Taco Factory

Surprise! I'm apparently only visiting restaurants with the name "Taco" in it these days. Last week was Taco Via. This week ... wait for it ... Taco Factory. Yes, you are correct. I did not plan out my next restaurant target very well this week. I should really spread out my food cultures better if I'm going to be considered legit in this blogging business. Alas, the only thing legit about this blog is, well, there is nothing legit about this blog. Sorry about that.

Before I tell you more (actually, very little) about Taco Factory - a terrific new taco joint at 74th Ter. and Broadway (along Wornall) in Waldo - I must say, I'm always a little concerned with the sustainability of a restaurant with the name of its main dish in the title. Example #1: Prime Rib Grill...closed. Example #2: Old Spaghetti Factory...closed. #3 Chef Burger...closed. #4 Mr. Gyros...actually, Mr. Gyros is incredible. I love that place, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. I will also challenge anyone to a Gyro-off, as long as they pay for it. #5. Pizza Hut...closed. What's that? It's still open? Nope. Pizza Hut's been dead to me since they got rid of their dining rooms, abandoned their red roofed architecture and quasi-frosted Coca-Cola drink cups, and nixed their Book It! program. Since then, I've stopped reading, stopped collecting gold stars, and stopped only being able to eat one Personal Pan Pizza at a time. Shame on Pizza Hut. SHAME!

(UPDATE: Okay, so a few readers have alerted me that "allegedly" Pizza Hut's Book It! program still exists. However, it couldn't possibly be as cool as it was in the 80s though...when reading was merely an "optional" activity...like child safety seats.)

Anyway, I couldn't help but hit up Taco Factory on Saturday evening with my wife, another couple and our brood of chitlins. The night before, while engulfing a cheeseburger pizza from Minsky's at a friends house,  me, my wife and a few other couples started playing spin the bottle. No, not really. But it's a lot cooler than saying we were in the middle of a game of Twister...which we weren't playing either. But we were sitting around talking, which is kind of like spin the bottle (or at least it was in my experience). So, somebody threw out Taco Factory as a good place to eat, and we decided to try it out the following night.

So there we were at the Taco Factory. Four adults, three kids under 3 (that sounds like an Ingram's magazine cover story, by the way). The experience started out a little shaky...the only two high-chairs in the place were already taken...by the same table (bastards stole our legendary move of hoarding high-chairs. Well played.). However, once we regrouped, reasserted ourselves to the task at hand, we made our way up to the counter.

At Taco Factory, you order at the counter, get your beverage (alcohol is served too, by the way), take your seat, and wait for your number to flash on the high-def television. Man, our number looked almost real on that high-def television. Totally worth it.

Speaking of high-def, the place was loaded with HD screens. Honestly. I was impressed. There was actually one dude there who had finished eating about 3 hours earlier that was sticking around to watch the Ravens-Steelers game, this being Pittsburgh or Baltimore and all. Not a bad place to watch a game, though, for real.

So, I'll spare you the details of my failed attempts of keeping my kids in line. Instead, I'll focus on the food. If you ask me, the friends we went with, and especially my wife, the food was absolutely terrific.

I think the best way for me to put it is this: It was the opposite of everything I despise about neighborhood taco joints. It wasn't greasy. It didn't waste my precious belly real estate with beans and rice (or at least, my dish didn't). It wasn't overly cheesy, and it wasn't too overpriced. I asked the woman taking orders (she appeared to be the owner, I think), what the best thing on the menu was. She said "you can't go wrong with the Tacos and the Burritos." So I went with the tacos. All of their tacos are "Baja Tacos,", which I don't really know (nor pretend to, nor care) what that means. Nonetheless, there are plenty of meat/protein choices to choose from: shredded beef, ground beef, ground turkey, shredded pork, fish, baby seal, etc.

I was a little full from a four-course meal at Jasper's for lunch. Honestly, I had a four-course meal over lunch. Aren't proud of me? I've made it! Jasper's sausage is ridiculously good. I didn't think I could stomach another meal after that.

However, there I was at Taco Factory, with a choice to make. So I ordered three soft tacos (a la carte at $1.99): chicken, shreeded beef and shredded pork. All three were phenomenal - they had tasty meat, the right amount of lettuce, cheese, tamatoes, and a choice hot or mild salsa (I asked for both, and both were great.)

My wife ordered the chicken tacos, and went back for seconds, which is unheard of. Ever since I've met her, never once has that happened before. Our friends left satisfied too. They each had a margarita, one frosted, one on ice. The fountain drinks were on target...and refills were free (what a novel idea!).

The ambiance was nice, but needs to be lived in a little longer to be considered quaint. The tables are nice and spread out, but it could fit a few more in there and still be comfortable and feel a little more homely. The people working were friendly and helpful and didn't mind the kids at all. It was a solid, good, affordable meal (I think our total was $27 for two adults and two little kids - I'll take that any day) that left everyone very pleased.

Don't get me wrong. There are more authentic places in town, and I'm sure I'm biased because this place is in my neighborhood and will always get the benefit of the doubt in my mind. However, I really think this place has legs. It's open late on Friday and Saturdays (until 3:30 a.m.). As if that matters to me. I always get excited when a place says their open late. But ever since our first kid was born, the only things I really care about being open late are QuikTrip and Walgreens.

My only suggestion is this: The place could use a few more high-chairs. In a neighborhood like ours, those things are like gold.

That one hitch aside, I encourage you to check out Taco Factory. And don't be like me and forget to pick up a to-go menu...I forgot to grab one and it's been pissing me off ever since. I guess I'll just have to go back and get one...along with 5 more soft tacos.

- BTF