Tacqueria

One should never judge a restaurant on its opening day so Roxanne's Tacqueria will get a second look in September, but a visit yesterday was extremely disappointing.

It looked as if all staff was on hand yesterday as each step of the taco/burrito making process had an individual on duty-it looked like the lunch ladies in the old time school cafeteria had been replaced by nervous high school students. Basically you have four choices for meats in your Mexican street food-carne asado, carnitas, chorizo, and lime marinated grilled chicken. The carne asado is beef that looked like the burnt ends you can get at a barbecue place, and it wasn't moving although the tiny restaurant was busy for the start of dinner. Carnitas, Mexican pulled pork, and the chicken were popular choices. I decided on two tacos (the soft flour version) one with the chicken and one with the chorizo. The chorizo is a sausage served there as a ground up florescent orange and brown mix-it wasn't moving anymore than the carne asado.

The servers began by putting the taco in a press which apparently was aimed at warming them up. It didn't do much. The flat tacos were then placed on aluminum foil and passed to the meat station. The meat wasn't all that hot either. Next came the toppings where both the server and I were confused about what came next. I was offered red salsa, but I had noted there was a green tomatillo salsa so I asked for that. When the server showed me the watery green mix, I opted back for the red which was tomato bits with the tiniest amount of onion and cilantro. I asked for the smokey tomato jam which comes as a 50 cent extra. A slightly older staff member had to literally run around and search for it. Arriving at the cash register, the last person in line rolled up the aluminum foil and handed me two now interconnected tacos that were impossible to eat out of hand. The dining experience consisted of unwrapping the foil, disconnecting the intertwined tacos and eating the fillings before eating the taco shells separately.

Aside from the smokey tomato jam which was very good, there was not much to say about the food. The salsa was bland-the version at our own El Mariachi is vastly superior and even the salsa at McGuire's is better. There wasn't much to distinguish the taste of the two meats. The chorizo was much milder than the wonderful Portuguese versions we're used to around here, while the mild spicing of the chicken did nothing to separate its flavor from the chorizo. I side of guacamole was very good, but given the price of avocados in the market, the quarter cup for $1.90 seemed a little pricey.

So see you in September which is sad since the idea of Mexican street food is a good one. This new one falls below Qdoba and well below Chipotle's-so go to Mansfield Crossing for street food and stay in Easton for a good sit down meal at El Mariachi's.