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Posts tagged ‘Tex-Mex’

Food Friday: The Fried Taco

If you haven’t been to the Edmond Icehouse Project, you are missing out on some good food. Not only is Woodward Pizza located in this complex but so is The Fried Taco. This small taco restaurant started as a food truck in 2019 and expanded into The collective not long after. In 2022, they opened their second location in the metro area in the newly developed Icehouse Project just north of Edmond Road (or 2nd Street) and west of the railroad tracks.

The menu is small and straightforward, you have different fried tacos plus a limited selection of quesadillas and empanadas. We started our visit with the white queso with chorizo. This isn’t just chips and queso, the chips are fried flour tortillas and the queso is a creamy blend of cheeses with onion, tomato, and chorizo mixed in. I love these chips, they have a different texture than corn chips and in this case the thicker chip is good. This last visit I tried their chicken bacon ranch taco and a ground beef and cheese empanada. The flour tortilla has been fried and shaped to hold ingredients just like a taco. The chicken mixed with ranch and bacon gave the taco a great taste that you just don’t always get from regular tacos. The crunchy tortilla also lends to the different flavor. I’ve had the brisket and the pork tacos in the past and they are good as well. I really think that fried flour tortilla just makes these tacos good. This last trip was the first time I had ever tried an empanada. It’s like a fried pie with savory ingredients such as beef or pork. I got a beef empanada, I love the flaky crust on the outside. The beef and cheese mixture inside was also good, very flavorful. To wash it all down I got a homemade coconut lavender lemonade. This is so refreshing, the coconut and lavender give the lemonade a smooth taste.

Overall I love the food and the atmosphere at The Fried Taco, you can eat inside in a purple room or take your food outside to sit on the patio. There is a play place for kids and plenty of games around for everyone. I have not been to their location in the Collective yet but would like to visit soon. I give them 5 strips of bacon.

Address: 119 W 2nd St. Suite 150, Edmond; 308 NW 10th (The Collective Food Hall), Oklahoma City.

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Edmond Oklahoma, Food, Oklahoma, Oklahoma food

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Food Friday: The Mont

As a little girl growing up in Norman, we would pass the newly opened restaurant called The Mont all the time.  I could see the glow of lights coming through the stained glass windows and wanted to go inside.  My mother would tell me, decent people don’t go there, so my hopes of visiting were dashed.  Later as a student at OU in the early 1990’s, I still wanted to go but it seemed like a party place.  Even though it had that reputation, I also knew members of the Norman police department gathered there every Saturday to drink.  I really then just forgot about it until recently with my own daughter a student at OU.  Finally, back in December we stopped, it was so good I wish I had gone earlier.

The architecture of the building is what gets your attention first, a low Spanish style building with lots of stained-glass windows.  A patio out front gives diners a chance to enjoy the nice weather, or you can enter through a medieval looking wooden door to the main dining room.  Their menu ranges from burgers and sandwiches to Tex-Mex.  We ordered a couple of things to start with, the fried cheese and fried mushrooms. They were both good. I got the Mont burger with bacon and cheese. Not a bad burger, had a great taste with lots of fresh veggies. Mae got a French dip with a side of mac and cheese (of course). She loved the sandwich but the baked mac and cheese really won her over. A melty cheese top with creamy cheese inside, I had a bite and it was really good. Big K had the green Chile burrito that comes with beans, rice and chips. He really loved the burrito, lots of queso over it. He said the beans and rice were good. I had a couple of the chips, they were light and crispy. Now it was the afternoon, so I didn’t try the famous Sooner Swirl but I will.

The Mont has been a staple in Norman since it opened on Halloween of 1976. The building is much older, of course. The first business I found mentioned is the Monterrey Restaurant. This operated from 1943- 1969. A German restaurant called Volkstube occupied the building for a short time then Hacienda Hernandez took over in 1972. This restaurant survived for a couple of years before turning into Joe’s Bar & Grill which only lasted a year. After all these years the Mont is the place to see and be seen. I’ve heard all the drunk stories from friends who had a few too many while enjoying the atmosphere. I’m sure it does still get crazy on game days but it was quiet while we were there. I would like to go again now that the weather is nice, just to enjoy the good food outdoors. So if you are in Norman, give this legendary restaurant a try. I give them 5 strips of bacon.

Address: 1300 Classen Blvd., Norman.

Category:

Food, Norman, Oklahoma, Oklahoma food, University of Oklahoma

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Food Friday: Casa Perico

I drive past this restaurant everyday, in an old Braums building on NW 63rd Street. Every time I think, “You know, I need to try this place.” Took me 4 years but we finally stopped a few weeks ago and now I wish I had stopped earlier, this place is outstanding.

Since it is in an old Braums, it is small inside but they do have patio for outdoor dining. Of course they have the typical Tex-Mex menu, so I went with my favorite chimichanga. They have a large selection of sides so along with my rice, I tried some Mexican corn. First thing that was served were the chips with salsa and queso. Perfect starter for my first trip, the chips were light and buttery. The queso was thick and creamy with just enough kick to give it good flavor. Next up was the main course, the ground beef chimichanga was deep fried to a golden crisp. It was a good size but not too large, I could actually finish it without asking for a to-go box. The ground beef and cheese mixed inside quite well with a bowl of sour cream sauce for pouring over or dipping. The rice and corn were equally good as well.

The service was great, food was prepared quickly and the chips and queso were replenished frequently. Since I no longer eat fast food Mexican, I will add Casa Perico to my list of favorite Mexican places along with San Marcos and Chelinos. They do have a second location near Quail Springs Mall, I just haven’t visited it yet. I happily give them 5 strips of bacon.

Address: 4521 NW 63rd St., Oklahoma City; 12219 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Oklahoma City; 505 E. Main St., Yukon.

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Food, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma food

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Food Friday: Abel’s Mexican Restaurant

 

So on many Friday and Saturday nights the parking lot of Abel’s at NW 50th and MacArthur is packed.  Usually that’s a sign that the food is good, so one Saturday afternoon we decided to try it.  I have to admit, I walked away unimpressed.  So on a weeknight, I stopped again to see if my opinion would be different.  I was wrong.

They serve just standard fare Tex-Mex, tacos, enchiladas, chimichangas, and burritos.  Nothing really fancy or creative.  I was seated quickly on both visits and brought the typical chips, salsa and queso.  The chips were nothing really special and the queso was way too runny for my liking.  Both times I ordered beef chimichangas with sour cream sauce with beans and rice on the side.  The beans and rice are ok.  The chimichanga just lacks flavor, the hamburger meat just has no spice at all.  The worst though is the sour cream sauce, very runny with no tang.

The service is good, just the food is lacking.  So I’m going to give them 2 strips of bacon.  I’ll go back but try something different.

Category:

Food, Oklahoma, Oklahoma food

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Food Friday: San Marcos

San Marcos bird

It’s no secret that there are  a lot of Tex-Mex restaurants in the OKC metro but one of my favorites is San Marcos.  I was first introduced to their food in 2002, one of my husbands’ co-workers took him there for lunch.  A few days later, my husband thought I would enjoy their food as well.  At this point I was pregnant and would eat anything spicy (which is interesting since the child now hates everything spicy).  I really like their chips- the queso isn’t bad and even though I haven’t had it in a while, I remember their salsa being good as well.

Now if you’ve been reading me for a while, you know that once I find one thing to eat at a restaurant, I stick with it.  I have been eating their chimichangas with sour cream sauce for ever but one night I got wild and tried their Pizzadilla De Lujo.  Wow, was this good and different.  Between 2 huge flour tortillas there was cheese, fajita beef, onions, peppers, and bacon.  I really love this but you need to have a big appetite to eat it.  Yes it does come with rice and beans.  It was truly a different way to mix up pizza with Tex-Mex cooking.  Their chimichangas are also good, but I have had better at Zarate’s in Edmond.  I love their rice but really don’t care much for their beans, a bit too runny for me.  At the end of the meal you do get a sopapilla, so try to leave some room.

The first location I visited was on the southside of OKC but they have expanded to NW OKC and I frequently visit the North Rockwell location.  A few years ago they took over an old closed up Burger King and turned it into a colorful representation of a Spanish villa.  I have always had good service at the locations I’ve visited and the food has always been good.  I’m giving them 5 strips of bacon just for that pizzadilla.

Address: 2301 SW 59th St; 12201 N Rockwell Ave.; 1732 S Meridian Ave., all in Oklahoma City.

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Food, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma food

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Food Friday: Zarate’s Latin Mexican Grill

Late Aug 2015 545

Edmond, Oklahoma is not my most favorite place in the world- it’s too spread out, some of the people can be rude, and the traffic sucks.  But my wonderful husband works there so if I want to visit him for lunch, I have to go to Edmond.  I don’t like eating at the major chain restaurants much, so he takes me to different places.  And one of those places he introduced me to is Zarate’s Latin Mexican Grill on Broadway.

Now this isn’t the same tex-mex that you get here in Oklahoma, this is a more South American twist on what we know as mexican food.  They have the typical enchiladas, tacos and chimichangas but with a different taste than what I’ve had at other restaurants.  My personal favorite is the fajita beef chimichanga with sour cream sauce.  The beef is spiced differently than what I’ve had before and the sour cream sauce is just wonderful, has more of a sour cream tartness to it than others I’ve tasted.  I’ve also tried the enchiladas and quesadillas, the spinach quesadilla is my second favorite item on the menu.  Of course it all comes with beans and rice.  I will admit, I’ve never had the beans.  Because of the food abuse inflicted on me when I was younger by my mother, I can’t stand the smell, sight or taste of beans.  So I order double rice instead, it’s also really good- not too sticky with corn and peppers.

My husband has been the more adventurous one, he’s had the Papa Rellenas, ground beef wrapped in mashed potatoes then fried, his personal favorite.  He’s also tried the Empanadas and so many of the other offerings that he couldn’t remember them all.  This is also where they make the only guacamole in town that he will eat.  He loves it and even introduced it to his parents- I hear my father-in-law loved it.  Of course you get the normal chips, queso, and salsa with your meal.  As good as the entrees are the chips are the best.  Wish I could find them this good for at home.  I really could eat these chips all day and not feel bad.  The salsa was ok and the queso could be improved, needs to have more of the South American spices added.  But seriously the chips are killer.

Opened in 2007 by Jorge Zarate, who is a native of Peru, he brings a mix of Brazilian, Jamaican, Peruvian, Cuban, Mexican and Tex-Mex to Edmond in a small but colorful building.  You can often see Mr. Zarate himself seating guests, taking orders or serving food.  The wait staff has always been friendly and helpful, service has always been good- no complaints.  I give it my personal ranking of 5 strips of bacon.

Address: 706 S. Broadway, Edmond, OK  (east side of the road)

Late Aug 2015 542

Category:

Food, Oklahoma

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