New shop knows its tacos
by Tom Stauffer on May. 31, 2007, under Calendar, Taste
ABOVE: The Taco Shop Co. specializes in Mexican food cooked in lard-free 100 percent corn oil.
BELOW: The carne asada plate comes with rice and beans.
What: The Taco Shop Co.
Address and phone: 1350 E. Broadway, 622-1899
Specialty: Mexican food cooked in lard-free 100 percent corn oil
Hours: Open 24 hours
What was ordered: Mucho Grande Combo ($6.25), Carne Asada Combo ($6.50), two medium soft drinks ($1.49) for a total of $17 including tax, well within our Cheap Eats goal of a meal for two for under $20.
Comments: Stating that “The Taco Shop Co. is better than Los Betos” is not saying a whole heck of a lot.
That said, The Taco Shop Co. is better than Los Betos.
While it may not have you jumping for joy, the fare here is good enough that both locations – the 24-hour one at 1350 E. Broadway and one at 17 N. Stone Ave. – are doing brisk business.
One customer even specifically told me that ever since The Taco Shop Co. opened, he’ll “never go to Los Betos again.”
To its credit, this new purveyor of 24-hour Mexican food at Broadway and North Highland Avenue serves much fresher, more homemade-tasting food than the usual gut-bomb burrito merchants.
On our first visit, the refried beans tasted distinctly uncanned, and the rice was rather delicately spiced and textured.
A nice plus were the tortillas served with the combos, which were fresh, piping hot and jumbo-sized.
Two weeks later, we went back to the shop and noticed that the quality of both the beans and rice had slipped a little.
What The Taco Shop Co. seems to do best are – you guessed it – tacos.
The shredded beef taco that came with the Mucho Grande Combo had ample amounts of good shredded beef in a corn shell that was fried in-house, not at an El Paso factory.
The bean tostada that came with the same combo was reasonably good, but the flautas were not much different than what you’d buy in the frozen food section – stiff, bland and basically lousy.
The carne asada was of a decent quality, and they put a lot on the plate. On my second visit, I noticed that they’d obviously cut the meat first before they broiled it, a common practice at fast-food joints.
If you’re doing a carne asada at home, don’t ever do this, as it results in tougher, drier meat. Grill the skirt steak (after you’ve marinated it in lime juice and beer) in one big piece, and cut it up just before you serve it.
Do that, and you’ll be able to say you’re better than The Taco Shop Co., and a lot better than Los Betos.
Vegetarian options:
Veggie Burrito ($3.25), Bean and Cheese Burrito ($2.25), Supreme Quesadilla ($3.99), Cheese Quesadilla ($2.99)
Takeout: yes
Currency: cash, Visa and Mastercard
Children’s menu: no
Web site: no
Most recent health inspection:
A “Good” rating March 15. Critical violations were reported for potentially hazardous foods not held at proper cooling temperature, employee’s hands and exposed arms not clean and properly washed, and food separation, packaging, segregation and substitution methods not preventing food and ingredient contamination.
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