Mama Noura, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Well this photo just sums up this joint!  Delicious Schawarma, no, very delicious schawarma.  Yes, you read this correctly, this blog is about the closest thing we could get to authentic tacos in Riyadh.  Let me start off by saying, there are no complaints from us about this meal.

Don't these two look amazing with their shaved heads?  I'm so proud they came to the shiny marble side.  They look down right fantastic and they know it.  We've been hounding our colleagues out here to take us to great shawarma, we told them we wanted the best.  I didn't think I was going to tell y'all about it but feel compelled after eating there and the awesome experience.

When the car parked, this was taken from the window outside.  How could anyone not be excited to see this?  It is totally impossible to not want to eat at this place.  It is very clean, very nice to look at, bright inside and incredibly inviting.  The guys working there are all working hard, but don't look upset or miserable.  I loved the vibe.  Energy in a restaurant is so important and these guys nailed it.

Fresh fruits line the restaurant.  It is awesome!  Yes, they are making fresh juice with it for sale and I enjoyed the delicious blackberry.  Josh had the pomegranate which was also beyond fantastic.  I can't help it, I just love the fresh fruit options that are available in other countries.  They are really tasty!

We went up and ordered at the juice counter to get our beverages, which were awesome!  After that we made our way over to do this:

We took pictures and watched and salivated over these cones of chicken and beef.  Here, let me show you, yes I show you:

Top is chicken, bottom is beef.  Kind of cool, they have Crystal's Louisiana Hot Sauce on the tables, we totally went to town with that stuff.  It really paired perfectly with the shawarma.
RATINGS:
BEEF: 3, this is good stuff.  A really nice treat and something that I enjoyed.  They do a good job of  keeping it super hot and everything was cut fresh to order.  There was not an over salty or rough taste in anyway.
CHICKEN: 4, ahh, this was good.  Everything that I could have hoped for in a meal.  It misses the 5 because of the shawarma in Kuala Lumpur at the street vendor.  This was close, but that one has the option to be served spicy and was just a little bit tastier.  Don't get me wrong, you will enjoy this and should not miss it if you are in Riyadh.
JUICES: 4, fresh squeezed juice is something that you can not go wrong with.  I wanted to go 5, but that is not fair to El Placio de los Jugos in Miami or many of the fantastic places that we got to try in Malaysia.  Fresh juice is under-appreciated in most of America!

I know, you were expecting to see the spread of food after the ratings.  Well, we got there a bit before prayer so they handed us our food in bags like this, said thank you and kicked us out so they could shut the place down for prayer.  I loved it.  I appreciate the reverence to tradition.  Kind of a cool experience being from the US.  The bags are pretty nice, huh?  I liked them, they were sturdy, but not too heavy or thick.

This time beef is on the top and chicken is on the bottom.  I can't say enough about how delicious and tasty this was.  They even look like tacos.  For those of you who don't know, pastor originated iin Southern Mexico and Central American when the Lebanese workers were there and tried to recreate shawarma.  They came up with something superior working with the locals.  The result of pastor was local fare, spices and flavors.  It is some good stuff, no some great stuff.  Point is, this is some of the history of it that we are enjoying.  We all of course know that shawarma came from Gyro's which is Greek.

So like I said, we were booted for prayer so ate on the car.  It was pretty rad, hot, but rad.  It was kind of like going to a taco truck in the states and eating on our cars.  I really enjoyed it.  Helped a great experience stay fun and different.  Gave us some more depth to a pretty deep evening.

Thank you to everyone and all for reading.  I waited to post my Riyadh trips until after we left.  Pretty awesome and fun to write about another country that is so different and offered such a great cultural experience.  Please keep re-posting, re-tweeting and telling your friends to check out the adventures!  As I've stated before, if you hate the blog, tell your enemies to torture them.  I appreciate that just as much.

Today's goodbye/gratuitous photo is of JJ, Josh and I with the shawarma in the background.  We really enjoyed getting to go to this place and these two guys are pretty amazing and resilient travel partners.  Please enjoy them with their shaved heads in this photos, they really look like a couple of wee sexy bastards.  I can't say thank you enough to both of these guys for their commitment and perseverance irrespective of the circumstances.

Stay Excellent!

Fire Grill, Fresh Mexican Grill, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

No matter how hard I might have tried, I could not resist writing about Riyadh.  We of course were asking our colleagues where to go, if we could even get tacos.  They brought us here, to Fire Grill.  Fire Grill strongly resembles Chipotle.  Let me tell you that the line and the set-up is similar, the food, not so much.

Here is what you are walking into.  A warm inviting place with nice wood and great, simple decor.  This is single only, no family dining.  This is a big deal if you are in the area.  Some of their other locations have family dining, but the one we went to does not.  Worked great for us, we were just a few guys grabbing a bite.

Here is the menu, look familiar?  Pretty simple, pretty cool.  They have some great looking food and it only takes them six people to run this line.  In Saudi, unlike America, there are pictures up everywhere of the food.  This is also common in Malaysia.  I had to inspect for myself.

Yes, this looks good.  I wanted to really look to make sure.  I was torn.  I wanted tacos, but had to go with the head to head experience of Chipotle.  I am not a frequent guest of Chipotle, but my trainers are and I went recently when I was in Phoenix with them.

The ordering process was pretty easy on Josh, JJ and me.  Doesn't JJ have a cute smile?  He really does.  What a great guy.  Very lucky to have these two guys with me when traveling, especially to places like this.  We come up with silly games and have a great time no matter what situation we are in.  They really made this trip happen with me.  Love these two great dudes.

Here is what it looks like at the table.  Nicely wrapped, pretty huge burrito, but how's the flavor?  I went with the Barbacoa.  The chicken looked OK, the Shrimp looked really good.  The beef was not grabbing me.  The Barbacoa looked amazing, juicy, tasty, well, it was.  Not doing a number rating here, as I only had the one item, but this blows away Chipotle.  This was really tasty stuff, I was excited that I got it and recommend it to anyone.  Do you want to see more?

Well, you asked for it.  That is my burrito unwrapped.  It looks the same as the last picture only the foil is open.

This is the tray and the paper on there.  Pretty darn cool.  I will say that this place is pretty great and if you find yourself in Riyadh, I'd say to try it out.

Thanks to all who are reading, re-posting, checking out the adventures.  I hope that you enjoy them as much as we do.  Trip to Saudi Arabia was educational and great.  There was a ton of hard work, but that is a good thing.

Today's goodbye/gratuitous photo is of Kingdom Centre.  This is an impressive magnificent building to see, especially at night.  Colors change every few seconds and it really is cool to look at.  It does kind of remind me of the eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings.  It was one of my favorite things to see when in Riyadh.

Stay Excellent!

Tacos Al Carbon, Lake Worth, FL

What a great message for kids to hear.  I mean, is there anything that rings more true?  Is this from Confucius?  Socrates?  Plato?  Sadly, the tacos are not as good here as the sign is.  This place came so highly recommended by so many folks that we ran into.  Here's the back story.  The people of West Palm Beach have been duped.  These guys started with a truck, it grew into a covered tent in front of the truck and then it broke my heart.

This is the original, this is what you walk up to after parking in a dirt parking lot.  Ya know, it's so sad, the dirt parking lot, looking at this when you get out of that rental car gets you excited.  I mean, the place shows some serious promise.

They had some other stuff, but this is the tacos, the important part.  Someone in our outfit tried the nachos and it was the Smart and Final nacho cheese.  There were just some interesting things that this truck does.  Really, I think that they might have been better, but seem to have lost their way.

Here are some upgrades to the menu.  I love the up-selling approach in restaurants, but think this one leaves much to be desired.  I'm sure that you can better use a piece of paper and maybe make the upgrades sound a bit more appealing.

Here's the crew ordering.  They are so funny and excited.  It is great to see Tacoteers in their element.

This is the water station.  I went for the watermelon and it was just OK.  Really nothing too tasty or delicious.  It made me sad thinking about places in Miami, not too far away, and El Placio de los Jugos, or many of the amazing places in California.
RATINGS:
BARBACOA: 2, being that this is the only truly identifiable "meat" I gave it a 3.  It was OK for barbacoa, oh heck, I'm trying to hard, just changed it to a 2 like it deserves.
CHICHARRON: 2, well, this soft, tasteless delight.  I can't make it sound OK, sorry, not good.
PASTOR, BISTEK, ASADA, CARNITAS, FAJITA:  1, what the heck?????  So Josh and I make sure that we are trying everything.  Well, all of these were the same.  The individual working there tried to explain to me which one was which, but they all tasted the same.  There was some slight variations in how they looked, but really?  You can't diversify enough to give people a meal, an experience, an option?  Just put "Beef Like and Pork Like" on the menu and stop deceiving people.  You are not impressing me or anyone else.  This was like a sick joke or a prank that went way too far!  Knock it off and make some tacos.

I think back to the opening photo and I've never been the one to do drugs, I'll tell you that the deceit of this place made me feel like I was on drugs.  What is wrong with them?  I was getting teary eyed trying to wonder how someone could do this to taco lovers everywhere.  I was then more concerned that people were showing up for it.  Look at this photo, can you tell them apart?  Of course you can't.  Those jalapenos were extra???  Insanity!  Lets take this a step further, everything for them is not onions and cilantro, they want to throw cheese and tomatoes on everything!  Gee, what you covering up steak central???  Your tortillas are too thick and chewy and all the meat tastes the same.  Damn I'm still fired up about this and this was three countries and a week ago.  I'm fine with cheese on a taco if your place fits it.  For example, Tito's in Culver City, that makes sense.  This does NOT!

I tried to take a step back and I look at this picture and am reminded, it's not what or where you eat but who you eat with.  I'm on a long, crazy trip and I do miss the family, but this crew was pretty great to dine with.  Amberlin is on the far end with her cool pink hair.  Cyle, yes, he misspells it that way is next to her and y'all know Fo.  Said goodbye to Fo the other day when I left Florida.  It was tough, really going to miss that guy.  I love and appreciate Fo and all of the adventures that we've had.  His haircut sucks here, but Josh fixed it a night later.  On the other end is Cathy she wanted to avoid the camera.  Next to her is Delaney.  She is another new one to the blog with Amberlin and Cyle.  Josh is of course on the end and beginning and the real end of this blog.

New Tacoteers are always fun.  It is great to see them try to get their taco footing.  I do wish that I had more time to groom these folks in the way and get them to try new tacos and enjoy the taco experiences that are out there.  It is like teaching a kid how to walk, pretty fun stuff with great rewards of pride and happiness.  I remember just a few weeks ago watching Cassie order.  She even got the good stuff, not just Asada and Pollo.  I'm getting teary eyed with happiness thinking back with my Tacographic Memory.

Special thanks to the three new Tacoteers in this blog.  I hope that everyone enjoyed this read and is out there eating tacos somewhere.  Please keep reading, telling people and eating tacos.  Next blog will be about Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  Eat tacos and have a great day.  If you are in California, please go eat a taco for me.  Post it, tag Order of the Taco.  I miss California tacos and California Tacoteering.

Today's goodbye/gratuitous photo is the way this blog started, with Josh and me.  We are posing in front of the Palm Beach Gardens Mall.  We were doing our last domestic opening together.  Somehow this journey continues for me, Josh and I are doing Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with our man JJ, then we head straight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to open their second location.  Lucky to have such a great friend when traveling like this.  It also just feels right to finish the blog with the same two guys that appear in the opening picture.

Stay Excellent!

Rocco's Tacos And Tequila Bar, West Palm Beach, FL

A few wrong turns on a night when we were all exhausted brought us to Rocco's for dinner.  This beautiful photo is of one of first sights you will see when you walk in.  On of the best parts about Rocco's, dim lighting, worst part, damn it was loud.  I know they are attracting that young, crazy, party crowd but man it was loud in there.

Pretty dark and cool inside.  I really dig the ambiance.  They hit their crowd in a great way.  Our server wasn't good, he was 10 steps beyond amazing.  I watched the service around us and have to say that the service was pretty amazing.  The basketball playoffs were on and all the employees were watching but it didn't distract them from their job.  I'll tell you, I love it!  I wish they could have actually watched more.

Up towards the ceiling of the bar, this is what you see.  Like I said, ambiance here is killer great.  They make it fun, cool, hip but not stupid and cheesy.

So this chalkboard was the second hottest thing in the building after Josh (pic to come later).  Pretty sweet deal and the team members there sold it.  They really told us how awesome the taco deal was.  It was totally worth it and if I ever wander back to this joint again, I'm going to have the same thing, yes I'll wait to go back on a Tuesday, if I ever go back.

As promised a picture of Josh in all of his hotness.  Look at his command of that plate.  Look at the power he wields while he holds tacos.  It is beyond impressive.
RATINGS:
MOLIDA (GROUND BEEF): 3, a far cry from Taco Bell ground beef.  It is well seasoned and tasty.
COCHINTAS ACHIOTE: 3, this is some decent stuff.  Worth a try if you are doing the Taco Tuesday deal.
CAMARONES: 3, these weren't too bad.  If I had to rate all the threes, this was the tallest of the short stack.  Good seasoning, not over cooked and not rubbery.
ASADA: 3, This was some decent stuff.  Wasn't excited, but I sure didn't lose sleep over it.
POLLO: 3, this is pretty standard chicken inside of a tortilla.  It did not excite me.
CHORIZO: 2, I don't know what happened here, but it is probably a one and I'm probably being too nice.  This was not good stuff.
PESCADO: 2, dude, you're in Florida, get better fish and prepare it better.
HONGOS: 3, mushroom tacos.  Thought they'd be a little better, but I admire the creativity.  They needed a little more flavor.
CHIPS: 4, these were some of the best chips that I've eaten.  Don't know if they make them in house, but they sure taste like they are made in house!  They were fantastic.
SALSA: 1, yeah, I am going to let your mind wander with this sad excuse for a score.  EWW!
GUACAMOLE: 5, this table side treat brought tears to my eyes.  I was skeptical that it was worth the price, but it was worth more.  I think that angels started singing when I took my first bite.

They look more impressive then they really were.  I can't say enough, A+ on the creativity and appealing to the market.  The service in this place was second to none.  They were all nice guys and gals, they all worked their tails off as one unit.  The place is well managed and a great fit for where it is, however, for the true, faithful Tacoteers out there, I would say that this might not be the stop that you are looking to make.  I want to reiterate, the food is not bad, just not the kind of tacos that we are after in our adventures.  This fits the area and it fits the place.  I am still sad there is no corn tortillas here!

Look at these guys making the guacamole.  Let me say, this is the best guacamole I've had.  I am a guacamole fiend and it is worth going in there just for the guacamole.  It was flavorful, spicy, rich with citrus and sodium.  They really have mastered the art of guacamole and it is worth every penny that was paid for it.  Ya know, if I were to go back in time with Doc Brown, I might get just the guacamole and forgo everything else.

Yeah, looks tasty on that chip doesn't it?  They make it right in front of you, so if you want to turn the heat up, they do it with these delicious jalapeno's that they let me have on the side so that I could turn the heat up on all that I was eating on the table.

Man a plate of jalapeno's like that really turn me on.  They look as delicious as they tasted.  Just to waste a moment of your time, here is their menu, well, their tacos:

A great big thanks to the new Tacoteers that went on this trip and are unnamed until the next adventure I need to catch up on.  Sorry, been crazy busy and traveling a ton.  I'm actually writing this in Riyadh and already went on an adventure out here with Josh and JJ today.  Please keep reading and please keep eating tacos!

Today's goodbye/gratuitous photo is me with my beard purple.  I told the trainees that if 90% of them passed their test on the first try I would dye my beard purple.  I never thought it would happen, but kept my word.  Thank goodness it was back to black and white by the time I got to Riyadh!

Stay Excellent!

Taqueria La Hacienda, Phoenix, AZ

This is what it looked like when we got out of the car.  Bright lights, a truck, people lining up and now insert some true Tacoteers.

We walked up like normal people, well, all of us except for Diane who was really excited.  This place is unique.  The cover was not built for the taco truck, but fits pretty darn well.  tables are lined up, chairs were some of the worst folding chairs I've been in, but oh well, we didn't go for the chairs.  I know what you are wondering, who is that strikingly handsome man standing next to Diane?  Let me introduce you to Jimbo.  Jim is the VP of Operations for one of the franchisees and he is one heck of a dude.  One of the nicest, genuine, knowledgeable people I've had the pleasure of working with.  Roxy looks lost, JJ looks scared and the other dude looks stoned in his tie-die shirt.  I don't know him, even if I did, I'd make sure to forget him.

Look at the excitement of Big Jim and Yellow Chocolate.  I can't say what Phil is laughing at, but I'm happy that he is happy.  Jim was a champ on his first Tacoteering adventure.  I will say that he traveled quite a distance to go for tacos with us.  He lives in Anchorage, Alaska.  He must really like tacos because I think the only reason that he came to AZ was to go Tacoteering with us.

There is the menu.  Yes, that's the whole thing, and you know I'm digging it.  Keeping it real, keeping it simple.  Place is set-up nicely to execute a fabulous menu like this.  Here is how it has been recived by our team:

Cassie couldn't stop chowing down.  Nicole had to make a hair appointment.

Diane and Roxy are mouthful eating and Phil is clearly judging them.

Now Diane is talking with her mouthful to Phil and Roxy is still eating.

I didn't want to embarrass JJ anymore than he already is embarrassed on this trip.  I mean, who wears a Giants hat?  Sad...This is the picture of JJ that you get, for now at least.

So, what's everyone eating?
RATINGS:
TRIPA: 3, I love me some tripa.  This stuff wasn't too shabby.  It was left in pretty big pieces which I'm great with, would have liked a little more char, slightly more cooking with this one would have pushed it over the edge to that coveted 4.
CHICHARRON: 1, eww.  It was just burnt, nasty burnt pieces of meat, if it was meat.  It tasted like carbon it was so burnt.  Don't order it unless you like to eat things that suck.
BUCHE: 4, this won me over.  Tasty, tasty stuff.  Flavors were on point, presentation was good.  I have no complaints.  It was cooked pretty well, but wasn't overdone.  It has a nice salty flavor to it with some subtle pepper flavor on there.
CABEZA: 3, this was not too bad.  It was good, not slimy or under cooked, not crispy or burnt.  The lack of seasoning hurt them, but a little salt and salsa did the trick.
LENGUA: 3, this is a buy the book lengua.  Not shredded, but small pieces, good flavor, pretty salty, but not over salted.  Worth trying, I'd stick happily with this if I was a lengua beginner.
ASADA: 3, textbook stuff here.  They did nothing different from the basics that you would expect in the asada realm.
PASTOR: 3, this made me homesick for real pastor.  I mean the good stuff that I rarely find outside of Southern California.  It was fine, nothing bad, nothing to complain about, but it didn't blow my mind, and I love it when pastor does this.
CERVICHE: 2, maybe I'm a cerviche snob, but this was unimpressive.  It didn't have the flavor, texture or depth.
SALSAS: 3, this was basic average stuff.  Nothing amazing, nothing that was bad.  It was some fairly bland flavors, not spicy enough, but not bad.

CERVICHE TIME!

That's the spread right there.  Those serranos were so delicious.  They really might have been my favorite part.  Tortillas at this place were good.  A bit tough, but not bad.  They stood up well to all of the meats, but could have had a sweeter flavor.  I would say to check this place out if you are in the area.  The ambiance is pretty great.  The food is not too shabby.  If I find myself in the area soon, I'll probably go back unless I get lured away by some gorgeous tacos from somewhere else.

This is our group eating together.  It was great to break tortillas with these guys.  I've done a lot of openings over the last few years and there are a few on here that I've gotten to do a few openings with.  It was great to get them in the blog one more time.  Nicole is in two blogs in a row, so is Phil, but that's fairly common for Yellow Chocolate.  I do love having a first timer in Jim and am glad that JJ is back in the blog.  He's a hell of a Tacoteer, friend and traveling buddy.

This is a blurry picture of the moon.  I put this on here for no reason at all.

Special thanks to the training team.  The fact that they continue to indulge me on these taco adventures means a tremendous amount to me and it is going to be something I'm really going to miss with the possible changes coming up in my life.  Thank you to Jim for joining the blog and Nicole for being two in a row!  As always thanks to everyone for reading, posting, re-posting, re-tweeting and telling their friends.

Today's gratuitous/goodbye photo is of Nicole and Yellow Chocolate.  These two have been part of the Home Office team for a little over a year and I've had the pleasure of being on their team.  They are amazing friends that I love and respect so much.  Their talents, hard work and dedication to the greater good is beyond awesome.  Getting to have the two of them with me on the first half of this final long trip is pretty special.  The photo is of them after the tacos.  They went to BK to get some soft serve.  I went for the walk and entertainment.  A true reminder it's not what or where you are eating, but who you are eating with.

Stay Excellent!