It was Tuesday, and 7 pax knew what that meant: TACOS.
The pax last visited the once-esteemed Hot Taco in late August 2018. As the backblast reflects, it was not one of their finest days, and they have been in #TacoTuesday purgatory ever since. The pax are all about second chances, though, and after a 5 month hiatus, we were ready to give them another shot. Their tacos were pretty damn tasty, after all.
The pax convened at Hot Taco at 1145. We were seated at the very same table as we were on that unfortunate day back in August. This time, however, the pax managed to avoid spilling an entire bowl of salsa on the floor right after we sat down. So we did have that going for us.
YHC arrived with Jaws and Hoodie. Omar took the light rail, which conveniently stops only steps away from HT. Mona Lisa arrived separately in his ride, after YHC cornered him at #Titan on Monday and asked what it would take to get him out to #TacoTuesday this week. He had not been seen at a #TacoTuesday since the LKN Taco Eating Competition. Apparently part of the problem was that the pax had been hitting Sabor a little too much, and ML now has a visceral reaction to the Sabor ground beef thanks to said Taco Eating Competition.
Making his first appearance at uptown #TacoTuesday was Hacker. YHC noticed that Hacker had responded to YHC's announcement on Slack with a Taco icon, and had also liked YHC's Twitter preblast, so I had high hopes that all of that = an HC. Indeed, it was. Awesome to have you join us!
Last to arrive, and making his first appearance at #TacoTuesday in a number of weeks, was Roadie. The pax could tell that he was excited to be back to crushing tacos with us, and at the same time agitated that his new work group hasn't figured out that #OnTuesdaysWeEatTacos! Good to have you back, and hope that standing Tuesday meeting eventually finds its way to a different day, because tacos.
Anyway, because it had been a while since we had been to HT, there was some discussion regarding which of the dozen or so taco option on the HT menu were highly rated by the pax. It was generally recalled that the various fish/shrimp options were pretty good (YHC typically does not go for the fish and would not know). I checked old backblasts and learned that it was the "Carne Molida" taco that I had enjoyed so much in the past. One problem – there was no longer a "Carne Molida" taco option on the menu. Another pax remarked that there was previously a "Bang Bang Shrimp" option, and that that was also missing (although there was a "Bang Bang Fish"). How dare HT change up their menu while the pax were boycotting them!
When our waitress stopped by to take our orders, YHC asked about the Carne Molida taco, and she confirmed that they did in fact still have that taco, but that it had been re-branded the "Americana." Except that there was also no "Americana" on the menu. There was, however, an "Ameriacna." YHC figured this was just a printed menu snafu, but check it out – the online menu says the same. Next time we hit HT, I'm going to order the Ameriacna. It's what they want.
It didn't take Mona Lisa long to fall right back into old habits. The waitress came around to take his order, and he proceeded to order 1 of 8 different tacos, whereupon the waitress immediately warned him that if he took any of the tacos home, the restaurant would charge him full price (instead of the $2 Taco Tuesday discounted price). Mona Lisa looked at her with a straight face, pointed to his stomach, and said, "They're not coming home with me. They're going in there." Later, when our tacos came out, the server who was delivering them to the table (not our waitress) brought a full plate of tacos to Mona Lisa and said, "Here is Part One of your order. I'll be right back."
Also worth noting is that, at Hot Taco, you are given the option of flour tortillas, corn tortillas, hard shell corn tacos, and lettuce wraps. I think most of us would agree that three of these are acceptable options, and one is not. Hacker, however, went with the lettuce, and so on second thought, I'm not sure if his being there technically qualifies as an actual #TacoTuesday appearance. Kidding, of course. (Or am I?) I will say, those lettuce wraps were stuffed with taco filling. Bang for buck, that was a good play, even if the jury is still out on whether they were in fact "tacos."
All in all, it was a great trip, and I feel confident that the pax will be back to Hot Taco sooner rather than later. Nice work, Hot Taco.
Aye,
TC