Señor T’s: Surprisingly Satisfying

Señor T’s: Surprisingly Satisfying
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.


 

Señor T’s

17641 Bruce B Downs Blvd, Tampa, FL 33647 ; (813) 972-4800

Sunday – Thursday 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM; Friday & Saturday 11:00 AM – 12:00 AM

Quality 7.5
Quantity 9
Price 9
Value (Average of quality, quantity, price) 8.5
Ambient 8
Accessibility 8
Vegetarian Options No
Tuesday Deal Taco Tuesday deal (4 tacos, side of rice and beans, chips and salsa $6.99)

 

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

This was unexpected. Completely, and totally, unexpected. On my way down the street, looking for the Taco Tuesday meal for today, I decided to check out the menu. Florida didn’t show us its best day: rain, humidity, mugginess, it was terrible. So crossing my fingers, I was hoping the menu would give me hope that they might have some sort of Taco Tuesday deal…

So I asked. And they did.

TACO TUESDAY DEAL? $6.99

  • 4 tacos (chicken or beef, soft or hard)
  • Side of rice (Mexican style or cilantro-lime style)
  • Side of beans (black beans, refried beans, or charro beans)
  • Chips & salsa

How awesome is that? Maybe one of the best values for the amount of food given.

The New Tampa area isn’t known for its ma&pa type joints. What you can really find in the area are a whole lot of chain retail stores. So finding Señor T’s was pretty surprising! Walking in, Señor T’s restaurant is pretty big inside. Open area, bright colors, it seems like a great place for drinks and appetizers, or a full on meal. Looking for family friendly? This seems like that type of place. The ambience was extremely colorful and bright, even with the dark, gloomy day outside. The huge booths were also great for any sized party. Señor T’s even had their own spicy sauces (which I admittedly was hesitant to try), in 3 spicy flavors. If you enjoy a good spicy kick, I’d add a wombo combo of these saucey bad boys onto your meal. (Your meal presumably being tacos, since this is Taco Tuesday and the deal is based on some tacos!)

We were served by an obviously new waitress–not that we had a problem with that–it just made the interactions that much more engaging. We got lucky in that when we checked the place out, it happened to be HAPPY HOUR. Until 7:00 PM Happy Hour has drink specials on Wells, Drafts, and Sangrias. Sure, I’d say a cold beer goes well with tacos, but I opted out for Red Sangria. Two sangrias for the price of one? And the price being $4.50, I was stoked. The deals just kept getting better and better at this place.

The sangria was interested when I tried it… I don’t remember the last time I had fizzy, carbonated sangria. Taking a look back at the menu, you can notice that they put Sprite in their mix among other things. There were also miscellaneous looking pieces of fruit (we found out later that they were chopped apples) in addition to the orange and lime slices. But, all in all, tasty sangria. Easy to drink. Not much of a buzz afterwards, if that happens to be your goal in ordering at Happy Hour.

Our chips and salsa finally came to the table with 2 different salsas. One was spicier with more liquid than the other mild, chunky salsa. Both were good, but I’m just such a bigger fan of chunkier salsa, whether it’s got a kick or not… The “spicy” salsa did indeed have a kick, but for added spice (for those hot tongue lovers out there) I’d add some of Señor T’s spicy sauces available at every table.

Now, if you’ve been following the blog, I guess I might seem pretty picky when it comes to chips. After visiting many taco joints, I realize that it actually is possible to screw up chips! They can be overcooked, overcooked, to greasy, not enough seasoning, etc. So to inform you of Señor T’s chips: they were cooked to perfection, but slacked in seasoning. No worries though, that’s an easy fix, you just grab some salt and pepper from the table and season it the way you like it! Unsure of whether or not it was unlimited, we tried to pace ourselves but they were just so tasty with the salsa, we devoured our appetizer before our tacos got there… and were happy to know that chips and salsa receive free refills. Woohoo!

So… then our tacos came.

Soft, 2 chicken, 2 beef, cilantro lime rice. One of us enjoyed refried beans, while the other enjoyed charro beans. With the difference in beans aside, our final impression seemed to alike: satisfied. happy. worth the moneyz.

A key point I make in this blog is noticing whether or not the tacos are soggy, or fall apart. And they didn’t! They held together nicely. The toppings in the tacos were all perfect, too. Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cheese! Very standard tacos, but it’s the deal that makes it so worth it. Now, the tacos were decently sized, however I tried adding rice and beans for even more flavor. But… they weren’t big enough to fit everything! Didn’t stop me from trying. Although toppings fell out, it was nice to have a huge mix of flavors.

The meat was maybe the lowest point in our taco experience. I was expecting ground beef, since the only options are chicken and beef, however it seemed to be pulled beef (barbacoa-like?). Good at first, then dwindles down to mediocre. The chicken didn’t seem dry due to the copious amount of toppings, so I’m not quite sure how to review it specifically…

Inside look…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

California Tacos: Happy Taste, Sad Wallet

California Tacos: Happy Taste, Sad Wallet
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.


 

California Tacos

1450 Skipper Rd. Tampa, FL 33613 ; (813) 971-8226

Sunday and Monday 11:00 AM-6:00 PM; Tuesday-Thursday 11:00 AM-8:00 PM; Friday and Saturday 11:00 AM-9:00 PM

Quality 9
Quantity 7
Price 6
Value (Average of quality, quantity, price) 7.3
Ambient 6.5
Accessibility 8.5
Vegetarian Options Yes
Tuesday Deal Taco Tuesday deal (two tacos, chips and a drink starting at $6.99) OR Student ID Discount

 

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

California Tacos got a big name for itself due to the quality of its delicious tacos and the fact that Guy Fieri from the Food Network visited and loved their fish tacos. Granted, I’ve never actually tried their fish tacos, and in today’s review you’ll see I tried something else. But once I try these supposed fantastic fish tacos I will amend this post!

California Tacos is pretty popular in Tampa–it’s a local joint and I never actually knew of its notoriety. Mentioned to a few coworkers, they immediately knew of it, although they were more familiar with the St. Pete location. With just a few joints in Tampa Bay, the locale I visited was on Skipper Rd. which is the original, apparently. The plaza it’s located in isn’t quite appealing… But California Tacos is located right on the end so it makes it easy to find and park (not that the plaza is poppin‘). The decor isn’t the best, with few tiki torches outside and the front desk (where to order) close to the parking lot. But, it being Florida, and the whole set up being outside, it’s actually quite nice when the weather suites so. I would say that they should spruce up their outdoor sitting with some plants surrounding the walls in order to take away from the concrete wall and building.

Actually, looking back at it, the best trait California Tacos has to offer customers is its huge menu selection and quality of the food. Ambient could be improved, but it’s actually nice that the whole location is outside (no indoor seating). Prices seem decent, until you get the add-ons charged.  If you go strictly for the quality in tacos, you’ll be happily satisfied. If you’re going for a great deal and want a big serving, take it with a grain of salt. But you should be happy to know this Taco Tuesday we actually got some Tacos!

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Taking a look at the images above, you can see the “scenery” is quite bare. Online they emphasize that it’s California Tacos To Go, so perhaps this locale’s focus is taking the food to go instead of sitting and grubbing.

When you walk up to the front of the hut, there is a huge panel for the menu. It’s a bit complex in the sense that there are many options and you don’t have the best idea on the size of the meals. With the Taco Tuesday deal, which starts at $6.99, two tacos, chips, and a drink are included. There is a variety of drinks to choose from (not fountain), and protein toppings for your tacos. Check out the menus online, or in pictures below!

As for what to order? Well, we got a Taco Tuesday order of pork and chicken tacos, and an order of carne asada (steak) and portobello mushroom (grilled)–ALL LOADED. Unfortunately, the best way to eat California Tacos would be to get them loaded. This means: cheese, sour cream, and guacamole! With these additions, the total comes out to approximately $9.50. Now this price seemed like a bit much to me for the amount of food you get. Comparative to other Taco Tuesday deals, this one is low on the ranking. Again, it’s important to know that the best aspect of California Tacos is the quality. They don’t push their “authentic Mexican” tacos at all, because they’re not. They are authentic California tacos. Nonetheless, still great.

We added pico de gallo with our food (as they were out of salsa) for $1.50. Can’t quite mess up pico! Chips on the other hand, were slightly overcooked and lacked seasoning (i.e., salt and pepper). How important are chips to your meal? The answer to this question might affect how you feel about California Tacos!

Tomato themed. Red.

Difficult to see in the photographs, the difference between the tacos is covered up by the amount of toppings from the loadedness. Then again, it’s this loaded taco upgrade that made the Taco Tuesday deal so ridiculously expensive. Ø

Perhaps the other California Tacos locales might be different in set-up and ambience, and I’ll be sure to check those at some point to make sure this review is valid for California Tacos in all of the Tampa Bay area, or for this specific location.

Enjoy!

 

 

Taco Rey: Cute Doesn’t Cut It

Taco Rey: Cute Doesn’t Cut It
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.


Taco Rey

1441 E. Fletcher ave. Tampa, Fl. 33612 ; (813) 605-3683

Monday-Sunday 9:00 AM-9:00 PM

Quality 9
Quantity 7
Price 7
Value (Average of quality, quantity, price) 7.7
Ambient 9
Accessibility 8
Vegetarian Options
Tuesday Deal No; 10% off with student ID

 

Tuesday, March 8

The day started off, not with Taco Tuesday, but with FREE PANCAKES. Today was IHOP’s yearly Free Pancake day (in order to raise money and awareness for charities). They ask for a donation when receiving the pancakes, so I gave my $3 and enjoyed my chocolate chip pancakes. Take a look (it helped me survive until dinner time!). They were slightly crispy, yet fluffy on the inside (AKA perrrrrrrfect).

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As for today’s Taco Tuesday, we took a trip over to Taco Rey, found on Fletcher near USF. At first, it doesn’t seem like the most appetizing place to eat, as most of the businesses in that plaza seem slightly run-down. You might even be skeptical of how your body might react to food from here. Don’t be. In fact, I gave Taco Rey an extra high rating in “ambient” because of the great mosaics on the wall outside, and inside, and the extremely lovely people working there. When you walk up to Taco Rey, you’ll be met with a bunch of signs, directing you to the food choices, neon lights, banners, and others.

When you walk in, Taco Rey is quite minimal. The kitchen and register is to the left, while the seating is to your right. However, what’s really nice about the inside is the murials/paintings on the walls that make you feel quite cozy and at home. Walking up to the register, I had no idea what to order. There are some pictures on the back wall, and even a small menu, but it could be slightly overwhelming. Unfortunately when I checked the menu on the website, tacos were $1.50. Which they aren’t in the shop. But they are similar to that price, so not much to worry.

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Taco Rey Mexican Grill

What’d we end up ordering?

  • 3 Corn tortilla tacos with steakgrilled chicken, and shrimp.
  • 1 Flour tortilla taco with barbacoa.
  • 2 Small quesadillas with steak, and chicken.

Maybe it was a slow night, maybe they were extremely sweet that day, but our interaction during our order was so great. They were very understandable with how gringo we were, and helped us with our order (on whether or not we would enjoy it). She had us pick a table to sit at and said she would bring out our order. Unknowingly, we also got free chips and salsa! The salsa was great, a perfect amount of kick to it and a great liquid-to-chunky ratio. The chips, on the other hand, were a little overcooked and not salted quite to my taste… but they were free! Can’t complain! We were still pleasantly surprised.

The food came next. The food came next! THE FOOD CAME NEXT!

I’ve gotta say that the portions were extremely small, which was a little disappointing. And since the corn tortilla tacos only came with cilantro and onions, I was a little worried. But then I took my first bite and I had a fresh taste of meat that was perfectly paired with onions. The corn tortilla could have been softer, but the crisp balanced against the sweet, soft onions so it wasn’t a ‘con’ either! I was also nervous about ordering the shrimp since I wasn’t quite sure how the food from this little shaq would be like… But they were nicely grilled and seasoned, and I might have even ordered 3 of just the shrimp!

The flour taco was definitely a good choice, as more toppings were included (yet they were more expensive); Lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and sour cream were included. However, with these tacos, there was not as much of a meat-only taste experience, but a full, robust flavor of a satisfactory taco.

The quesadillas are extremely cheesy, and very small, but nonetheless tasty. Toppings on the side (which they consider a small salad) would best be put inside the quesadilla, but you can do it either way. The worst part was that I kept needing more of this great Mexican food, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it because… there was RICE PUDDING. As I said before, every time rice pudding is available anywhere, I will absolutely be buying it. No matter how full I am and hate myself. No matter how gross it looks. No matter how much extra it is. I will be buying that rice pudding.

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Green habanero sauce, which looked too scary to try.

The rice pudding? Not so great. Unfortunately the rice was undercooked and vanilla stems were left inside (which, as a ‘pro’ could also mean that it was house-made). As much as I love rice pudding, I did not love this one. But the folks were so, so nice, I ended up taking it with me. I didn’t want to insult them! So the trash bin at the end of the plaza ended up meeting that rice pudding.

But don’t let the rice pudding push you away. YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY TAKE A VISIT.

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Taco Bus: A Local Fave

Taco Bus: A Local Fave
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.


 

Taco Bus

2320 E. Fletcher Avenue  Tampa, FL 33612 ; (813) 977-6808

Sunday-Wednesday 11:00 AM-4:00 AM; Thursday-Saturday 24 hours

Quality 9
Quantity 8.5
Price 6.5
Value (Average of quality, quantity, price) 8
Ambient 6
Accessibility 7.5
Vegetarian Options Yes (and vegan)
Tuesday Deal $5 burritos; discount off total with student ID

 

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Taco Bus. Even the name sounds promising for Tuesdays. The original Taco Bus, which was an actual bus, turned into a famous local favorite once it settled down on Hillsborough Avenue. When they finally opened a location next to the University of South Florida campus, of course college students went wild. The best part about Taco Bus being so close to a college campus is that they are open so late on the weekends. This is a college student’s dream, as they stumble from late night parties, or even late night studying. It’s got the fast-food feel without the guilt–and that’s what we love. Now I distinctly remember Taco Bus being open until 11 PM on week days except for Thursday-Saturday when it was open until 2 AM. However, it seems they’ve changed that! Check out their times now, they’ve even got a few days of full 24-hour openings! THIS IS WHAT TACO DREAMS ARE MADE OF.

The biggest problem when visiting Taco Bus is their variety… in that they have too much. So many fillings to choose from, so many options on how you want your food prepared. It’s really difficult deciding at first, and honestly, it can just be overwhelming. So take this advice: visit Taco Bus multiple times. But if this is your first visit, please read this post carefully to know what you’ll be getting yourself into (a local fave, and an explosion of Mexican flavors).

Driving down Fletcher, as blatant as the sign is, it might be easy to miss Taco Bus, so make sure you have your eyes open around Target/Walmart. It’s actually right next to ABC Liquor. The parking is pretty small, but you can generally find a spot. When you walk in, you’ll either be stuck in a line (if you go really late) or you’ll walk right up to the make-shift school bus built inside that is the front register. This is where you order. Cute, right? The original Taco Bus started as a bus, so I assume most locations still hold true to their foundations: school buses.

Their menu is also huge. Take a look at all of the proteins you can put inside your meal, the combinations, the meats, the veggies–so flexible. And they’ve got all the classics from tacos, to quesadillas, to burritos, and some authentic Mexican additions you might have never heard of, like the Torta which is essentially a Mexican sandwich. It’s great.

Now, unfortunately, Taco Bus has no Taco Tuesday deals (which always makes us very sad…) however, their selection and value is a good reason to stop by. Sure they’ve got the tacos, but since there aren’t any deals, we went on to order our two favorites: El Jefe, and the Loaded Quesadilla.

El Jefe: So what’s in this bad boy? As they say:

“A HUGE Burrito weighing in at over 2.5 lbs, this is the Chief!  Two tortillas, Double rice and beans, Cheese, Sour Cream, and Guacamole!
A portion of the proceeds are donated to LOCAL first responder charities!”

Trust me when I say, it can feed two people. But don’t share. Have it all to yourself. It’s great. You’ll hate yourself in the end, but love the deliciousness you’ve ingested. When you hold it in your hands, it’s as if you’re holding a small bear cub… that’s not full of honey, but tomatoes, cilantro, cheese, sour cream, quac, everything. There wasn’t even excess liquids that pull at the bottom of El Jefe which is one of the most important properties in any Mexican meal. Our El Jefe was filled with Picadillo (black Angus Ground Chuck in a tomato sauce with a hint of chipotle and cumin with diced potatoes and carrots) and tofu (grilled tofu strips marinated with northern Mexican spices. Great vegetarian protein source). I’d say they were both great, however just note that they will be split in half in El Jefe and not combined/mixed (separate).

Loaded Quesadilla: What makes this different from a regular quesadilla…?

“Two Large 12” flour tortillas filled with your choice of protein, quacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream.”

And you should DEFINITELY get the Portabella Ranchero filling (sautéed portabella mushrooms, fire roasted poblanos, potatoes, tomatoes, onions and cilantro in a spicy salsa). The pieces of mushroom are extremely large and juicy. This meal could probably fill only one, but it’s worth sharing since it’s so easily cut in pieces. (With perfect balls of sour cream, pico, and quac on top.)

And at the table you can enjoy the homemade salsas: red and green (what I call them). I find the red sauce to be tastier than the green, but if you’re more interested and concerned for spiciness, the green has a kick. And the ingredients are right there on the bottle!

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