At 3:09 in the afternoon, Monday May 24, DonHo alerted YHC to the fact that our humble #TacoTuesday gathering, which began with a single Ramrod backblast following a 3-pax lunch at The Local in February, and had grown to two weekly gatherings of 10+ pax, had starfished yet again – the Gastonia/Folsom area pax were inspired to start their own weekly tradition.
A preblast was posted – the Gas House / Folsom pax would be meeting at Miguel's, west of uptown – and the LKN pax knew that the occasion called for an impromptu convergence.
5 LKN pax – including QBert, making his first #TacoTuesday appearance, and DonHo, who fortuitously had a meeting nearby – rolled into Miguel's at 1145, joining 7 Gastonia / Folsom pax – Allen Tate, Def Leppard, HIPAA, Huckleberry, Medicine Woman, Montross, and Stone Cold, and forcing a move to the more spacious outdoor seating.
Miguel's Mexican & American Restaurant is located approximately 10-15 minutes west of uptown Charlotte, off a service road near I-85 and Little Rock Road. Miguel's parking lot is entirely gravel, and we were advised by several who were familar with the establishment to arrive early, as the spartan appearance of the building and lot belies its popularity among the local lunch crowds.
YHC did some research prior to making the trip, reading some of the reviews and clicking through some of the pictures on Yelp, and determined that, in addition to the standard beef taco that should be ordered at each #TacoTuesday destination as a sort of control variable, YHC absolutely needed to order at least one beef and cheese tostada. Ultimately, YHC went with one tostada and three beef tacos. DonHo and SweetC agreed with this order, and made it x3. HIPAA from Gastonia joined us at our table. Ramrod and Qbert each joined other tables of Gastonia pax. Complimentary chips and salsa were brought to each table.
The beef tacos were solid. No frills, nothing fancy – just good ol' beef and cheese in hard corn taco shells. I'll give them 7/10. The beef and cheese tostada was delicious. Traditional flat, circular hard corn tostada, topped with ground beef, and covered in melted cheese. 8/10. Overall score 7.5/10. Everything was inexpensive, and came out only slightly slower than I would have expected (granted, we were a large group).
Excellent 2nd F experience meeting and getting to know all of the Gastonia / Folsom pax. I hope to be able to make it down there to post sometime. In the meantime, we'll be keeping an eye on their #TacoTuesday gatherings, both for destination ideas and in hopes that they keep their tradition going.
Finally, a huge, warm hearted thank you to #HIM F3 Huckleberry who, before anyone even realized what had happened, snatched up the bill for all 12 pax, and took care of the entire thing. Thank you, brother – we are in your debt. Hope to see you and the Gastonia pax again soon.
Aye!
Turncoat