Juan in a Million is definitely a jeans and t-shirt restaurant with its casual atmosphere.  The inexpensive menu and wide variety of tacos is the perfect draw for the nearby student population from the University of Texas and Austin’s young urban dwellers alike.  Large portions of warm delicious food make Juan’s a popular choice for Mexican food in Austin.

The best known menu choice at Juan’s is the Don Juan taco – an overstuffed breakfast taco with egg, cheese, potato and bacon.  This taco is monster sized busting out of its shell.  Accompanied with an order of extra tortillas, you could easily make three or four servings out of a single Don Juan.  The taco is a delicious blend of creamy potato, salty bacon, and smooth scrambled eggs.  There are several great layers to the Don Juan but the taco lacks any complex flavors like smoky chipotle in adobo or ancho chilies.  Our impression of the dish, especially given the close proximity to the University of Texas (a top 10 party school according to the Princeton Review), is the Don Juan is targeted as the perfect hangover food – warm, comforting, smooth delicious textures, and filling.

Our outing to Juan in a Million included a sampling of several other tacos.  Here is our take on each of the tacos we sampled:

• Barbacoa – tender and well cooked beef, but the barbacoa taco is single dimensional in flavor.
• Machacan – Scrambled egg combined with dried beef, onion and tomato.  This is like a western omelet in a tortilla.  This taco has good contrast between the brightness of the tomato and the richness of the egg and the beef.  The dried beef, however, is tough which interrupts the symphony of flavors as you chew your way through each mouthful.
• Carne Guisada – Tender beef tips served in a rich gravy and wrapped in a tortilla.  The carne guisada has a hint of sweet bell pepper and onion, but like the barbacoa taco is pretty one dimensional in its flavors.  More seasoning and depth in the flavors would have made this taco a stand out.
• Chicken – Served with lettuce, tomato, and shredded cheese the chicken taco maintained great balance between the grilled chicken and other ingredients.  The chicken was well seasoned, the lettuce was crisp, and tomatoes offered bright freshness. This was a great taco.
• Chorizo and potato – Chorizo can be a great Mexican ingredient adding fantastic flavor from the pork and spices in the sausage.  This taco, however, did not meet the mark as the chorizo was overcooked, lacked spiciness or seasoning.  Combined with the starchy potato, the taco left us thinking of sand and gravel.  This taco was our least favorite of all that we tried.

Overall Juan in a Million was a good stop for a hearty low cost TexMex lunch.  We enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, energetic staff and the owners welcome.  On future trips to Austin, we will definitely think about returning to Juan in a Million for tacos, but we will continue looking for our perfect TexMex destination.  Juan in a Million was pretty good, but not great.  The Taco Travelers give Juan in a Million three tacos out of five.

The Guadalajara Grill is located in a strip mall along Texas Highway 71.  This easy to find restaurant was relatively full on a weekend night, so we had high expectations that our meal would be great.  The menu at the Guadalajara Grill is extensive.  Several pages of tacos, enchiladas, chili rellenos, combination plates, home style dishes like caldo de res and carne guisada.  The large menu made our dining choices difficult.  We asked our server for recommendations but felt somewhat patronized as the waiter offered tepid suggestions, rather than the best the restaurant had to offer.

For dinner Chris tried the enchiladas verde.  At the Guadalajara Grill this dish was served with a twist.  The verde sauce, which is normally served as a tomatillo sauce, is served here as a cilantro based sauce.  The change of sauce lowers the temperature and also brings out a brighter flavor enhanced with citrus and hints of lemon.  The sauce was smooth and balanced – a delightful mild accompaniment to the enchiladas.

I ate the chipotle tacos.  These tacos were loaded with rich and complex flavors including the smoky chipotle sauce, grilled chicken, and fresh pico de gallo.  The depth of flavors in these tacos was a great counterpoint to the freshness of the ingredients in the tacos.  I especially enjoyed the spiciness of the tacos at just the right temperature – spicy but not overpowering.  Cooling guacamole on the plate also provided just the right relief for those moments when there was a little bit too much spice.

One other curiosity on the menu was a fried avocado stuffed with chicken and rice.  We couldn’t pass up trying this oddity in the name of science.  The dish was prepared using a whole skinned avocado with a small hole cut in the bottom.  A mixture of chicken and rice was stuffed into the the avocado, the the whole ensemble was battered and fried.  The result was a golden brown orb that looked like an ostrich egg.  The contrasting colors of the golden brown crust, the green avocado and chicken in tomato sauce when sliced open appeared warm and inviting.  The flavors, however, were flat as the chicken and the breading on the outside of the avocado were not well seasoned.

Overall, our experience at the Guadalajara Grill was a good one.  The restaurant offers reputable Mexican food at a decent price – this is a place Chris and I would definitely return to on another visit to Bastrop.  A shorter more refined menu, crisper service, and more seasoned food would make the Guadalajara Grill a truly great TexMex stop.  For today’s visit, the Taco Travelers give the Guadalajara Grill three tacos out of five.

Many times Tex-Mex can be found in the simplest of venues.  Chris and I love finding a dive along side the highway that delivers high quality Mexican food at modest (or dare I say cheap) prices.  But Mexican cuisine does not have to be limited to only those restaurants that are inexpensive.  At Manuel’s, Mexican is dressed up and sent downtown for a more deluxe treatment.

Our meal started with the traditional chips and salsa along with an appetizer of fried bay scallops.  Freshly fried and salty chips from the kitchen arrived as we were seated.  These crispy tostadas were a great way to start our meal.  Our appetizer was also delicious – expertly prepared scallops were seasoned perfectly and fried to just the right doneness.  Along side the scallops, a chipotle aioli dipping sauce made for just the right combination of silky smooth and spicy heat.  It is easy to over cook scallops so they become tough and rubbery.  We appreciate the attention to detail preparing the scallops just right and delivering a fine Pacific inspired Mexican appetizer.

For lunch Chris ate the mole enchiladas.  Traditional mole combines poblano peppers, unsweetened chocolate, and a variety of spices to build a flavorful and complex sauce to accompany enchiladas or other entrees.  The sauce is time consuming and labor intensive to make, so it is rare to find in Mexican restaurants except on special occasions.  The mole at Manuel’s was good – mildly spicy and thick, but not overpowering.  Accompanying the enchiladas, the combination made for a very nice entree.

I ate the shrimp Veracruz – gulf shrimp served in a spicy tomato, garlic, caper and onion sauce.   The city of Veracruz sits on Mexico’s gulf coast and serves as a crossroads of peoples and cultures in Mexico.  This is embodied in cuisine as the fresh seafood of the region is combined with tomatoes, capers, olives, and garlic from Spain (often called “a la veracruzana”).  The Veracruz inspired shrimp were succulent and delicious.  The sauce blended deliciously with the shell fish creating a harmonious blend of flavors and spices.

As a whole Chris and I enjoyed Manuel’s.  Comfortable outdoor seating and inside dining were available, along with a full bar offering afternoon happy hour.  For a dressed up Tex-Mex experience in Austin, Manuel’s may be just the place.  The taco travelers give Manuel’s three tacos out of five.

Inside the restaurant we were greeted by the host who was extremely friendly and enthusiastic.  We were shown to our table, provided menus and a succinct list of recommendations.  Although Chris and I have enjoyed great service in other Mexican restaurants, there was a distinct passion in the service here – perhaps because our young twelve year old host was the owners son.  Our host took great pride in describing the dishes and telling us about all of the delicious possibilities.  The folksy friendly atmosphere was warm and inviting – anything but pretentious.

For lunch Chris sampled the carne guisada.  The guisada was superb with tender slow cooked cubes of beef in a rich and delicious gravy.  The beef melted in your mouth with each bite imparting a luxurious beef flavor.  Combined with the homemade beans, Mexican rice and home made flour tortillas the blended textures and flavors of the guisada made for a savory sensory delight.  Clearly a lot of effort went into slow cooking this dish and those ordering this Mexican classic will be rewarded for their wise selection.

I ate the steak ranchero for lunch.  Like the carne guisada, the steak ranchero showed off Pedro’s slow cooking and tender beef.  Surrounded by a silky tomato and pepper sauce, the steak ranchero combined tender beef, garlic, and onion flavors.  The dish delivered a warm spicy feeling to the mouth that lingered long enough to be enjoyed without being overwhelming.  “It’s like your best friend on a plate” I wrote in my notes as I ate.  Pedro’s steak ranchero was an excellent and delicious meal.

We also sampled two tacos for lunch – a taco al pastor and a picadillo taco.  The two tacos were excellent and reflected the same high quality and deliciousness of our main dishes.  Picadillo is a Mexican dish that typically combines ground beef with potatoes or sometimes tomatoes.  Pedro’s picadillo taco served up the delicious combination in a corn tortilla that was hearty and delicious.  The flavor combination of the silky smooth beef and creamy cubes of potato were good, but could have been improved with some cilantro or pico de gallo to brighten up the texture.  The taco al pastor was our favorite.  It combined tender pork, sweet pineapple, and soft onion to make a tender succulent taco with a good contrast between sweet and spicy.

Is this the best Mexican restaurant that the taco travelers have visited in 2009?  Chris and I debated the topic long and hard.  The delicious food and friendly family atmosphere put Pedro’s near the top of the list for us.  We could only think of a few enhancements that would have put Pedro’s over the top – more layering and blending of flavors, serving home made tortillas right off of the grill.  It was a difficult decision to choose between Pedro’s and Abuelita’s Mexican Restaurant in Sulphur, Oklahoma.  Without a doubt Pedro’s Mexican Restaurant is excellent and worth driving out of your way to try.  The taco travelers give Pedro’s four tacos out of five.

For six years, I lived in Weslaco, Texas just 15 miles north of the US/Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley.  There, I learned how to prepare proper Mexican food and the characteristics of really good TexMex.  With the wave of immigration into the United States from Mexico over the past two decades, finding a restaurant to enjoy this deliciously prepared south of the border food is not difficult – it’s usually a matter of  finding the local immigrant communities.  There, you will find Mexican and Central American culture in abundance – from ethnic meat markets and grocery stores to delicious authentic eateries.  This is where our journey started to go wrong.  We were in the tourist area.

The layer of smoke that filled the air just inside the front door of the restaurant should have also been a warning.  I am not talking about cigarette or cigar smoke.  I am talking about the smoke generated by heating a cast iron skillet of fajitas then squeezing way too much lime juice on the skillet to generate a customer pleasing sizzle when the meal is served.  With lime juice, a little goes a long way.  A small squeeze in the kitchen should get the server to the table with a couple of seconds of “wow factor”.  At Picante’s, my guess is they go through lime juice by the gallon.  Plates of fajitas served  with the not so authentic sizzle of lime juice kept sizzling and sizzling long after the plate arrived at the table.  The result was a not so thin haze of smoke across the restaurant.

For our lunch Chris tried the spinach enchiladas and I ate the chimichanga.  Normally, I stay away from deep fried food in Mexican restaurants, but the lack of selection of more authentic grilled and stewed Mexican entrees left little choice.  When the meals arrived at the table, we were both a bit surprised.  Both the enchiladas and the chimichanga were soaked in melted cheese.  Cheese is an important staple food of Mexican cooking.  Anejo, panela, Oaxaca and other cheeses native to Mexico add flavor and texture to everything from enchiladas to chili rellenos.  In this case, however, the cheese was just a cover for the lack of seasoning and flavor in the dishes.

The spinach enchiladas resembled little in the way traditional enchiladas are prepared.  Instead of a baked dish with a savory filling of spinach and cheese, the dish was made of 3 rolled corn tortillas topped with blanched spinach and soaked in melted cheese.  These enchiladas never saw the inside of a oven and had the texture of library paste.  The chimichanga was dipped in hot oil but certainly not properly fried.  The shell was soggy and the texture of the filling was gritty with little seasoning.  The interior of the savory pastry should have been heated through from cooking, but it was luke warm at best.

The few good elements for Picante’s included the side dishes and the chips.  The Mexican rice was light and fluffy with good texture and flavor.  The refried beans were creamy and delicious.  The chips were crispy and two different types of sasla were yummy.  We enjoyed several servings of salsa ahead of and during our meal.  The one Mexican restaurant on our camping trip was at least not a total bust.

On the surface, Picante’s looks good.  The atmosphere is festive, the music is salsa, and the decorations appear authentic.  Dig a little deeper, however, and you’re likely to be disappointed.  The taco traveler gives Picante’s Mexican grill a generous two tacos out of five.

Today’s adventure takes us to Pancho’s Backyard in Dania Beach, Florida.  I know that when one hears Pancho’s associated with a Mexican restaurant the immediate thought is of little red flags that you raise repeatedly to get additional helpings of “food” until you’re stuffed, but this no mass produced TexMex food from a fryer, it’s delicious made to order Mexican specials!

Pancho’s Backyard is one part sport’s bar, one part patio cantina, and two parts restaurant with a dash of elegance thrown in.  You can watch your favorite football teams (that’s what the rest of the world calls soccer) on 5 large monitors around the restaurant, or you can enjoy the best of South Florida’s sun on the covered patio.  The tables and walls are decorated with bits of colored tile that brings a vibrancy to the atmosphere inside the restaurant.  Food choices range from traditional TexMex fare like fajitas to more traditional Mexican dishes like milanesa and bisteak a la Mexicana.

Your meal at Pancho’s Backyard starts with the traditional chips that come with a delicious but not too spicy salsa that incorporates bright tomato and cilantro flavors.  I had the opportunity to try two different entrees at Pancho’s Backyard: chili rellenos and bisteak a la Mexicana.  Both were very delicious interpretations of these dishes with rich and silky goat cheese in the rellenos and a spicy tomato based sauce with peppers and onions on the flank steak.  Pancho’s Backyard does a great job of incorporating traditional Mexican flavors like cumin and cilantro with its well prepared and fresh entrees.

Pancho’s Backyard is supported by a full bar but a limited beer menu.  Enjoy fresh margarita’s or other cocktail of your choice along with your meal.  Corona and Negra Modello are the two Mexican beer choices.  The wait staff are friendly and attentive without constantly hovering over your table.

Both of my meals at Pancho’s Backyard were delicious as well as a good value.  The atmosphere is enjoyable and the food delicious.  If you’re in South Florida, stop by it’s a worthy stop.  The taco traveler gives Pancho’s Backyard three tacos out of five.

This post originally appeared on my personal blog on July 1, 2009.

Located at 319 N. Commerce Street in Gainesville, the comfortable restaurant offers delicious Tex-Mex food at reasonable prices. Many of the dishes featured slow cooked, marinated meats that were full of flavor and authenticity.

The Tacos al Carbon with spiced, marinated beef with a subtle smokey flavor were very tasty. I expected them to be good but I was surprised at just how good they were. The chips and salsa, refried beans and rice were all average but the beer was cold and the taco fillings were right on so it was definitely a good lunch option.

Robert had some really tasty marinated chicken that he was not too keen on sharing so I can’t really describe it. The small bite I did have was excellent – flavorful and smokey.

If you’re in Gainseville, please stop by Los Mariachis. It is a strong 3.5 tacos out of 5. The main dishes taste like they are carefully thought out and prepared from family recipes. The sides unfortunately, do not. It is still worth a trip though.

This installment of the Taco Traveler is a journey away from the beloved Tex Mex cuisine into the parallel culture and food universe of Caribbean fare. Tonight I visited The Black Bean Restaurant in Hollywood Florida, on State Highway 7 just a few miles south of the Fort Lauderdale Airport.

Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale, Florida is an area frequented by tourists and known for fancy dining and extravagant cuisine. While visiting on vacation or for business, most folks head over to Las Olas for a fancy meal or A1A for beach side dining. There are many restaurant options and cuisines represented in either of these locations, but often at a high cost. When I travel, I like to stay away from areas frequented by tourists and find unique culinary experiences savored by the locals. Tonight’s meal was just that – a local experience of delicious and authentic Cuban food.

Cuban cuisine exists at the crossroads of Spanish colonization, African slave heritage, and Caribbean flavors. It is also heavily influenced by the politics of the Cuban Revolution and the subsequent break in relations with the United States. The result is a delicious meld of rice and beans, indigenous fruits like plantains and mangoes, and slow cooked pork or beef. Cumin, peppers, onion, and bay flavors are strong. Preparations are simple and focus on making the most of the available ingredients.

The Black Bean Restaurant delivered deliciously tonight on a very traditional Cuban meal – Ropa Vieja. This savory dish of slow cooked shredded flank steak in a rich tomato and pepper sauce served with a side of white rice and traditional black beans. The meal blended the very best elements of Cuban cooking producing a delicious meal that was very rich in flavor. The black beans deserve a special mention as an extremely flavorful part of the meal. In each bite you could taste the cumin and the bay in a creamy texture. Mixed with the rice, the black beans were heavenly.

The Black Bean is not pretentious, it’s just good local Cuban cuisine. There are no white linen table cloths and the wait staff are genuine and friendly. The decor is functional, if a bit dated, but this outing was about the food, not the trappings of the restaurant. Eight American and Caribbean beers are available in bottles to accompany your meal. Meals are very affordable at The Black Bean from $8-$20 per person. When business or pleasure brings you to South Florida, I recommend you give The Black Bean a try. You will enjoy the experience, the culture, and the food of Cuba!

A very delicious three tacos out of five.

This post originally appeared on my personal blog on May 12, 2009.

There’s not much that can compare to a cold beer and some good Mexican food at the end of a tough day. We headed out to Aparicio’s for dinner tonight. It’s located just off the main square, on Virginia Street in McKinney. The downtown area overall has been revitalized by the new streetscaping that went in. Almost all the shops are full and everything looks fresh and inviting. Aparicio’s is not new to town though. The chain, started in Plano in 1986, has had a home in McKinney for several years.

The restaurant and sports bar wins awards for things like – best margarita in McKinney and “Best Afterwork Atmosphere.” After tonight’s dinner, I can see why. Aparicio’s delivers good, quick food, friendly service and goes beyond the nacho, quesadillas and bean burritos so many Mexican restaurants serve. Sure, there were quesadillas on the menu – at least four varieties. But there were also homemade tamales, several fish options and empanadas.

The bar offers around 6 beers on tap and about 40 bottled varieties. I went for a Ziegenbock – which arrived in a very large margarita glass and Mr. Taco Traveler opted for Negra Modelo in a bottle.

The obligatory chips and salsa were good, though nothing to write home about. The chips were nice and salty and thick, which I enjoy and the salsa was homemade and relatively mild. The taste was good and it was easy to eat plenty since there was no heat behind it.

I decided on a taco combination platter with three tacos – one al Pastor, one tinga and one carnitas. The al Pastor is a blend of seasoned pork and pineapple and comes with cilantro and onions on the side. It is sweet and juicy and Aparicio’s definitely got it right. The tinga was shredded chicken in chipotle sauce. It was definitely spicy, but then, I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to spice. Had I not scarfed the whole thing down, Mr. Taco Traveler, who likes spicy things, could’ve weighed in on it all. Carnitas is the seasoned pork which is marinated with orange peel and spices. It was really tasty, if a little dry.

Mr. Taco Traveler chose chicken enchiladas with green sauce.

I could tell you how delicious it was, except for the fact that he ate it all without sharing a single, solitary nibble with me. I guess that means it was pretty good!

I also had a small side of guacamole which was good, but not excellent. I’m a bit of a guacamole snob ever since I learned how to make it at home though.

For dinner time on Thursday the restaurant seemed relatively quiet, but there was a poker tournament going on in the basement and I could hear people upstairs in the sports bar as well. It’s hard to describe the decor of the place. It was almost an Old World Tuscan style with plaster over brick walls, some exposed brick, big, old looking pillars and heavy antique pieces around. It looked like it had some cantina roots but maybe it had outgrown them and moved on to a more sophisticated style. I was completely at ease being there in jeans and a polo shirt though, so don’t think it’s an uppity kinda place.

Mr. Taco Traveler and I agreed, it was a solid 3 out of 5 tacos for our dinner. Next time we’ll start with some margaritas and get the score higher!

From the highway Fuel City appears as pretty much any truck stop might appear along the highway.  Cars and trucks stopped under a canopy with pumps next to a convenience store with beverages and snacks.  If you did not look closely while driving by, you might miss some of the finer points about this unique travel destination.  When you stop at Fuel City the differences between this highway oasis and other truck stops you have visited are more obvious.  The first thing we noticed was the sign directing us to the Texas longhorn cattle in a pasture adjacent to the fuel pumps.  Then there is the swimming pool adjacent to the beverage drive-thru.  Finally, you notice the queue stacked up outside a window lit up by neon “Tacos” sign.  One sack after another is passed through the small opening to hungry patrons. This is no ordinary gas station.

The menu at Fuel City is very simple – choose the number of tacos you want from any of 5 styles: Picadillo, Pastor, Barbacoa, Chicken Fajita, or Beef Fajita. Step up to the taco window, place your order, and in a few minutes you will hear your name called aloud indicating your tacos are ready.  Tacos are served on corn tortillas with onion and cilatro accompanied by two different types of salsa and slices of lime.  Step outside to the street cart and order a cup of elotes or roasted corn.  Together these two items combine make a complete and delicious meal.  The whole experience is reminiscent of border town taco stands.

During our visit to Fuel City I ate the picadillo tacos.  The ground beef in the picadillo tacos is cooked a spicy tomato broth that gives each taco a bright red color and a crisp spicy bite.  Chris tried both the barbacoa and pastor tacos.  The barbacoa was also rich and meaty but with spicy shredded beef.  Our hands down favorite, however, was the pastor taco which included less spicy shredded beef.  Topped with sweet onions and fresh cilantro these tacos pop in your mouth – each bite delivering the richness of the stewed beef contrasted against the brightness of the onions and cilantro.

The ambiance is contemporary truck stop.  There is plenty of open air seating along the curb in front.  While dining at Fuel City may not offer five star decor there is a vibrancy and genuineness to the meal to make it worth a stop if you’re passing through downtown Dallas.  The taco travelers give Fuel City four tacos out of five – it’s a recommended taco stop!