Written with Micah Mayborn.
You know her. Her address is 1612 21st Ave South. She’s a taco bar. She’s Taco Mama, and she’s delicious. Ever since the first week of school, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed coming back again and again to this restaurant, so I felt it only necessary to write a completely unbiased review of one of my new favorite places. Located just a short walk from Commons, Taco Mama provides a laid-back ambiance in a zany yet charming dining room.
In this review I will remain journalistically impartial, state only facts, and provide the best recommendation I can. With that being said, Taco Mama is amazing and you should absolutely go.
I completed this review on Monday, November 6th at 6:00 P.M. with none other than MCL’s own Micah Mayborn. We agreed to grab dinner and catch each other up on our fascinating weekends, and we soon met up outside the brightly colored neon sign that heralded our imminent arrival to delicious-ville.
(The matching hoodies were unintentional this time.)
We stepped inside and were relieved to see the lack of a line (a rare sight). The low-lit environment filled with vintage remakes of old country music signs, Vanderbilt and Belmont pennants, and several boxes of ripe avocados beckoned us in. I stepped right up to the counter and ordered my usual: The Big Client burrito basket, composed of barbacoa (braised beef), refried beans, queso, shredded cheddar, tomatoes, and mild salsa ranchera. It comes with a hearty portion of chips and one side, of which I always choose the cilantro-lime rice.
Micah took a minute with the menu before ordering Jorge’s Nachos, a build-your-own item with which he opted for ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, and cheese. My burrito was (including tax) $13.11, and Micah’s nachos were $16. We then found a seat next to a column with a smiling Roy Orbison and an Elvis in the middle of a particularly vigorous hip-shimmy. We only had to wait a couple minutes before our food arrived, much to the delight of our growling stomachs.
My burrito.
Micah’s nachos.
As soon as the nachos hit the table, Micah’s face lit up. He looked first at them with excitement, then me, then then back to his nachos, as pictured below.
He was clearly hyped.
And after we dug in – believe me – I felt the same way about my burrito too.
The Big Client remains yet to disappoint in my eyes, and it delivered again. If it’s one thing that can lift a disgruntling Monday, it’s a big ol’ flour tortilla stuffed with beans, cheese, and meat. The first few bites are always the best. The juicy and tender barbacoa was the first element to be inhaled, followed by the refried beans, and then a combination of the two once I made my way closer to the other end. The one and only drawback to this meal was that I felt the beans were a little heavy, didn’t have much flavor, and didn’t fully complement the tortilla. Other than that, I felt that there was just the right amount of saltiness, flavor, and texture within the queso, shredded cheddar, tomatoes, and salsa to make up for it. When I asked Micah to describe his nachos in three words, he responded with “hearty, salty, tasty.” Well said.
The quintessential college restaurant, Taco Mama provides some seriously great vibes to enjoy an evening well-spent with good company and very good food.