Toro's

Oldest nephew playing Army

When we went to go visit my other brother in Colorado Springs, after the birth of his second child, you know we had to check out the local flavour! I got a little nervous when he suggested Mexican, as I was sure it was going to be Tex-Mex, but I tried not to down his taste and kept my mouth shut. Then when we got there, I was glad that I did not question him.

Toro's is owned by an ex-Senor Frogs executive, who wanted to branch out and do his own thing. He describes his job at Senor Frogs as "making sure that everyone had a good time while they were there". When Senor Toro moved to Colorado, he wanted to serve the most authentic Mexican food in town and continue to make sure that everyone had a good time (much like many Latin restaurants, please keep this in mind if you are looking to be in and out).

Tacos, Beans, Pacifico

The drink menu at Toro's is somewhat reminiscent of what you would see at Senor Frogs (although they did not bring around a tequila bottle and pour shots down your throat). They have the party-girl favorite, the Corona-Rita, which is when you bury the neck of a Corona bottle beneath a margarita. Most impressively, however, they have Pacifico... ... on tap! Pacifico on tap is tough to find anywhere, so you know what I ordered!

The food menu was full of more awesomeness. Of course I have to try the street tacos at any restaurant that offers them. At Toro's they come with an order of soupy beans, which are actually not half bad and have a surprising kick to them. My wife and I ordered the carnitas and carne asada tacos, respectively, and shared. Both tacos that we tried were quite good. The tortillas at Toro's are home made, the meat was tender, and we were quite full. 

Sopas

But then when we were offered Toro's version of a sopapilla, we couldn't say no to that. This sopa is not your standard sopa, this is a fried pastry (puffed, not crunchy), topped with powdered sugar, served with a dipping sauce made in house with local honey and cinnamon. This dessert was seriously out of this world! I wish I could make it at home, but then I suppose I would be Prince Fielder's size.

I have it on good authority that Toro's tortas are also where it is at, so I believe that we will be back to Toro's for more the next time we are in town.

Mountains in Colorado Springs

We had a great (albeit short) visit to Colorado, but when it was time to go, we grabbed some Bristol Beer and headed back down to "sea level".

Most Awesome Tacos Ever!

One of the most awesome and one of the least awesome parts about my job, at the same time, is the travel. Spending time away from my wife sucks, but it allows me to try smaller regional restaurants when I travel and it also allows me to gain airline and hotel points to take my wife awesome places so that we can try awesome new restaurants together. This story is one of those business travel adventures.

When most people think of Dallas, they think of nice warm weather. It seems like almost every time I go to Dallas, I run into some form of crazy weather event. I was snowed (or rather iced) in during the week that the super bowl was in Dallas. Then the next time I was in Dallas, I ran into this:

 Yes, that is hail that is nearly the size of a softball. That was not the largest piece, that was just a piece that was easy to grab outside the door of the rental car place (where I was waiting out the tornado warning). I had placed my things in my rental car before the sirens began to sound. I went back inside until the warning had cleared. Upon returning to my rental car in the lot, I saw that the back window had been smashed by the hail and shattered glass all over my things. I was given 2 other rental cars, each of them had windows shattered when I went out to them, before I was told to "go out there, find one with a good window and we will give you that one". It was quite an awesome experience!

I had already caught the last flight out and waited for a tornado warning to clear, so it was already late before I began my 2 hour drive to my hotel. I had to find a gas station to go get a Rockstar (my favorite energy drink). As fate would have it, I missed my turn onto the highway, which took me on a frontage road straight to a gas station that not only had Rockstars, but also has a 24 hr window that sold street tacos.

The window sign advertised the different tacos in Spanish (with the English names in parenthasis). They had all of the regular suspects: carne asada, carnitas, chorizo, and pollo. They also had other great options like spicy beef and beef tongue along with breakfast favorites like huevos rancheros and egg tacos. My favorites are the spicy beef fajita (that comes with sauted onions and peppers) and pollo (that comes with the traditional cilantro and onions). All orders come with limes, red salsa, green salsa, and a grilled jalapeno. The salsa verde is my favorite (but to be fair, I am quite partial to salsa verde). The grilled jalapenso is the perfect finisher for the tacos, but make sure you have something to cool your mouth after finishing it, as the grilling just intensifies the kick. You can also get them with avacado for an extra 50 cents or so, and the avacado is perfectly fresh and ripe (which is the dead give away that you are not in Kansas anymore).

As all great taco places, this place is cash only, but tacos are only $1.50 (so it won't break the bank). You can pay at the front of the gas station with a card and then show them the reciept at the window, but that is about as close as you can get to paying with a card. This place is incredible! They have the best tacos I have ever had in my life! The corn tortillas are perfect, the meat is good, and the salsa verde is great! I now make a point to take the wrong turn that took me to this gas station every time I am in Dallas. Sometimes multiple times per trip. If you find yourself in the neighborhood, make sure to check it out!

Street tacos in KC

After many failed attempts to find street tacos in a town that is dominated by tacos that more closely resemble deep fried crap covered in cheddar cheese than they do tacos. I came across Ricos Tacos Lupe. It is marvelous! It is a little slice of Mexico here in Kansas City. The tacos (and other food) are actually made on a cart that is behind a fence looking structure in the front of the restaurant. The TV in the back is always tuned into Univision (that is when a soccer match is not on), there is a giant Chivas Guadalajara flag on the wall, and the menu is in both Spanish and English. This is one of the most unassuming places that I have ever eaten in my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way. There it is, off to the right in the Google street view image shown below, the orange store front with bars on the window.

More important than the atmosphere is the food. They bring you chips and a traditional tomato based salsa when you sit down. There are also two other varieties of salsa on the table in diner style condiment containers, a salsa verde (my favorite) and a chipotle pepper based salsa (my wife's favorite), I recommend eating your chips with these salsas over the salsa provided in the bowl. That being said, the bowl salsa has improved quite a bit in the time that we have been going to Ricos. Their big hits are the street tacos, burritos, and tortas (a traditional Mexican sandwich). The taco/burrito meat options are: carne asada (pictured to the right), pollo (chicken), carnitas, cabeza, chorizo, al pastor, and tripas. The carne is always my go to option, if you cant make up your mind, just go with the carne. The chicken is solid. The carnitas (Mexican shredded pork) are always very juicy and flavorful, they are my wife's favorite. The cabeza (which translated literally means "head", but is beef cheek meat) is my personal favorite meat when prepared correctly. Sometimes the cabeza meat is a little fatty but if you get a good cut, it is amazing. The chorizo has great flavor, but a little greasy for my taste, its spiced just perfectly and not TOO spicy. The al pastor is sort of like a Mexican gyro that is made of pork, to those that have never tried it. Every time I try to order the tripas and relive my trip to Mexico, they are out, but I will keep ordering it until I get it. The tacos are perfectly sized (not too small and not too large) and come on corn tortillas with cilantro and onions, just like they would on the street in Mexico. The tortillas are made in house and taste great, however sometimes the tortillas beneath the tacos can get a little soggy if you don't eat them fast enough. The burritos are nearly the size of a Chipotle burrito and come in a flour tortilla. I recommend squeezing that lime slice that comes with your tacos and adding some salsa verde, then chowing down.

You can find me at Ricos on most Tuesdays and even a good number of Thursdays with a group of friends and a 12 pack of Modelo. That is right, nothing goes with the 1$ Taco Tuesday special or the 2$ Burrito Thursday special than the Mexican beer of your choice that you can pick up across the street at Royal Liquors and bring in with you. It should also be noted that Ricos is a cash only establishment, so make sure to bring a whole 10$ bill to pay for you and your date after cash and tip (you may even have enough left over to buy a losing lottery ticket if you take a skinny date).