128177 Wed Oct 27 09:38:09 -0700 2004 19 9 New Orleans 0 694955 Ate there for the first time last night since he moved in from Kenner, and the food was amazing. The margaritas are really good as well, and the decor downstairs is beautiful. I highly recommend it. Wed Oct 27 09:38:09 -0700 2004 0 Margot 1 694956 Which one did you eat in? Wed Oct 27 09:46:30 -0700 2004 694955 0 Fat Harry 2 694957 Taqueros. We looked at the upstairs menu and didn't see anything we wanted that we could not get downstairs for less money and we weren't looking for special occasion atmosphere--just a nice dinner. The decor downstairs is quite nice, and the service excellent, but the napkins are paper and the tables are bare. Wed Oct 27 11:41:04 -0700 2004 694956 0 Margot 3 694958 I have to disagree. Though the food is pretty good, we had a terrible experience at Taqueros. I'm not used to "authentic Mexican", and the waiter got very huffy when I asked for chips and salsa, saying "we don't have that here." Rather than saying "we have pico de gallo, which is something like salsa" he just left the table. We ordered the pico de gallo anyway, which is a simple and cheap dish, and it came with only three tortilla pieces (don't you dare call them chips), and the whole appetizer was way overpriced. The entrees too were very small for the price you paid. We complained to the waiter that we were not nearly full when we had spent 20 or so bucks a piece on a very simple and small Mexican meal, and he said he was sorry but there was nothing he could do. I got the feeling we were paying for the purchase of the old Town and Country building, and for the decor (which is pretty great, I must say.) Wed Oct 27 12:17:13 -0700 2004 694957 0 local boy 4 694960 As a long-time fan of Guillermo Peters, I can attest to the fact that the prices at Taqueros haven't increased since the restaurant relocated from Kenner. And no, it isn't fill-ya-up-cheap tex-mex. But it is absolutely delicious, and not overpriced for the quality of the ingredients, IMHO. Have a couple of cochinita pibil tacos and a sangria and reconsider the situation. Or, take yourself over to Juan's or Taqueria Corona, if chips and salsa are important to you....thankfully, we have a variety of dining choices! On the other hand, the Coyoacan prices (upstairs) have edged a little higher than the entree prices at the old spot on Roosevelt. But the old place didn't have tablecloths, or carpet, or much decor... Wed Oct 27 12:56:01 -0700 2004 694958 0 Hungry Celeste 5 694962 Another case of misplaced expectations. Square peg, round hole. Wed Oct 27 13:17:26 -0700 2004 694960 0 Amanda 6 694977 My expectations were to leave full. After an appetizer and an entree (and two beers), I left still hungry, and I'm a small guy. Granted, this was a couple of months ago, maybe they enlarged the portions since then. But I'm confounded that no one else has had this experience. Wed Oct 27 19:00:30 -0700 2004 694962 0 local boy 7 694990 If you're into ordering food based on the size of the portions served, than the best bet in town is Two Sisters on North Derbigny. Very good soul food, not very refined, but you order in sizes: there's a small, a medium and a large. Maybe they describe them as lunch, a lunch plate and a lunch platter. They're only open for lunch. Each level upgrade brings you a couple of extra items. Of course, each upgrade will cost you a bit more but the top price for a platter is probably $8.95. Then there's Jack Dempsey's on Poland. I think they sell their seafood platters by the weight. And I'd advise you to stay away from the places that do not try to overwhelm you with quantity - Brigtsen's being a good example of that style of dining establishment. Thu Oct 28 13:50:02 -0700 2004 694977 0 Amanda 5 694968 The tacos themselves are the same (quite reasonable) price they were in Kenner, but I thought the prices one the other items had crept up a bit too. Weren't the guacamole and queso fundido more like $6 instead of $9 when they were out in the hinterlands? Both times i've been in for lunch since the move, my bill has come back north of $20 (1 app, a couple of tacos, drink, tax & tip) which i think is slightly excessive. I guess it's important to note the difference between "taquero" (taco man, a seller of tacos) and "taqueria" (taco shack, and the implicit assumption of cheap eats). Wed Oct 27 14:28:14 -0700 2004 694960 0 foodmuse 6 694969 The guac used to be $8 a serving, so $9 is hardly an increase. I've been practicing and I can do a dead-on rendition (though I've adopted Diana Kennedy's technique of using pomegranate seeds instead of chopped tomato). Wed Oct 27 14:46:03 -0700 2004 694968 0 Hungry Celeste 7 694970 I've been wondering what i was going to do with the rest of those pomegranates i couldn't pass up at the store last weekend. (My attempt at fessenjun failed miserably.) Do you have your guac recipe handy for posting (in the appropriate forum, of course) or for e-mailing? Wed Oct 27 15:06:36 -0700 2004 694969 0 foodmuse 8 694972 It's not really a recipe, more like a technique. --finely (as fine as you possibly can) mince a small sweet onion (like 1/2 cup of onion) --cut three very ripe avocados into chunks; toss 'em in a bowl with the onion --squeeze two limes over the avocado & onion; really squish out all of the pulp you can --add either one medium tomato, chopped, or the seeds from half a pomegranate, and one finely chopped jalapeno (or regular old cayenne pepper, if I don't have any jalapenos on hand) --salt lightly and stir to combine; if you like it creamy, stir quite a bit. Sometimes, I add a tiny bit of pressed garlic, but I find that the garlic strengthens with time. So I generally leave it out if I'm making it in advance...the only crucial things are the 1)very ripe avocados and 2)fresh, pulpy lime juice. Wed Oct 27 15:59:53 -0700 2004 694970 0 Hungry Celeste 7 694973 The guac is still $8 Wed Oct 27 16:36:35 -0700 2004 694969 0 Margot 8 694976 $8 dollar guacamole at a Mexican place? I must be dense or cheap, but that seems like a lot. I guess Taqueros just isn't my scene. And yes, Celeste, thankfully we have options. Wed Oct 27 18:56:45 -0700 2004 694973 0 local boy 9 694992 Your implication seems to be that Mexican food shouldn't aspire to haute cuisine. Is that really what you think? If I buy a hamburger at a place that buys frozen, preformed patties on food service buns, I'd be appalled at paying $8 for it. If I get a hamburger where it's made from sirloin ground on the premises on a homemade bun with homemade mayo, then I might think $8 is a bargain. Same deal with the guac and tacos. If you want to experience Oaxacan cuisine as it's meant to be (or as close as we'll get around here), go to Taqueros. It is not Superior Grill. Thank god. Thu Oct 28 14:11:28 -0700 2004 694976 0 Jess 10 695037 Does it have caviar in it? I don't care if it's the best guac in the world, it's still a few simple ingredients and seasonings, and it should not be overpriced simply because Taqueros thinks it's haute cuisine. Nothing on the ingredient list at Taqueros indicated it should cost as much as it did. In fact, I venture to say it had simpler ingredients than any of the other Mexican places I've been. Mon Nov 01 14:11:15 -0800 2004 694992 0 local boy 11 695045 I have to agree with local boy on this one. I've been eating at Taquero's for years, and I've ordered the guac only once. Its good, but not any better than what I make at home. Now the lobster crepe; now that's worth paying a little extra. Mon Nov 01 18:39:25 -0800 2004 695037 0 Tom 12 695054 It's not the ingredients--it is just so absolutely fresh. Many times, I've seen it made right in front of me. And let's be candid: you don't pay for the cost of ingredients, you pay for the labor/expertise/technique of the people preparing the dish for you. C'mon, what could be cheaper than french fries? Potatoes (not even peeled), cooked in fat. Yet lots of people willingly pay a huge markup for one of the cheapest starches in the supermarket... Tue Nov 02 09:47:31 -0800 2004 695045 0 Hungry Celeste 13 695055 I completely agree that labor, expertise and technique are central to the types of food that I order at restaurants. Price also plays a role as well. In terms of the quacamole, like I said before, I can make it just as good at home, with exceptionally fresh ingredients from Union. I can discern no unusual technique or ingrediant that warrants $8. The lobster crepe, on the other hand, involves a technique that I cannot duplicate without a lot of effort and a recipe that I do not have. Thankfully, Taquero's gives me a choice and I gladly order the latter. Now, if I didn't have a Union supermarket to frequent, the value of that guacamole goes way up. Tue Nov 02 10:10:44 -0800 2004 695054 0 Tom 4 694961 Two of us split two hearty appetizers, a salad and an entree and could not finish the entree. The food is kind of like french food--it's so rich that you don't need quantity. Our bill was well within range of what you would pay at, say, Crepe Nanou--in other words, very appropriate. As far as chips and salsa, he has always had a thing about that and probably passes that along to the staff. I was surprised to see that he had unbent to the extent that he has pico de gallo on the menu. And we got those tortilla pieces with our appetizer and I found them to be delicious. Our service was friendly, efficient and beyond reproach. Wed Oct 27 13:05:54 -0700 2004 694958 0 Margot