Eva's Mexican

The Location: Eva's Mexican, 242 Vernon St, Roseville

The Taco: Chicken Taco Lunch Special

The Price: $5.45 for one taco with rice & beans

The Verdict: Last taco of the year, and last review of the decade!

Eva's is tucked away in old Roseville across the street from the Magic Circle Theater. I stopped in this morning for a quick bite and I was happy to find a very reasonable selection of lunch specials that could be had for only a 5-spot and change. There was, however, only one taco selection amongst the specials; though it can be had with either chicken or beef. (There are some other taco choices elsewhere on the menu for a few bucks more). I chose the chicken taco, and it appeared at my table in just a minute or two. It featured shredded chicken which was moist although not extraordinarily flavorful, topped with lettuce, a big mound of cheese, and a slice of tomato. While I didn't find it to be remarkable, it was a perfectly acceptable light lunch and priced reasonably for a sit-down restaurant.

The Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)

Los Primos Mexican Food

The Location: Los Primos on Sheldon Rd

The Taco: Two taco combo (chicken)

The Price: $7.19 (including rice & beans)

The Verdict: Los Primos is located next to a gas station on Sheldon Road. Well, not so much next to the gas station as attached to the side of it. You enter through the gas station convenience store to get to the restaurant (they also have a drive-through). Not being ones to let the lack of a formal setting stop us in our hunt for the perfect taco, we ventured in with the family.

The restaurant is small, with seating for perhaps a dozen people, but the menu is relatively large with everything from soups to tortas and plenty of burrito and taco choices. I went for the chicken taco combo plate that includes rice, beans and two crunchy tacos. The tacos came loaded with lettuce, cheese and meat but unfortunately not a whole lot of flavor. Even after dousing them in one of the several available salsas they just didn't pack much more than a bland taste.

While there was nothing wrong with them per se, and certainly the threat of the gas-station taco could have been far worse, there was nothing special to remember. At another more traditional restaurant these would have been more disappointing, but given my somewhat lowered expectations of the locale I am letting them off with a 3-star rating.


The Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)

Centro Cocina Mexicana

The Location: Centro Cocina Mexicana 2730 J St, Sacramento

The Taco: Taco de Carnitas y Taco de Pollo.

The Price: $10.75 for 2 taco combo dinner plate served with rice and beans (though I ordered my plate sans beans)

The Verdict: Upon arriving I dove straight into the chips and salsa. The chips were warm and fresh and there were two blended salsas to choose from, one red, one green. I enjoyed both immensely. Neither were particularly spicy, but had plenty of flavor and a tiny kick. When we got around to ordering our waitress told us the tacos from the combo plate were small, and she was right. This entree certainly needed the sides to go along with it to complete the meal for me.

I was disappointed when my plate arrived and the rice was only long grain white rice instead of your traditional orange spanish rice. The chicken taco was advertised as "seasoned chicken" however I could not find the seasonings. The meat seemed bland and boring with no flavor. My chicken taco was loaded with cabbage though and I thought that was an odd selection, as opposed to the more standard lettuce topping. The meat in the carnitas taco was really good. It sure was crispy and had great pork flavor. It wasn't too chunky and I quite enjoyed that taco. Though both tacos advertised salsa on them, I did not find that it was nearly enough so I made sure to dump some from the chip dipping bowls to spice up my tacos a bit more.

Overall since I did not enjoy half my meal, I cannot give a glowing taco review.

The Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)