Chevys Fresh Mex

The Location: Chevys Fresh Mex, multiple local locations

The Taco: 3 taco combo.  One Original Salsa Chicken, One slow-roasted Carnitas, One Picadillo Beef served with beans, rice and sweet corn tamalito.

The Price: About $12

The Verdict: What is there to say about Chevys?  We've been there a number of times, but as I recall it has been a few years since we last tried them out.  It's a major national chain, and as such has to cater to the broadest possible tastes.  Unfortunately, that means that the food is not particularly authentic.

Getting straight to the details: the meal was delivered luke-warm.  Not acceptable at a large, well-established restaurant like this.  The beef taco contained some ground beef which lacked any interesting flavor.  It tasted like something I could make at home in 10 minutes with powdered taco seasoning.

The chicken taco was slightly better, but it was too dry.  I had to dump some salsa on just to liven it up a bit.  I don't know where they get the name "Salsa Chicken" because the taco did not seem to have any salsa anywhere within.

The carnitas had a strange smokey, almost BBQ-like flavor.  Very different from what I would traditionally expect from carnitas.  With some complementary side dishes and a tweak to the seasoning it could potentially be sold as an acceptable bbq taco, but, as is, it was out of place at Chevys.

Conclusions: The simple taco should be the cornerstone of any mexican restaurant, especially one with years of experience and tens of thousands of customers a year.  Somehow, Chevys managed to disappoint three separate ways on this trip.

The Rating: ★★ (out of 5)

Chipotle Mexican Grill

The Location: Chipotle, Elk Grove, CA

The Taco: Barbacoa soft taco

The Price: About $6.50 for three.

The Verdict: Unless you've been living under a rock you have no doubt come across the Chipotle chain. They offer assembly-line tacos and burritos in a faux modern brushed metal dining room. I typically categorize Chipotle as "Mexican-style" more than it is traditional Mexican, as the choices are clearly catered to the big-appetites and americanized tastes of the US consumer. On the other hand, there is something to be said for the assembly-line method: you can customize your meal exactly the way you like. Chipotle has even tapped into that theme with its most recent round of advertising. I ordered my tacos with hot salsa, corn salsa, cheese, lettuce and barbacoa meat.

The tacos managed to hold their shape pretty well despite the to go order. The hot salsa has a good kick to it which made them plenty spicy and each of the ingredients were well proportioned. The meat itself was tasty, but I found it a little salty. It may be just the combination of spices they use or maybe I got a bad batch, but it overwhelmed the other flavors in my opinion. Otherwise these were pretty typical chain-store fare, nothing spectacular but certainly edible and freshly prepared.


The Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)

Rubio's Fish Tacos

The Location: Rubio's on Truxel Rd

The Taco: Carnitas Rajas Taco plate

The Price: About $7

The Verdict: Normally I wouldn't review a chain store here, other than to add the occasional rant, but my co-blogger argued that a taco is a taco, and that they all deserve a fair shot at fame. So, just in case you can't quite decide whether or not to patronize your local mall taco stand, here goes.

This taco was overflowing with ingredients with a good portion of carnitas, grilled peppers, onions, lettuce as well as some cheese and taco sauce thrown in to the mix. While I'd usually expect to find the peppers & grilled onions on a fajita or a burrito rather than a taco, they were still a welcome ingredient. The onions were sweet and not overpowering, but the peppers were a little soggy. The carnitas were moist and flavorful and exceeded my expectations. The tacos were a little overwhelmed with lettuce which adds nothing to the flavor and is probably there just for looks. Also, I must add that the cotija cheese is not one of my favorites, but that is more personal preference than anything else.

Overall, this taco scores points for flavor but I subtracted a half-star for over-abundance of filler (lettuce). If I found myself stranded in a mall I would be willing to order this again.

The Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)