El Oaxaqueño #2 Mexican Restaurant, New Brunswick, NJ

Can I truly came to be disappointed?  I had some higher hopes after some good trips to Cinco de Mayo which isn't too far up the street.  I didn't think my mind would be blown, but I thought that there was more reason for optimism then there really is at all.  

We spent the day working in New York City.  Josh, Phil and I were working out there and had a great time getting some great food out the window.  We walked up, got some Halal, got some soup from the Soup Nazi, tasty stuff.  Our intention was bowling and pizza, but our Taco Destiny took us elsewhere.  

Pretty fair to say that the restaurant is smaller than all the options on the menu.  The menu is pretty huge.  I hope you all notice the smug look on Adriana's face.  She was probably just upset its not a picture of just her.  

Here is a picture of everyone.  Cassie with the hand, Adriana with the confused look, Phil is deep in taco thought, Diane is trying to learn how to read, Josh is shooting a look at Adriana and Fo is ready for his tacos, he's already focused enough to know what he's getting.  Adriana is the only new one to Tacoteering and to the blog.  

This place was recommended to us by one of the locals.  Sorry to say, we were not impressed.  We have not been out and about here in the New Jersey area due to all of the sad experiences that we've had.  This stayed par with them.  Ambiance was OK, two TV's, that was cool, long shotgun type of building.  It looks like it might have been a Chinese buffet in a past life.  It was a bit harder to find then we thought.  The picture on Yelp looked one way, the building is under construction.

Just to let you know, I didn't just have tacos, I had to have a Sopes.  Oh how I love Sopes.  They are just delicious.  Their's was alright, the problem was the cheese.  I think that it was spoiled.  It was sour, really sour.  I pushed it to the side, the rest was pretty good.  They did a nice job on letting the black beans really soak into the sopes.  

RATINGS:

CARNITAS: 2, dry, sad and depressing.  

PASTOR: 2, I couldn't really tell this was pastor.  It sucked tons.  How can you have dry pastor?  These geniuses found a way.

SUADERO: 3, about as average as it gets.  I was not excited but it was edible.  Sad that this is how I'm describing food.

BARBACOA: 1, eww.  I had one bite and couldn't eat anymore.  It was horrid.  They don't know what they are doing here.  If you like barbacoa you are a good person and you deserve better.

CABEZA: 3, Pretty average here.  It sure didn't impress or disappoint.  It was just kind of there.  

LENGUA: 2, this was just not great.  I was sad.  The more I Tacoteer, the more I really feel as if lengua is really not that hard to make.  Please stop screwing it up!

ARABE: 2, I've now had this at multiple places.  Theirs sucks.  This is a simple but great concept.  Execute it!  It really can't be hard to screw up, but congrats, you found a way.

TRIPA: 4, I wish that I had ordered only tripa.  It was above average.  It wasn't amazing, but compared to everything else I needed to rate it a bit higher.  I mean comparatively this was phenomenal.  I bit more cooking would have crisped it to some serious greatness.  

GUACAMOLE: 2, watered down, over-mashed avocado.  Yeah, enough said, it sucked and it insulted our palate and intelligence. 

SALSA ROJO: 3, for sure nothing special going on here.  It was fine for table salsa but I sure wasn't trying to figure out the recipe to recreate. 

SALSA VERDE: 2, this was just uneventful.  It was blah and bland.

PICO: 3, not a bad pico.  I like the larger chunks, especially of jalapeno.

As I said, I think the menu is a bit too big for them.  There really is a lot of stuff on there.  They also don't really hit the flavors.  Meats for the most part were dry and all tasted pretty much the same.  If you are going to have different offerings, make them different.  Taco Arabe is something that is pretty popular around here.  Lots of places offer it.  I like it.  I like it a lot.  It needs some help at this particular restaurant.  It is essentially Pastor with Chipotle, fresh pineapple melted into a flour tortilla with cheese.  Here's the thing, I am going to make it, and I'm going to make it so much better than they do.  Really tried to give this place a shot.  Tried lots of meats, garnered opinions of the whole group.  This place sucks.

As always a huge thanks for the read and the time.  Hope you are enjoying the taco adventures as much or at least as close to as much as I do!  If I can string sometime together in California I'm getting on a trip with the crew.  We are talking another San Diego Area with a brewery finish.  You know that's going to be a great read of debauchery, good times and tacos.  You never know what's going to happen when we are all together.  

Today's goodbye/gratuitous photo is of me with two excellent chef's that I get to work with.  Phil and Josh are great guys and two pretty stellar Tacoteers.  Josh has been stuck on the road with me for months.  We've had some great times and great adventures and have enjoyed working hard together with our taco treats when we can get out.  This picture was taken right outside of The Counter in Times Square.  

Stay Excellent!

Jacalito Taqueria Mexicana, Miami, FL

Josh jumped up on a chair when we got to the restaurant to get the perfect photo.  You should have seen the ladies that work there run out all confused and scared.  It was fantastic.  He then explained to them that he is Spiderman.  Pretty epic moment to start off today's Tacoteering.  We decided to give Miami another shot.  Maybe we are just being too nice.

They had some really awesome hats on the wall.  These were two awesome ones.  I like it, thought it was some pretty cool ambiance.  It fit for the building and the people that work here.  Lets talk about the people that work here.  I don't think that they could have been any nicer.  Pretty sure that they are all related, which is cool.  They all worked really well together and it was great to get to be in their home.  They treated everyone with such love, care and respect.  It doesn't make up for horrible pastor, but was a nice touch.  They do not speak a word of English, but somehow Josh and I were able to make due...

Here is the menu.  Pretty neat menu.  They have a variety, but not too much.  Obviously we stuck to the tacos.  You can always judge a place by their most simple dish.  It is a foundation of who and what they are.  Plus, we really love tacos, a lot.  Pricing wasn't too bad, it was in line with the area.

This is the set up.  Nice little bowl of chips and salsa, menus are clean looking.  I like it.  Lets talk about juice.  Their is amazing juice in Miami.  We are obsessed with one juice spot that does fresh juices, but these guys do their own waters.  I couldn't help but get a refreshing maracuya.  Theirs is nice, tasty and delicious.  Very refreshing and the sweetness compliments the spicy flavors well.  I will miss being able to get maracuya, guabana and some of the other fruits that are just not indigenous to the Western US.

This is the whole restaurant.  The owner was in the midst of a mean game of candy crush, we didn't disturb her.  Well, Josh (Spiderman) did when he jumped up on their chair and roof.  It wouldn't be a trip to Miami without someone messing up our order.  We couldn't get mad, they were all so nice and apologetic.  It was very disappointing that they were out of so many meats, but that seems common in the area to just not have most of or a large portion of the menu available.  This is where my love for chalkboards comes in.  When we sat, I will say that one of the scariest moments was looking at the table.  It had regular Tabasco on it.  If you know me, you know I'm not a Tabasco hater, but come on, get some Tapatio or Valentino's on the table.  Enough about that, giddy up.
RATINGS:
BARBACOA: 3, this was good.  It was a nice gamy type of flavor with a good soft texture, but it didn't just dissolve when you eat it.
COCHINITA: 3, pretty textbook here.  Nice touch with sticking to the pickled onions.  This area does most pork pretty well.  The lack of soft texture prevented a 4.
LENGUA: 3, nothing to write home about here.  This stuff was good, but not amazing.  I would eat it, but wouldn't rush back to get it.  There is better lengua out there my friends.
PASTOR: 2, oh this is just pissing me off.  I'm so tired of bad pastor.  This was a bit dry, there was way too much pineapple and it was sugary canned pineapple.  I just want to scream at people when they serve me bad pastor.  I really think I should be able to punish people.
CARNITAS: 3, good stuff.  It was consistent, but sure didn't blow my socks off.  They could do better.
SALSA: 2, it was spicy, which I liked, but didn't have much flavor to it, that was a bit sad.  Just no depth to it.

Pretty good looking spread.  They keep it pretty simple.  Tortillas are not too thick or too much, but they are solid.  Looking at the ratings, not too bad of a place.  I don't plan on ever going back, but I'm not filled with rage and anger like many other places that we've been to for tacos around here.  Pastor, why can't anyone in Miami make it?  It is killing me.  I just want pastor so bad right now.  We are trying to find it, we are giving everyone an opportunity to get it right, but no one is.  I just don't get it.  I can teach people?  Should I move to Miami for a few months and just teach everyone how to make pastor and carne asada?  It seems that this is a necessary thing.  Maybe people would be happier here.  Maybe driver's would be less aggressive because they got to enjoy pastor.  I am really thinking about it.

Thanks again to everyone for reading, posting, tweeting and all of that stuff.  Great readers lately.  I hope that if you are not, you look up Order of the Taco on Instagram and Twitter.  Up to date taco pics and places.  Please let me know if there is anywhere you think I need to get to, I love suggestions.  We're in Miami for a few more days, back in LA for one day then heading to New Brunswick, NJ and probably a day in NYC!  Have a target on a place in Harlem, hoping to get there one night.

Today's gratuitous/goodbye photo is of the flowers on the table.  They were just so beautiful.  The flowers really helped make the place look even more great.  They were fresh and smelled wonderful.  Made me think of all of the roses at my house.

Stay Excellent!

Cinco De Mayo, New Brunswick, NJ

The look of excitement on Matt's face says it all.  We needed this trip.  We needed to go Tacoteering.  This place came highly recommended by the BOH team members at The Counter in New Brunswick.  Let me say, they have recommended well.

They look tired, but trust me, they are excited.  The nachos in the middle were given to us by the restaurant for bringing in so many people.  Really unexpected cool gesture.  They were really good too.  Really tasty stuff.  Beans were good, not over cheesed, fresh veggies.

Pretty unassuming place.  Not too fancy, not overdone, but cool.  The Holiday decorations were cool.  They hit it all.  No Holiday this time of year was not addressed.  I found that to be quite cool.  In the spirit of the holidays the trainers and I also made it to Rockefeller Center for our Christmas photo:

 What a lively bunch.  You can barely see Jessica in there, but she is with us.  She's hiding behind Phil.  Look at that award winning smile that Fo is sporting.  While we are on the NY subject, I don't think I have much of a "bucket list," but the Seinfeld Diner has always been on there.  All the time I've spent in New York, I had never gone.  We went for coffee and cheerios.  Josh and I have talked about doing this together for about a year.  We were psyched the team said they would go with us.  It was awesome how excited everyone was to go.  We took our picture in front and went in for our coffee and cheerios.  As we were sitting there and everyone was taking turns using the restroom, I was reading the large sign that said "restrooms are for customers only."  I pointed out it would be more appropriate to just leave after using the restroom.  They are a lot of ways you could leave, we chose to all run out as fast as we could screaming.  It was one of the best feelings I have had in a while and a ton of fun.

Damn we look good, there you go, I said it for you.

This is the photo in the bathroom.  Pretty cool photo, raw talent.  OK I really don't care for the photo, but like the meaning.  It kind of sets the mantra of the restaurant.  I was really surprised that this place is full service.  The folks working there were super nice.  Did I mention that we had a rough week and that day was particularly tough?  The place was BYOB.  I went and picked up some beers from up the street, it made the meal that much better.  Enough with the photos and jabber, lets get to it...
RATINGS:
PASTOR: 4, this was pretty good.  Really good.  I was happy with this.  It still gets compared to RT and some of the greats, damn it was close.  I would say you should get this for sure when you come in.
LENGUA: 4, yum yum give me some.  This was soft, but a light crispness on the outside.  Salted but not salty.  They did a great job.  This is a try it for sure.
BARBACOA: 2, not the best showing.  I thought it lacked flavor and depth.  Had been cooked down with some peppers but not a good balance to the flavors.  Meat was also lacking texture.  It was almost dissolving in your mouth like it had been stewed for too long.
CECINA: 1, tough and too salty.  Cecina should be a bit more salty than asada,but this was like a salt lick.  No bueno.  It was also super tough.  Hard to chew through.
SUADERO: 3, nicely done.  I enjoyed it, I'd order it again, but it was not overly impressive.  If this is your meat of choice you won't be blown away, but you won't be disappointed.
CABEZA: 5, oh goodness I loved this.  I could have eaten 12 cabeza tacos at once.  It was so delicious.  It was very tender and almost shredded.  Flavors were deep and balanced.  Light hint of cinnamon, could not have been made better.

Not a bad looking spread.  Tortillas were pretty good.  Radish was fresh!  they gave you fried serrano peppers with them too.  What a touch.  I could have eaten those all day.  There was enough onions and cilantro without it being overwhelming.  The salsa that they put on the side for the chips was good.  Really went well with all the meats.

A special thanks to the new additions to the blog.  Diane and Cassie were excellent additions.  It is always great to have Jessica, Phil, Josh, Matt and Fo on here.  So many great adventures with so many great people.  I'm sure that they will be on here again.  Thank you for reading everyone, I appreciate it and hope that you enjoy the blog.

Today's goodbye gratuitous photo is of Cassie.  She is one of the trainers that is here in New Brunswick with me.  She did an exceptional job on her first time Tacoteering.  She ordered pastor and Asada.  She was sitting next to me.  I asked her if she had ever had tripa, she said no and had a couple of bites.  Cabeza?  Same thing.  She was telling us how great they both tasted.  Later on that night Diane told her what she had eaten.  She was a bit surprised, a bit scared, but took it like a champ!  She did well, she broadened her taco horizons and for this I am proud, excited and she gets the photo put up to say goodbye.  Yes, she took a selfie on my phone, enjoy!

Stay Excellent!

Gaby’s Bakery & Deli, North Brunswick, NJ

So this is Cathy.  Cathy is trying to learn how to Tacoteer here.  Don't worry, Phil and I were with her and we were able to properly teach her.  She learned well.  This place came pretty highly acclaimed in the area.  Lets get the disappointing part out of the way, for a bakery, they don't make their own chips or tortillas.  This made me a bit taco sad.  They have all the equipment, theoretically the know how, sad, very sad.

The menu is huge and looking at it now I know that you cannot read it.  I have attached a link to their website, sorry about that.  Point being, with all of this stuff on there they should be able to make their own tortillas.

Three brave NJ Tacoteers.  We have to remain skeptical because there has not been a tremendous amount of Tacoteering luck in NJ.  Phil (Yellow Chocolate) and I have taken this challenge on before.  I don't like to keep you in big suspense, this was just OK.  It didn't rock anyone's world by any means, but was a bit better than many of the other places that we have been disappointed at.

Cathy wanted to get into some nachos.  Not bad, but not great.  Ingredients were fresh, the chips were, well, we've discussed.  Presentation was solid, I'm glad we got them, but they sure don't hold a candle to the tastiness of the Korean Taco place Fo, Moraski and I went to in Georgia.  Who would have thought, Georgia is crushing New Jersey in tacos.
RATINGS:
LENGUA: 3, this was about as textbook as you are going to find it folks.  Nothing impressive, nothing sad about it.  Fairly tender, slightly lacking in salt and seasoning.
CARNE ENCHILADA: 2, this really was a waste of my time and taste buds.  It was thoroughly unimpressive.  It lacked flavor, depth, texture.  It tasted like left over they were hoping they could marinate and sell.  Guess they did...
BARBACOA: 2, again, it just hurt to eat this.  Really not much different from the carne enchilada.  Over marinated meat that they stewed into oblivion.  It made me sad on the inside.
PASTOR: 3, it was almost too sweet.  I think pastor should be a bit sweet, layered flavors, it was OK, it didn't hurt my feeling, but it sure didn't excite me.
ASADA: 3, standard?  That is the best word I can come up with.  Nothing impressive here, nothing to write home about, but it wasn't bad like some of the other things that they did to meat.
TRIPA: 4, finally a true win here.  This was something special.  Crispy, seasoned, almost a bite to it.  I have to admit that I was really happy eating and enjoying this one.  I would go back for this and probably get cabeza hoping to find a meal out of the two, but that is a whole other blog if it gets to that.
SALSA VERDE: 2, not enough here.  It was just kind of blah.  I really thought that it would be better than it was, I was incorrect.
SALSA ROJO: 3, please read the asada review and just replace it with salsa.  Just a standard red sauce.  I'm not going to dream about this good or bad.

I was not a fan of the way that they rolled them up like this.  Presentation was lacking, they tried to make it look like there was more meat to tortilla ratio, yeah dudes, you failed!  For a NJ place, this wasn't horrible, but it sure is not Villalobos.  Chef Phil and I might have to make a trip up to Villalobos when we are back in NJ soon.  I think you get the drift on my feelings of the food, place and by the way, the ambiance was kind of strange.  Too spread out and open, it lacked character.  

What a wild and crazy week.  Glad we got one Tacoteering experience in.  Sorry it took a couple of days to write about, it has been a wacky few weeks for me here!  

Thanks to everyone for reading, telling folks and following the taco adventures, hope you enjoy them.  Today's gratuitous photo is of the team of folks that I got to go to NJ with, minus Chef Phil, AKA Yellow Chocolate.  Great group of folks who I did not get long enough to work with on this trip, but I know that I get time with all of them in the near future.  

Stay Excellent!

Villalobos, Montclair, NJ

Let me start by saying that you know I don't like to go into these trendy, more expensive taco joints.  I remind you that I am usually upset by spending more then $2 on a taco.  Every once in a while, a place is different.  A place stands out.  A place is very worth going to, and enjoying.  Let me say that value, is a word I would use to describe this place, and most tacos are $5.  Villalobos, I want you to know, I will be back.  I want to say that the service was second to none, the atmosphere was spot on and the tacos, well, we can wait for the ratings, but they were delicious.

This is the badass decor that you can come to expect.  Seasonal, cool, edgy.  I really loved it.  It is right at the counter when you walk in.  Oh, the hostess stand, yeah, they are there to greet you.  Then don't stand behind some podium and point you in a direction, they are there to welcome you and guide you.  They have a plan on where you are going to sit and they are all over it.

Kitchen was fast and hard at it the whole time.  It is a completely opened kitchen and they have no problem letting you see them rock out some delicious food in a very efficient, timely manner.  Yeah, it was great to see.  Everyone in the kitchen made eye contact with the patrons, they were all smiling, communicating well and seemed to be having a great time being there, and I don't know how they couldn't enjoy being a part of such a well oiled machine.  The owners were there, involved and seemed to genuinely care about each team member that they had as much as each guest in the building.

The Chalkboard Revolution.  I'm such a fan.  Put a chalkboard up and let your guests know what is going on in the restaurant.  It is such a cool thing.  It really is.  I think that it is something that we are all use to from school, it is easy to read, easy to change.  This one is awesome.  Simple, well laid out and to the point!  I love the picture of the wolf howling in the background and on the chalkboard, I really think it makes the place look even cooler.

I'll begin to tell the story.  I got to the restaurant and parked in the parking structure.  A very sweet lady, yes she was cute, was getting into the elevator at the same time.  She had her hands full with a diaper bag and a nine month old who I later found out is named Jack.  She asked me to press the button to get us to the bottom floor.  Being the extra nice guy that I am, I did.  We got off the elevator and she got her heal stuck.  I was there, helped her prior to her hitting the ground and we then found out that we were both headed to the same restaurant to meet friends.   Not the same friends, she was meeting her friends, I was meeting a friend.

When we walked in, it was very difficult to explain to the hostess that this lady and I were not there together as we were both the first in their party.  She got sat, I stayed and waited for my friend.  When he walked in, he knew darn near everyone in there.   It was pretty cool.  We sat down and went through the menu above.  Great menu.  Well laid out, and that is everything that they serve aside from water.

They start you off with these two delicious salsas and chips.  The chips were great.  The presentation was so excellent.  The salsa rankings will be below.  These came out pretty quick.  They were traditionally different, which made this place pretty cool.

Yeah, I could not, not try this.  Villalobos Guacamole.  Sea Urchin Guacamole.  Pretty interesting stuff.  There was a lot of depth to this stuff.  An interesting complexity that was not fishy.  The smoked tomatillos were such a nice touch and really gave it the sweetness that it needed to push it over the edge.  What a different starter.  This may not be for everyone, but it is worth trying, for the record, it is for me.
RATINGS:
AL PASTOR de POLLO: 5, Yeah, this was crazy.  So good, but it made me a little sad.  I really wanted it with pork.  The pineapple was umm, yeah, the aciote was, umm, I can't talk about this without going crazy and wanting more.  Go and try it.
LENGUA: 3, this was really textbook.  It was not a standout in my mind in anyway whatsoever.  It was tender, it was good, it had a slight crisp, but I'm a lengua fanatic and this was good, but not amazing or above the average.
PULPO ASADO: 4, Octopus, yeah I'm going to order it.  It was tender, but could have been a little more tender to be a 5, but this was close.  It was sweet and great.  Nicely done here.
CARNITAS: 2, the only disappointment of the night.  Let me tell you that it was not horrible, but I did not find it very good.  I went back and read the description on the menu but after I took my first bite, I was sad because it tasted like Coke.  If you are into Coke, this is your stuff, but I'm not much of a big soda fan.
VERDURAS: 4, So this has poblano peppers, corn and mushrooms.  I did think it was a bit too much mushrooms, but they were so good that I had to give it a 4.  The flavors were well blended and you almost thought that you were eating meat.  Really good.
ASADA: 5, This asada is a one of a kind.  Oh, and it is HOT!  It was so delicious.  I've been talking to my self since I left asking me if this was my favorite.
CHORIZO y PAPAS: 3, this came highly recommended.  What I loved most is that they make their own chips, I think, and top the chorizo taco with them.  The chips are small, I mean small in diameter chips that are thinly shaved and they are fantastic.  A very nice crunch and texture with good flavors.  To be honest, the chorizo was good, but not as amazing as many of the other things that they create.
CAMARONES: 5, this was again a one of a kind for shrimp.  It was sauteed, for sure not overdone or tough.  Flavors were light and great.
SCALLOPS: 5, brussel sprouts?  I hate brussel sprouts, but I loved this taco and they were good, I'll admit, I liked these.  I've tried them with bacon, other vegetables, steamed, fried, stewed, always disliked them, until this dish.  The tortilla was hot and cheesy.  Really a nice special for them to run and recommend that you don't miss out if this bad boy is on the chalkboard.
PESCADO: 4, fried fish tacos that are really worth eating.  They were fried, but tasted like real fish, not fishy, but they had great texture and flavor.
RED SALSA: 4, sweet and spicy.  A great balance that was tasty and the more that I ate it, the more that I liked it.
TOMATILLO SALSA: 5, this was so complex and so layered with flavor.  It was sweet, but had some real depth to the flavor.  It was unlike a tomatillo sauce that I've tasted, clearly, very impressed.

What a spread!  Clearly this is some of the highest ratings across the board.  This place is great.  My friend and I cut every taco in half and we were very full and obviously very far from disappointed.  The music was cool, the vibe was great.  The demographics were all over the place.  Every age, everything, point being, this place has appeal for every age.  It looks almost more expensive than it is.  It was really affordable and worth every penny.  I expected our bill for 10 tacos, the guacamole to be much more than it was.  The people working there were really fantastic and it capped the meal right off.

Thank you to everyone for reading and for following.  Please continue to tell everyone and to tell your friends.  Today's goodbye, gratuitous photo is of the two geniuses behind this machine.  Adam and VJ.  There could not be two cooler guys that could come together and make such an amazing experience.  The food, the service, the ambiance, the whole thing was brought together nicely.

STAY EXCELLENT!!!

Fiesta Hut, East Rutherford, CA

New Jersey, you just did it to me again.  I just do not have much good luck with New Jersey Tacoteering.  I often at least have great company, but flew solo tonight.  Fiesta Hut has been on my hit list for a bit.  It is closed Monday's, which is why I missed it last time I was out here.  I was surprised on my experience after the fairly solid Yelp.  Be careful, be wary, that is a deceptive score my friends.  Seriously, I don't really know where to start.

Unassuming entrance here.  I think it bodes well when I see an enterance like this, I got pretty excited.  The excitement ended pretty shortly once I got in there.  I stood there for a good five minutes before anyone greeted me and then they told me to sit wherever I wanted to.  I took the only small table left in the restaurant and waited for a while before anyone came over.  They came by, dropped off some chips and salsa and the lady walked away.  Eight minutes later she came by and asked if I wanted anything to drink.  I ordered a water no ice.  That took another 4 minutes to get.  She walked by my table about 5 times over the next 15 minutes until she took my order.  Wow, I felt like they wanted me in there.

I had a lot of time to look at this bad boy.  I was taken back at how pricey it was for the place.  It had horrific ambiance.  No music was playing and the acoustics were an abomination.  I could hear everything every table was discussing.  The couple behind me was talking about their daughter and the extreme hatred for her boyfriend and her work decisions.  The mother and daughter a few tables over were arguing because the daughter believes that unemployment is great because she could go six months without working if her company fires her.  Her mom did not agree.  There was a family of five a few more tables away that were all on their phones and when they did talk it was all small talk referring to the normal family conversations that no one else should be a part of.  The table in the back corner was discussing how both couples were enjoying time away from their kids and how they need to get out like that more often.  The other table had a son cursing at his parents, teenager, and it was just downright sad to listen to.  There was absolutely no privacy.  It really took away from the horrible meal, but sadly, not enough.

I went off of what she reccomended for a first timer to make me want to come back again tomorrow night or Friday night.  BIG MISTAKE
RATINGS:
CHEESE ENCHILADA: 3, this was by far the best part.  It was creamy, cheesy.  The sauce was OK, but from a can.  The cheese tasted like American Cheese extra Melt.
PORK TOSTADA: 1, this might have been the worst "pork" I've had in sometime.  I love cinnamon.  If you've had my Mexican food, I often utilize cinnamon.  Especially in my beans, but they just doused this pork with it.  There was no balance.  If not for that, it might have been OK?
CHICKEN TACO: 1, first off, I ordered a corn, soft taco.  I got lettuce, cheese and boiled chicken in a fried shell.  Bummer!  It had zero flavor.  I love boiled chicken.  I usually make my chicken tacos with it, but it has flavor.  They boiled it in water, no seasoning, no citrus, nothing.  It was boring meat.  YUCKY!
BEANS: 1, no flavor, nasty, overcooked.  TO THE BITE PEOPLE!  You cooked the flavor out of it.
RICE: 1, how hard is it to follow the instructions on the box?  Really?  It was not good, lacked flavor and was strangely sticky.
TABLE SALSA: 1, this was just despicable.  The first bowl I had was crazy spicy, thought it had promise.  I asked for a second bowl, it just did not have the balance it should.  The second bowl was crazy mild, "same salsa" but tasted like ketchup.  That just made me want to gag.  DISGUSTING!!!

Doesn't even look really appetizing.  Service did not save this experience either.  Did I finish the meal?  NO WAY!  I felt like I needed to vomit, but didn't eat that much, it was not tasty, not good and not acceptable.  The menu states "Authentic Mexican Food."  Let me reiterate, they lied.

I'm sorry for all the caps and yelling in this blog, but this was about as bad of an experience as I've had.  I really miss CA.  I'm hoping that this trip can bring some redemption to my palate which is sad and hurting tonight.  I don't go to DC until Saturday morning, but am apprehensive about Tacoteering until I leave the NY/NJ area after tonight, it was that disappointing.  Oh, and to put salt in the womb, that cost $17!!!  Yeah, I had to pay $17 to have that poor of an experience.

Thank you for reading, re-posting, re-tweeting and eating tacos.  I hope that everyone has better taco experiences tonight and tomorrow than I did.  Be careful friends, there are bad tacos out there still...

Tonight's gratuitous photo is of some flowers I saw on my way to the rental car.  They were pretty and that made my beard and I happy and gave us something sweet to focus on.

Stay Excellent.

Phillip's Seafood, Newark International Airport...desperation blog

This blog and it's contents are written solely out of desperation.  I am, was desperate for New Jersey to leave me with a better taco taste then my last blog that shall not be named.  I got dropped off at the airport, and was flying back to LA myself.  The trainers stayed one more day then I did.  I got through security at lightning speed.  I got up to the gate, settled in and finished writing the blog posted yesterday.  A blog of bad food, sad tummies and a sad looking Bethany.  With the hopes of redemption, an attitude of can do, I looked at the menus for both restaurants in the terminal that I was in.  One had "tacos" the other didn't.

I'm a huge fan of fish tacos.  I think that they can be some of the best tacos.  I was hoping when the restaurant is known for seafood and they have Mahi Mahi tacos on the menu that I will be in for some bit of happiness, somewhat of a treat.  I was quickly reminded that I was in New Jersey once I took my first bite.

Where do I start.  Fish tacos that come with waffle fries and a Mediterranean Salad?  Look, I already told you that I was desperate.  I told you that I was backed against a wall and the only way out was a great taco.  Like a midget at a urinal, this came up short.  I love Mediterranean Salads, I love me some waffle fries, I don't love them next to a taco.  Tacos go great with anything, if they are good tacos.  These, were not.  I feel weird even trying to rate, but what the heck.

RATINGS: 
MAHI: 2, incredibly overcooked, poorly seasoned, tough, wood like texture, uneven grill marks.
SLAW: 1, flavorless, wilted cabbage, pre-cut.
WAFFLE FRIES: 2, they were cold, had been sitting in the window
MEDITERRANEAN SALAD: 3, decent, lots of cucumbers, dressing was ok, probably closer to a two, but it was the best thing I ate.
TORTILLA: 1, I don't know what this really was, but it was bad.  Nasty, bad, paper thin, probably not made with masa, it was really bad.

There was no salsa, they did have regular Tabasco which, yeah, is good but yeah, anyways.  Needless to say, I did not finish my meal.  I almost fell out of my chair when I got the bill.  It was seriously like getting robbed.  My food even took forever, possibly longer.

I will look for tacos any and everywhere.  I want them.  But I don't like hitting a streak of tacos this bad in a row.  Tacos are just needed.  I will probably hit a truck or something here in LA today.  Will I write about it?  Probably not.  I just need to heal my taco wombs.  What got me through this meal and my last two experiences were the great trainers that I was with.  I often say it is not where you eat, but who you eat with.  They may not have been at the airport, but they got me a card and it was really nice.  They each wrote a personal goodbye and it was one of the cooler things I've gotten in a while.  I read it over and over as I sat alone in the airport.  It reminded me of the importance of great friends and the connections that can be made through openings.

What?  Did you think that I would show you what was in there?  Heck no, it is not your business, it was addressed to me.  Why did I put this sideways?  Because I wanted to.  OK, because I didn't feel like pressing the button to rotate it.  I know that it says that card has no purpose, but it did.  It was a great thing and made me crack a smile.

Oh yeah, even the bartender, I sat up at the bar SUCKED.  So anyways, don't go there.  Thanks for reading the blog, thanks for taking the time.  Look forward to telling everyone about the great experiences in Tacoteering that I'm going to find.  The photo today is of me.  Tired, ready to get back to California where the tacos are delicious.

Stay Excellent.

Tacos Lupita, Passaic, NJ...its a BURN!!!!!!!!!!

Five blogs in about a two week time period.  We had a bad start, a good middle, with some great and a really horrid ending.  This is bad.  If you haven't read one of my "burns" you need to decide if you are ready.  If you've never read an Order of the Taco Blog, this might not be your best virgin experience.  Here's the deal, I love tacos.  I get that some places are not as good as others.  I have minimal expectations for NJ.  I like the Garden State.  I like tacos.  Why can I not enjoy them together?  Because of places like this that suck more then a drunk coed.  Yeah, I went there and I'm probably going back there.  I've had to try to decompress with the magical voice of the King, Elvis Presley.  Today just hurt.  Work, yeah, it is tough.  I'm non stop, taking, pushing, working, not taking a break, loving it, but worn out like a dirty rag in your Yiayia's cupboard.  Warned you, there are going to be some references.  If you don't get them, go to my dictionary of terms used or ask your friends, if you have any.  Read past blogs, it might explain some of the references.

I often find myself telling people no matter how bad things are, you have to find one positive thing.  I will give it to you.  I will tell you now so that we can get back to the ugliness of this taco trip.  The training team for The Counter in Clifton, NJ.  Our training team did so amazing.  The trainees got better everyday and the franchisee here is a great dude.  We got great support from The Counter.  Alisha and Josh from CA, Bethany from FL, Matt from VA and Fo from GA.  You've seen their pics, you've heard their stories, they really stepped it up, especially in the last week.  They took opening a restaurant to the next level and took care of this crazy, grumpy, bald bear.  When I say they saved lives, I mean it.  I'm telling you they kept me calm, well, calm for being me...Taco Z.

Here's the menu of where we went:

Looks good right?  Not too bad.  Not like a filthy red light district, b player.  Yeah, I mean promising.  Look at the corner.  Yeah, that picture was pretty cool.  Even the women that were with us were checking it out.  Enough about the propaganda.

Lets talk about the journey to get there.  We took back roads from the restaurant that we work in.  I'm tired and grumpy like normal.  Trainers are literally falling asleep in the car as Alisha is driving us per the instruction of the GPS.  We didn't go to a restaurant, we went to a street.  We got there.  We had high hopes.  We had optimistic expectations.  We were all so positive.  We parked the car, put money in the meter.  The folks with us that don't normally go into these areas, so everyone but Josh and I, muscled through it.  We walked in and out of places and said no.  We wanted the right experience.  We walked by Taqueria Brenda Lee from a blog from last week and it was locked up tighter than Fort Knox.  We walked a few blocks, made some jokes, kept Bethany and Matt safe.  No one wanted to see those two delicate kids get hurt.

Amber, Nicole and I almost ate at Tacos Lupita the other day, but opted for Taqueria Brenda Lee instead.  Here's the thing, it didn't look like it would suck this much.  We were all tired, we were all starving.  We got in there and things just went down hill.

Josh started getting scared pretty early.  You can see by the look on his face.  The jute box would randomly kick on which was weird and was incredibly loud, but that is the kind of ambiance that I'm looking for.  The guy behind the counter was confused.  He was totally lost and he was a jerk.  I'm sorry, he is an asshole.  There should be no sugar coating or past tense when it comes to talking about this guy.  Alisha ordered a side of rice and beans three times and never got them, he couldn't figure it out.  We even explained it in Spanish, yeah, that was just as hard if not harder for him.  Fo's food was completely wrong.  He ordered pastor and got pollo.  Everyone had something wrong with their order except for Matt.  Yeah, I don't get it either.  It's not like we had complicated orders here, it was just tacos.

RATINGS:
LENGUA: 2, SUCKED
ASADA: 1, we are pretty sure that this was just cardboard with salt on it.
CARNITAS: 1, I don't know if they know what carnitas is.
PASTOR: 2, yucky
SALSA: 1, if you are going to make it this bad, please just buy something from the store and put it in a squeeze bottle, you have embarrassed yourself.

Here is what my food looked like:

We were all so sad that this was our last experience in New Jersey.  It was pretty heart breaking.  Bethany was so sad, we had to carry her to the car:

Josh is so nice.  Look at that winning smile.  What was the saving grace for our bellies?  Hot dogs.  The hotel had hot dogs and we all went back and we ate hot dogs.  So one last thing about this moron working at this place.  He could not give us a receipt.  Not a handwritten one, not a register one, he had like seven kinds of pointless retarded excuses.  He was so dumb.  I don't like him.  By the way, it was a HUGE rip off.  Way too much money.  I'm so sad for anyone that even has to walk near that place or drive by it.

Thanks for reading, please proceed near there with caution.  Thanks for the brave Tacoteers that risked themselves by going in there with me and enduring junk.  Thank you to everyone for reading, thanks for re-tweeting, re-posting.  Please don't forget to follow OrderoftheTaco on Instagram!  Live up to date pictures of tacos all over the US.  I'm at Newark Airport, so I may be done Tacoteering in New Jersey, then again, I may not be...

Today's gratuitous photo will depict how sad we all were with this taco experience and Bethany is here to show you:

Stay Excellent!