Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Taking The Original El Taco for a spin

Yenta Girl and I were thrilled to be invited to one of the preview nights at Shaun Doty's and the Fifth Group Restaurants new partnership, The Original El Taco.


The Original El Taco occupies the space of The Fifth Group's Sala, which closed back in July. The decor of El Taco seemed more festive and casual than Sala was.





We had quite a wait before our table was ready. Luckily, we were able to grab some sangrias at the bar. While we were there, one of the bartenders spun a big wheel on the wall behind the bar. If the number it landed on corresponded to the number on the token you were given on the way in, you got something free. And what do you know? I was a winner!

oh yeah - free tequila for me

The spinner was fun that night but I'm not sure how well it would work on a regular basis. (And, I'm not even sure if it is a regular thing. I could be wrong.)

I think due to the crowd of the preview night, Yenta Girl and I had to be seated with another couple - the delightful owners of the San Francisco Coffee Roasting Company. Unfortunately, I was too self conscious to take as many pictures I would have liked of the food. I quickly snapped what I could so as not to ruin their dinner. So, I was unable to get (good) pictures of everything we had.

Taco Basket with a fried chicken taco, red chili steak taco, and a Mexican chorizo taco

The tacos were really good. They ran out of the talapia taco before we could try it. But, the fried chicken taco was a good substitute. The only thing that would have given these tacos an A+ would have been homemade corn tortillas. The flour ones were unremarkable.

There was a nice garnish bar for the tacos at the back of the restaurant. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of it until after I gobbled up my tacos. Next time, I'm hitting up the garnishes hardcore!

don't make my mistake - garnish away!

Chili Cheese Enchiladas - I have nothing to say about these because I didn't
order them. I was told they were good, though!

Items ordered that I didn't get a great picture of were the Durango "Truck Stop" Sliders (spicy BBQ chicken, chipotle mayo, and banana pepper pickles), Queso Royale (melted Mexican cheese with jalapenos and sides of Mexican chorizo, chili rajas, charred onions, and lime salted corn chips), and shrimp ceviche. I would definitely get the sliders and queso royale again. The shrimp ceviche wasn't my thing but, if you like ceviche, I wouldn't warn against it.

For dessert, we ordered the flan and the Mexican Coke Float. The float was Mexican because it was served with a giant Coke from Mexico, which contains real sugar and not high fructose corn syrup.

GIANT Coke!

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at El Taco. I want to go back and see what it is like on a regular night and maybe even try that talapia!

The Original El Taco
1186 N. Highland Avenue NE
Atlanta, GA 30306
404.873.4656
www.eltaco-atlanta.com

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I bet that is the first time Coca-Cola was imported into Atlanta.

Lady Rogue, of rogueApron.com said...

Jealous. I haven't been able to make it over there yet. Tacos are my fav...

maryk said...

gotta go there!