Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill - No Crispy Fried Tacos

Not a Contender for Best Crispy Tacos

South Sac Blog's search for the best crispy fried tacos in South Sacramento continued yesterday at Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill.  Alas, Rubio's is not even a contender, because they don't offer crispy fried tacos.

As I blogged here, when I was growing up, my mother, who was Mexican-American, made tacos by wrapping the filling in a soft corn taco and then frying it in a skillet. That's how her mother made them. When prepared properly, the corn tortilla is slightly crispy, but not anything like the dreadful hard shell taco sold in boxes.  Because it was soft, the tortilla absorbs the juices and flavors of the seasoned meat filling and oil, making it moist and soft inside - and muy delicioso!

The problem is that although I have lived here in South Sac for 13 years now, I had not stumbled upon an establishment that sells those delicious crispy fried tacos like my dear mother used to make. So we have devoted the resources of South Sac Blog to identify any local restaurants and taquerias that do prepare them that way.

Rubio's is famous for its fish tacos so we were anxious to see if crispy fried tacos were also on the menu.  We went to the Rubio's in South Sacramento, on Bruceville.  It's right behind the Target.




We strolled to the counter and inquired about Rubio's tacos.  No, we were told, there are no crispy fried tacos made there.  But something called the "'Grilled Gourmet Taco' has toasted cheese, and offers a bit of crunch, so why not try that?"  I agreed and ordered the two taco plate (comes with rice and beans), with my second taco being the "Classic Taco" for comparison.  South Sac crew members ordered various soft tortilla fish tacos.

The lunch crowd was there consisting of professional types from the nearby medical offices.  The atmosphere was pleasant and welcoming.  We found some empty tables and waited for our orders.

Here's my taco plate:

The Grilled Gourmet Taco offers a blend of mozzarella, Monterey jack, and white cheddar heated directly on a hot flat grill until it’s melted and toasted.  This cheese mixture is then layed on a warm, stone-ground corn tortilla to create the foundation for the rest of the taco.  The filling has your choice of meat, bacon, avocado, cilantry, onion and two chile sauces.  I wish the grilled cheese bed had been a little thicker.  I thought the chile sauces tended to drown out the flavors of the other items.

The Classic Taco has fresh guacamole, cheese, salsa fresca, lettuce, and is drizzled with chipotle sauce.

Quite honestly, I thought my tacos were okay.

I didn't care much for the large drizzling of sauce.  I thought it made the tacos too wet and runny.  I had terrible heartburn an hour later and I suspect it came from the chipotle sauce.  But everyone is different and your tummies may vary.  I left disappointed, because I'm searching for a taco prepared in a particular way, and didn't find one.  However . . .

I must emphasize that my reaction is not a reflection on the other items on Rubio's menu.  There are seafood tacos which crew members raved about.  It's obvious Rubio's has made an effort to infuse its seafood offerings with rich flavors.  The fish and shrimp have a nice seared exterior with delicate interior.  The fish tacos come with traditional cabbage or slaw on top, and are made with Mahi Mahi, Tilapia, or Salmon.    

Also on the Rubio's menu are seafood burritos, regular burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, and other items.  The Rubio's down on Bruceville offers a pleasant place to sit down and enjoy lunch or dinner. We didn't see any unhappy faces.  I would stick to their famous fish tacos if I returned.

So there it is.  In our search for the best fried crispy fried tacos in South Sac, the amazing Taco Fresco Burgers & Fries holds on to its early lead.

We're going to venture back into the wonderfully diverse heart of South Sac for our next review.

Chando's Doesn't Sell Crispy Fried Tacos - the Search Continues!

South Sac Blog has been searching for the best crispy fried tacos in South Sacramento.  We've been to Super Taco, Taco Fresco Burgers & Fries, and we even strayed into Elk Grove to check out Flakos and Chevys.  Today we resumed our search here in South Sac to see what Chando's Tacos on Power Inn offers.  Concerning crispy fried tacos, the answer is: nothing.  But don't let that discourage you from going to Chando's for their delicious street-style tacos and other items.

When I was growing up, my dear Mother, who was Mexican-American, made tacos by stuffing the corn tortilla with the filling and then frying the entire thing in a skillet.  The tortilla was crispy on the outside, but a little soft on the inside having soaked up the juices from the meat.  Yes, it may have been just a little oily, but that only added to the incredible flavor.  The sad thing is that I have not been able to find any crispy tacos like that sold in restaurants or taquerias.  Well, except for one place.  Cactus Taqueria down in Berkeley offers incredible crispy fried tacos that sets the standard.  My mission is to find similar tacos here in South Sac.

Taco Fresco Burgers & Fries took the early lead in my search with its crispy shrimp and fish tacos.  They actually make their own corn tortillas fresh and fry them just for you.  Their tortillas puff up a little when fried and are simply amazing.  I'm not even sure if Cactus Taqueria makes its own tortillas!

Enough small talk.  Chando's certainly makes the best filling for its tacos than any place I have sampled so far in South Sac.  You can read about the different meat fillings here, and Chando's history here.  When we were there they were grilling the meat outside.

Here's my three tacos below with chicken, carnitas, and carne asada; all with cilantro, onions, and salsa:

But those are in their soft corn tortillas - not fried.  And since I m searching for crispy fried tacos, there's no point in going further.  I did order a tostada just to fill my crunch craving.  I had the carne asada and you can see they don't skimp on the meat:

Yes, we got the delicious super nachos, too:

The nice thing about the super nachos is that the meat and cheese is layered between different rows of chips, not just all dumped on top. 

Anyway, Chando's isn't in the running for the best cripsy fried taco in South Sac.  So the search continues.  Where to go next?

The Amazing Crispy Tacos at Taco Fresco Burgers & Fries!

Our search for the best crispy tacos in South Sac took us to Taco Fresco Burgers & Fries (Taco Fresco).  The review can be summed up this way:  Taco Fresco rocks! 

Taco Fresco is located at 8168 Florin Road (near Power Inn Road).



Taco Fresco has the appearance of an old-style drive-up burger joint.  Before drive-thrus, were invented, you would park your car and order your food at the walk-up take-out window.  You could also order at the counter inside.  Taco Fresco is located in one of those old style burger joint buildings.  It was a nice sunny day and one of our crew said eating there reminded her of Florida.  Go figure.  Anyway, everyone agreed the place has character and is cool.  Seating inside is individually at the window, or at a few tables for couples and groups.  There is also seating outside.

I knew immediately that Taco Fresco was special.  That's because one of the first things I noticed once inside was one of the ladies working there making fresh corn tortillas.  I started salivating even before I placed my order.  Since the purpose of this adventure is to find the best crispy tacos, we ordered the two on the menu:  Crispy Fried Shrimp or Fish tacos.  Their menu has a good selection of other things, but those are the two crunchy tacos. 

The two tacos were fantastico.  As you can tell from the pictures, their freshly made tortillas puff up when they are fried.  They are light and crunchy, and wonderfully compliment the fish or shrimp filling.  Each has good portions of shrimp or fish - they are good deals and you really get your money's worth.  The fish tacos have a small topping of red cabbage to give it some more crunch.  They don't have a fishy taste either.  The tacos each have a topping of some kind of creamy sauce that is only mildly spicy.  But they come with a side order of their own sauce that is very spicy so you can add as much heat as you like.  I seriously can't wait to go back. 

My only criticism - if you could call it that - is the fried puffy tortillas may only be available for the shrimp and fish fillings.  At least according to the menu.  I'll have to go back and ask (and order more tacos).  One of the South Sac crew also ordered a breakfast burrito with chorizo.  It was good.  Breakfast burritos are a whole other category so we're not going down that road in this review.  It's mentioned here just to let you know that Taco Fresco has several things on their menu. 

So Taco Fresco Burgers and Fries takes a big early lead in the search for the best crispy taco in South Sac.  But there is a caveat.  They take the lead for the best fried fish and shrimp tacos.  Beef? Chicken? Pork? Steak?  Taco Fresco convinces me that there are even different categories for crispy tacos.  The search continues.  Where to next?

Flako's Takos: Crunchy Taco Review

My search for the best crispy taco in South Sac kicked off today even further south than South Sac - at Flako's Takos in Elk Grove.  It's off of Hwy 99 on Elk Grove Blvd, just to the right when you exit.  I heard it through the grapevine that they offer a crunchy taco for $2.50.  They do.  But I'll skip it next time.  The good news is that the trip wasn't all bad.  There's something else on their menu that I would happily order again.

Let's start with the purpose of my excursion: to review Flako's crunchy taco.  When it came out, the shell was perfectly formed.  Too perfect, as if it were a small pre-made taco shell like you get at Taco Bell or buy at the grocery store.  I don't know for a fact if it were a processed, pre-packaged shell.  It could have started out as a soft corn tortilla, then baked in some kind of taco holder or mold.  It didn't have the flavor of a freshly fried corn tortilla so I doubt that it was.  And there was not a hint of oil on it.  I suspect the tortilla was baked there, and then the filling was spooned in.  If I'm wrong, please let me know somebody.  Oh, and yes, it was crunchy.  I had it with the carnitas filling, which was good

Over all, the crunchy taco didn't offer the wow factor that you will find eating at, say, Cactus Taquería - which sets the standard for crsipy fried tacos, in my opinion.  The taco I ate was something I have easily made at home with store bought corn tortillas, my own taco holder, and my oven.  Actually, I like the way mine come out because I spoon the filling in before the taco is baked so the tortilla absorbs the flavor and juices of the meat filling.  But baking the taco just doesn't give you the flavors and textures that frying does.  That's the reason for my search.  Oh well, to each their own.

But wait, let's end on a positive note.  I wasn't at Flako's for their soft corn tortilla taco, but as you can see by the pictures, I ordered one anyway with carne asada filling.  It was tiny (see the pic below), but delicious.  The carne asada was well seasoned, and complimented the fresh corn tortilla taste.   Ordering three or four of those with a bottle of beer would be a great way to pass the time!  And they are not expensive, currently $1.89 a piece.
  

Of course there is more on Flako's menu.  And did I say their complimentary chips and salsa were nice? 

In the end, however, my first search for great crispy fried tacos in South Sac ended in failure.  Where to next?

Update:  Next, the South Sac Crew will be heading over to Taco Fresco Burgers and Fries, on Florin, as the search for the Best Crispy Taco in South Sac continues!

The Search for Fried Crispy Tacos in South Sac

Tacos are great.  And there are many varieties.  Street-style tacos are quite popular.  These have some kind of filling - usually meat or fish, and veggies - folded in a small soft corn tortilla.  Most taco food trucks sell this kind, as do many taquerias.  Now-a-days, you can pretty much find them everywhere  in South Sacramento.  Purists claim these are honest to God authentic Mexican tacos. 

There is also the regular soft taco where the shell is a larger fluffy flour tortilla wrapped around the filling.  Usually the filling is some kind of meat, veggies, and cheese.  I love flour tortillas, but I prefer to eat things in them burrito-style, or with my hands by tearing them apart and using the pieces to scoop up meat, beans, and rice from my plate.  This site claims that flour tortillas originated along the U.S./Mexican border when Mexicans began using wheat flour that was prevalent instead of corn to make tortillas.  I only know that my grandmother would make us homemade flour tortillas whenever she visited.  My sister and I would devour them with butter as soon as they came off the stove.

Then there is the hard shell taco.  There are a couple of sub-varieties of these.  You're familiar with the mass-produced variety of hard shell tacos if you frequent Taco Bell or buy your packaged taco shells at the grocery store to make them at home.  Packaged hard shell tacos are my least favorite, because the shell is usually stale, or the shell breaks apart after a couple of bites.  I find them tasteless.

Okay, now we come to my favorite kind of taco - a hard shell variety, which will be the subject of my search in South Sac, and future posts for the next couple of weeks:  The crispy fried taco.  When I was growing up, my mother, who was Mexican-American, made tacos by wrapping the filling in a soft corn taco and then frying them.  She made them that way, because that's how her mother made them.  When done properly the corn tortilla is crispy and crunchy, but won't fall apart when you bite into it.  And because it was soft when you began, the tortilla absorbs the juices and flavors of the meat making it moist and soft inside and muy delicioso!  You won't get the same effect if you fry the tortillas empty, and then spoon the filling inside. 

That method of making crispy fried tacos wasn't unique to my house.  My best friend's mom, who was also Mexican-American, made tacos the very same way.  And in talking to friends, and acquaintances who share my Chicano heritage, that's how they remember eating tacos as kids, and still make them at home today.

That confuses me because I have read that crispy fried tacos are an Anglo invention.  This site reports from sources that authentic Mexican restaurants never offered crispy fried tacos, and that the idea of frying tacos originated in the U.S.  Wikipedia claims crispy fried tacos are a California variant of the taco.  Try telling that to Texans.  Actually I suspect that back in the day you could find crispy fried tacos all over the Southwest, not just in California and Texas.  Currently the best crispy fried tacos in my opinion are sold in Cactus Taqueria, a Mexican restaurant with two locations in the Bay Area.  By the way, I recommend the crispy fried chicken tacos; here's the menu.  They stuff the corn tortilla then briefly deep fry the whole thing. Then they add green leafy lettuce and guacamole.  It's absolutely divine.   

The problem I have is that I haven't found those delicious crispy fried tacos like my mom used to make here in South Sacramento.  Worse, I suspect there is a bias against them, because some claim they are inauthentic tacos.  I find that insulting to my Chicano heritage (even if I am only one-half Chicano). 

So I am officially on the quest to find the best crispy fried tacos in South Sac.  If they can make them at Cactus Taqueria, why can't some place sell them up here?  If you have suggestions or leads, please let me know!