Vallarta’s! Great for Taco Bell Enthusiasts

Bringing you the best places to get your Mexican food cravings on that special day of the week: Taco Tuesday. Whether there’s a special Tuesday deal, or the Mexican food deserves some special recognition, we’ve got you covered.

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Vallarta’s Mexican Restaurant

13731 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33618; (813)264-7691

OPEN: Monday-Sunday 11:00AM – 10:00PM

Quality	4.5
Quantity	6.5
Price	9
Value (Average of quality, quantity, price)	6.7
Ambient	9
Accessibility	8
Vegetarian Options	Yes
Tuesday Deal	Yes; dollar tacos (chips included)

 

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Countless of times I have driven past this plaza, only entering it once in order to play with the adorable puppies at All About Puppies. (I definitely suggest playing with them before going to eat–they need all the loving you can give!) So finally, I decided to visit this Tuesday. But, unfortunately, I made it too late to enjoy the puppy love before my meal! There is definitely no problem with parking; I made it around 7PM. Not a necessary fan of the plaza/strip mall locale, however it didn’t discourage me from giving it a chance! I was super pumped for this… you know why? Because it was taco tuesday, and everyone loves taco tuesday!

Walking inside, the restaurant is definitely huge. If you thought my review on Taco Son described the locale as a great atmosphere, this was even better. Not one wall was industrial white colored. Slightly dimmed, the colors popped out even more. They even had their own benches that highlighted the restaurant’s name and atmospheric appeal. I (and my companions that joined me for Taco Tuesday) was led by a very cute, short Mexican woman with a thick accent who was extremely endearing. Once seated, I looked around at the walls in the restaurant:

Vallarta’s Mexican Restaurant is found off of Dale Mabry in a small plaza.

The walls and even entrance into the additional room are all painted in a similar theme.

There must be some kind of association with Vallarta, Mexico–looks like someplace I’d vacation!

Painting of a cute old man on a door.

I knew ahead of time that there would be a TACOTUESDAYDEAL. Sitting down, though, I wasn’t sure what to expect. What was included in this mysterious taco deal?  Well as it turns out, free chips and salsa! It was quite a nice set up: the salsa came in a nice, small vial with two bowls. The first round of chips were slightly warm–not as fresh as I’d like. But the second round of chips? Nice and hot; freshly made.

Now about the salsa. I loved the set up of the salsa being served in a separate vial, with two small bowls as serving plates. When you dream about salsa, what does it look like? Are you picturing a tomato pureé with slices of onions and habanero chunks? What about cubed pieces of tomato with cilantro and squeezed lemon devouring it? We’ve all got different tastes and preferences, but unfortunately I am turning up a ‘blank’ on what positive quality this salsa had. Sure it’s always great to have something to drip your crispy chips in, and there’s no room to complain when it’s free chips and salsa. But… there is room to judge! The salsa would be good for pouring over the tacos you order at Vallarta’s, to add some flavor the the tacos were unfortunately lacking. But more on this later!

Chips and salsa provided at the table, once seated.

The drinks are served in huuuuuuuuuuge cups! I ordered water this time. (Hand for size reference…!)

Taco Tuesday deal? Hard Shells = 0.99, Soft Shells = 1.25

So as you can see, there is a TACO TUESDAY DEAL:

HARD SHELL TACOS are $0.99

SOFT SHELL TACOS are $1.25

Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to tell you what the protein filler options are for Vallarta’s Taco Tuesday deal. It wasn’t written anywhere and it wasn’t quite recited. So what to do in this case… Well, I started with the basics. I ordered two soft tacos, one chicken, and one steak. Our server told us that there was no taco per se, but wasn’t able to know its name in English. That was alright! I was adventurous enough, I gave it a try! So I ordered the “steak that’s not really steak”. When it came, I decided that it was pretty much barbacoa. Afterwards, I ordered a soft shell bean taco, and a (ground) beef hard shell taco. If you’re wondering why the title is the way it is… Let’s just get started on the reviews.

Shredded chicken soft taco with lettuce and cheese

Just a look at what a ground beef soft taco order looked like: beef, lettuce, and delicious cheese.

Barbacoa (?) soft taco with huge chunks of cheese and lettuce.

The chicken soft shell taco was extremely wet; pooling chicken sauce kept falling from the taco. It got a bit messy.

Bean soft taco order: Refried beans with lettuce and delicious cheese.

A closer look at the lettuce and refried beans…

Crunchy hard shell taco with beef; it was filled with cheese too!

A close look at the crunchy ground beef taco! Don’t be mistaken, that’s not a sign of tomatoes. I added some salsa to this one for some added flavor.

 

I’m not the biggest fan of crunchy tacos, but out of all the taco orders I put in, the hard shell ground beef taco was the best by far. It’s almost as if it were a nacho sandwich: tasty meat in the middle, with some greens (i.e., lettuce), and soft delicious cheese. I added salsa to this taco because, as it was my last one, and the soft tacos were nowhere comparable in taste to the hard shell taco. Added flavor with the salsa. And the cheese. But that was it. I think if the cheese were melted and oozed into the hard shell, it would have made the hard shell taco better; that way the cheese would meld with the ground beef.

Unfortunately, the soft tacos were missing so much. Missing flavor. Missing ingredients. Missing the pop that makes me crazy for tacos. Now, I don’t find taco bell terrible. It’s definitely a good alternative to other fast food chains, and a great place for when you need tacos fast. Taking a bite out of Vallarta’s tacos gave me a flashback of Taco Bell’s dollar tacos. You might be thinking, “Geez, Taco Bell’s tacos? That’s terrible. How can that even be edible?” Stop hating on Taco Bell. Their tacos are actually a great value, and even better when you want a late night taco snack. The Vallarta’s tacos were missing a depth of flavor that could have been fixed with the addition of some cilantro, tomato chunks, and even onion slices. This kind of perfect ratio makes the best taco; but it can’t have too much liquid. That was a problem with the chicken soft tacos: so much liquid! It made the taco shell fall apart, with drips falling down my hand and pooling in the foil below.

None of the meat was notable enough, except for the ground beef. This protein filler was probably the only filler that ended my taco night on a positive note, besides our lovely server. All in all, Vallarta’s is about as good as Taco Bell, which isn’t saying much, but isn’t quite a negative trait. The atmosphere and environment is very inviting, but if you’re coming for the Taco Tuesday night, Taco Bell would be just as safe of a bet.

To summarize my experience…