Queries Tacos Way, Northridge, CA

Wanted to try this place for a while.  They just moved into this spot.  Mario, a regular at the bar kept telling me to go and try it.  He does their apparel, go buy some.  Brandon and I have been talking about this and we finally pulled the trigger.  Jason and I had gone swimming and he ended up falling asleep.

So what do we do.  We have Tacoteering plans and the third of the three amigos is out.  We set up his car seat, first time a car seat has been in Uncle Brando's sweet ride.

 He still did not wake up.  Jason was out hard.  He went from being so excited to go tacoteering to sleeping without moving.  We were excited.  We've read, we've driven by and we've heard nothing but great things.  The tables are cool.  We did like that.

Table was sweet.  Jason loved sitting next to it!

The sleeping continued.  We got to the place and Jason decided to get in a few more winks while at the restaurant.  He didn't last long in the chair, he wanted to sit with his dad, I sure didn't mind.

Isn't it great to see how happy he is?  He is loving this trip so far.  Either way, he did really enjoy the quesadilla.  Can you see the shared excitement that we have.  It might have been the best quesadilla I've ever had, not made at home.  Yes, you read it, this is a 5.  While we're at it, lets do the ratings:
RATINGS:
ASADA: 3, good, nothing amazing.  This middle of the road stuff was good, worth having again , but it won't make you want to sound the horns with excitement.
PASTOR: 2, why is this so low?  It was just ok.  It didn't impress me and as I was tacographicdreaming about other pastor, this just didn't do it for me.  It was hard to identify.
POLLO: 4, I can't tell you what flavors made it stand out, but it really did stand out.  Smooth and it became almost creamy with the cheese, guac and spices.  I also might be on a chicken kick lately.
CHORIZO: 4, I do not like chorizo.  It's not very good to me in general, however, this was amazing.  I love this stuff.  Try it.  Clove, flavors that were earthy, but not over the top.  Worth having.
CARNITAS: 3, pretty run of the mill, but pretty good.  You'll like it but it won't give you an amazing tacogasam.
CABEZA: 3,  I like it, I don't love it.  They should probably cook about five more minutes.  I'm a fan of the less cooked food, but this needed an extra couple of minutes.
LENGUA: 4, this stuff was nice.  Texture was on point, flavor was really good.  It melted nicely in with the cheese, try it.
SALSA BAR: 4, they get a four because of their spice and balance.  They do a nice job on the salsas.

What a great looking spread.  This stuff is some great stuff.  I've been a fan of the Mulita for a long time.  Not many places make it, but these guys make it pretty amazing.  How do you not love a taco with melted cheese and guacamole?  They do a nice job.  They crisp the tortillas nice without burning them.

So the food did not end with the mulitas.  We had an amazing beverage.   We shared this bad boy.  If you go, and you are over 21, you should try this.  It is super tasty.  Brandon is not into the tomato thing and he still loved this.  We did get two straws and shared this like Lady and the Tramp.

I've read a lot of knocks on the service, especially on Yelp.  Our service was solid.  Really solid.  The girls was sweet and attentive.  It was great to have such great service.  I am thinking that people were frustrated in the first few days of being open.  That is common, you've got to give them a chance to get settled.  My advice, give them another shot!  Check out their menu, that might entice you.

Not a bad looking menu.  Look at the variety without going overboard.  They do a nice job of giving options of the same great stuff.  I do think this place has staying power.  Give them a shot if you didn't love them, come try them if you haven't.  Support the little guy getting off the ground.  The food is good, our service was solid, worth going to if you ask me, I'll be back and I can assure you it is a huge upgrade from Anna's that use to be there.

This was a great adventure with a great friend and of course Jason the Juggernaut.  It was an added awesome surprise that Melissa showed up and joined us.

Today's goodbye/gratuitous photo is of Brandon.  Uncle Brando is a favorite of my kids.  They love him.  He's so great with them and is a great support of Melissa and I as we are taking this bar scene on.  We did some great marketing and got some real ideas going and in play with this meal.  That's a big reason why we had Jason with us.  Here is a shot of Jason at the bank before the goodbye photo.

 Here is a great shot of Brando and a cool photo on the wall.

Stay Excellent!

Big Burrito Taqueria, Canoga Park, CA

Usually the best place to start a story is in the beginning.  Melissa, Eleni and Yiayia went out with friends to see a movie.  They were doing some girls outing thing.  Melissa has been complaining for sometime now how the shower head was not fitting right and that she has lost the piece needed to fix it.  We went out today to get the piece needed so that Melissa can finally shower properly after all of these months and be clean.  Will she finally be clean?  I don't know, I really don't.  Only time will tell, but I feel with two shower heads, she has a heck of a shot and I'm really rooting for her to take a shower and be clean.  I'll try to remember to keep you posted.  

After we left Larry and Joe's Plumbing, we decided to go Tacoteering.  Today's adventure took us to this little gem tucked away in a strip mall on Canoga pretty close to the mall.  Like I said the girls went out to the movies, dinner, I'll tell you, I don't know what they are doing.  My dad, my two sons and I decided that we would go have some fun of our own.  Jason is two, Alexander 10 and if you've been reading or following on Twitter or Instagram, you know them.  

Inside of the restaurant is pretty cool.  Nothing too fancy, but it has what it needs.  You go order at the counter and they make the food as you are ordering it.  Not the most efficient, but these guys were working hard and were really nice. I seriously don't know if they charged us correctly.  We had a lot of tacos!  Alexander, my dad and I can put away some tacos, Jason got a burrito but then was eating tacos.  Yes, he ate lengua, yes he liked it and yes I'm proud of this young tacoteer. 

Alexander and I got one of each of their taco meats except the cabeza, we shared that one.  Don't know why, but thought just one of those.  Good call, it rated the lowest.  They also have "Americano" tacos which come with lettuce, cheese, sour cream and tomatoes.  We got an extra pastor one that way to get some variety, Papou (my dad) got all of his that way.  Not too bad for a little change up.  It might make the place a little more colorful on the plate and approachable for when you take a lady friend out on a tacoteering date.  They might like all of that stuff.  Plus, it had lettuce and tomatoes so I can comfortably say that we ate vegetables aside jalapenos, onions and cilantro, we were being very healthy and responsible.  

Place was loud, the soccer game was blaring, it was pretty cool.  I meant to also have pictures of the salsa bar, but really screwed up and must have moved the camera.  Most people check that stuff, but I was so focused on eating tacos.  The salsa bar again, yeah the one that I don't have pictures of has some amazing peppers and onions.  They were spicy and good!  

RATINGS:
POLLO: 4, slow clap and a bravo on this one.  All four of us liked the chicken.  It was really good.  It was tender, flavorful but not overwhelming.  Often we get salt bombs on the chicken, that was not the case here.  

CABEZA: 2, I'm really on a string of bad cabeza and I want to get out of it.  I love cabeza and I have not encountered good cabeza in a few blogs.  The Juggernaut spit it out when he took a bite, Alexander did not really care for it either.  

LENGUA: 3, I like this.  I am wondering why I didn't give it a 4, but I already wrote it, and this is on the internet, so who am I to change it?  They chop the tongue right in front of you and they do a great job.  It is worth trying and is great in their tacos.

CARNITAS: 3, this was nicely done.  Texture was good, not overcooked. Seasoning was pretty solid.  Worth trying without a doubt.  Would probably be perfect in a burrito.  

PASTOR: 3, consistently inconsistent.  Had it all tasted like the good part, holy cow, this is knocking on the door of a 5.  We had a number of pastor tacos on the table and a half asada half pastor burrito for the Juggernaut, and the pastor tasted different.  None was bad, but some was average and some was crazy good.  

ASADA: 5, this took me by surprise.  I did not see this one coming.  It was good stuff.  It was tender, it was very flavorful.  They had some good seasoning on there, but it was not at all overwhelming, so you could really taste the meat.  This was pleasing to me.  

SALSA ROJO: 2, spicy but just not very flavorful.  This was just below OK.  It was watery and not really very good.

SALSA VERDE: 4, this was quite the delicious surprise.  I asked for a to go ramekin to take home as I need to recreate this.  Nice light spice, great texture, heavy tomatillos, really, really good.

The food was really good overall that the boys enjoyed it.  They both attacked and ate as many tacos as quickly as they could.  I wonder where they got that from?  The asada really was one of the best I've had in sometime.  The biggest issue with the food was a bit inconsistent.  Some of the pastor was incredible, some was OK.  Chicken and lengua was the same.  It was all chopped right in front of us, but is kept in steam wells and it depends on how deep they went in their for how much good flavor and juice you really got.  Here is Jason kind of mad at me for taking a picture and Alexander chomping down.

Thank you as always for reading, following, telling people.  I have added a thingy to make it easier for you to follow me on Instagram.  Many up to date taco pictures, some Jiu Jitsu and the crazy people and antics that I'm up to, but mainly tacos.  Today was extra fun with just the guys, it is nice to get time with my dad and my two sons, hope you enjoyed our adventure, please tell your friends to read about it, tweet about it, post about the blog.  We always need more followers at The Order of the Taco. 

Before I go, I want to update you.  Melissa still has not taken a shower and is still not clean.

Today's goodbye/gratuitous photo is a two part photo of my son Jason, the Juggernaut.  It is amazing how much more he will eat when his sister is not around.  He attacked a carne asada burrito with hot sauce on it.  I asked for none, but there was some on there.  He was drinking water like crazy but kept eating.  We learned that he does want his burritos wrapped tightly.  He was quite the trooper and was incredibly funny throughout our trip.  Here is him getting ready, then him taking that big bite, it is good to see you tacoteers learning and growing into their own taco eating professionals.  

Stay Excellent!

JR Tacos, Happy 1 Year Birthday Anastasia Eleftheriades

Each story has a different time, a different perspective pending on who the person is telling the story and how the people reading it view it.  This blog, to many is about a birthday party for a sweet young lady and a taco truck from an excellent family that is tied back to our community at Saint Nicholas.

Yes, there is a photo bomb from my oldest son Alexander.  He was spinning around in his wheelchair and I didn't catch that he was in the picture until later.  The set up is for JR Tacos.  Raul Meza helps work at our church in Northridge, CA.  He also runs a great taco truck and does parties at people's houses.  This is not the first time this year that I've had the opportunity to eat his great food.  They do it all.  They show up with the food, cook it onsite, have the paper products for you to use and it is a great little set up.  Contact information will be at the bottom of this blog in case you are ready to use him for a shin dig or party that you have going on soon.

To me, much of this story starts with that amazing father swimming with the birthday girl.  George Eleftheriades and I met many years ago at summer camp in Greece.  We were at Ionian Village together in the summer of 1994.  We were inseparable out there.  We shared a bunk, would sneak out of the cabin at night and go to the beach.  We were able to sneak beer back to the camp and stay up too late while suffering the headache consequences the next morning.  George and I took every adventure even hiding in other people's hotel rooms and running around the hotel when we were told we had to go to sleep.  It was a great time in both of our lives.  Sadly, summer ended, and so did our time at Ionian Village.  George went back to Brooklyn, I came back to Los Angeles.  It is hard when you are that young, awkward age to have a friend, grow so close and then it is like you will never see them again.

THESE PRETZELS ARE MAKING ME THIRSTY!  If you don't get the reference, just ignore and keep on reading, I feel bad that you don't, we're about to go back to your regularly scheduled programming...George and I just understood each other.  We were the same age, well, we still are, we had fun and similar struggles, challenges and shared a similar cultural background.  We decided that we would keep in touch.  Prior to the days of blogs and Facebook, we wrote letters and mailed them back and forth.  We would very regularly for years write letters.  I was lucky enough to go to NYC the next year, we got to hang out, it was great.  We continued to write letters, got on the phone a few times, but as I said, there was no Facebook or Twitter or chat stuff that there is now, we lost touch.  I will say that years later I tried finding him on Facebook, Google all those search engines.  I really looked to see if I could find him when I was in New York so much.  I would think back to the great friend and guy that he is.  I'm fortunate to have many wonderful connections and people that have been in and are in my life, but I always do want more and hate losing one of the greats.

Now that you know some of the back story, you are probably wondering how I ended up at George's daughter's first birthday party 20 years later.  About a month ago as I was at church enjoying the Divine Liturgy.  A family walked in and began speaking to Dara, Mikey, Melissa and saying hi to the kids.  I glanced over and continued to ignore people, like I do.  As they kept talking, I looked back over and began staring at this guy.  It became an uncomfortable glare.  Dara and Melissa asked me what was wrong, but I was rendered speechless.  He than walked around over to where I was holding his beautiful daughter and asked me my name.  Before I could answer he was trapped in a bear hug that had to have been uncomfortable to anyone who was watching.  His wife, Belinda, Dara and Melissa were all quite confused.  After all this time, he had moved to Los Angeles and is living less than 10 miles from me.  What a great thing to have each other back in our lives.  It is great that after all these years, it is like no time has gone by, we have similar interests and will get to raise our children together.

That story is much of what I will remember of this party, but I know you Taco Enthusiasts want to know all about the adventure of the tacos and the party, I must give the people what they want!

What a great turnout of people excited to celebrate one year of life for such a sweet girl!  A few beers, some great people and tacos really made this hot afternoon great.  It was nice meeting so many people that shared the love for a great young lady with a wonderful family.

There is my sweet goddaughter Charlotte who made it to the party.  The question is, is Sophie State sleeping on the job, or is it just creative timing on this Tacoteer's part?  I will let you be the judge of what is going on here.  As you can see, many of us are watching to make sure that Charlotte is in good hands.  Was she dehydrated?  Can't be, there was a ton of water going around to make sure everyone stayed good on this hot summer day.  We don't know what the excuse for this is, but if you see her, feel free to ask her what was going on here.

Look at the sweet birthday girl and her mommy!  They are trying to beat the heat and are getting ready to eat some amazing tacos.  How can you not want tacos for a party?  I mean, even at one year old Anastasia knows that tacos are the best thing for a party.  How do you not know?  Why are you not having a taco truck at your party?  Maybe these ratings can help motivate you to do the right thing.
RATINGS:
BEANS: 3, refried beans, they can be pretty amazing, but these are pretty average, but I think exactly what you would expect for a party and a truck like this.
RICE: 3, good old Mexican Style rice.  The Juggernaut ate the heck out of the rice.  It was well flavored, not too salty, but brought some goodness to the meal.
SALSA VERDE: 2, this was the saddest part of the taco experience for me.  It really was so mainstream that it did not excite me.  It is probably good for the party scene, but I felt that it lacked the depth and flavor that is needed for a great salsa verde.  Maybe some more cumin and citrus would have brought a smile to my face.
SALSA ROJO: 3, pretty standard goodness right here.  I like it much spicier, but like I said, party salsa, the masses must eat it.  It is good stuff, you will like it, layered flavors, nice smokiness.
POLLO: 4, that is amazing to me for a truck to get above a three.  This was really tender, really flavorful, nice color to it, but not over seasoned.  Cooked all the way through, but so darn juicy.  Just enough chili powder and a hint of garlic really made this a surprise treat on a hot day.
ASADA: 3, exactly what you would, should expect.  They did a nice job, it is textbook truck asada here my friends.  You know what you are getting.
PASTOR: 4, would this get a 4 off a truck if I'm food trucking?  No.  Would it get it if in a restaurant?  No.  But for what this is, it was great.  Nice hints of clove, aciote cooked to tender perfection.  The texture was great on this one.  I was surprising pleased.  I will warn you that it was a little greasy, but that just made it better for all of us who enjoyed it!

Great spread here, yeah I got two pastors and two asadas to start!  Well worth it.  They let you go through the line, add some lime, cilantro, onions radish and salsa.  Makes it a nice little choose your own adventure.

Here's a picture of a young Tacoteer in his natural habitat.  He is carefully examining the tortilla and has a mixture of rice and pollo ready to be placed in before he skillfully attacks that taco.  If you don't know who that is, it is my youngest son, Jason the Juggernaut.  He is great and adventurous in eating as long as his big sister doesn't talk him out of it, which she commonly does!  He went through a couple of tortillas, a little chicken, but a ton of rice!

What a great day and what a great adventure.  It was wonderful getting to spend time with Anastasia and everyone excited to celebrate her birthday!  Proud of this sweet one year old.  Thank you to everyone for reading, telling people, re-tweeting, re-posting and indulging me as I go back in time with stories of childhood friendships that transform into the amazing relationships that they are today.  I do encourage everyone to eat more tacos, you are missing out if you are not eating them regularly already!  To find JR Tacos:
PHONE: (818) 730-9417
EMAIL: rmezatacos@gmail.com

Today's gratuitous photo is a photo of George and I from years ago at Ionian Village.  I'll let you guess who is who, the only hint is that I did not have my beard with me then! Thanks for reading.

STAY EXCELLENT!!!

Taco Miendo, West Los Angeles, CA

I've been reading about this place for a while.  I've passed it many times when I'm heading to Freddy's.  Right off of Pico on Gateway is Taco Miendo.  They make their own tortillas, they are supposed to have amazing food.  Let me start off, by saying I found it pricey for what you get.  Yeah, I know, I'm cheap, but I'm looking for great cheap tacos.  I only got three tacos as I didn't want to spend too much money, oh well, too late, I already did on this place.  Service was slow.  When I say slow, I'm saying, don't utilize that half hour lunch on this joint.  There are cheaper, faster tacos up the street, spoiler alert, I know that they taste better.

Menu is big.  They also had two other boards up with specials.  Lots to choose from.  Maybe a little too much for a place like this.  Too much variety is not always a good thing for the consumer.  If I were them, I'd look into that.  Wow, critical today.  I might have to walk away from this one, cool off and then write.  Here's the thing, it wasn't horrible, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good.  No big desire to tell this story.  I didn't have anyone cool with me, I was just flying solo trying to get my piece of the taco world on this day and it fell short.  I was excited to try this place and found myself walking away sad and disappointed.  I was stuck without the satisfaction that tacos bring me.  If they are horrible, I can get fired up and go on a burn, instead we get this sad, pathetic rant.

Okay, this part was pretty cool, to look at...really?  No peppers, serrano, jalapeno, something?  No, they left me like an ugly kid at prom.  I was sitting there going from excited to let down.  The salsas were OK.  Maybe one of the reasons I'm so down is because I made an amazing salsa the other day.  No, I really think that it is just that their's were just OK.  The green sucked really bad, the reds were ehh.  While were on this subject, we'll head to the ratings.  First, a picture of the tacos how they come out:

RATINGS:
LENGUA: 3, it was OK.  Nothing special, just tongue that was cooked.  It was not too flavorful, just something that was alright.
ADOBADA: 3, it is no RT, it is no El Farro, it is no Guisado, Los Cinco Puntos, El Indio Azteca, the list goes on and on...it is just a mediocre adobada.  Not bad, it is well seasoned, grilled nicely, it wasn't burnt, but it was not special.
ASADA: 3, BORING.  It was just boring and regular and nothing excited me about it.  It wasn't bad, but like I said, nothing exciting.
SALSA VERDE: 2, not very good, I think it might have been spoiled.
SALSA ROJO: 3, this was pretty good.  Possibly the highlight of the place for me.  Not amazing, but not bad.  Just a pretty decent salsa.  I did put it on two of the three over priced tacos.
TORTILLAS: 3, dude, if you are going to make your own tortillas and you get a 3, that is like a 2 or a 1 in the real world.  They were just not a good consistency.  They lacked a nice sweetness most places will get for you in a hand pressed tortilla.  They were good, for a place that prides themselves on making the tortillas, they should have been stellar.

The people working there were not very nice.  Maybe they feel as though they've settled for mediocrity?  Maybe they have given up on great taco experiences.  Either way, it was sad.  They did not make me feel like I should go back there, the food sure didn't do that either!  I go back and forth on if I like to dress my tacos.  It really depends on the place.  I like it at El Primo.  Works for the set up.  Here it was almost an annoyance.  The cilantro was not very fresh, the onions should have been chopped a bit finer.  The limes were juicy and fresh, so that is positive.  The pickled onions were good, I did like that and they ended up all over my tacos!  The few chips that they give you are good, the right amount and were a nice way to try the different salsas.  They do let you get pinto beans, again, found them to be a little bland.

As always, I thank you for reading, re-tweets, re-posts.  I do appreciate everyone getting the word out.  Please keep doing it.  I hope that I have saved you from a really mediocre experience.  While writing this, I've been wondering what my life would be like if I move to Iceland.  I know, not a bad option.

Today's goodbye photo has nothing to do with tacos.  This adventure was me alone, so I thought I'd show you a blurry photo of the two that helped me at that grocery store the other day.  My two younger children Eleni and the Juggernaut.  They helped me through the store and when I told them to go to the car, they ignored so I raised my voice and told them to move it.  Eleni, four years old, then shook her finger at me and told me that she was tired of my yelling and was not going to tolerate it.  It was a great reminder, I have many former and current employees, I was again taught, we all answer to someone!

Stay Excellent!