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?

Tacos Jalisco

Jalisco Mexican Restaurant (at 2601 Central in Dodge City) is better known as "that Mexican place in the mall" or to some "that Mexican place with the really good margaritas". I had heard that they have a similar (the original, I guess) in Hays, KS but I am not certain.




The Scotsman
Chips and Salsa: 4 "The Chips are warm-I like that".
Chimachanga Plate: 4.5 "This place is very good-not too spicy. I really like the cheese sauce and I will order this again".




I had the shrimp fajitas. The fajitas were okay but I could have used a little more flavor from the shrimp. It came with a lot of goodies (foil wrapped tortillas, sizzling meat and veggies, beans, guacamole, etc)...but I felt like the flavor just wasn't there. I like it spicy and this place is clearly more geared for folks that prefer tame foods like mashed potatoes, white gravy, and corn. I score it a 3.
Chips and salsa: 3. They were decent but nothing remarkable.



K-Dawg
Chips and Salsa: 3 "It's average".
Burrito Deluxe: 3 "I've had better at this place but this burrito is a '3'. I am not a fan of their hamburger meat and this was full of it".



Sarge:
Chips and Salsa: 4.5 "This is my kind of salsa. It is not too hot and I can taste the veggies".
Tamale Deluxe Meal: 4. "The flavor is good but I really don't like the burger".

This place has a lot of fans and good service. Additionally three out of our four either really liked their meal or have had really good experiences here in the past. In fact, if K-Dawg ordered something different and I wasn't present, I suspect that Jalisco would have scored as one of the best Mexican places in town-so if you are a fan of a mild Mexican food, I think Jaliscos would be a great choice.

Tacos Jalisco

Tacos Jalisco is located at 412 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd. The metal building is a stark contrast from the tiny little run-down shack that was Tacos Jaliscos a few years ago...and it is one of my favorite Mexican places in Dodge City. I expected it to score well compared to the other places in town and it did not disappoint.



The chips and salsa were promptly delivered. Tacos Jaliscos differs from other Mexican places in Dodge in that it has a little "relish bar" where they have pickled spicey peppers mixed with carrots and onions and such. It's spicey and "dilly" but pretty good. They also have radish slices, which I find help cool things off.


Sarge
Chips and Salsa:5. Keep in mind that the Sarge never gives "5"'s. She's tough that way. She said "the interplay of the various flavors is great". She never talks that way-I almost reached out to tear off her "Sarge Mask" and see who was posing as Sarge but then I remembered that if it WAS Sarge, she would probably execute me-so I let it slide. Suffice it to say, she liked the chips and salsa.
Flautas: 4. "They are nice and crunchy-and I like the garnishes".


I too enjoyed the chips and score them a solid 4. The salsa is flavorful and a bit spicy and the chips are always good.
My meal was a pork torta (sanwich) and a carne asasa taco (combo plate). The combo plate was really good (4) but I would have preferred a little more of the cheese covered refried beans. Every time I go to TJ's the bean portion shrinks a little. Are they trying to tell me something?

I also washed it down with a Mexican-Coke-In-A-Bottle and some flan (kind of a caramel-butterscotch custard). When I was finished I wanted nothing more than a long nap!


K-Dawg
Chips and Salsa: 4. "I love their salsa".
Hot!Hot!!Hot!!! Torta: 4. K-Dawg ordered the Hot!Hot!!Hot!!! Torta (sandwich) after I assured him that I had ordered it before and lived. I may have exaggerated some of that (I don't remember my torta being 100% immersed in hot sauce and delivered in a lake of fiery goodness). Watching K-Dawg's face turn bright red and tracing the beads of sweat as they rolled down his forehead provided great entertainment to all of us.


This is what remained after K-Dawg called it quits-he did some major damage on that thing! "It was very good, but MAN it is hot".



Pioneer Woman:
Chips and Salsa: 5. "It has the right flavor, seasoning, and cilantro".
Chicken Taco meal: 4.5 "It was pretty good but I was hoping for a fried shell. Good flavor, though."

There you go-the lowest score on our foursome was a 4-making Tacos Jalisco one of the best Mexican food places that we've found in Ole Dodge City yet!

Mariscos Nayarit

Mariscos Nayarit is located at 509 N. 2nd, hidden away upstairs in the old Eckles building. Several of our intrepid band used to eat here a few years ago but we all kind of forgot about it. Mariscos Nayarit's lack of signage and advertising probably contribute to this...but I'm really glad we rediscovered it because we all had a really good meal here.

We entered the building, scaled the stairs, and found ourselves in a more or less empty eatery. A waitress came out and immediately got us going on our orders. K-Dawg talked me into going "off the reservation" a little on my ordering-more on that later. I am starting to think he's a bad influence, though.

Sarge remarked (on the eclectic decor) that "this place has strange artwork. Reminds me of some random yard sales". The service was good, though, and (unlike a couple other places we've been), was a quiet and relaxing dining experience.



Here are the chips and salsa. Chunky!



Sarge:
Chips and Salsa: 4. "A little hot but has personality. Also big chunks. I like big chunks in my salsa."
Chili Releno: 4.5. "Excellant. Really good chili relano."



The Scotsman:
Chips and Salsa: 4."Good sauce. I like it."
Beef Enchilada and Pork Tamale: 4 and 3. The Scotsman didn't have much to say about his meal but did spend a lot of time eyeballing and snatching my soup!




I enjoyed the chips and salsa-the salsa is (you guessed it) chunky and flavorful. I rate them a 4.

Pictured above is my Marinero Soup-it came with a sterno thing inside and (though my camera did not capture it) had a blue flame shooting out the top that kept it warm. The soup was awesome as a conversation piece-in addition to the blue flame (flaming meals ROCK!), it was chock full of various pieces of seafood including shrimp, clams, fish, crab, and some weird stuff that I could not identify. It was so popular that several of my dining companions snatched some up and enjoyed it. It wasn't cheap ($12, I think) but it was delicious, a full helping, and something that two people could easily share if they wanted. I rate it a 4.5 on our 5 point scale.



K-Dawg
Chips and Salsa: 4 "Two-thumbs up".
Devil's Shrimp: 4 "At first I didn't think it was that spicy but it catches up to you!".

Overall, Mariscos Nayarit was a really good experience. We all rated it high and I am certain it will be voted in the top 5 Mexican places in Dodge.

One word of caution though: they do not accept any plastic so bring cash or checks!

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'.