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- Parking: Free Lot
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What's the vibe?
Hole-in-the-wall
1 of 1 said Hole-in-the-wall
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How much is an average meal?
Bargain $$
1 of 1 said Bargain $$
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What meal do they do best?
Lunch
1 of 1 said Lunch
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What makes this place special?
Near where I live
1 of 1 said Near where I live
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What's the dress code?
Anything goes
1 of 1 said Anything goes
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What's to drink?
No alcohol
1 of 1 said No alcohol
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Who would you bring here?
Anybody
1 of 1 said Anybody
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Can you order out?
Takeout only
1 of 1 said Takeout only
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Where's the best place to park?
Lot
1 of 1 said Lot
aunderscorek wrote about El Rey Taco Shop
I stopped listening to my friend talking and just started staring at the interior of this place, while we were waiting for our food (not a long wait). I stopped her mid-sentence and said, "I see what they're doing. This is the sanitary taco shop." She nodded and we started breaking it down.
You've got a large cooler as you walk in, with a sticker letting you know that the contents are kept at 41 degrees, which is important because -- as all of us who watch Restaurant Impossible know -- food becomes ideal bacteria breeding grounds above 40 degrees.
No large salsa bar with three tins of salsa immersed in ice, salsa slopped all over the bar and the lid of the tins. No, instead there is a small refrigerator with the salsa pre-packaged. No spill, no mess, no bacteria.
The chips were pre-packaged as well. No crumbs, no mess, no bacteria.
The floor was spotless, as was the kitchen which was an additional welcome sanitary surprise.
Our food arrived: TJ hot dog, beef taco, carnitas taco, Cali burrito. My Cali burrito was terrific, one of the best in town. I didn't have room to try the tacos, but my difficult-to-please friend loved the carnitas and the TJ hot dog. I'm going to have to try both of those next time as well... the burrito was just too much food to make room for anything else.
Another welcome little surprise about the burrito was how it avoided the pockets. You know the pockets. If you've been to a shoddy taco shop, the burrito will be clearly split into a guacamole pocket, a cheese pocket, a sour cream pocket, etc... The flavors never really blend when the burrito is made this way. Just pockets of different flavors. El Rey avoided this completely. A+.
Very excited to have another awesome taco shop near my house. It's always good to have taco options when you eat as many as I do.
posted on March 13, 2011