Taco Meats Potato-- Look Beyond the Name, Please!

UPDATE, 07/29/2014: Taco Meets Potato has closed.  Indy Chin Restaurant has opened in its place.  We see what that's like, and whether this is to become one of those fated "black hole" locations....

UPDATE, 03/10/2014:  I picked up lunch to go:  3 tacos for The Little Woman and fajitas for me, along with a small order of chips & salsa.  The new proprietors appear to be gringos, but they were very nice. Again the food was decent but not the stellar stuff the place turned out in the beginning. The salsa was fresh, but the tacos were uninspiring and though good, the amount of meat in my fajitas was kind of disappointing given the $10 price tag.

UPDATE, 12/16/2013:  There is a sign out front that says "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT",  so I'll probably be suckered into eatin' there again.  Keeping my fingers crossed that the old guy took it back over....

UPDATE, 06/03/2013: I'm putting this at the top of the post because so many folks come here to read about Taco Meats Potato, and I wish all the good things I said below were still true, but something has happened to this place.  We've been there twice in recent weeks, and both times there was a new crew working and (although the waitresses were very easy on the eyes) they don't seem to be following the same recipes as before.  The salsa is decent but now it's really ordinary, lacking the milkiness and whatever it was that gave it such a distinctive and delicious flavor.  My wife's tacos were missing the fresh cilantro and onion the last ones had, and finally, my fajitas were okay, too, but again, not the culinary delight we once enjoyed there.  Sigh.... maybe the potatoes are still exceptionally good, anyway.

UPDATE, 11/15/2013:  I picked up lunch to-go there-- two tacos, the Enchiladas Trio platter with rice and beans, and a small order of chips and salsa.  The salsa was fresh and good, but still lacked the milkiness and whatever it was that made it so good before.  The tacos were decent but lacked the seasoning they used to have, and they only used one corn tortilla per taco, so they lost all their molecular integrity by the time I go home, resulting in what was essentially a taco salad without the bowl.  My enchiladas were decent, too, and the rice was tastier than most other places.  The beans were good depending on how you like you refritos: TMP's are not the whipped solid-mass like you get other places but contained some whole beans.  In sum, it was all just okay, including the price.  We probably won't be back, sorry to say.  Sigh, again..


Taco Meats Potato, 7040 Madison Avenue, recently opened in the strip mall space that was occupied by Heine's Roast Beef-- If I can reminisce a bit, Heine's State Fair cuisine (since that was their main business, running a mobile trailer at fairs and such) was delicious, but it was every bit as pricey as eating at the State Fair, so I suspect that's why the stationary store didn't last.  Hopefully this isn't gonna be one of those black-hole locations fated to have one failing business after another in it.

Anyway, the Little Woman and I were drawn by TMP's ridiculous pun of a name as much as by her boundless craving for Mexican food.  As you approach the door there is a Southwestern scene painted on the window along with the words "Where you bean all my life?" Geez, another pun?  I had misgivings about what we were about to experience, that is until they brought the multi-colored chips and salsa.  Now, my judgement may have been clouded by a couple of beers I had earlier, but I still believe it was THE BEST SALSA I have ever eaten, including in Mexico.  It had the usual pureed tomato, and I could taste lots of cilantro and onion, but the liquid part of it was a little milky, like maybe there was also sour cream in it as well as other spices that aren't in most other salsas.  The rest of the meal could've been made of sandpaper and I would still be raving about that salsa....

It was late evening, like 9:15, and we didn't want to upset our middle-aged digestive systems with a heavy meal right before bedtime, so we decided to split the Texas Nachos, a plateful of more chips with white cheese, three types of meat, jalapenos, and more of that delightful salsa poured over them, capped off with a big dollop of sour cream and a whole steamed jalapeno. I won't say they were outstanding but they were very good, and the price wasn't bad, either.  There's nothing fancy about the place, but it has the feel of all the authentic taquerias here and in Mexico that  I've ever been in.   I didn't ask, but it appears to be a family operation, with the cook and proprietor a young Hispanic guy who said he's from Dallas, although the source of his recipes is his mother, who hails from the Rio Grande valley, he said. 

As we went up to pay I spied the Potato Menu, which the proprietress/waitress said she didn't show us because they had sold out all their potatoes for the day.  There must have been at least a dozen potato combos listed, from taco to cajun shrimp to a regular loaded potato to a tilapia potato.  Maybe we'll get to sample those another time earlier in the day.  !Que bueno!

UPDATE: 12/03/2012-- We went there COMPLETELY sober this time, and the salsa was still da BOMB.  The waitress also gave us a sample of white-cheese queso with taco meat mixed in that was reeeeally good, too: We liked it so much we bought some to take home.  The Little Woman had two flour tacos with steak, cilantro, and onion, which were deeeelicious. The steak was marinated and seasoned somehow, in a way that made it tastier than any other Mexican restaurant's I've ever had .   I ordered the Taco Potato, a huge baked potato loaded with white cheese, taco meat, lettuce and tomato, capped off with a dollop of sour cream and a whole steamed jalapeno, all served with rice and refried beans. The seasoned coarsely-ground taco meat was also extraordinary.   I can't wait till Tuesday, when ground-beef tacos are $1 each.... The beans were ordinary but good and the Spanish rice was !INCREIBLE!  With most other Mexican restaurants I have to pour salsa or hot sauce over the rice to give it some flavor, but TMP's was tasty all by itself. !ANDALE! !VAS AL TACO MEATS POTATO, AHORITA!

Bugsy's Bar & Grille- Unremarkable and Yet...

Bugsy's is (yep) in a strip mall on Brookville Road a little east of I-465.  It's a good-sized place with a pool table and lots of TV's, and it has the look and feel of every other modern strip mall bar you've ever been in.... But wait!  There was just something about the joint that made us feel, well, comfortable.  It's really clean, with tile flooring in most areas instead of the nasty colorless industrial carpeting most bars have.  The barmaid on this Saturday afternoon was a nice-looking non-redneck lady in her late 40's who has two kids in college and generally made sure we had everything we needed.  We'd just eaten lunch so we didn't sample the pub grub, but what I saw looked and smelled really good.  They had some really great drink specials posted, too, so you can definitely make the price fit your budget there if you're willing to be flexible.  We were thus very favorably impressed and wished it wasn't so far from our home....  I guess by way of a compliment you could say that Bugsy's does ordinary right.  Drink up!

Mama Irma's - What The Heck Is Peruvian Food?

Mama Irma's is in the heart of Fountain Square, on Virginia Avenue just west of Shelby Street.  It's in a small storefront with a relatively tiny sign over the entrance that you might miss if you're not looking for it.  The place has like 8 or 9 tables, and at this weekday lunch it was just Mama and one other employee working, so service was a little slow but not terribly so.  I had the $9.25 Chicharron de Gallina, basically strips of deep-fried chicken with a small salad and yucca-root fries, and The Little Woman had Aji de Galleta (not sure if that name is correct), kind of a thick stew with diced chicken, rice, green beans, corn, cilantro, and a bunch of other vegetalia I was unable to identify.  

Mama explained that Peruvian-style cooking is not spicy at all, but usually includes many different flavors.  The fried chicken strips were decent but the seasoning was too subtle for my uneducated palate, so I was left craving some kind of dipping sauce to go with them.   Another patron later requested and was actually brought something in a little cup that resembled a thick teriyaki sauce, which caused me to smack my forehead and say, "Wow! I coulda had that, or even a V-8!"  My little salad was crisp and fresh, with onions and a light sort of citrus vinaigrette dressing that was tart but not sweet.  The yucca-root fries were very similar in flavor and consistency to regular french fries except they were a bit softer on the inside; I wanted to put some ketchup on them but felt it might be uncouth of me to ask for it.  

I skipped the offered Peruvian soft drinks and had Peruvian hot tea, which was lemongrass in a tea bag. It was kind of light, tart, and fairly tasty when sweetener was added.  My Lady had Diet Coke, because they didn't have iced tea. Her $5.25 bowl of soup/stew was the better-tasting of the two dishes, with a combination of many different flavors that was quite good.  There was a whole column of the menu devoted to Mariscos (seafood), but all the dishes were in the double-digit price range and Mr. Cheapskate didn't want to spend that much on lunch when he'd already planned to to get the Steak & Lobster special at Outback for dinner.  All in all, Mama's was decent but didn't exactly wow me, though it was all right for a little change of pace. !Disfrutalo!

Heidelberg Cafe - Affordable Authentic German

Heidelberg Cafe and Bakery on Pendleton Pike just east of I465 is (yay!) not in a strip mall, and much to my dismay it's not on the South Side.  I'd been by there and seen its tidy signs outside a kind of dumpy-looking little white-painted brick storefront like 50 times over the years, but it was always while I was working and not able to stop.  I saw it yet again last Friday when I had an appointment in Lawrence and resolved to go there on Saturday, which we did-- I intended to stop in for some coffee and pastry, then go to nearby Ft. Harrison State Park for a little hike and maybe picnic with some KFC.  As soon as we sat down in the Heidelberg, however, all that changed.

They don't have just pastry and coffee.  There is a nice little lunch menu of German dishes, served by waitresses in German-style waitress dresses, some of whom have real German accents, as do a many of the customers, which I thought boded well  (remember the axiom of ethnic restaurant + lots of customers of that same ethnic community = GOOD).  I had the Heidelberger (essentially a foot-long German hot dog on a plate with two small pickle spears and bread with butter), a side order of  Korean potato salad (just kiddin', it was German), and coffee.  The Little Woman ordered a Bratwurst which automatically came with the potato salad, bread, and pickles.  The coffee was nothing exotic but it was very good and the wait staff kept it coming. Both meats were smoky and delicious as was the potato salad, which was served warm as it should be.  The pickle spears were fresh, delicate, and crunchy, some of the best dill pickles I've ever had.  For dessert I went into the bakery part of the building and purchased an Alligator which we had them microwave a few seconds to make sticky and warm.  It was ohhhhhh so good with the coffee!  

It was a pretty good deal, too, considering we both ate for under 20 bucks.  The food might not be as rich as the Rathskeller's downtown or the Edelweiss Restaurant's in German Park on the South Side, but it was just as authentic, filling, and a heck of a lot cheaper. We rolled ourselves off our chairs, waddled over and  browsed the bakery and little German grocery section (which had a big selection of pickles that I wished I'd taken the time to shop), and also their selection of German-language newspapers, magazines, and souvenirs (They're also a licensed Hummel dealer).  We finally made it to the park to hike, but any picnic plans were  dashed for the rest of the day by our lingering satiation by Bratwurst.  Prosit!

El Puerto - Just A Little Different From the Rest

El Puerto, 7045 Emblem Drive, is (need I say it) in a strip mall in between Mike's Car Wash and Meijer, near the giant sucking vortex of traffic quicksand that is the intersection of Southport Road and Emerson Avenue.  I think it's part of a small chain, as there is another El Puerto at Emerson & Thompson Road.  The decor is simple but clean-- it was a Schlotsky's sandwich shop when first built, and likely retains the original seating.  I've been to the other El Puerto, too, and the decor is similar although this one has more windows and seems more light and airy inside.

On this day I got an order to go, and it was a working lunch so no beer or booze (*sigh*).  The very cordial host took my order promptly and the food was ready !muy pronto!  I had the lunch Chimichanga with beans and my business partner (just kidding, it was The Little Woman) had a burrito with beans, and they were both DEEELICIOUS.  The Chimi was cooked just right, not doughy but not hard, and it was covered with a tasty white queso sauce and filled with spicy shredded beef, while the burrito was covered in a red sauce that was also quite flavorful. The beans had a little bit of white cheese melted on top, which I love, and the to-go order came with a little cup of salsa and a quart-size bag of tortilla chips.  The salsa was excellent for us but maybe a little too spicy for some folks. 

Both dishes seemed a little different from the same ones at other Mexican restaurants (YAHOO!). All the decorations in the place were from Cancun so maybe this is the style of the food there.  I was in Mexico once, visiting Tulancingo in the state of Hidalgo when I saw a restaurant advertising Michoacan-style food, but was unable to go in and ask what that might be because I couldn't leave the tour group....  I've since had the opportunity to ask several Mexicanos living here what regional Mexican food differences there are, but none of them had any idea beyond one guy who said that in Cancun they eat a lot of seafood. D (wait for it) UH!  I can tell you, though, that in Hidalgo they have Pastes (pronounced PA STAYS), a variation of the English Pasties that British miners brought over when they came there to mine silver, yet another variation of which (the pirogi?) was the lunch of German and Polish miners up in Minnesota.  A paste is a pie crust-like pastry baked hard and filled with meat and cheese, to which the Hidalguenses have added plenty of Mexican spice and flavor.  The tour guides brought 'em to us in big boxes like doughnuts, and I woulda consumed a whole box of them if those danged Seguridad Publica guys hadn't tackled me.  Ah, but I digress.... 

El Puerto is nothing fancy, but the food is just a little different and a little tastier than most of the other cookie-cutter Mexican restaurants, for which I am VERY grateful for every cup and every plateful.  Thank you Lord for all this food.  Amen!  Sorry, got carried away there....  !TOME Y COME AQUI AHORITA, MI GENTE! 

The Party's New Face-- More Than Just a Makeover

The renovation of The Party, 7350 Madison Avenue, is almost complete, and owner Steve Waugh has really transformed the ancient former Rax Roast Beef location.  There is a DJ booth, some nice new seating in the great new bar area, and the covered outdoor patio is a thing to behold-- There are two little man-made waterfalls out front and a gas fire pit in the middle as well as propane area heaters stationed at intervals throughout the patio, and I'm told there are even radiant heating panels in its ceiling!  With all the renovation expense I expected prices to rise uncomfortably like they did at Waugh's other joint, Big Daddy's at Meridian and Pleasant Run Parkway, but so far that hasn't happened.  On Monday drafts were $1.50 + tax, the regular price for a well drink is still $3.50, and a glass of Sutter Home wine is $3.95. (They still have half-price bottles of all varieties of their wines on Sundays, too!)  There's a pretty extensive pub grub menu, too.  What's not to like?  Cheers, y'all!

Zelma's: An Eastside tradition stays fresh.

One afternoon on a crisp Fall Sunday, we went in Zelma's, 935 N. Shadeland Avenue,  for the first time in maybe fifteen years.  I remembered the place as the rather comfortable epitome of the words "greasy spoon", the type of 24/7 place that decades ago would have been frequented by the likes of Philip Marlowe.  Now, however, though she is still open 24 hours a day and probably serves a lot of late-night drunken revelers and other nefarious characters, the spoons are NOT greasy and the dining room is bright and clean.  

The Little Woman had a grilled tenderloin sandwich with fries and coleslaw while I ordered the Beef Manhattan which (in case you weren't born on this planet) is usually brown gravy over roast beef on an open-faced sandwich with mashed potatoes, but in this case it was just like they made a regular sandwich, put it down on a plate with some mashed potatoes and poured gravy over it.  I later learned one of their specialties is Fried Chicken, so I guess I wasn't exactly sampling their flagship dish, but our stuff was decent if not outstanding.  The gravy and mashed potatoes seemed straight out of the Sysco catalog but were tasty nevertheless, and the sliced roast beef was browned, which suggests to me they warmed it in a frying pan or the broiler.  However they did it, the browning added a little extra flavor to the beef.  Her tenderloin was again decent if not inspired. Both the coleslaw and my dinner salad were very, very fresh, a real treat coming from an all-night diner. The price was right, too-- less than twenty bucks for both of us. All in all, Philip Marlowe would be happy to eat there, except he'd have to put his cigarettes away and straighten his tie, because it's so clean and bright he'd want to look presentable.

UPDATE, 02/27/2014:  We visited again last Sunday, I think it was, and the food was really decent but the service wasn't so good.  They became quite busy, and the waitress (sorry I forgot her name, although she said she'd been waitressing 36 years) was not keeping up very well, and didn't look like she was trying too hard, either.  The first cup of coffee she brought me was, no joke, ice cold, must have been sitting on a warmer that was turned off.  It took her a while to get back around to me to warm it up, too.  Still, when the food came it was very good-- I had Zelma's Breakfast deal: 4 slices of bacon, 2 eggs, toast, home fries, and coffee all for just $6.50, which seriously warmed my $$ heart.  Enjoy!