Mama's Texican Kitchen

First, I should note; Mama's Texican Kitchen is a sit-down restaurant. Thus, they fall into a different category than most of the places I have reviewed thus far. 

That said, Mama's offers a great variety tacos, and the ones I tried were delicious!

Atmosphere/Service: 4.5 (out of 5) 
Taco Quality: 4.5 (out of 5)
Price: 4 (out of 5, 5 being relatively pricey)  
Overall Score: 4 

When I visited Mama's, there was a live band playing outside. Though they didn't play anything spanish/latin/mexican sounding, I thought they were great...which is part of why I've given such a high rating for atmosphere/service. (The other reason, is that I was indeed given quality and speedy service.)

I don't usually don't include menus in my reviews, but this time I'm making an exception just to show the wide variety of tacos available.

Mama's Texican Kitchen Menu
Source: https://www.facebook.com/mamastexicankitchen
Image copyright Mama's Texican Kitchen. The author of this blog is not in any way associated with the owners/management of this establishment.

I ordered one Happy Maddie Taco and one Old Town Taco. Both were good, but the Happy Maddie was better. Both were well seasoned and fresh...no complaints here.

As the menu indicates, most tacos are $3.50 each. That being said, Mama's is a sit-down restaurant, and you do get "free" chips and salsa as well.

If you get a chance, I recommend Mama's Texican Kitchen...especially if there's a band playing outside!

Taco Casa

And now for...Taco Casa!
 
Atmosphere/Service: 4 (out of 5) 
Taco Quality: 4 (out of 5)
Price: 3 (out of 5, 5 being relatively pricey)  
Overall Score: 4
 
Taco Casa and the previously reviewed Taco Bueno are both fast-food type taco chains in the Fort Worth area. That said, as far as I'm concerned, the similiarity ends there!

In my mind, Taco Casa succeeds where Taco Bueno falls short. I ordered the Super Taco and the Taco Lite. (Don't let the name of the latter fool you, there's nothing 'lite' about this taco. The 'lite'  just indicates that the taco comes with a corn shell rather than one made from flour.) Both of these included well seasoned ground beef, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes...and both were delicious!

To be honest, the decor of Taco Casa reminded me of 'Los Pollos Hermanos' (as seen on the television series Breaking Bad). Almost everything in the restaurant seemed to be either bright orange or yellow, except for some paintings and other items on the wall to further the decor. It may not be true to Mexico, but this makes for an interesting and unique locale.

The prices at Taco Casa were reasonable; $5 here will get you two delicious tacos of decent size.

In summary, my Taco Casa experience was great!

Maybe when my current lease is up, I'll see if I can start renting a Taco Casa for myself!

Taco Bueno

Some of you have pointed out that its been a while since I last posted. DO NOT FEAR--AJ's Fort Worth Taco Blog is still alive and well! 

To prove it, I'll be posting a few reviews today...playing catch-up!

First up...Taco Bueno, 7057 Ridgmar Meadow Rd, Fort Worth, TX 76116.

Atmosphere/Service: 2 (out of 5) 
Taco Quality: 2 (out of 5)
Price: 3 (out of 5, 5 being relatively pricey)  
Overall Score: 2

Taco Bueno did not live up to its name. That is, the Tacos there were not what I would consider 'bueno'. I didn't think there was anything special about the tacos...I found the food bland and unimpressive.Further, the atmosphere was just as bland.

As far as I'm concerned, you might as well just save a few bucks and head to Taco Bell.

The restaurant's slogan gets it right, "you deserve bueno". The only thing is, the slogan fails to mention you'll have to find it somewhere else.

Fuzzy's Taco Shop

Next up, Fuzzy's Taco Shop, located at 6353 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76116!
 
Atmosphere/Service: 3 (out of 5) 
Taco Quality: 4 (out of 5)
Price: 3.5 (out of 5, 5 being relatively pricey)  
Overall Score: 4


Whoever 'Fuzzy' is, he (or she) makes some good tacos! I ordered a taco plate, which came with a choice of two sides. (I chose rice and beans, both of which were pretty good.) Fuzzy's tacos consist of a tortilla, your choice of meat, lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, and feta cheese. That said, if you like feta cheese, chances are, you'll love Fuzzy's. (If not, Fuzzy's might not be the place for you.) And, in addition to the cheese, the other taco components were delicious!

Fuzzy's Taco Shop has a bit more atmosphere than say, Taco Cabana, though the theme is more modern punk/surf than southwest.

The wait here, clocking in at around five minutes, was a bit longer than typical for 'fast food style' taco shops, but I didn't take issue with that. Also, the price was reasonable, I paid between 6-7 dollars for the plate.

To summarize my review I made the following chart.

That's all for this review! Enjoy your tacos!

Taco Cabana

Let the adventure begin!

I recently visited Taco Cabana, located at 6600 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, TX.

Here's my review--

Atmosphere/Service: 2 (out of 5)
Taco Quality: 3.5 (out of 5)
Price: 3 (out of 5, 5 being relatively pricey)
Overall Score: 3

I ordered the street taco plate, which consisted of three soft tacos, rice and beans. These tacos didn't come with cheese, just meat and a lettuce/cilantro/tomato mix. The meat was very well seasoned and with the other toppings, I didn't feel that the lack of cheese was a negative here...the tacos were pretty good.
However, the place didn't have much atmosphere. Other than a few pieces on the wall it was a pretty typical fast food resturaunt. (I was sitting indoors--they do have a patio.) That said, my food arrived hot in less than 4 minutes, which I considered a plus.
The price was inline with what I would expect for this type of restaurant; I paid between $6 and $7 for my three taco plate.

In short, I enjoyed the tacos at Taco Cabana, but the overall experience wasn't anything out of the ordinary. 

Stay tuned for my next post--I'm planning on getting some more tacos this weekend!

 

AJ's Fort Worth Taco Blog Begins

My name is AJ and I like tacos.

No, this isn't the beginning of a taco addicts anonymous (TAA?) meeting.

It is however, the beginning of what I hope will be a great taco blog! 
I'm on a mission to find the best taco place in the Fort Worth Area. As the map below illustrates, this might take a while.

Taco Places in the Fort Worth Area [Image credit to Google]

 As I visit various taco places, I will share my reviews on this blog. I rate on a 5 point scale, based on the following criteria:

• Atmosphere/Service: A 1 means 'Seemed like I was at McDonald's whereas a 5 means 'the restaurant door is a portal to Mexico (or more generally, the southwest)'

• Taco Quality: Simply, on a scale from 1 to 5, 5 being the best, how delicious were the tacos?

• Price: Since tacos usually aren't very pricey, this metric is more relative than absolute. Here a 1 means 'as cheap as Taco Bell' and a 5 means 'tacos priced for a fancy restaurant'

• Overall Score: A combination of the criteria above

 You might ask me, "what are your reviewing credentials? What gives you the right to judge taco places? How do I know you're not a paid advocate for the taco industry?"

Okay, so maybe no one was really going to ask me those questions. But I'll answer anyway.

My reviewing credentials: I like tacos!
What gives me the right to judge taco places: The US Constitution (specifically, the first amendment)
Proof I'm not an industry advocate: Come on, we're talking about tacos here! (Or at least I am.) But seriously, eating and writing about tacos isn't my day job, just something I enjoy....

...and I hope you'll enjoy reading about my experiences too!

-AJ