Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Days 27 and 28

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

Friday, June 11
Friday I had my first item from the Ensaladas y Sopas (salads and soups) menu. The Ensalada Tacodeli (with chicken) is "A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and your choice of chicken or sirloin." I got it with the Jalapeño Ranch dressing. I'm glad I didn't get a side to go with it, because the salad was just about exactly the right size on its own. The chicken was tasty, but I think it would have been fine with just the veggies and saucy bits. I give it 0.8 moles.

Saturday, June 12
I stopped by the office yesterday for my headphones, so, of course, while I was in the area, I had to stop for some Tacodeli brunch. I had the Migas Royale Plate, "A heaping plate of our migas topped with queso, Monterrey jack cheese, avocado and pico de gallo. Served with Mexican mashed potatoes, refried black beans and tortillas." I'm glad the only other thing I have left from the breakfast menu is the Migas Taco, because I don't think I'll be ordering much non-migasy breakfast at Tacodeli anymore. The Migas Platter was super exceptionally tasty. I could try to describe it better, but you should really just go get it if you're hungry for breakfast. I give it 0.9 moles.

Summary:

• Ensalada Tacodeli (with Chicken): 0.8 moles
• Migas Royale Plate: 0.9 moles

I'm planning to try the Sopa Las Mañanitas tomorrow. What should I have with it?

1. Chicken: Frontera Fundido Chicken ("Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese.")
2. Breakfast: Migas Taco ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese.")
3. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Verde ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and topped with avocado.") (Also available with Spinach)
4. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Tacodeli ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and your choice of chicken or sirloin.") (Available with Chicken or Sirloin)
5. Ensaladas y Sopa: Avocado Salad ("For avocado aficionados! Fresh avocados with a dressing made of tomatillos, serranos, cilantro and lime.")
6. Ensaladas y Sopa: Small Side Salad
7. Ensaladas y Sopa: Sopa Las Mañanitas ("Cuernavaca inspired tortilla soup made with a homemade chicken broth, chicken, fresh onion, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, tortilla strips, avocado and lime.")
8. Sides: Chips and Guacamole
9. Sides: Chips and Queso
10. Sides: Roberto's Brazo-Fuerte Dip with Chips ("A power combo of queso, guacamole, pico and spicy ground beef.")

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Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Days 23, 24, 25, 26

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

I've been busy watching the Texas Stars try to lose the Calder Cup this week, but I've kept up my trek through the Tacodeli menu. I just haven't been so good at blogging about it. Here's what I tried the last four days, which gets me a heck of a lot closer to finished with the menu.

Monday, June 7
I started off the week with the second-to-last item on the Tortilla Creations menu: the Grilled Steak Wrap ("Grilled steak with lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese rolled in a 10" tortilla"). It was good, but Tacodeli can definitely do better. I give it 0.7 moles. Of the three wrap-ish items on the Tacodeli menu (El Dizzy Chicken Wrap, Grilled Steak Wrap, and Vegetarian Burrito), what I assume is healthiest (Vegetarian Burrito) was my favorite at 0.8 moles, and the probably-second healthiest was my second favorite at 0.75 moles. I paired the steak wrap with a side of Sauteed Veggie Mix, which, unsurprisingly based on those ratings, rated very high for sides at 0.5 moles (the sides are still just sides, so none of them have climbed much higher than that on the mole scale).

Tuesday, June 8
On Tuesday I had my second selection from the Torta menu. I had started with the Adobo Torta since I'd rated the Adobados tacos at 0.9 moles, so I decided to go to the opposite* end of the spectrum for my second Torta. As I suspected from the good-but-kinda-overpowering "black bean and jalapeño spread" that's on all of the tortas, the Pastor Torta tasted exactly as good to me as the Adobo Torta. Based on that, I'm giving the whole Torta menu 0.8 moles. I also tried the Pinto Beans for the first time, which I thought were a little tastier than the Black Beans but not quite as tasty as the Sauteed Spinach or Mexican Red Rice. That puts them at 0.35 moles.

* The actual opposite end of the spectrum is Borracho, but I couldn't bring myself to try another Borracho.

Wednesday, June 9
I stopped at Tacodeli yesterday morning for breakfast, rather than my usual lunch trip. I had my favorite breakfast taco yet: the Sirloin, Egg, and Cheese. There isn't much to say about it other than that it is exactly what it sounds like it is, which added up to 0.85 moles. Yum.

Thursday, June 10
Today I finished off the Tortilla Creations menu with a Tacodeli Quesadilla (specifically the chicken variety), described on the menu as "Our special veggie mix of carrots, onion, celery, red bell, poblano, zucchini, mushroom and cabbage sautéed to order with olive oil and sherry stuffed in a cheese quesadilla." All of that was delicious, but notice how they spent so much time describing everything other than the cheese? That's because this quesadilla was very light on the queso part. Again, it was good, but it wasn't as much as I think it could have been. That was fine, because I don't really want a ton of cheese right now, but I'm rating these things on their deliciousness. I give the quesadillas 0.7 moles. I didn't want much more than the quesadilla, but I had to try the Toreados, "Three grilled whole serrano peppers." These were very good for their size and price point, so I gave them 0.4 moles.

Summary:

• Grilled Steak Wrap: 0.7 moles
• Sauteed Veggie Mix: 0.5 moles
• All Tortas: 0.8 moles
• Pinto Beans: 0.35 moles
• Sirloin, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Taco: 0.85 moles
• Tacodeli Quesadilla: 0.7 moles
• Toreados: 0.4 moles

The list of remaining items is dwindling (especially if I only list everything once, instead of listing most things twice like I did last time I made this tally). What should I try tomorrow?

1. Chicken: Frontera Fundido Chicken ("Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese.")
2. Breakfast: Migas Taco ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese.")
3. Breakfast: Migas Royale Plate ("A heaping plate of our migas topped with queso, Monterrey jack cheese, avocado and pico de gallo. Served with Mexican mashed potatoes, refried black beans and tortillas.")
4. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Verde ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and topped with avocado.") (Also available with Spinach)
5. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Tacodeli ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and your choice of chicken or sirloin.") (Available with Chicken or Sirloin)
6. Ensaladas y Sopa: Avocado Salad ("For avocado aficionados! Fresh avocados with a dressing made of tomatillos, serranos, cilantro and lime.")
7. Ensaladas y Sopa: Small Side Salad
8. Ensaladas y Sopa: Sopa Las Mañanitas ("Cuernavaca inspired tortilla soup made with a homemade chicken broth, chicken, fresh onion, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, tortilla strips, avocado and lime.")
9. Sides: Chips and Guacamole
10. Sides: Chips and Queso
11. Sides: Roberto's Brazo-Fuerte Dip with Chips ("A power combo of queso, guacamole, pico and spicy ground beef.")

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Posted in: eat the menu,food,Tacodeli

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Day 22

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

I headed into the office again today to knock some stuff off my plate, so of course that meant knocking something off the Tacodeli menu onto my plate for lunch.

Today's selection was the Adobo Chicken Torta. The Tortas don't have much in the way of description on the menu, except for an over-arching description: "Panini toasted Mexican sandwiches served on authentic telera buns with black bean and jalapeño spread, lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese." Presumably the adobo description from the Adobados taco applies, "Our adobo is made from scratch using chipotle, ancho and guajillo peppers." I didn't like the Adobo Torta as much as its taco cousin, but it was still pretty good. I give it 0.8 moles.

I also knocked two more sides off my list today (by getting the +$1 Platter form of the Torta). The Refried Black Beans weren't better or worse than the Black Beans as far as I could tell, so I'll give them 0.3 moles like their cousin. The Mexican Red Rice, on the other hand, was tastier than the Steamed Brown Rice, so I give it 0.4 moles.

Summary:

• Adobo Chicken Torta: 0.8 moles
• Refried Black Beans: 0.3 moles
• Mexican Red Rice: 0.4 moles

That knocks three things off the too-long list of what I have left. What should I try next?

1. Chicken: Frontera Fundido Chicken ("Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese.")
2. Breakfast: Migas Taco ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese.")
3. Breakfast: Migas Royale Plate ("A heaping plate of our migas topped with queso, Monterrey jack cheese, avocado and pico de gallo. Served with Mexican mashed potatoes, refried black beans and tortillas.")
4. Breakfast: The Sirloin, Egg and Cheese ("Grilled sirloin, scrambled egg and Monterrey jack cheese.")
5. Tortilla Creations: Grilled Steak Wrap ("Grilled steak with lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese rolled in a 10" tortilla.")
6. Tortilla Creations: Tacodeli Quesadilla ("Our special veggie mix of carrots, onion, celery, red bell, poblano, zucchini, mushroom and cabbage sautéed to order with olive oil and sherry stuffed in a cheese quesadilla.") (Also available with Chicken or Sirloin)
7. Tortas: Pepito (sirloin)
8. Tortas: Pastor (pork)
9. Tortas: Ranchera (chicken)
10. Tortas: La Flaca (veggies)
11. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Verde ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and topped with avocado.") (Also available with Spinach)
12. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Tacodeli ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and your choice of chicken or sirloin.") (Available with Chicken or Sirloin)
13. Ensaladas y Sopa: Avocado Salad ("For avocado aficionados! Fresh avocados with a dressing made of tomatillos, serranos, cilantro and lime.")
14. Ensaladas y Sopa: Small Side Salad
15. Ensaladas y Sopa: Sopa Las Mañanitas ("Cuernavaca inspired tortilla soup made with a homemade chicken broth, chicken, fresh onion, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, tortilla strips, avocado and lime.")
16. Sides: Chips and Guacamole
17. Sides: Chips and Queso
18. Sides: Roberto's Brazo-Fuerte Dip with Chips ("A power combo of queso, guacamole, pico & spicy ground beef.")
19. Sides: Pinto Beans
20. Sides: Sauteed Veggie Mix
21. Sides: Toreados ("Three grilled whole serrano peppers.")

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Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Days 19, 20, and 21

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

Yesterday, I passed a turning point. I could have "finished" this Eat the Menu challenge by ordering the last taco on my list, but instead I ordered a "Tortilla Creation" and a side. In other words, I officially decided to fully Eat the Menu. I'll describe what that entails below, but first I should probably update you on

Thursday, June 3
Thursday I finally tried the two Mexico Cities: Mexico City Chicken and Mexico City Sirloin. They're described on the menu as "Grilled [sirloin or chicken] with diced onion and cilantro." Onions and cilantro are tasty and all, but, really, that's all? Yeah, that's all. The chicken was a little better than the sirloin in my opinion, but they were both basically just places to put salsa. I give them 0.65 moles and 0.6 moles, respectively. More interestingly, a friend had an order of Chips and Salsa Roja, which forced me to try it and discover that, despite my previous tests, I think I like Tacodeli's salsa roja better than the doña. It might be a bit much on a lot of the tacos, but it had a bold flavor that was excellent on chips. I give those chips 0.6 moles (vs. now-confirmed 0.5 moles for Chips and Salsa Doña).

Friday, June 4
That's brings us to Friday, the day I planned to finish. I walked in ready to order the Frontera Fundido Chicken (my last taco) and a Mole Taco Chicken to round everything out, but the Vegetarian Burrito ("Rice, beans and our special veggie mix") sounded too good to pass up. It was, indeed, pretty darned good. I would have given it 0.85 moles, but it had some structural integrity issues, so I'm knocking it down to 0.8 moles. Still a respectable score. I paired it with a small side of Sauteed Spinach, which was good for a side, but still just a side. I give it 0.4 moles. 

Saturday, June 5
I have some things to knock out in the office today, so I stopped in for a (supposed-to-be-rare-for-me-but-totally-not) Saturday Tacodeli lunch before heading into the office. I continued my trek through the Tortilla Creations, this time trying El Dizzy Chick Wrap, "Grilled chicken with lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese rolled in a 10" tortilla." It certainly wasn't bad, but I liked the vegetarian wrap better. I give El Dizzy 0.75 moles. I finished it off with some Mexican Mashed Potatoes, though, and those were even better than the Sauteed Spinach. I give them 0.65 moles.

Summary:

• Mexico City Chicken: 0.65 moles
• Mexico City Sirloin: 0.6 moles
• Chips and Salsa Roja: 0.6 moles
• Vegetarian Burrito: 0.8 moles
• Sauteed Spinach: 0.4 moles
• El Dizzy Chicken Wrap: 0.75 moles
• Mexican Mashed Potatoes: 0.65 moles

I have these left (note: I'm not going to try the Borracho torta). What should I try next?

1. Chicken: Frontera Fundido Chicken ("Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese.")
2. Breakfast: Migas Taco ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese.")
3. Breakfast: Migas Royale Plate ("A heaping plate of our migas topped with queso, Monterrey jack cheese, avocado and pico de gallo. Served with Mexican mashed potatoes, refried black beans and tortillas.")
4. Breakfast: The Sirloin, Egg and Cheese ("Grilled sirloin, scrambled egg and Monterrey jack cheese.")
5. Tortilla Creations: Grilled Steak Wrap ("Grilled steak with lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese rolled in a 10" tortilla.")
6. Tortilla Creations: Tacodeli Quesadilla ("Our special veggie mix of carrots, onion, celery, red bell, poblano, zucchini, mushroom and cabbage sautéed to order with olive oil and sherry stuffed in a cheese quesadilla.") (Also available with Chicken or Sirloin)
7. Tortas: Pepito (sirloin)
8. Tortas: Pastor (pork)
9. Tortas: Ranchera (chicken)
10. Tortas: Adobo (adobo chicken
11. Tortas: La Flaca (veggies)
12. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Verde ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and topped with avocado.") (Also available with Spinach)
13. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Tacodeli ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and your choice of chicken or sirloin.") (Available with Chicken or Sirloin)
14. Ensaladas y Sopa: Avocado Salad ("For avocado aficionados! Fresh avocados with a dressing made of tomatillos, serranos, cilantro and lime.")
15. Ensaladas y Sopa: Small Side Salad
16. Ensaladas y Sopa: Sopa Las Mañanitas ("Cuernavaca inspired tortilla soup made with a homemade chicken broth, chicken, fresh onion, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, tortilla strips, avocado and lime.")
17. Sides: Chips and Guacamole
18. Sides: Chips and Queso
19. Sides: Roberto's Brazo-Fuerte Dip with Chips ("A power combo of queso, guacamole, pico & spicy ground beef.")
20. Sides: Mexican Red Rice
21. Sides: Pinto Beans
22. Sides: Refried Black Beans
23. Sides: Sauteed Veggie Mix
24. Sides: Toreados ("Three grilled whole serrano peppers.")

Wow, that's a lot left! What have I done?

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Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Days 17 and 18

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

It has been a busy, busy two days. Fortunately, both of those days featured tasty tacos, so overall they were good days.

Tuesday, June 1
Yesterday I decided to knock two pork tacos off my list: Cochinita Pibil and a "safe" Mole Pork. Surely mole is mole is mole, right?

The Cochinita Pibil is described as "Yucatecan style roasted pork marinated and cooked in citrus and achiote. A unique tropical flavor garnished with pickled purple onions and serranos." First of all, holy crap, "Yucatecan" is actually a word. I thought sure that was a typo. Second, this taco was really simple, but also pretty darn good. I give it 0.75 moles.

After that pleasant pork experience, I was really looking forward to the Mole Pork. I love mole, so of course the Mole Taco Pork ("Shredded pork smothered with a traditional, made-from-scratch mole. Garnished with cilantro, onion and crumbled queso fresco.) was going to be even better, right? As it turns out, not so much. This didn't taste nearly as awesome as the Mole Taco Chicken or Mole Taco Sirloin. I mean, clearly, I just don't like pork very much. I give this one 0.7 moles.

Wednesday, June 2
Today I had to get my Tacodeli to go, which means my tacos didn't look nearly as yummy as they would have otherwise. That's Puerco Verde on the left and Frontera Fundido Portabella on the left.

Puerco Verde is "Tender pork shoulder simmered in a delicious tomatillo salsa and topped with queso fresco, cilantro and onion." As pork tacos go, this was pretty good. It wasn't exciting, but it was solid. I give it 0.8 moles.

The Frontera Fundido Portabella, "Oven roasted portabellas with sauteed pepper and onion strips and glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese," just looked delicious, and it lived up to its appearance. To be fair, I'm hobbit-like in my love of mushrooms, so it's no surprise that I loved this thing, but wow was that good. I'll definitely be getting this one again. I give it 0.9 moles.

Summary:

• Cochinita Pibil: 0.75 moles
• Mole Taco Pork: 0.7 moles
• Puerco Verde: 0.8 moles
• Frontera Fundido Portabella: 0.9 moles

My list of remaining tacos is dwindling. I should finish everything but the breakfast tacos over the next two days, but the odd number of remaining non-breakfast tacos mean I'll either repeat a taco or try something else from the menu. Any suggestions?

1. Beef: Mexico City Sirloin ("Grilled sirloin with diced onion and cilantro.")
2. Chicken: Frontera Fundido Chicken ("Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese.")
3. Chicken: Mexico City Chicken ("Grilled chicken with diced onion and cilantro.")
4. Breakfast: Migas Taco ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese.")
5. Breakfast: Migas Royale Plate ("A heaping plate of our migas topped with queso, Monterrey jack cheese, avocado and pico de gallo. Served with Mexican mashed potatoes, refried black beans and tortillas.")
6. Breakfast: The Sirloin, Egg and Cheese ("Grilled sirloin, scrambled egg and Monterrey jack cheese.")

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Posted in: eat the menu,food,Tacodeli