El Sombrero (Claycomo, KC)

I've taken a little bit of time off from the blog, honestly, just to refocus and find my drive again. I continued eating out and jotting down my thoughts/reviews for this space, but between Easter, visiting a friend out of town, and throwing my back out, it has been hectic! Don't worry though! I've got FOUR new posts up in the queue, so you'll have some great taco suggestions to cover you for a while.

This post focuses on El Sombrero in Claycomo, MO. Claycomo is a small sector in the KC metro area, falling near Gladstone/North Kansas City/Liberty. This restaurant was actually recommended to me by a colleague of mine from Cameron. 

The first thing I HAVE to say about El Sombrero is that is very obviously a family owned and oriented restaurant. They have family photos all over the place, including past generations. From what I've found online and heard, this restaurant has been in their family for 50+ years. It's definitely the type of place that you go because your grandparents went, then your parents went, and someday your kids will probably go because you take them. I loved that when people were leaving they went to the kitchen window to say goodbye to the owner (who was cooking, obviously). Better than that, he knew most people by name! I love a good neighborhood establishment, and this definitely had that homey feel with its staff, decorations, and overall feel.

  

As far as food, I ordered a #5, which was 2 beef tacos, 2 enchiladas, 1 tostada, rice and refried beans [$10.50]. The meal also came with complimentary chips/salsa. I was also able to try the #2 nachos!

 

  

My overall thoughts:

• Greasy chips, very traditional
• Salsa was bright/fresh with finely diced ingredients
• Pinched tacos were their specialty - more difficult/time consuming to make
• Well seasoned beef
• So. Much. Cheese. ... yikes!
• Beans were not quite refried, so I did not love them
• For my lettuce-critiquing friends, the amount was perfect
• The nachos with cheese sauce were the best thing about the meal [and I didn't even order these!!!]
• Well seasoned rice, soft and yummy
• Boo to cheese enchiladas - no protein, so there was way too much cheese

As I said, I did not order the nachos for myself even though that's what I wanted. I'm trying to stick as true to the taco venture as possible on my first visits to restaurants. Because of that, I only got to TRY one nacho, but they were delicious!!

I definitely want to go back and eat at El Sombrero again, so that I can try something different! Plus, they have a breakfast menu, and YES to Mexican for breakfast. With that said, basing it off what I ate at this meal...

Rating (out of 5):

Rancho Grande Cantina (Parkville, KC)

At the end of March, I had the opportunity to have a meal at Racho Grande Cantina in the Parkville area. I had been once before for a work-related gathering, but it had been a while and I wanted to try the tacos. I went in with high hopes because I remembered having a fairly positive experience the first time I'd gone, and let's be honest, I had been having DREAMS about their deep-fried avocado since that fateful night. Thankfully, the avocado was just as amazing as I remembered it because, well, the rest of the experience stunk...

  

To give you some background, Rancho Grande has been around for a while. They have 3 locations [Blue Springs, Liberty, and Parkville]. They run daily specials and even have a special Friday menu for Lent, which I thought was pretty cool for those who observe "no meat" Friday's. I went to visit the restaurant on a Sunday, right after having seen the new Beauty and The Beast, and was looking forward to having my socks knocked off --

 

As I mentioned, I ordered the deep fried avocado [$6.39]. I also ordered the #11 dinner special, the Mariachi. This included two soft or puffy tacos with your choice of ground beef, chicken,  pork, chorizo, or shredded beef. Served with beans and rice [$9.99]. You could also "up order" for Carne Asada or Shrimp for $1.50 per taco.

• The deep fried avocado was AMAZING if you're into that sort of thing
• Beans were almost sweet, but weirdly also lacked flavor
• Rice was clumpy, but the flavor was there
• They got my order wrong-- I ordered a deep fried chorizo taco and a deep fried shredded beef taco. I got chorizo and shrimp
• Chorizo had an interesting slow heat, not the most flavorful during the bite, but had an after spice
• Shrimp was great-- good taste and cooked well
• When they brought my shredded beef taco, it was cooked with onion but had hardly any seasoning and was very greasy
• The waitress then tried to charge me for the shrimp taco that she mistakenly brought me, AND tried to up-charge me for the chorizo even though the menu said nothing about an up-charge for it. It was corrected

Overall, I was pretty disappointed with my visit. I'm not sure if it was because my expectations were set higher or what, but I was disappointed in the experience.

Rating (out of 5):

SIDE BAR INFO:

• I have now officially decided that deep-fried tacos are not my jam. In theory, they're a great idea and I always WANT them, but I've had them at three different restaurants now and they always end up making my tummy hurt [probably from the grease]. Sad day in the taco world.

Margarita's North (North Kansas City, KC)

A few weeks ago I went out for dinner at a restaurant in Kansas City called Margarita's! Pulled from their website, here is some info about Margarita's and their story:

Founded in 1985, Margarita’s is one of the Kansas City area’s favorite Mexican restaurants. The owners, Larry Gromer and Dave Quirarte, have kept their local business thriving over the last 31 years. The excellent food and drinks, as well as a loyal customer base, has helped make Margarita’s the popular Mexican restaurant it is today. Drop in for great happy hour drink specials, a family dinner gathering, or group celebration. You will enjoy your Margarita’s experience!

Margarita’s has five locations now serving the Greater Kansas City area.

Southwest Boulevard: 2829 Southwest Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64108

North Oak: 7013 North Oak Trafficway, Kansas City, MO 64118

Lenexa: 7890 Quivira Road, Lenexa, KS 66216

Liberty: 1910 Victory Drive, Liberty, MO 64068

Martin City: 13401 Holmes Road, Kansas City, MO 64145"

Back in college, I dated a guy who was from the North Kansas City/Gladstone area so I had been to Margarita's before, but interestingly enough, since buying a house in North Kansas City, I had never taken a visit until last month. On a random night, I decided I wanted tacos [and honestly, when do I not want tacos??] and we popped over to give it a shot.

 

I ordered the #15-- Soft or Puffy Dinner [$9.49]. It came with two flour tortillas stuffed with cheese, lettuce & diced tomatoes with your choice of meat served with beans & rice. With Shrimp, Fajita Chicken, Tilapia or Steak, the price went up to [$13.69]. I ordered the meal with one ground beef taco and one chicken taco.

Overall thoughts:

• My servers name was Kelly and she was the BOMB DOT COM. She was super helpful with menu suggestions, gave us attention/held conversation, but wasn't overtly in our faces during the entire meal either. I liked that.
• I really want to like puffy tacos. Seriously, I keep ordering them in hopes that magically I will find a love with them. It hasn't happened yet. This were also fried for longer than other places I've been that have fried/puffy shells.
• The tacos were overly greasy between the meat and the fried shells.
• The rice was DELICIOUS. I maybe could have eaten an entire plate of JUST rice. Seriously. It was that good.
• The beans were good, but they had a mass amount of cheese on them. I have a thing with melted cheese on my beans, and I probably should have asked for it to be left off, but I didn't think about it. This left me not enjoying the beans as much as I maybe would have.

Rating (out of 5):

SIDE NOTE: I gave up margaritas for Lent this year in hopes of being a better person [haha], but I felt this promo they had was worth sharing with the masses [and specifically my friends from sophomore year of college], because who makes a Mag Dog margarita?? Yikes! Go Chiefs!

Sabor Y Sol (Southwest Boulevard, KC)

This review is from when I went to eat at Sabor Y Sol with my mom and brother. It's one of our favorites because they have good food for a decent price, plus they make all their guacamole from scratch right in front of you. Interesting tid-bit of info, Sabor Y Sol has actually changed their name recently to Sabor Y Azteca, but I'm fairly sure that for now you can find them online/on social media by their original name.

 

To be honest, I have been valiantly trying to find the chicken taco of my dreams. So this day I ordered one chicken taco and one beef hoping to make that happen. I did this in the form of a lunch special that came with the two tacos, rice, and beans.

Overall thoughts --

• The rice and beans were great. Basically the picture of what I envision to be the perfect sides at a Mexican meal.
• The chicken was super juicy, but it made the shell soggy and it was almost TOO much juice.
• I loved the cheese, but there was too much lettuce.
• I always leave this place feeling like the service left something to be desired. They're never RUDE, but I wish they came around a little bit more.

Rating (out of 5):

PS: I am still looking for someone who can design a simple website for me to compile my ratings. Please let me know if you're able/interested!