Critic's Review
I'm having trouble finding places where I want to eat lunch. Re-reviewing restaurants around here is a waste of time and money; nobody is getting better. Higher prices and cheaper ingredients is the trend. I had to go to target, so I swung by Taco Bar on my way home.
With the very uninteresting Agave Taco Bar recently opened across the street, this place wasn't of much interest. The place is a small, storefront restaurant with a modest dining room. With a screaming baby in the room, eating in wasn't an option I considered.
No hostess here; a server greeted me and handed me a large menu. She then went on to fully explain the "specials", without the prices, so I didn't consider any of them. I had quite a problem finding what to order for the following reasons:
1) They only have 1 soup of the day, and I didn't want Zucchini Corn Chowder
2) Their regular taco menu offers you 3 of the same Tacos, you can't mix and match
3) They only have 3 "specialty" tacos that can be ordered individually, and 2 of them didn't sound appealing.
The girl came over and tried to talk me into something I clearly didn't want. I decided to try the Taco de Mole (the only item I actually wanted) and a Taco de Conchinita Pibil, which is described as "Marinated Pulled Pork, wrapped in a banana leaf" and "topped with pickled red onions and habanero pepper". The banana leaf threw me, but there's really no banana leaf involved. I ordered the 2; the girl tried to talk me into getting 3 claiming that the 3rd one was virtually free, but some quick math told me that $7.98 is NOT the same as $9.99, and paying $2 for something I didn't want isn't a bargain.
The open "kitchen" allows you to watch them while they whip up the tacos. It didn't take very long.
When I got home I opened it up. I saw 2 pretty weak looking tacos for $3.99 each.
While filling a taco with lettuce, cheese and cilantro makes for a nicer presentation, it's not really necessary. In Mexico they give you a little taco with scant ingredients but the flavors are so explosive that you're completed satisfied. I tried the mole first; mole is a complex sauce made with many ingredients including peppers, balanced by chocolate. It can be fantastic stuff.
I took a bite.
Nothing. Dry pork with a surprisingly flavorless sauce. I also didn't like the corn tacos; they tasted like a soggy tortilla chip, or a Frito with no salt.
Time to try taco 2. The description says it's topped with habanerio peppers, but I didn't see any. Maybe they forgot them?
This was a little tastier, but still not all that good. A little spicy, but since I didn't like the corn tacos that didn't help. It was a little spicy; maybe there was a drip of habanero in it? I didn't taste ANY of the citrus. Habaneros are VERY hot. This wasn't anything I was hoping for.
The salsa they gave me was supposed to be "mild", but it was pretty spicy.
Putting this on Taco #1 gave it some needed flavor. 6 bites and I was done with my 2 $4 tacos.
Conclusion
What we have here is a small storefront taco stand charging restaurant prices for pedestrian food. The number of taco places in Fort Lauderdale is a commentary on the lack of sophistication of the population; tacos are snack food that are $1 a pop in Mexico; the fact that dopey Millenials will pay $4 for food that isn't nearly as good is very disheartening.
Add the inflexibility of the menu and you have a place I won't be trying again.
Original Commentary
I couldn't find anything on the menu that I wanted to pay for; $15 for "top sirloin" tacos. One of 50 places to get tacos in Fort Lauderdale. Of course these are more authentic than the others.
FYI, "Mexican" restaurants are all the rage because it's VERY high margin; a pinch of food in a taco shell for $4. I'm onto it.
