169503 Thu Jan 29 09:08:24 -0800 2004 17 14 Washington DC & Baltimore Area 0 907559 Taco Fiesta has finally opened in downtown Baltimore, has anyone been yet? Link: http://www.tacofiesta.com Thu Jan 29 09:08:24 -0800 2004 0 Hon 1 907584 It says on the site that they open on the 4th. Did they open early? When I was leaving Bin 604 last Saturday, they looked like they had quite a bit of work to do. Thu Jan 29 14:23:00 -0800 2004 907559 0 Tugboat 2 907589 Shoot, I thought they had opened this week, they were supposed to - oops! Lot of work still to do, huh Thu Jan 29 15:08:15 -0800 2004 907584 0 Hon 3 907593 I peeked in last night as well. They could be open on the 4th, the walls were painted and the menu was up. There was still a fiar amount of finish work to do though. Thu Jan 29 16:33:38 -0800 2004 907589 0 gusshusband 1 907592 Is this the chain that is in other parts of the country? My wife is from Oklahoma and they have it down there. THis would definitely help with the homesickness. Thu Jan 29 16:21:00 -0800 2004 907559 0 Turtle 2 907607 (First post!) Taco Fiesta was a little carryout dive in College Park for ten years, and the owner sold it about a year ago and relocated to Baltimore. Look for excellent, fresh and delicious California-style Mexican food. We used to get dinner delivered from the old place twice a week. I miss it a lot. Thu Jan 29 21:39:09 -0800 2004 907592 0 Amy 1 907611 Not open yet apparently. But I have qualms about claims of "non-fat salsa" (who puts fat/oil in salsa?) and "no lard" in the beans as a point of pride. It would be a shame if they put the serious Latino places in this neighborhood out of business only because they were clean and well lit, and regardless of the quality of their food. R. Thu Jan 29 23:41:58 -0800 2004 907559 0 Ramon 2 907619 Why would this place put anyone out of business? I look forward to no-lard beans because even though I love beans with lard, I can no longer, because of medical concerns, have red-meat animal related products. Maybe the other places should follow suit, and be "clean". I like a clean restaurant don't you? Fri Jan 30 08:58:29 -0800 2004 907611 0 Hon 3 907624 >>Why would this place put anyone out of business? Answer: Americans by and large are too wanting of homogoneity. This hurts small operations with either local or authentic or experimental (and just unique) flavors. Watch in the next few months for www.fthechains.com to find out more, or read F >>Maybe the other places should follow suit, and be "clean". I like a clean restaurant don't you? A) Personally, one thing I look for when scouting out certain types of fare, is to look for the unclean place. If it looks like Chipotle, it probably is a Chipotle. If it looks like El Charitto Caminante, it most likely is El Charitto Caminante. Fri Jan 30 09:46:32 -0800 2004 907619 0 Knuckboy 4 907627 There are already 2 "Americanized" Mexican/Tex Mex places in that area, Austin Grill and Nacho Mamas - their presence hasn't stopped more authentic places from opening and thriving in that same area, I seriously doubt that Taco Fiesta will run anyone out of business. I happen to prefer the small, authentic places to the chains and I think that holds true for most of the people on this board. I am looking forward to Taco Fiesta because I have been hearing about how good it is for years (when it was in College Park) and a restaurant owner who I am friends with (who is also pretty picky) says that the food is delicious and when it comes down to it - thats all I am looking for! Fri Jan 30 10:11:18 -0800 2004 907624 0 Hon 5 907628 and BTW, Taco Fiesta is not a chain - they are just relocating from College Park! Fri Jan 30 10:12:06 -0800 2004 907627 0 Hon 6 907632 I should clarify that chains aren't all bad, and clean places either, but I think the original comment was speaking to the point that most of the American dining out money goes to homogoneity or that which speaks towards homogoneity. In parts this is a good thing, because if the grandeur of ECC's food ever really got out, I'd never be able to eat there again because of the crowds (and indeed that has happened somewhat since moving out of the trailer). I would also add that though Taco Fiesta isn't a chain, it still could hold the potentiality of utter disappointment for a chowhound. And of course this is personal (and I can't specifically knock TF - I haven't been - I'm supporting the comment from another before), but I feel similar to Poblano's in Alexandria in that it doesn't hold anything for me. I either want some authenticity I can trust, or I want something new and inventive on the basis of an existing style of food. I think Poblano's seems to try to be "near authentic" and I, again personally, just feel that that's not a worthwhile cause. I ate there once and was just very underwhelmed except for the final bill. I had the feeling they took without giving back. Again, it's all personal, but the original post that brought that up was a mere wish that this phenomenon didn't happen. A good latin fare cook should have a greater chance, in my belief, in passing on a successful one off restaurant to his/her children rather than a recommendation to the manager of Chipotle for a part time job. Fri Jan 30 10:26:38 -0800 2004 907628 0 Knuckboy 7 907637 So, based on some of the previous replies, I'm not to eat French food unless cooked by a french chef, Italian unless the chef is from Italy, Cajun unless the chef comes from the Bayou?? Do I understand you correctly, only a native can cook the food correctly. Gosh, how do you explain the Tex-Mex places with terrible food but complete Mexican staffs??? The Chinese restaurants that serve Americanized glop??? I go to a place because the food is good & definitely don't prejudge a place before it is even open!!! By the way I got food poisoning from a very clean looking restaurant. Do you follow your servers to the bathroom to see that they wash their hands??? Fri Jan 30 12:03:21 -0800 2004 907632 0 ocdreamr 8 907642 Many things were obviously not read with enough attention to detail. >>Gosh, how do you explain the Tex-Mex places with terrible food but complete Mexican staffs??? This is the main point of my last post, in fact. It is because those places are open and do make the money because again, most American dining money goes to those places. The cooks have to follow the instructions set out by corp hq to keep their jobs. If more money supported the smaller one-offs and smaller chains, those line cooks could find jobs working at those places, and certainly a few of them would be owners or managers of such places. >>The Chinese restaurants that serve Americanized glop??? Exactly along the same lines, the american pallette most likely didn't like truly authentic flavor, but somehow in the evolution of this, owners hit upon a variation that appeased the US pallette. Then it grew from there. Many of those places, however, actually do serve many things not on the menu - just ask. >>Do I understand you correctly, only a native can cook the food correctly. Not at all, I left plenty of room open for creativity, uniqueness, local flavor and variations. Moreover, if a person with asian ethnicity grew up in the south, they can probably cook a better BBQ pig than a bowl of pho, the reverse is also true. Also, having intimate relations with the restaurant hotel industry, if one invests much in learning cooking techniques, few ever try to copy carte blanc any existing style. First, that is usually regarded as plagiarism (yes). Second, if someone has that time and energy invested, it's most likely they're going to try to let the artistry of their knowledge play out and therefore, make a Peruvian-like dish with a twist on the theme. Additionally, I think that just because it's a hole in the wall doesn't mean that it's good, nor that it's run or owned by anyone of a certain ethnic background, that it's good. However, I certainly take into account. Lastly, there certainly is a gamble eating anywhere. I'd really love to know the per centage of teenagers at mcdonalds that follow the directions in the bathrooom. Then there's the risk of a rest. that doesn't get much business having too old of chicken. However, I would bet that when it's a family run operation, most of those working there will take pains to make sure that incidences such as food poisoning do not occur - as they really can't withstand any loss of business or any possible fines/suits, etc. Fri Jan 30 12:34:20 -0800 2004 907637 0 Knuckboy 9 907655 Talk about not reading correctly??!! "Gosh, how do you explain the Tex-Mex places with terrible food but complete Mexican staffs??? This is the main point of my last post, in fact. It is because those places are open and do make the money because again, most American dining money goes to those places. The cooks have to follow the instructions set out by corp hq to keep their jobs. " How do you come by the assumption that I was speaking of chain restaurants. I was speaking of several small Tex-Mex family run restaurants that I have checked out in the Baltimore area. Having eaten the real thing in Texas border towns on many occasions I have something to compare them to & many fall way short. The main point that I was making was that, like a bunch of pompous fools, you all were trying to down this small place before it had even opened by giving the reasons you felt it would be bad. Talk about killing the small restaurant business. Idle chatter like yours (I didn't mean just you knuckboy, I mean such as frequently happens on this site) can put the word out that a place isn't any good before it has had a chance to make a go of it! Next time let the place open & more importantly try it before you pan it. Fri Jan 30 14:39:11 -0800 2004 907642 0 ocdreamr 5 907657 i don't care if it's clean or who's cooking there, but do they have to play classic rock? just kidding. Fri Jan 30 14:58:03 -0800 2004 907627 0 asun 1 907688 Some number of years ago, I worked in Beltsville and made regular trips to Taco Fiesta in a College Park strip center. This was before Baja Burito and Chipoltes. It was akin to a chain in SoCal-La Salsa, probably the basis for Baja, et al. We were always greeted by one of the owners (sorry cant remember his name). They had a fab Cinco de mayo party. The food was pretty good. And would make up special orders, co worker observed Passover. This was not part of a chain. Just a couple of guys that made cheap, decent food for the area at the time. I called it Cal-mex, cleaner taste than tex-mex. I am glad to hear that they are still around!!!! Sat Jan 31 10:46:43 -0800 2004 907559 0 emptychevy 1 907694 I like lard. I like the flavor it gives to Mexican and Italian and other cuisines when it's rendered by hand...not the obscene white rectangular solids one finds in the grocery store. I don't expect anyone else to like it because I do. I am personally offended when a product claims to be "fat-free" to apparently attract business from unsuspecting consumers, when that product has no history of ever having had fat in it. These are red flags that this menu throws up (so to speak) that might make me choose other options. R. Sat Jan 31 13:11:05 -0800 2004 907559 0 Ramon