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'.