Three brave Tacoteers joined me after a very long day at work as we are getting ready to open a new The Counter in Aventura, FL. Amber, Ramon, Shinho and I went out and braved the taco world to try make it safer place for people to eat tacos, one tortilla at a time. Ironically, this taqueria serves only one tortilla, not the normal two, I did enjoy it. It was a nice surprise. I get the extra tortilla. It fills people up, supports the meat, but this was nice. Really good and surprising touch. The best part of the night were the two little girls. There were two young girls, under four, their mom worked at the restaurant. They were helping clean and work. It was awesome. There is a little space with a counter and two tables that looks like a take out window. Then a small doorway to the larger dining room that has a jute box, bar, dance floor.
Yeah, pretty cool view right? Ok, if you like that one, how about this one?
Those are the two adorable children I spoke of. Yes, the stage has seating. Let me tell you that the sign says they close at 9pm. We went there well after then, and were served, not rushed, it was nice. They said they really are closing at 10pm. Service was slow, damn slow. I can assure you that they are the same speed all day and all night. Everything comes, just not too fast. I like the table set up. Salt, shaker was empty, then oregano. It is necessary in so many restaurants on the table and it is necessary. Kind of a surprise that this place was full service. It was good though. Waitress was much more at ease that we ordered and all could speak Spanish. Yes, being a Californian has many advantages and being able to order tacos under any circumstance is one of the perks. Lets get into the good stuff, the ratings.
RATINGS:
CHORIZO: 3, this was pretty standard. It is not going to blow you away, but you won't feel cheated. Hints of clove, definitely got hit with some aciote powder too.
ASADA: 3, this is about as bare minimum for asada as it gets. The stuff was tender, but not amazing. It was good, not great. I would order it again, maybe?
PASTOR: 2, yeah, it just didn't do it for me. This is not crisis mode, but causes for some concern. Please do avoid it. Way too sweet.
TRIPAS: 3, this is a bit different then most places. It was not crispy but good, it was fairly sweet and tender.
LENGUA: 3, this is a bit different then most places. It was not crispy but good, it was fairly sweet and tender. Wait, what? Why? Here's the thing, they both tasted good, but exactly the same. I really think, and so did my fellow Tacoteers that they were the same meat. I get why they did it, you will find out later in the blog...
GUACAMOLE: 3, this stuff was fresh. It was good. It needed to be mashed just a little bit more. I love the texture when it isn't over mashed, but pieces were big that it was difficult to get on a chip and in your mouth.
PICO: 4, I won't normally rate pico, but this was pretty special. Kind of big pieces, but well seasoned and flavored, tender, ripe tomatoes and it had the perfect balance of citrus and sodium.
SALSA VERDE: 5, this stuff was great. It was spicy, flavorful, was excellent on chips, tacos, or even when I was eating it out of the palm of my hand. Hey, don't judge, Ramon did it too, well, he ate it out of his own hand, not mine, get your mind out of the gutter. Try it!
PINA FRESCAS: 4, yummy, delicious fresh beverage that I really enjoyed. It was fantastic! Glad I got something other then water with no ice, no lemon, no straw! Worth a try.
Look at Ramon's pretty hands as he holds up the tacos. Look at the delicious salsa lurking below anticipating joining the rest of the salsa that is already on the top of the tacos. That is all of the good, lets talk about the burning frustrations. First, we tried to order pupusas for the whole table to share, out! Then we tried to order barbacoa, out! Last they were out of the melon beverage that Amber tried to order. This is why I think the tripas tasted like lengua. I think they were embarrassed to tell us they were out and hoped that we wouldn't notice the difference. Oh, and the seats, those were the most uncomfortable booths I've ever been in.
This is the spread of our apps. Good stuff right? I mean you can tell. I'm very fortunate to have excellent people with me on this trip. I'm really lucky to work with such excellent and hard working people. When you spend 16 hours a day for two weeks straight working with folks, you have to really like them to want to go out, even for tacos. Clearly, I love it and am very lucky. Yes, I have the gratuitous picture of the group:
As always, I thank you for reading. I thank you for re-posting, re-tweeting and telling your friends, please continue to do it! I look forward to writing about more great adventures here in the Miami area over the next couple of weeks. Thanks for reading, Stay Excellent!
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