There is no way in hell they will go for this, I told myself.But at least some of the boys (Brady and Jon) truly "manned-up" and took my challenge to enjoy a truly authentic Mexican food cart meal along Salt Lake City's famed State Street Friday. In fairness, GPak and GMac were out of town, while Big Red chose to wear pink today, carry a purse and go elsewhere.
"There won't be anywhere to sit," Brady complained this morning. But I assured him that the Sears parking lot at 800 South, famous for numerous fatal shootings, had places to sit, namely the foot-tall concrete wall separating the sidewalk from the parking lot.
Tacos Don Rafa did not disappoint. I couldn't decide between the burrito and the tacos, so I ordered both. Hell, those combined with a $1 can of Diet Coke only came to five bucks (Six if you include my tip).
I sunk my teeth into the chicken burrito — that I decided to eat "naked" — first. Bad choice of words for me. I could say "stripped-down" but either way you dirty-minded readers would think the worst. But I did choose to enjoy the flavors of the meat instead of piling on all the extras like other restaurants do. And it was delicious.The tortilla was grilled to perfection, albeit a little thin for this monster burrito stuffed with generous portions of grilled chicken, pinto beans, rice and cheese.
I finished about three-quarters of the burrito before diving into my two beef tacos and this time they were fully dressed with a wonderful combination of tomatoes, green onions, white onions and jalapeños.
There were a lot of jokes around the office about getting sick, but I had quite the Freudian slip when I suggested to Big Red I might get Gonorrhea from eating the tacos (I was thinking diarrhea ... but obviously my mind was elsewhere! LOL).
On a 1-to-10 scale, for food quality, I give a solid 8. They get a perfect 10 for their reasonable prices. And after watching a couple of guys visiting from Turkey devour their one-pound chicken burrito, I'd have to give Tacos Don Rafas a 9.5 on the Man-Up scale.
-Wingnut
i got your purse right here, boys. and by all means, man up with those 2-ounces of meat, 3-gram weight tortillas. what, it took 5 of them to fill you up? i digress.
ReplyDeletethe real reason i was not with the crew (and no, not because i wore pink): i happened to have made a prior commit with a fellow co-worker earlier in the week to lunch at the atlantic today.
and nadia did not disappoint. neither did the cevap.
still, those taco carts do rock. next time, mis hermanos. next time.
Tacos Don Rafa was pretty decent, considering we had to sit on a concrete retaining wall in 95-degree heat.
ReplyDeleteAs I said while we were dining, I'll reserve final judgment for about 12 hours to see if I develop food poisoning or grow a second head. Assuming none of those things happen, I'd be willing to go back. Chuck's burrito looked pretty darn good and I got even more interested when Jon said that the Barbacoa is not sweet, but salty and spicy.
The Tacos Don Rafa guy (Don? Rafa?) even seemed offended when Jon asked if the Barbacoa was sweet. Glad to see that not everyone is turning perfectly good pork into sugary slop (Cafe Rio, helllloooo!).
My ratings:
Man-up possibilities: 10
Food quality: 7
Service: Huh? They hand you the food, that's it.
Overall: 8
Solid work Chuckles! I think we've equally proven we can take the reigns on a given week and produce one solid review. Glad you decided on this concept for us Brady.
ReplyDeleteAs for my encounter... I devoured three Barbacoa tacos of the "salty" variety. I asked if they were sweet and the man taking money politely told me they "only use salt" on their meat. As a fan of the sweet, I was not disappointed with what is probably more authentic than most "Barbacoa" I've ever had. It had a nice little kick and I actually chased this stuff with a Capri Sun. Yes, Tacos Don Rafa is also kid friendly.
Because Chuckles was still eating and I was still a tad bit hungry, I grabbed a $1 quesadilla, which I guess could classify as my dessert?
All in all, a nice diversion to the sit down. And according to my count, there are three more of these bad boy carts in the 900 South block around Sears.
In adding to the review, I'd give the service for these guys a 9. They were friendly and even advised I not try the Tripas. Fine by me.
Well, I did not contract any bizarre diseases or grow any extra appendages from eating at Tacos Don Rafa, so it's thumbs up.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the atmosphere was delightful and the food was a man-up-fest. Sorry I missed it, especially considering the added excitement of possibly witnessing or being the victim of a drive-by shooting!
ReplyDeleteI hear there's a good hot dog cart downtown, and Brice told me about a pasta cart that has great stuff, so maybe we should add those to the list, too.
It's all about diversication, right? I'm game for both of those ideas.
ReplyDeleteI think we should hunt our own food under the viaduct down by the river.
ReplyDeleteNow you're talking! That would truly be manning up!
ReplyDelete