These Tacos Aren’t Loco
Posted by Erin Kampf on Monday, January 22nd, 2007Tags for this Article: bean, Commercial-Drive, mexican, refried, review, salsa, Taco Loco, tortilla
On my continuing quest for the best taco in Vancouver, I scored my first miss. A recent visit to Taco Loco (2651 Commercial Dr., Vancouver) proved to be a rather disappointing experience.
The restaurant is clean and oddly furnished with chairs that look like something from a four-year-old’s playhouse. Nothing remarkable, but acceptable in this quest that has taken me to a number of holes in the wall. The most disconcerting thing about the place itself is the fact that it was freezing in there. I realize it was a cold night, but turn on the heat! Make me feel like I’m actually in Mexico!
We tried to order chicken soup to warm up, but unfortunately they were sold out. So we both settled for a taco platter that came with three tacos (your choice of meat), rice and beans. I should have known when the guy asked me if I wanted a soft or hard “tor-TILL-a” that there was going to be a problem…
The tacos each consisted of one small (soft) corn tortilla, topped with refried beans, meat, salsa, cheddar cheese, sour cream and lettuce. Not exactly authentic, but typical fare for gringo food, which we so often find in Vancouver. The chicken was actually fairly tender and had decent flavour. The beef, unfortunately, was ground, which is never my preference, and seemed a bit dry.
But it wasn’t just that the food was lacking in authenticity. I can live with that. I even enjoy that sometimes. What really killed it for me was the refried beans. They added a weird, sweet mushiness to the taco. And the accompanying rice and beans that melded into a glutonous glob on my plate didn’t do much for me either. The lack of salsas or extra toppings to accompany our meal didn’t help to redeem it – there was no option to boost the mild flavours.
I have to say there are better taco places in town — even if you prefer yours gringo-style.
I often drive by and think I should try the place. Now I won’t.
Was the place at all busy? I often wonder when a quiet place tells you they are “sold out” of a menu item if it just means they don’t have the traffic and sales to bother making it in the first place. Another bad sign!
The place was dead. We were the only people in there on a Friday night at 6:30.
He said they were sold out because it was so cold (it was during that cold snap). But I thought it was odd that he accepted our order, poked around the kitchen (which is open & located in the dining area) and finally told us he was out. He seemed to be the only one working at the time. How did he not know he was out of soup?
Strange… I suspect something has changed, management-wise, since I was there last (in the summer). Which is too bad, because when I was there the food and service were excellent (definitely no refried beans!)
I will cross it off my list.
we had dinner there tonight. tacos were tasty, tamale was good but nothing was really hot, the sound of the microwave beeping really puts me off. by the time i was eating third taco(beef) it was falling apart. yes the place is cold.
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