El Pollo Feliz

Today, three of us trekked to Water Street and S. 2nd (behind the tortilleria and vegetable market) to El Pollo Feliz-which my rudimentary Spanish translates to "The Happy Chicken". The waiter exited the Coachman Leprechaun and promptly came to our vehicle and took our order. It didn't take long because he explained that all they have (at that time, presumably) was "chicken meal: 1 chicken, drinks, salsa, and tortillas". I am sure I asked him to repeat that-I really do not recall ever having gone out to eat somewhere that only one item was available to order. I was a little disgusted by the lack of choice but intrigued at the same time.





K-Dog, The Scotsman and I decided to go for the only thing that they had on the menu: the $14 chicken dinner! As you can see, it came with some corn tortillas, some pink onions, and some tasty orange salsa-plus a chopped up grilled chicken and two generic sodas. K-Dawg ended up buying a Mountain Dew so our total price for this meal was less than $15.

K-Dawg: 4 (on our 5 point scale). "This is great chicken. I wish that they had other menu options -maybe next time".

The Scotsman: 3.5. "All they got is chicken. I like it but there's just chicken. Also not a big fan of corn tortillas. The lack of flour tortillas cost Pollo Feliz a star. That's how serious I am about this".

I did not have as strong feelings as The Scotsman about the tortilla types, but I did have some stress...the food was delicious and it was very fun to order from a Coachman Leprechaun but how do I review a place that only has one item on the menu? I settled on a 4-I cannot deny how tasty the grilled chicken was or how great a value it was .





We destroyed the chicken meal and it was really tasty.

El Charro

Today we embarked on a journey to El Charro, at 1209 W. Wyatt Earp. I would argue that El Charro is the "default" Mexican eatery in Old Dodge City, at least among those who count English as their native tongue. My family and I have frequented El Charro for years-I still remember coming here with my high school buddies in the late 1980's. I was excited to actively review it, to see how it compares with the "new contenders" and see if the old dog had any fight left in her.




I took a quickie photo of the menu-I've had many good experiences that began with seeing this big leatherish menu before me at El Charro.





Here is a photo of El Charro's chips and salsa. Their salsa is very heavy on the tomatoes and not too chunky. I have always liked it and believe it is probably El Charro's "signature" item.



I had a combination plate (#8). It consisted of rice, beans, chili relano, a taco and a cheese enchilada. El Charro's has really good consistency and the flavor and quality were similar to what I have had in the past. I struggled to rate El Charro's food-I've eaten here so many times and I have so many memories associated with the place.

Chips and Salsa: 3.5 Though it is not spicy and not chunky, it is flavorful and pretty consistent. Their chips and salsa are solid, though a bit overrated.

Food: I rate it a 3. The food is good but over the years I can't help but notice how the shrinking portions (combined with price hikes) lessen the El Charro's experience. It really isn't competitive with the newer Mexican places in town (where similiar or better quality can be had for less $). I believe I paid $14 or so for this plus coffee.





K-Dawg had some kind of taco special that included a sopapilla.
Chips and Salsa: 3.5
Food: 3.5. The food was good but I would have scored it lower if I included the price into the rating. It is good but not very authentic. They do have great service.




The Scotsman had an enchilada supreme and a taco.
Food: 4 I really like this-it is what I'm used to. It really satisfies my gringo palette.
Chips and Salsa: 4




Driz is our newest Taco Tour Tuesday adventurer. He had some kind of burrito and an enchilada.
Food: 4. The food is good but pricey. The beef is just ground beef-nothing fancy.
Chips and Salsa: 4


After we left I was struck with two feelings-a kind of disappointment that the cuisine at El Charro's is so expensive and that is isn't very spicy. The second was that full feeling that I get when I eat at El Charro's-like I'd just had something that hit the spot and that life is good.

Will El Charro make it into the winner's circle of the top 3 restaurants in Dodge City-not likely. Will it continue to be a frequently visited Dodge City icon-I hope so!

El Korita

El Korita's is located at 2001 W. Wyatt Earp in one of those buildings in Dodge City that seems to cycle through restaurants. It is best known for its ($1/item Mexican Buffet) which has that price on certain days/times.




This is the sign on the door-we had some enjoyment because the way it reads, one can make an assumption that the Real Mexican Food Buffet is on Friday, Saturday and Sunday-so we went on Friday. We were certain that, regardless of what they serve the rest of the week, we wanted "real" Mexican food so we came on Friday!

Sadly The Sarge has gone off to other adventures and was not able to enjoy the wordplay-I know she would have gotten a chuckle.


Here's the chips and salsa. If you go buffet, you won't have any waiting time and you'll probably be like us and not really get to try much of them because your food will be served el rapido.






I had green pork, a tamale, a chili relenao, some beans, and a Mexican Coke. It is very convenient to pick from the buffet line but (to me) the food here is bland and sometimes that stuff has been out a little too long. I give the food a "3" on our 5 point scale. It's not bad but there's nothing exciting here. The green pork smelled a little off to me but I enjoyed the pork tamale.
The chips and salsa are good as well but will not be enjoyed much because of the speed of the buffet. I rate them a 3 as well.




K-Dawg had rice water (his new favorite drink at Mexican places, I think), a chicken tamale, spicy steak, and chicken mole. He said that the spicy steak and chicken mole were best but commented that the rice water was a little heavy on the cinnamon. 4 of 5.
K-Dawg did not comment on the chips and salsa.



The Scotsman had red pork, a beef enchilada, a chicken tamale and a strawberry Mexi-soda. He said that the beef enchilada was the best and that he really liked it; he also said that the tamale was pretty good. He rated his meal a "4" on our 5 point scale. He REALLY liked the strawberry soda and I fear we may have created a monster here-future dinings will tell!
The Scotsman did not evaluate the chips and salsa.

Stay tuned for two new developments in Taco Tour Tuesday: The Quest For Taco Wagons and Who is the New Guy?