Casa Alvarez

First off, I'm a little behind on updating the blogs. It turns out that I am much better at eating the tacos than writing about them, it seems!

Our tetrad was reduced to a trio last week when K-Dawg was sick. It was the Scotsman who chose Casa Alvarez at 1701 W. Wyatt Earp Blvd and I was pumped-in college, when I would return to visit D.C., I always looked forward to visiting "Casa" and I've had many good meals there. As time has passed, my love affair with Casa and smoldered (I forgot about her, actually!) and I was pumped to see if there was anything left between us...



When we got there, the waitress was prompt and polite. She hooked us up with some chips and salsa. Sarge commented that this was the first place we've been to so far that automatically brought us some water without us having to ask for something to drink.

The inside looked a lot like I remembered it-nothing too fancy but kinda homey, with some Mexican art and such. I was getting a "welcome back" vibe that was taking me back a few years...I could tell that Casa and I were not through with each other just yet.



The Scotsman
Chips and Salsa: 4 "The salsa is flavorful".
Chicken Enchilada Mexicana with Chili Relano: 3. "I liked it but it didn't have as much flavor as I prefer".




I enjoyed the chips and salsa (4). The chips are kinda plain but they've always been fresh tasting and the salsa is chunky with some good flavors.
I have always enjoyed the burritos here and this time had a Burrito Carnita. It was big, flavorful, and filled with tasty pork. I also really like the pico de gallo stuff. I give it a solid 4.




Sarge
Chips and Salsa: 4 "Lots of chopped up veggies in this salsa. I like that. It also has the right amount of hot.
#10 Chicken Enchilada: 3.5: Meatball soup is good. Would like more onions and veggies with my dinner plate though.


In conclusion, our scores would indicate that Casa Alvarez is one of the better Mexican places in Dodge City (for us at least!). One caveat: I don't think that they take credit or debit cards so be prepared!

El Zarape

El Zarape (at 1301 W. Wyatt Earp Blvd) has quite a pedigree. The parent eatery was in Garden City Ks and was a local phenomenon in Garden City for many years. I believe that the menu has some sort "family history" story on it...and I think I read somewhere that they sell their salsa at various retail outlets. With this in mind, when Sarge called us together to try this place out, we jumped at the chance.

Well, most of us did. K-Dawg bailed on us, mumbling something about "cleaning his garage over the Lunch hour" so we grabbed up our newest alternate, Pioneer Woman.




We walked past a rather anemic looking buffet with not much on it. At first I blamed it on the gaggle of Ford County Sheriff's employees that were sitting near it...but we noticed that very little food was coming out of the kitchen to the buffet table-so we ordered off the menu.

We promptly received some chips and salsa but most of us were not impressed with the offering-especially considering the hype surrounding their salsa. Our consensus was that the chips were plain and the sauce was too-I think someone made the comment "El Charros light". Personally, every single homemade salsa I've ever had has been better than this. I was about to really ratchet up my whining about the salsa when Pioneer Woman suggested I ask for some spicier stuff. I did, and they brought out some green stuff that was noticeably better.


Sarge:
Chips and Salsa: 3 "Good but nothing to write home about".
Chicken Taco Platter: 2 "Bland, old El Paso type food. Reminds me of stuff you'd expect to eat at a Church youth group thing".




The Scotsman:
Chips and Salsa: 3. "I like the chips and mild sauce".
Beef Combo: 3.5 "I don't mind Americanized Mexican food".

The Scotsman also decided to try some of my fried jalapeno and agreed that it was pretty hot!




I had the Un Sabroso, which was a couple of layers of tortillas with spiced pork inside and veggies and cheese on top.
Chips and Salsa: 3 (I would give the regular red salsa a 2 but the hotter green earned a 3)
Un Sabroso: 3
It should be noted that I've eaten here about four times prior and this is the best meal I've gotten here.




Pioneer Woman:
Chips and Salsa: 3 "Very similar to El Charro".
Enchilada Supreme: 2.5 "Tastes good but not remarkable".

Overall, I think that the hype and the story behind Zarape's worked against it. It's good but there is a lot of competition in Dodge for good Mexican food.

Tianguis

Taco Tour Tuesday Tetrad at Tianguis!

We're back! We are a week behind (didn't go last week because I got sick). This week we had a little last-minute drama when The Scotsman told us he had to go to another eating engagement so we had to tap our TacoTourTuesday talent pool so we could have our foursome. Luckily Qué was available and willing to risk everything in the name of adventure!

Today we braved the nasty December cold and rain to Tianguis, a Mexican grocery store at 512 S. 2nd. We were told by a reliable source (thanks Marshall Dan!) that we would find a restaurant at the back of the store where we could grab some Lunch.

As we walked in, we saw a clean store with a lot of interesting things to look at and buy. I was particularly impressed by the long meat counter and the variety of coconut candy. Yummers! It reminded me a lot of the Vietnamese grocery stores except that it didn't smell like fish and I knew what a few of the items were for!

Here's the inside of store.

At the back of the store we found a counter and, after asking, were directed down a featureless hallway to a blindingly white square shaped room. We grabbed Mexican drinks from the little fridge that was there and sat down, remarking upon the partially assembled barstools and the decor (ranging from a deer's head to a shelf with various forms of liquor and odds and ends on it). I was really pumped because this place had a really weird vibe going on: it was like we had fallen down the rabbit hole and this was going to be a cross between something on the Food Network and Alice in Wonderland.

After a bit, Sarge remarked that we didn't have any chips and salsa. I tracked down one of the employees and had a brief and confusing conversation. A short time later we received some chips.

A few minutes later, our food arrived and it looked pretty good. Qué's chicken enchilada had that powdery cheese that I'm getting used to seeing and K-Dawg and Sarge's mini-tacos looked pretty good too.

Green salsa and warm chips

Beverage line-up

Four asada mini-tacos

Qué chicken enchilada

Reviews (5 point scale)

Sarge had four mini asada (steak) tacos with a Mexican tamarind-flavored soda

Tacos: 3

Chips and Salsa: 2

Quote: "Very adequate. This qualifies as food. Too much cilantro".

Qué had a single chicken enchilada with a Fresca

Chicken Enchilada: 3.5

Chips and Salsa: 2

Quote: "Hey, this has carrots in it. The cheese reminds me of asiago. The enchilada has a kick! ".

Qué seemed pleased with her enchilada and mentioned that it cost a little over $2.

K-Dawg had four mini asasa (steak tacos) like Sarge had and washed it down with an alcohol-free sangria drink

Tacos: 2

Chips and Salsa: 3

Quote: "I'm disappointed. There just isn't much flavor."

K-Dawg and I both enjoy spicier food and I think we were both disappointed in the blandness of the cuisine.

I had an asada burrito with a mineral water

Burrito: 2 The flavor was okay in places but mostly bland. The overall product was warm but the refried beans inside were cold.

Chips and Salsa: 2 I was excited when I saw the green salsa but it was flavorless.

Quote: "I really like the grocery store. Didn't much like the restaurant".

Summary

I think that this place has the lowest review of any place we've visited so far, which was disappointing. I may try to talk the group into returning in a few months-I just can't believe a place this bizarre could be so...plain.

As we left, we bought a few things and a guy (manager? owner?) showed us some of his wares and offered us some samples of a fruity cheese thing that was pretty tasty. I think our consensus was that the restaurant needed some work but the grocery store is rockin'.

Taco Palenque

Sorry for the late (and somewhat short!) review...the holiday really threw me off my A-Game!

Taco Palenque is located at 307 Military in Dodge City, KS., snuggled behind the difficult-to-miss Lucky Liquor on Military and Ave B.

 

Here's a photo of the chips and salsa-very hot!

Here's a photo of the four tacos I ordered (four different types).

Taco Palenque was a bit more of an adventure than some of the other places we've been. The parking lot was replete with signs of previous Mexican eateries that had come before Palenque...and The Scotsman had already sworn that today would be his first day to try out tongue tacos! Then, when we arrived, the waitress had to get someone who spoke a little English. Soon we received our customary chips and (flaming hot) salsa...and ten minutes (and many burned taste buds) later, our waitress brought in a case of bottled water and my amigos got their water.

The inside decor was pleasant with a lot of yellow splashed everywhere. Mexican soap operas were playing from a high-mounted t.v. when we went in, which was a nice touch. When we paid, the cashier did not have change for a $20, which I found highly unusual.

On to the reviews

K-Dawg had three tacos (including tripe)

Tacos: 4 average

Chips and Salsa: 4 (hot!)

Quote: "I'm taking my brother here-he'd love this place".

Sarge had tacos too, including tripe and tongue)

Tacos: 4 (tongue taco was really good)

Chips and Salsa: 4 (tasty but too hot)
Quote: "This place seemed like the most authentic overall".

The Scotsman had tacos including tongue!

Tacos: 3 for the tongue, 4 for that marinated pork

Chips and Salsa: 4 (good but way too hot!)

The Scotsman came to play and showed us that he could down tongue tacos no problem. In fact, he seemed a little disappointed-said they were kind of uneventful.

I had four different tacos (steak, tongue, marinated pork, and something I can't recall). I washed it all down with an apple-flavored Mexican soda in a glass bottle.

Tacos: 3 overall

Chips and Salsa: 4 (hot like I like it!)

Two of my tacos were pretty good (tongue and marinated pork), one was okay, and the steak one was not good at all (slimy and greasy tasting).

Overall Tacotourtuesday gang would recommend this joint-with one dissenting voice (mine!).  I liked the atmosphere but felt like the food wasn't as good as other places we'd been to.

El Rinconsito De Chapala

Another week has passed and we set out to sample the cuisine at the 2nd Mexican place on our list: El Rinconsito De Chapala at 1601 W. Wyatt Earp in Dodge City. We lost K-Dawg due to his overbooked schedule but luckily we found a worthy substitution in "Duke", a friend of The Scotsman.

Though our quest has only lasted about two weeks, I can already see a change in our group. The Sarge walks with even more confidence. The Scotsman has confided in me that soon he will try a tongue taco. And my pants are fitting a little tighter than I'd like. But don't think of us as heroes-we're just four Anglos who will not rest until we have sampled every Mexican place in Ole Dodge City!

I was a little apprehensive about this place. I had not hear any buzz and this building has gone through several different restaurants in the last year or two-so many, in fact, that I thought it might be possible that it could change to a different place while we were actually eating there...

...so I took a close-up of the sign before I went inside!

Once we went inside, I appreciated the colorful decor-it was much nicer than I expected, clean, and spacious. The waitress spoke very good English and answered all of our questions. She also gave recommendations and provided really great service to us throughout our meal.

Here is a photo of the chips and salsa. Both were distinctive: the chips were triangular and very thick and hard and the salsa was very spicy!

Sarge ordered chili relano. Unlike many places that just give one, El Rinconsito doubles up!

Chili relano: 4 (good but not spectacular. She commented that the relano could have used a little more flavor.

Chips and Salsa: 3 (too spicy!)

I had Camarone de Diablo (or something like that). Think "shrimp in some bright red sauce). It was very good, though not nearly as spicey as I had been led to believe.

Camarone de Diablo: 3.5 (pretty good but I wanted those shrimp to pack a more fiery punch)

Chips and Salsa: 4 (very spicy. Would have gotten a 5 but those chips were a bit TOO crunchy!)

The Scotsman had two gorditas, filled with ground beef. Note I did NOT say he had "tongue tacos" but I'm sure he'll make good on his promise to try them before we get to the end of our quest.

Gorditas: 3.5 (not a big fan of corn tortillas)

Chips and Salsa: 4 (also thought the chips were too hard)

When Duke's meal came out, I had a little "Diner's Envy". He had ordered Carne Asada (or something like that) and I expected to see a small pile of meat strips that he would load into a tortilla along with some other stuff. Instead, he got a steak with a mound of reddish chorizo sausage and a side of cactus. Wow!

Carne Asada Steak Chorizo Plate: 4

Chips and Salsa: 3.5 (chips just too darn crunchy)!

Overall we all enjoyed the meals and were impressed with the service. The waitress also told us that they vary the salsa that accompanies the chips, which really makes me want to go back and see if they do! They also have three kinds of dessert, including some kind of of caramel apple and some flann.

Taco el Pastorcito

Since the last post, we have spent the week feverishly researching all of the Mexican places in Dodge City to eat. So far our list is over twenty and I would be surprised if it doesn't hit twenty-five or higher by the time we were finished.

For our first stop, we followed the suggestion of "Sarge" and decided to hit Taco el Pastorcito at 106 N. 2nd in Ole Dodge City. Currently occupying the building that used to be Mr. Burger and Thai Angel, Taco el Pastorcito has big shoes to fill-and our intrepid team of eaters were eager to find out if this taco place had what it takes!

To me, the atmosphere was kinda dull, though the place was clean. Our waitress was friendly and understood what we were saying-and gave me a recommendation on what I might enjoy eating. Notably, the menu had a breakfast section.

On to the reviews:

(Please remember our reviewers are professionals and use the 5 star system to review)

Sarge had chicken enchiladas. She made several comments about the (good) quality of the chips and salsa (and I agreed!).

Chicken Enchiladas: 3

Chips and Salsa: 4

The Scotsman had beef enchiladas (which due to my laziness {and the fact that it looked almost exactly like Sarge's chicken enchiladas}, I am not posting a photo. He also enjoyed the chili peppers that K-Dawg recommended which were very hot but very good!

Beef Enchiladas: 4

Chips and Salsa: 4

Chili Peppers: 5

K-Dawg ordered this torta. I cannot remember what type it was but it disappeared pretty quick so I think I'll try one next time.

Torta: 4

Chips and Salsa: 4

Chilis: 5

Above is what, for the majority of our meal, I thought of as "Ryan's Mystery Meat Thing". The waitress had recommended I order this but I could not understand her. Then, when it arrived, I kind of thought of it as a burrito that had ruptured or perhaps some new experimental thing. Though it looks kind of nasty, it smelled really good and after one bite, I was hooked!

Chicken Chipotle Burrito Thing: 5

Chips and Salsa: 4

Chili: 5

In my mind, there are three notable things about Tacos el Pastorcito:

1) The food is cheap. And pretty good.

2) I heard on good authority that "el pastorcito" means "the shepherd"-which is kinda cool in a weird way. They are the "Taco Shepherds" of Dodge City!

3) The salsa is sweet and chunky and the chili peppers are very hot and tasty!

Overall our trip to Taco el Pastorito was a success and I'll be going again soon. I do fear that we might have gone to one of the best places first-but we shall see what wonders Dodge City's Mexican eateries have in store for us!

Recon complete. Soon we march to Mexico...

...or at least the flavor of it! We four intrepid explorers have banded together...Four gringos going where no one has gone before: To experience the food of every single Mexican restaurant in Dodge City that we can find. Yes there are only four of us. Yes there are many of them. But we have over a hundred years of experience between us and we're ready to wrangle some tacos in Old Dodge City!