#35 Another Taco Joint

Rusty Taco

Plano, TX

Rusty’s opened a couple of months ago near my house. Do we really need another taco joint in the neighborhood? According to the daily swarms, the answer is YES!

I have to admit that I was reluctant to visit. When I think of rusty, I think of tetanus shot. Who wants to think about tetanus in conjunction with their gastronomical experiences?

To be fair to Torchy’s, I also visited Rusty’s on three separate occasions. My son thinks Torchy’s is better, but that’s only because of their special soda machine. Given the large surrounding residential population and abundance of retail stores, as well as their 5 mile proximity, I don’t think they are in direct competition with one another. Their menu offerings are also different.

Torchy’s has an edge in terms of marketing (catchy names like The Republican or The Democrat, as well as a Devil icon as a logo), but Rusty’s is cheaper and has friendlier service.

On my three visits, I sampled the chipotle black bean taco, the fish taco, the fajita chicken taco and a breakfast taco with eggs, cheese and chorizo. All were good and priced at $2. Hands down the best is the black bean taco sprinkled with cojita cheese and pico de gallo salsa. The chipotle flavor was pronounced, but not overpowering. My egg taco had cheap cheddar cheese—not the best choice to balance the dominant chorizo flavor.

There’s a margarita machine that boasts $5 margs made with cheap tequila. I haven’t been brave enough to try one. Cheap tequila today produces powerful headache tomorrow. Guac is nothing to write home about, but it was edible.

Best part—kitchen is open and you can see the folks make your food. This ensures that no one is spitting in your food or putting rust granules in your tortillas. Thus tetanus is avoided.

#33 So NOT a chain

Paco & John Mexican Diner
Ft. Worth, TX

It's becoming more and more difficult to find a non-chain Mexican restaurant. Even the family-owned restaurants open multiple locations. As a friend reminded me, there's a reason for that. Usually it is because the restaurant has a good business model (good food, service, atmosphere, etc). My friend who introduced me to the Revolver Taco Lounge suggested Paco & John's. A casual breakfast and lunch place started by two friends, the menu offered some different options like roasted chicken torta and red snapper tacos.

The special soup of the day was carrot and anise. That sounded too interesting to pass up. It was the most brilliant buttercup yellow. No way plain 'ol orange carrots made that color. I didn't taste anise as in the fennel bulb, licorice-flavor. The taste was much more subtle. I asked the server who revealed that the hidden secret was STAR ANISE. Star fruit. What an unusual and delightful combination.

I then ordered one veggie taco and one snapper taco. The corn tortillas were fresh and didn't fall apart like the store-bought brands. I'm usually disappointed with veggie tacos, which sometimes feature the fajita left-overs (onions, peppers and an anemic looking squash parts). These veggie tacos included the requisite zucc & squash of the non-anemic variety, corn, mushrooms and spinach. Light on seasoning--heavy on freshness. Spicy green tomatillo sauce and guacamole added the perfect finish. The snapper was light, delicate, fresh and flaky. Snapper can be tricky. If it's old or overcooked, it's tasteless. I'm  tired of tilapia tacos and refuse to eat catfish (which eat toxic river sludge), so yea! to snapper. Hope it doesn't make its way into the overfished category anytime soon.

Friendly service and reasonable prices.

#34 Swoon 2 or Blood Sugar High?

  Los Cucos
Dallas Parkway
Plano, TX

I pass by this restaurant 3x/week going 70 on the Tollway. It never caught my attention. Who wants to go to the restaurant called THE CUCKOOS? I equate cuckoo with dodo and look what happened to that species.

Also as much as I pretend, I'm not immune to popular culture.  ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST had a profound, harrowing and lasting impression on me. Not a good reference when embarking on a culinary experience.

Had to drive the son for a weigh-in last Friday night. He spent 3 weeks eating only lean meat, veggies, fruit and non-fat dairy to make weight. Since I am the chef of the household, I ate that too. Both of us needed an intense infusion of Mexican.

Given those circumstances, I'm not sure either of us can be particularly objective. We were both ravenous and majorly craving salt, guac and cheese. Despite my initial misgivings about the name and number of locations--HEY! Next time you visit Salt Flats Utah, you can eat Los Cucos, I was pleasantly surprised. While it didn't match my Benitos SWOON, I was elated to get my blood sugar up to normal levels.

Reasons to visit Los Cucos:
1. MOLE!!!
2. MOLE!!! Not as good as Benitos, but rich and chocolatey, slightly sweet. Not  enough chilies or complexity for me.
3. SPECIAL ORDER--they made spinach enchiladas w/ mole just for me. KUDOS for special order accommodation.
4. SALSA--not just any salsa--warm roasted chili salsa. I wanted to drink it by the glass. Also they had a special tomatillo salsa with cilantro, jalapeno, dollop of sour cream and the secret ingredient--AVOCADO. It was spicy, creamy and flavorful. Unlike anything else I've tasted. Hubby commented--this is the only guac I've EVER liked. Even though it wasn't guac, that's saying something.
5. Beef fajitas--marinated, tender, spicy flank steak. Had a taste--melt in your mouth. Unlike the norm dry tough beef usually served with Mexican fare.
6. Fish Tacos--Ummm. flaky, fresh, grilled. Not overly spiced.
7. MARIACHI BAND--somehow I missed this. They were in the other dining room.
8. Friendly attentive service.

Reasons to stay away:
1. Bad halloween decorations
2. Scary goldfish bowl sized margaritas with beer chasers (I'm guessing this will be an enticement to some)