Believe (Some Of) The Hype

"But Stray Dogs is going to be on this show called Ginormous Food. You're a food writer. Why haven't you been there?"

To be honest with you...we don't know.

See, we were big fans of the previous occupant, Zona 78, especially their Danish Blue pizza that featured a ton of stinky blue cheese, oh man...so good, and when Stray Dogs moved in we always said that we would go there and investigate but, well, it just never happened.

Until recently that is.

The original plan was to try out this new deli on 1st Avenue but when we got there we discovered that it had yet to open. Maybe we should have called first? So plan B was to finally go to Stray Dogs, order a bunch of stuff and see what happens.

This is what happened...

Pickles or just squishy cucumbers?

It was a pretty hot day, an hour or so after the lunch rush, like 2pm-ish, and we were ready to get down. Some lunchtime stragglers were hanging out on the small patio in the front and the place was relatively empty except for a table of old ladies that gave us the murder eye when we walked in. Why the murder stink eye? We don't know.

I mean, we looked okay, there was just three of us, but I guess a small crew of "yungins" moving in on their lunchtime turf was ill advised.

And we're not even that young.

Anyway we found a table next to a window, opened the menu and made some decisions.

As serious pickle fans we had to get their pickle jar appetizer. Then we settled on some chicken taquitos, the burger of the day and a pizza called the Hair Of The Dog that features bell peppers, bacon, eggs, French fries and then finished with a sriracha drizzle. Even though we are kind of done with sriracha this option just sounded too dumb to pass up.

Then for later we had to get the always blogged about Munchies milkshake. This thing comes with a chocolate frosting rim decorated with M&Ms, potato chips and pretzels, a Rice Crispies treat and cinnamon sugar donut holes. C'mon now...how could we not order that thing?

That's the milkshake that's going to be on that show right?

Probably.

The salsa was the star here

The service was fine but the beer selection is pretty boring. It's okay but we sort of expected something a little more adventurous from a place that boasts wild food. We settled on a Barrio Mocha Java Stout (which was quite lovely), a Dragoon IPA (which always delights) and a Sierra Nevada rotating beer called the Sidecar, which was an orange pale ale. Meh.

First to come out was the pickles and chicken taquitos.

Hate to say it but...those weren't pickles. They tasted as if someone cut a cucumber into spears and threw it into some salty water overnight. Not good and not crispy. Very disappointing. Two of us at the table make our own pickles and its not that hard to get an even somewhat decent pickle. It just takes a little effort and a little more time. Unless they fix their recipe, Stray Dogs needs to change it from "pickle jar" to "jar of slightly salted cucumbers".

Sorry.

The chicken taquitos were thankfully tasty. Not a whole lot of seasoning but the chicken was cooked well, the cheese wasn't overly cheesy and there was a good crunch on the tortilla. What totally saved this dish though was the salsa. Get that stuff in jars quick and sell it. A nice heat, good roasted flavor and the peppers tasted really fresh.

Whew!

Yep...that was a burger

Next up was the burger and pizza.

The burger patty had a fine flavor, it was cooked alright and the large side of fries were definitely the star: hand cut and seasoned perfectly. The veggies that came with it were nice and fresh but the bun was really greasy which was kind of off putting.

You can even see it in the picture above, it's shiny from the amount of grease coming off of it. Okay, its standard practice to toast the bun on the grill, flat side down, to give it an added texture but I think the kids working in the kitchen that day thought it would be fun to put the bun top side down in a pool of fryer muck. If they would have left the bun alone all together we would have been totally okay with the burger. But...

Note to Stray Dogs: Do not add grease to your hamburger buns! 

That is all.

The Hair of the Dog pizza was actually kind of fun. The various toppings somehow worked and we didn't mind the sriracha element, in fact we rather enjoyed it. The sauce on the pizza was tasty as well, not too heavy handed, and the crust was cooked evenly. Thing is, this pizza is really hearty. We were only able to take down half because of all of the other items we sampled and we still had to make room for that milkshake Godzilla.

Speaking of which, when all was said and done The Munchies milkshake made it to the table.

Yep, this thing is kind of glorious. It was tall with a lot of color and a lot going on.

The chocolate sauce bark cascading down was a sweet, salty and crunchy delight. The ice cream was delicious, really firm but creamy, with lil' bit of donut floating at the bottom which made for a sugary doughy surprise when you sucked it down on these really wide straws.

The Rice Crispies treat was the only thing that fell flat. It just didn't do anything. Didn't make sense with the shake, didn't have much flavor, was kind of dense and boring. That said, what made this whole trip and experience worth while were just two little things dangling from the straws.

The donuts.

Don't know how to properly say this but they were some of the best donuts we've ever had. Perfectly fried, perfectly seasoned, perfectly sweet and just plain perfect. Stray Dogs needs to take out the GS in their name and replace it was NUTS and just be a straight up donut shop. Luckily they sell them individually so next time we are in the neighborhood you better believe we're getting a dozen and locking ourselves in a dark room, eating them as we cry as a donut glaze of shame overcomes us.

Whatever.

They are that good.

All this was missing was actual dog hair

This was our first experience at Stray Dogs but we feel it wont be the last. Sorry it took so long for us to get there but with other food writing obligations we can be a bit slow on the take these days.

But now that we are hitting a grove with the new gig we promise to blog more often. There is a lot going on in Tucson, food and drinking wise, and we plan on covering it as much as humanly possible.

Thank you Stray Dogs for the hospitality. Sorry we had to come down on you for a couple of issues we feel are totally workout-able but overall we had a great time and will try to come back and try some actual dogs and other things.

But them donuts though!

Oh man.

Let's hope those things make it on that food show.

Cheers!

Not pictured: the best thing at Stray Dogs

Camera, Typing and Eating
"Metal" Mark Whittaker
A Perfect Spring Day, 2017

Metal Influence:

DESTRUCTION

"Eternal Devastation"

Salvation Came In The Form Of A Food Stand

"The day after Thanksgiving and all you can think about is eating more food?"

Um...yes.

Duh.

Ordering up the Maico goodness

You see, Thanksgiving is full of American tradition, as far as the spread is concerned.

There's the the turkey, usually, the stuffing/dressing, cranberry sauce (typically in the cylindrical form of the can is spawned from, with ridges still in the gelatinous glop), some potatoes, some green bean casserole, some drinks, some vaguely racist comment from your weird uncle, more drinks, more debates on who won the election, even more drinks, the dog gets into the pecan pie, you loudly slur to your mom and ask her why she never loved you, quick run to the booze store for more alcohol, grandma wont stop farting and the football team you bet on to win just lost. But there's gravy!

This is America. This is what most of us do on the third Thursday in November. It's a very bizarre right of passage but we do it anyway. Why?

Yeah we don't know either.

But the next day when you wake up devastated from the holiday's overdose of gluttony and grandpa's strangely dirty jokes, you need a serious pick me up. We know we did.

So on the third Friday in November, we drove over to a little food shed on 22nd Street to regroup and above all, recoup.

And we were glad we did.

Sort of like nachos but...not really

Maico Mexican Food is a funky little stand on 22nd between Park and South Tyndall Avenue. We have been meaning to come here for quite some time and after the debacle of the goings on the day previous we really needed some cold beer and good food.

Not that mom's cooking is bad it's just, well...she didn't make tacos did she?

Just a touch of citrus to the ceviche tostada

It was a really warm day. No, scratch that....it was pretty hot. Like high 80s/low 90s hot. Unseasonably toasty for being late November. You even tried to convince your conspiracy theory cousin of yours that global warming is in full effect and all they did was shrug it off and blame the current president. Whatever. It was time to order up and set our post Thanksgiving blues on the stoop and forget about it all for a while.

At that time, Maico was our only friend.

Why wasn't this mentioned on Food Wars?

At Maico you order at the window then take a seat in their picnic-esque area to the side. It's all outdoor seating, which is great, but we were burned out and the sun was really beating on us. Luckily we found a fairly shady spot and took solace in its brief shelter and ice cold sodas from Mexico.

No beer here, that was a bit of a let down, but the fizz and caffeine from the caramel colored drink did perk us up a bit. Something about cola from across the border; it has a different taste to it, less sweet, more depth. Not too sure. We just prefer the bottled sodas from Mexico.

And here is a secret: They are not listed on the menu. But if you ask they will provide.

Beer will have to wait till later.

And we desperately wanted one. Or two. 

The Arizona burrito in all of its glory

We started off with just some chips and salsa. They were good. Not too sure if the chips are homemade but the salsa they have on the tables in red plastic ketchup squeezers was tangy and full of flavor. They come almost "nacho style", topped with cheese and a house pico de gallo, which helped get the stomach ball rolling as we knew some welcomed food sanctuary was about to be delivered.

The smiling and loud laughing guy that took our orders was also the one bringing the goods. As he plopped down our rather ambitious order all he could do was chuckle and say:

"All this stuff for just you three? I love it!"

You know what? We love him now.

The cabeza taco, so cheeky

At a place like Maico, if they offer a Sonoran hot dog, you get a Sonoran hot dog.

Kind of confused as to why theirs isn't in the competitive ring along with BK and El Guero Canelo, this sloppy meat log was divine. A good soft bun, the dog was cooked perfect and wrapped in thick bacon, with a smooth slather of various sauces, their version of that Tucson OG is right up there with some of the greats. Highly recommended.

The Arizona burrito was chock full of beef and potatoes and even after eating three different styles of potato at yesterday's dinner we were stoked to be trying Maico's version. Tender, full of vibrant life and heavy in the hand, their burritos made us forget that we were craving beer and made us food drunk instead.

All of the proteins, the chicken, pork and carne asada, were all cooked wonderfully and were seasoned correctly. Even if you have a not so decent cut of meat, it is always important to finesse what you got with skill and care. The guys at Maico did just that.

We also got their ceviche tostada, a specialty of the house apparently. Awesome. So bright and full of personality, the seafood was as un-fishy as you can get then finished with ripe avocados, we can see now why the dude at the window recommended it.

Thank you dude at the window.

We love you even more now.

The California burrito almost took us out...almost

Like most successful Mexican food stands Maico started out as a cart. Through time, test and tribulation, they finally got themselves a proper place right across the street from some tactical weapons outlet. So as you watch beefy dudes getting ready to pop off some rounds, you can chow down on some beefy tacos and burritos and leave the macho posturing to the guys not eating amazing food.

Maico is awesome and we will definitely be back for more. We highly suggest you try one of each because everything that we got was delicious and made us forget about the savage ravage aunt Myrtle gave to that turkey leg. It was quite violent and oddly erotic.

Thank you Maico Mexican Food! You now have the Tucson Homeskillet's badge of approval.

Wait...do we have such a badge? We don't. Oh...nevermind.

Then we're just going to have to give you a sincere Metal horns salute. That's about the same...right?

Cheers!

The lil' cart where it all began

Camera, Typing and Eating
"Metal" Mark Whittaker
The Last Friday in November, 2016

Metal Influence: 

TRANSMETAL

"Muerto En La Cruz"

And The Award Should Have Gone To...

We can't say how honored and proud we are that Metal Mark is contributing to the publication that puts out the Best Of Tucson every year. He is having a lot of fun and thanks for reading his stuff.

Okay, enough of the pleasantries...let's get down to the brass tacks here.

Every year the Best Of's come out and every year we go "No! Are you kidding? That place over the other one? Come on Tucson. You're killing us Smalls..."

Thing is, the publication has very little to do with the choices. It's the good people of Tucson that do most of the voting. So this is on you T-town. You brought this on yourself. 

While most of the arts and entertainment, kid's stuff, home and garden winners we are fine with but when it comes to the food part we always slap our collective foreheads with disinclination and slight horror at some of the choices that run away with the trophies. Sure, a good portion of the winners and runners up are great but there are always a few that we can't get on board with. It's as if the polls went out in the late 90s and never got changed.

So this year we are going to do our own Best Of and we hope you can agree with some of the things we agree on.

Agreed?

Lets do this.


PS: We are not in the business of pissing anybody off; this is purely for entertainment and just our own dopey opinions...that's all. So apologies to anyone that gets mussed up about our preferences. Cheers.
 


Best Delicatessen
Their pick: Dickman's Meat and Deli
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: The Sausage Shop
 

C'mon man. The Sausage Shop wasn't even mentioned. This place rules.

Dickman's is cool but in our humble food opinion the little deli that could, that being the Sausage Shop, just plain dominates.

The bajillion different styles of sandwiches are all amazing, their meat counter selection is incredible and if you bag a deer or accidentally run over a bear just bring that beast in and they will break it down for you for an agreeable fee. No really. These guys know their meat and in such a small space they do the deli game a big favor.

Anyway, not to dis on Dickman's but if you haven't been to the Sausage Shop please do yourself a favor and do so. It might change your mind to switch your vote for Best Delicatessen next year. It might.

Just sayin...

Gaze upon the glory that is the Sausage Shop

 Best Place To Get A Sandwich
Their pick: Beyond Bread
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Sausage Deli
 

Okay, we didn't want to dote on the Sausage Shop too much but we will drool over the Sausage Deli for a bit.

It looks as if we just love sausage...don't we?

Beyond Bread is great but we went for a single stand alone place for our sandwich spot pick. The Sausage Deli is awesome, they have a fun bar with a great craft beer selection and the layout is more cafeteria style than an open forum of scattered tables. The Sausage Deli just has this East coast 'get in here, get your sandwich, eat it then get on with your life' feel to it, which we like.

If you want to laze about and sip coffee and click on your laptop for hours then, yeah, Beyond Bread is totally made for that. And the sandwiches there are good...we just like the Sausage Shop's sandwiches a bit more though.

Which brings us to the next category:

Best Sandwich
Their pick: The Cheesesteak at Frankie's
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: The Omar from Sausage Deli
 

Here's the thing: We frikkin LOVE Frankie's. It is one of our neighborhood go-to places for a cheesesteak sandwich but, here's the thing...you can get a cheesesteak at a lot of places. Not as good as Frankie's most likely, but if you go to Philly they are all over the place.

But the Omar? That is a Sausage Deli original.

It sounds pretty basic when you break it down: Turkey, salami, Swiss cheese with bell peppers, onions, pepperoncinis, mustard and house Italian dressing on an onion roll (we prefer the sub style though), but when you eat it the Omar takes on a whole new sandwich dimension.

We love the Omar so much that we even did an ode to it a while ago. Remember that one? We sure did.

The Omar didn't even place this year and that is a weird and crying shame.

Go to the Sausage Deli, get an Omar, vote for it next year and we can all live in some kind of syncopated serenity all thanks to a sandwich.

It can be done!


Best Greek Food
Their pick: Opa!
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Either Pappoule's or Greek House

Opa! is awesome. We know the family that runs it, its near the compound, its always a delight....nothing bad to say about Opa!.

But have you had the gyros at Pappoule's? Yeah, pretty righteous and apparently very authentic. When we are in that neighborhood we always make a plan to grab some Pappoule's to go. It has yet to disappoint. See, a true Greek gyro should have very little on it, especially no lettuce, and a lot of Greek restaurants insist on putting a bunch of crap on your gyro. Just give us the gyro bro! Hold the stupid lettuce! Hold it between your knees!

Pappoule's didn't even place for Best Of and we just wanted to shed some light about their food, which is great and as close to the real deal as you can get.

Next up is going to be the fairly new Greek House restaurant. It wont be long until that starts winning some votes. Watch. You watch.

Yeah.

Best Vegetarian Restaurant
Their pick: Lovin' Spoonfuls 
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Renee's Organic Oven
 

With the expanding culinary scene here in Tucson the choices for vegetarian and vegan establishments continues to grow and grow. We bet by next year there will be another good dozen or so places to get non-meaty, non-animal based dishes to satisfy your belly and conscience.

Unfortunately Lovin' Spoonfuls always wins Best Vegetarian because a lot of folks just think that's the only option in town.

Its not. By a long shot.

We personally love Renee's Organic Oven. Their Italian inspired items that can be gluten free if you need  are really tasty and fresh. Their black bean hummus that goes with a lot of dishes is innovative and a bit tangy. You just need to get out there and try for yourself. It's a little place on Sabino Canyon and Tanque Verde so it might be slightly out of the way for some of you (as it is for us) but it is well worth the trip.

Plus Renee is really cool and she's there a good amount of time so, there's that.

Best Salsa
Their pick: Guadalajara Grill
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Rosa's Mexican Food
 

Okay, Guadalajara always wins Best Salsa because they make it fresh right there at your table and, yes, it's pretty darn good.

But, c'mon now...the house salsa at Rosa's is the best thing ever.

It is spicy, it is flavorful and best of all it is garlic-tastic. Every time we have even have a hint of a cold we b-line it to Rosa's and order up something hot and steamy then smother it with their salsa. It is a cure all and we're sure it is what keeps us looking good and smelling even better.

It's the garlic.

Rosa's salsa is just necessary and a Tucson treasure.

But they wont make it table side because then you'd find out what their secret ingredients are.

We know what one ingredient is.

Yeah. Its the garlic. We just said that.

Weren't you reading?

Gosh.

Rosa's salsa = Yum

Best Breakfast
Their pick: Blue Willow

Best Brunch
Their pick: Prep and Pastry

Tucson Homeskillet's pick for both: Baja Cafe

Blue Willow is great for when the folks are in town. Its that kind of a spot. Its good but its not blow your socks off great. It's fun and clean. Your parents like that.

Prep & Pastry continues to dazzle but we feel they are a bit heavy with the pork belly. We like pork belly its just that...you know. In moderation.

Then you have the plethora of other options that are always a delight: Bobo's, Frank's, Mother Hubbard's, Robert's, etc, that we love and will always love but there is one (well two now) place that we just can't get enough of.

Baja Cafe just slays for breakfast and brunch. The benedicts are really hearty and fanciful, the pancakes are incredible and everything else is just plain awesome. The thing is is that Baja only serves breakfast and lunch and closes at 2pm, so you gotta get there early. And we highly suggest getting there a bit early. The place fills up fast.

A word of warning: Don't go on Sundays unless you wanna wait an hour for a table! No, for real, both locations are packed on Sundays so we are there most days but. Unless you like waiting a while for eggs and corned beef.

Well, it is worth it so...its up to you.

Plus Baja has a full bar too. Did we mention that? Well now we did.

Put another gold star by their name for that addition.

So good.

Yep, these are one of the benedicts. Yep, they are amazing.

Best Sushi
Their pick: Sushi Garden
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Anywhere but...
 

The Beardown Roll at K Sushi

Sushi Garden? Really Tucson? Really?

Look, maybe at one point long ago the Garden was the spot for raw fish wrapped in seaweed and covered in rice but the sushi game in the T-dizzle has changed son.

Changed!

At this point Sushi Garden is a sports bar that serves Japanese "inspired" meals but it is far from being the best sushi in town.

Far!

Sorry to harp on the place, we don't mean any disrespect, but places like Kazoku, Sushi Ten, Samurai, Shogun, K Japanese, Ikkyu, Obon and so on and so on literally destroy the factory like flavor at Sushi Garden. You kids need to get out there and sushi explore for yourself. This one just feels as if you looked on your ballot from the last ten years and went "Oh, yeah, that place. It's fine."

Which it is. Sushi Garden is fine. Good bar, comfy patio, decent lunch buffet, all that, but the wizard-like ingeniousness that is coming from tucked away locations by chefs that have honed their craft and continue to push the flavor envelope further and further is what we are focusing on here. Just awesome family run businesses that are serving up amazing food.

It's up to you Tucson! Now get out there and get you some sushi. Some real sushi.

Do it!

The Passion Roll at Kazoku

Best Neighborhood Bar
Their pick: Tap and Bottle
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Danny's Baboquivari Lounge
 

Tap and Bottle is awesome. But here's the thing:

It is not a "bar" and it is not located in a real "neighborhood".

This win just feels like people just see the name of the place in the paper and went "Oh yeah. They serve beer. That's a bar. Whee!"

Yeah. No.

A real neighborhood bar is in a real neighborhood and the corner of 6th Avenue and 7th Street isn't exactly a "neighborhood", its more of a destination when you are shopping and eating up on 4th or getting some supplies at Miller's across the street. Not a lot of homes in the vicinity.

And a "bar" serves liquor and mixed drinks as well. Tap and Bottle is just craft beer and select wine service, so it can't be officially labeled as a bar. See where we're getting at here?

Our vote, as usual, goes to Danny's Baboquivari Lounge; a real bar in a real neighborhood.

Danny's placed for Best Dive Bar this year but it is far from a dive. It's cozy, relatively safe, great staff, good beer selection, honest drinks and above all it is in a neighborhood. Yes. There are homes surrounding the place, there are regulars, heck...WE are regulars. We're at Danny's like 4 to 5 times a week. We love this place.

And we also love that Danny's won Best Jukebox in Tucson. Anything that holds old school Metallica, 70s yacht rock and classic hip-hop we are so down with.

So on any given night (not too late because we're old and have to get up early) you might find the Homeskillet crew nestled at the bar with some of our good friends and, yes, neighbors, enjoying a stiff drink and eating from some of the diverse food trucks they get on a regular basis.

Cheers on that!

That would be Metal Mark on the far right with some pals at Danny's

Best Beer Selection
Their pick: Tap and Bottle (again)
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Old Chicago 

Yes, Tap and Bottle gets some really amazing craft and small cask beers. Yes. On any given day you can drink from around the world or just up the street. They get some fantastic brews and we applaud them for that.

So does the Tucson Hop Shop. And we love them as well.

But check this out. None of the local places has a selection of 110 beers at any given moment. That's one hundred and ten...beers! For that you're going to need some corporate backing and Old Chicago on Campbell Avenue has that.

Sorry, we know you are reading this and sticking your nose up at a fairly large chain concept, but Old Chicago is about as un-corporate-y as you can get and their selection of beers is astounding.

Why we pick them over, say, the Yard House or something like that is because the people that work there love what they do and do a darn fine job getting some hard to reach beers and near impossible ales from around the globe. With their World Beer Tour (which we have tried and failed at...now that's a lot of beer!) you can even earn rewards like free food just because you love drinking beer. Drink beer, get free stuff. Done.

Look, please please support local businesses such as Tap and Bottle and the Hop Shop but don't forget to sneak into Old Chicago to see what's new on the board. You'd be surprised.

We always are.

Which brings us to our final category and pick:


Best Bartender
Their pick: Barbacide Trujillo (Club Congress)
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Sherra Stewart (Old Chicago)

Now here is where things might get sticky, and we apologize in advance:

Barb Trujillo is awesome. We love her, she is a Tucson tradition and institution and we have nothing bad to say and will never have anything bad to say about her. This isn't personal. At all. 

Thing is...there are other amazing bartenders out there. 

Jana at Danny's, running around like a crazy squirrel (even now when she's super pregnant) is one of the best ever, or Kimmy or Jerica...we just love everyone at Danny's. We're a bit biased. 

But we pick Sherra Stewart at Old Chicago because she is able to create relationships and be creative within a "corporate" environment and it shows that she really enjoys and loves what she does. 

Sherra's influence gets us regular barrel taps from local and international breweries, she cooks food for events and kickoff parties, she travels around the US training other Old Chicago bartenders to try and be as awesome as her (wont happen, she is too awesome), she invented her own spicy Bloody Mary mix that got her front page recognition, she has a loyal fan base, she's funny, she's brash and she always has a big smile on her face. 

And she has been there for over 12 years now. That's a dedication in which we can support and we totally love.

What we are trying to say here without making anyone upset or burning bridges is that there seems to be a pattern with the Best Ofs year after year. Changes are rare it appears with the winners and runners up and with us scooting around town trying new and different restaurants and bars, we come across so many amazing servers, dishes, chefs, bartenders and the like and it'd be nice to see some diversity. That's all. Tucson is just chock full of awesomeness and we just wanted to give some recognition to some of the good people, and food, and drinks, that we personally love and admire and we hope you will visit them sometime soon to see, and vote, for yourself. 

That's all.

We cool?

Hope so.
 

Sherra and her award winning Bloody Mary...so spicy and good

And another thing!

Nico's was voted Best Burrito in Tucson. Umm...not too sure about this one. There are just far too many options out there right now that destroy Nico's (although we do love us a Pollo Asado now and then) so this one felt like it was phoned in. You need to get out there for yourself to see, and eat, all of the incredible burrito options this city has to offer. 

We prefer Sher-E-Punjab over Saffron for Indian food. But that's just us. 

Still waiting on some real down home, kick butt BBQ. Red's is doing well as are a few small food trucks but the continual winner in this category has never impressed us. Sorry, just saying.  

We really like what the kids over at Pueblo Vida Brewing are doing with seasonal ales and lagers. The winner and finalists in the Best Brewery are fine but we just have a taste for Pueblo Vida. 

Don Guerra of Barrio Bread makes the best bread in the universe. He came in second...sorry but wrong. Our man shuts down any bread making business but thanks for trying. 

Not too sure if Serial Grillers is even doing a food truck anymore now that they are opening up a second brick and mortar. So our vote will go to American Flying Buffalo where chef Eddie takes you on a culinary ride  through Asia, the south Bronx, the deep south and, of course, the Old Pueblo. Really good stuff. 

But we are totally stoked that Yoshimatsu got best Japanese and Boca Tacos Y Tequila got, yes, best tacos. So cheers on that.

Okay, enough ranting. 

Let's do this again next year shall we? See you then...

Uploads, Typing and Opinions:

"Metal" Mark Whittaker

A Few Days Before Election Day, 2016

Metal Influence:

ANNIHILATOR

"King of the Kill"

  

Yes, We Finally Ate At Taco Giro. Yes, It Was Delicious.

Basically last week's post, the one about Pat's Drive In, should have been labeled as the "Barrio Hollywood Chronicles Part 1", because exploring all of the amazing food that area has to offer is on the top of our list. Not that we haven't been down there before, we have, many times, but not as frequently as we'd like. Why you may be asking yourself?

Because of the car.

Sorry....its our first time here

The old Impala has been giving us nothing but problems and a few hazardous moments here and there for the past couple of years and after a while just driving it more than a mile proved to be a tense situation.

It was totally worn out, a bit beat up and we ended spending more on the upkeep than what it was actually worth. One day the entire coolant system exploded, right around Xmas, and that set us back almost a grand. Happy holidays indeed. Another time, while simply running some errands, the car just stopped; died near an intersection. Turns out some major cable was worn so much that the connection was lost and it took a bunch of duct tape to hold it in place till we could get it into the shop. Fun huh? Yeah...no.

The best was the reason we ended up buying a new whip and eventually, thankfully, ditching the old. The car...it just wouldn't start. It sounded like it wanted to start, it would be all "chug chug chug" but then...nothing. And when our trusted mechanic of many years is there, stunned, scratching his bald head in total confusion, staring blankly at the engine, we finally threw up our hands and went "That's it! We give up! We're getting a new car tomorrow."

And we did.

Now that a safe and efficient ride has been restored, our faith in our culinary adventures has been reinvigorated as well.

So first up was a place we had been meaning to go to for quite some time. It's a local chain and is well known for its generous seafood platters among so many other fantastic bites.

The place?

Taco Giro.

Salsa bar, second only to a real bar

Taco Giro was always on the list as a "must try" but we never got around to it. But when we sampled their bean and bacon soup at last years Bacon Fest we knew we had to put it a bit closer to the top. It was delicious. Savory, salty, spicy and one of the few free nibbles to actually feature "bacon" and not its other namesake and cured companion, pork belly, which most other dishes did that day. It was also one of the few places that we went back to for seconds, and thirds, because of the texture and flavor of the soup was so delicious.

So on a beautiful early autumn afternoon we got in the lovely new ride and headed down to St. Mary's to get our fill and to see if Taco Giro lives up to its reputation and reason for having five locations across Tucson.

Here's what went down.

Steak quesadilla was simple and simply amazing

We chose the St. Mary's/Grande Ave location because we really wanted to get back to the Barrio Hollywood stretch. We love this part of town but because of unreliable wheels it has been elusive the last few years. Whatever, it was time to see (and eat) what Taco Giro had to offer up.

First off, we were impressed that the parking lot was pretty full on a late afternoon Wednesday. It was pretty warm out, like high 80s, so only folks that could find shade on the inviting looking patio were out there. Once we got inside we were surprised to see that the actual space itself wasn't too slammed. In fact there were a bunch of tables available so we grabbed one and began scanning the rather wide breadth of the menu.

"Where are all of those people then?", we asked ourselves. Perhaps there is a secret back room that can't be seen from the normal confines of the main dining area. A quick look around and we came up empty; no additional eating area. Huh. In fact we almost wound up in the kitchen looking for this phantom chamber. Sorry about that.

A friendly server promptly arrived and got our drink order. She came back a minute or so later and asked if we were ready to order. We were not. For real, their menu isn't all Cheesecake Factory huge but it is seven pages of laminated items ranging from breakfast to dinner entrees. So, yeah, it took us a while.

Fish taco, shrimp taco and it didn't stop there

Eventually we decided to try some basic items and perhaps one or two "exotic" dishes. The soup that we fell in love with at the Bacon Festival was there, the carne es su jugo, but it was hot out and boasted a price of $12. Not that we're scared by elevated prices for quality items its just that, well...we kinda weren't in the mood. Next time Taco Giro...next time.

We settled on a steak quesadilla (how can you go wrong?), a collection of fish and shrimp tacos and the campechana tostada which is a mixed variety of seafood on a thick corn tortilla. Sounded rightfully enticing as we had heard about the quality and flavor of their fish for so long.

Taco Giro has a ton of amazing stuff on their menu and if the food we got this afternoon was to be any good we will definitely be back to try some of their other options.

They have a full breakfast menu, both Mexican and American, that includes a T-Bone steak, three eggs, huge helping of hash browns and toast for $14.99 or chiliquitas or huevos rancheros for $6.99 if a steak and some eggs for almost fifteen bucks doesn't sound tempting or financially feasible in the morning.

There are a bunch of lunch specials such as tostadas de ceviche de pescado and caldo de pollo starting at $5.99 and dinner specials ranging from $8.99 that includes pechuga de pollo, a carne asada plate and a grilled mojarra platter. All of it looks really, really tasty.

Things can get a bit on the pricier side of things, such as their fajita dinner and anything with a steak or ton of seafood attached to it (think $15 - $20) but the combination plates are in the $7 - $10 area and are really generous and really good.

Oh, look, our food arrived!

Seafood tostada was a bounty of awesome

We first dug into the steak quesadilla and, yeah...it was awesome. Juicy, perfectly grilled marinated steak in a huge handmade tortilla with just enough cheese to satiate our "American" palates on the traditional dish. Fresh guacamole came with it too, like a mound of the stuff. Tangy, rich and seasoned perfectly. Yum.

The fish tacos did not disappoint. Flaky grilled white fish under a sea (yes, we said sea) of crispy slaw and zesty crema. The shrimp was meaty and moist without a hint of fishiness, which is always impressive. Paired with the variety of hot sauces you get on your table, this was a serious lunch win on all fronts.

The jewel in the crown of our royally awesome food was the mixed seafood tostada. There was octopus, more shrimp, crab, more whitefish paired with citrus, cilantro, onion, tomatoes and then topped with market fresh avocado slices. Oh man, this sent us into an ocean of textures and flavors. Everything was so clean, so well seasoned and so composed we were stunned that it wasn't one of the more expensive items on the menu. So good.

Okay, okay...we get it. We are now fans of Taco Giro (which basically means 'taco turn' and features a chicken on their marquee...um, sure) and will be back to try out some of their other offerings. Twenty bucks or not, we are in too deep with the TG and now we have to seek out the other locations.

But we still have so much left to explore in the Barrio Hollywood neighborhood. Taco Giro is only the beginning. And it is surely not the end.

With a new ride and a new sense of Homeskillet pride, we press on.

You ready?

Let's do this!

Thanks for reading. See you next week...

Thank you Taco Giro!

Camera, Typing and Eating
"Metal" Mark Whittaker
Yom Kippur, 2016

Metal Influence: 

GODFLESH

"Pure"