’t ready to eat so heavy with my first meal of the day. While waiting, I loaded up with some salsa from their salsa bar and after a couple minutes the burrito was ready.

The "Plus" means meat.

I bit right in and quickly found myself with a mouthful of steak. And good steak too. I could tell it had just been sliced up and wasn’t sitting in a tub somewhere waiting to be served. Plus, it was loaded with meat. This wasn’t some small dollop of steak, topped with a load of beans and rice for filler. This was a burrito made for a carnivore, with beans and rice just hanging out to enhance the experience. Yet, with all the meatiness, it wasn’t quite perfect. It still definitely needed the salsa from the salsa bar, because the steak itself wasn’t the most seasoned. I could definitely see where making the burrito wet would have made experience even better.

So, did I find a replacement for Taco Bell? No, but no real Mexican food can truly replace Taco Bell. Instead, I found a pretty great burrito in a really great location. I can’t wait to go back and try out their wet burrito, because I have a feeling that cheese and sauce will make Taco Plus and A+.

Sorry for the terrible pun, but you have to expect that when you name your restaurant that way.

Unexpected Fruitiness at TnB BBQ

The Unvegan — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:00:23 +0000

What the what sauce?

On a one-night bender, I found myself facing down three strange taco trucks on Main Street in Santa Monica. None looked familiar and none looked particularly amazing. But it was 2 am in Los Angeles, when food options are usually limited to subpar diners and…well…taco trucks. The trucks here seemed to be some sort of missing link between gourmet and roach coaches and so after much circling we wound up at TnB BBQ.

This truck seemed to fuse Korean food with tacos (how creative), and after much deliberation, I chose the beef quesadilla for a whopping 7 bucks. This had to be a damn good and big quesadilla or I was going to be one unhappy drunk. And in my drunk, I was reduced to my most basic unvegan self and made sure to ask if there were any vegetables involved in this pricey quesadilla. The man told me no, and I stepped back to let them prepare my food.

Within minutes, my ‘dilla was ready and I looked upon it in curiosity. It wasn’t huge, but wasn’t slacking in size either. It also came with a little cup of some sort of salsa. I chomped in and what I found was some pretty decent Korean-Mexican fusion. It had your average sweet Korean beef taste and enough cheese to scare off a lactard. But what truly separated this quesadilla from every other Korean taco fusion I’ve ever had was the salsa. Not content to be a simple salsa, this stuff was fruity. And not just “oh heyyyy, lets put mangoes in our salsa” fruity. No, this was fruity to the core, with the most prominent flavor being strawberry. It made for one hell of a twist on your typical dipping sauce.

But was it good? Was it bad? I don’t really think it was either. It was just kind of…well weird. But if nothing else, TnB introduced me to something I never knew existed. Yes, I could have lived a happy life without ever having tasted strawberry salsa on a Korean quesadilla, and now that I have tasted such a thing, my life will continue on as it would have otherwise. Not better or worse, but having eaten something damn strange.

Down in Mexico With Red O

The Unvegan — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 16:00:24 +0000

Wait, is this China?

Rick Bayless is apparently a pretty big deal, and not just because he got his PhD at the University of Michigan. No, he is actually a famous chef who specializes in Mexican food. Now, when I headed off to dinner at Red O, I was entirely unaware of both the existence of man named Rick Bayless and the fact ~~the Red O’s kitchen was run by him~~ that he was Red O’s consulting chef. Clearly this was not going to be an everyday ordinary Mexican meal. The exterior had a design reminiscent of the Bird’s Nest in Beijing. The interior wasn’t too shabby either, but this style came at a price. One of our party was sporting khaki shorts and was nearly denied entry, despite everyone else in the restaurant wearing shorts. This almost knocked the place down a notch to me, but I was willing to forgive if they could deliver some amazing food.

And the presentation is flawless.

We had been warned ahead of time that we had to try the guacamole, so we started out with a bit of that at our table. While guacamole can sometimes be a risky move, because places like to mix tomato and onion into it. Red O, however, did not pollute its guacamole with such veggies. Yes, there were some diced onions and radishes on top, but these were easily avoided and passed on to my eating companions. With these concerns abated, I found myself eating some the the best guacamole this side of Mexico. The consistency was all at once creamy and chunky, but the greatness didn’t stop there. While maintaining a great avocado taste, the seasoning was also incredible. But all this wouldn’t have mattered if the chips had lacked. Fortunately, Red O held their chips to the same high standards as the guacamole and were both flaky and crunchy.

For my main course, I struggled a bit on what to order. This was not because of a small or veggie-laden menu. No, this was because I wanted so much. And also because this was some expensive Mexican food. Not overly expensive, but kind of in that range where you cross your fingers and hope the food is better than you corner taco shack. I did, though, find something that looked both reasonable and delicious. This was their lamb soft tacos. Described much more eloquently on the menu as “Sonoma County Lamb in Chile Colorado, guajillo chiles, roasted garlic, cumin and black beans,” this sounded like a perfect unvegan meal. My only concern was that this woudn’t be enough food, but a quick chat with the waiter told me that it would serve me at least four tacos. This satisfied my concern and I quickly turned this concern into excitement.

Why would you ruin this with onions?

When my skillet of lamb arrived, fajita-style, I was all set to eat, but had to stop myself. You see, sitting atop my meat was an array of onion strings that seemed to be spitting in my face. Sure, these were pretty fried up, but they were still vegetables and had not been mentioned on the menu. This was upsetting, because they had taken the time to describe so much of the dish, but not the onions. I was sad, but I could easily brush these aside and get into the real food. I put together my first taco and bit into meaty glory. The lamb meat was incredibly tender and combined with the cumin flavor, there was almost a hint of Greek in my taco. No, this wasn’t part of the taco fusion craze of LA, but it was definitely interesting to have some new flavors in a taco (or four).

The meatballs had greens, but at least I didn't order them.

I also managed to snag a bite of the short rib meatball tacos being eaten at the other end of the table. These meatballs were actually better than my lamb and the potatoes that accompanied the meatballs were enlightening.

So in the end, the tacos turned out to be incomparable to those of a local taco stand. Red O managed to elevate its Mexican food above and beyond the norm and didn’t just create upscale versions of normal Mexican food, but added unique flavors and ingredients to make it a place worth revisiting. It’s not going to remind you of the food you may have eaten in Mexico, but it will certainly not disappoint.

Make Way for Cafe Rio

The Unvegan — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:00:30 +0000

The pearly gates of Utah.

I have a coworker who has a problem. The problem is she is a vegetarian. Gross, right? But not by choice. You see she is lacking the enzyme that breaks down meat in her body, so the simple act of eating meat makes her violently ill. It’s really the only acceptable form of vegetarianism, yet there is one place she will always eat meat, stomach be damned. That place is Cafe Rio. It’s a seemingly generic Mexican place that I have driven past many times in Manhattan Beach and brushed off. But little did I realize that Cafe Rio is huge in Utah. Like real huge. And it’s about to get even huger. There are currently 40-something locations, but they are planning an expansion on the scale of 100 restaurants. So when one opens across the street from you, remember you read about Cafe Rio on The Unvegan first. With my coworker in mind, we finally stopped at Cafe Rio to what all the meat fuss was about.

The place is set up in an assembly line format similar to Chipotle, but with a whole lot more options. Looking at the menu, apparently we made it pretty well-known that we had never been before. Suddenly, we were greeted by a guy working there who explained everything on the menu and offered us samples of any meat we wanted. And first he gave us a sample of their fresh-made tortillas to test out. It was delicious. The menu said their Sweet Pork Barbacoa was their specialty, so I tried some of that, their Chile Roasted Beef, their Fire Grilled Chicken and their Fire Grilled Steak. I was surprised to find my favorite to be their Chile Roasted Beef, which somehow beat out the Fire Grilled Steak due to some amazing flavoring. The barbacoa was my second favorite and another customer told us their secret: they cook it in Coke.

Have wet with my burrito.

So I went with the Chile Roasted Beef burrito for $6.75. In it, I had them add pinto and black beans, lime-cilantro rice, cheese and hot salsa. Then, they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. This was to have them splash more salsa on top of the burrito, top it with cheese, heat it up and make it a wet burrito. Um, yes please. But I wasn’t yet sure how hot the salsa was, so I had them douse my burrito in medium. It was a beautiful sight and I couldn’t wait to dig in.

Best roasted beef ever?

And when I did, what I tasted was nothing short of amazing. Stomach aches? Weak. I would risk kidney stones to down a burrito such as this. The flavor of the beef is beyond comprehension, but all at once it’s semi-sweet, salty, juicy and meaty. The meat was definitely the centerpiece to the burrito and while the rice, beans and cheese were all nice, they had nothing on the meat. Which brings me to the salsa. I quickly discovered that the salsa within the burrito was not too spicy at all and could have easily been the salsa for the burrito to swim in. But, I’m glad I tried the medium salsa, because it was awesome. In fact, it was literally sweet. Coupled with the savoriness of the rice, beans and cheese, this salsa added a strange, yet delicious balance to the burrito. Next time, I’ll swap the salsas and get that sweetness on the inside.

And there will be a next time. And a time after that. And a time after that. Because Cafe Rio is awesome. From the amazing customer service (seriously, everyone there seemed to feel honored to work there) to the meat to the salsa, it was a burrito to remember. Move over, Chipotle.