I wanted this to be better. I SO wanted to say good things... Alas....
We walked into the seemingly dormant restaurant at 1-ish in the middle of a Tuesday lunch service to this rinky little place. The nice women behind the counter welcomed us promptly and told us to sit where we'd like (though they looked surprised that we came in).
The decor is seriously dated and tired looking with some anecdotal mexican-style pottery hanging around the two dining rooms, and christ on crutches someone make their rental owner or whomever needs to be called.... TURN ON THE A/C!!! Management? Landlord? Anyone? Have mercy on the staff. I realize its not exactly Memorial day, but today was balls hot and there are no windows in the restaurant, only the front door and the back screen door tucked away by the restrooms. Though the back door was open, it helped very little.
Foodstuffs were adequate though I was thoroughly unimpressed. Large portions and excessive cheese can't make up for the fact that I could've made it all at home, and probably better.
We started with a guacamole salad, at $6.95 was definitely not plain mashed raw avocado. They put salt in it. They served it with tortilla chips and some salsa that lingered from our table chips came in handy then, though the salsa itself was extremely thin and lacking in flavor.
I ordered beef stuffed sopapillas X-mas style with rice and beans on the side. At first I was excited because the red chile I sampled seemed hearty and hot, but I quickly realized that it must've been the good bit that fell off the back of the mixing spoon or something. Green chile was ok, not hot. Had beef in it... almost redeeming. I found the sopapilla (or some other bread-like sponge) at the bottom of a bite. I'm all for smothered food, but not unrecognizable food. The beans suffered some weird fate underneath a 1/2" thick pile of melted cheddar jack next to yesterday's tomato soup/rice. $7.95. I enjoyed the lemonade.
My husband ordered a #4 combination platter with a taco, Chile Relleno, and could've been an enchilada, but we couldn't find it under the cheese and mush. For a self declared "cheese narf", even my husband called it quits halfway though the relleno sighting too much cheese and inability to find "the body" of the chile. He enjoyed his soda. $9.95.
The kids apathetically chanted "tortilla" declaring their hunger pains in one word spurts of impulse, so we ordered them the kids menu bean burritos with one side (papitas) and you guessed it, lemonade!
Meal, $4.95, drink separate charge... but I didn't pay attention.
The papitas worked for the boys, they ate a solid 1/8 of them. They picked the melted cheddar cheese off the burritos that were so full of beans it had to be cut up, as the tortilla has given up its will to hold it together.
Redeeming factor: We had the world's coolest waitress. She was so awesome, we almost didn't wince at the $45 bill for a meal we MAYBE ate 1/4 of the food. She was kind, genuine, funny, efficient, didn't get too chummy with me but knew my kids names by the time our meal was over, then asked us if they could have a lollipop which she magically lowered from the hidden (or maybe I'm blind) hot air balloon that drops from the corner by the front door at the employees convenience.
I don't like giving bad reviews. Having said that, I can't lie... we will not be returning to Taco Sal's. Its a cute place with potential to be really cool, but no heart to drive the beat, I fear. read more