'taco bell' would be a better name
Written: Sep 22 '00 (Updated Sep 22 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: I didn't die & the interior looked neat
Cons: everything else...
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| joenormal's Full Review: Taco del Mar |
Being from Southern California, I should have known better than to expect decent Mexican food in Oregon of all places. But, I am an optimist and my friends, Pat and Greg, assured me that the food was pretty good at this particular restaurant. I was soon to find out that (a) my friends must have no idea what good mexican food is and (b) Taco Del Mar's food bears an uncanny resemblance to that Tex-Mex chain known as Taco Bell.
The restaurant I visited was located in the Hawthorne district in southeast Portland, Oregon (around Hawthorne and SE40th, I believe).
Upon entering the restaurant, I must confess that I was impressed with the interior look that the restaurant yielded - it does look like a decent enough place to eat. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the food was stored in steel bins that were steam-heated (I used to work at Taco Bell & I can tell you that's exactly how they prepare their food as well).
The employees in the restaurant only consisted of one person - an obviously-unhappy, employee. The customer service we experienced from the restaurant's only employee was one of rudeness & poor quality - this guy really didn't like his job & it came through loud and clear.
I decided to order the 'carne asada' taco combination plate. For those of you who are unfamiliar with basic Spanish, that means 'steak' - plain and simple. What I got was a soft tortilla stuffed with hamburger, refried beans, lettuce, cheese and tomatoes. Now first of all, when has a taco ever been served with refried beans inside, except at Taco Bell (the 'Double-Decker'). Second of all, hamburger? Hamburger does not equal steak, but apparently it does at Taco Del Mar.
My friends ordered the fish taco combination plates and looked none too satisfied in regards to the taste of their meal. In fact, none of us were able to finish our meals due to the disgusting and generic quality of the food.
A breakdown of the food consumed:
(1) refried beans - can you say "Rosarita", enough said...Right out of the can.
(2) hamburger (what Taco Del Mar calls "carne asada") - the kind of substandard ground beef one would find in the supermarket marked at "1/2 off"
(3) tomatoes and lettuce - okay, these were at standard level; fresh enough, tasty enough...
(4) cheese - incredibly generic; no real taste
(5) tortilla - okay, how can you mess up a tortilla? At least, they got this right...
(6) rice - bland, too filling, generic
(7) fish - My friends simply described the fish as crappy, enough said...
About an hour or so after our substandard meal, the three of us began to experience digestion problems - a.k.a. we were 'sick to our stomachs'.
This feeling, for me anyway, seemed to last about four hours. Needless to say, I was not going to be in the mood for Mexican anytime soon.
In conclusion, if you are in Portland visiting and your friend(s) mention attending Taco Del Mar for a meal, kindly decline and save yourself the stomach trouble. If you really feel like mexican, you might want to try Taco Bell.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
joenormal
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Member: Dustin Reed
Location: San Diego, CA
Reviews written: 35
Trusted by: 13 members
About Me:
writer, poet, music geek
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