Torchy's Tacos (Norman, OK)

At the end of April, I took a quick trip to Tulsa, OK to visit my friend Shelby. She has been there for four years, but is moving back to Kansas City next month (!!!!) and I wanted to take one last visit to eat the good food and see the good sights. This time around we visited the Philbrook Museum of Art (designed by the same architect as the KC Plaza), saw the house that The Outsiders was filmed in, ate delicious donuts at Hurts, and more. And while Tulsa is fun, we had something else on our mind...

  

Back in February when Shelby and I visited Houston together, I gave my first FIVE PEPPER review to Torchy's Tacos. Torchy's is based in Texas, but has expanded to have a location in Norman (about 2 hours from Tulsa), and will soon actually have a location in Tulsa as well. Being so close, and having been dreaming about their tacos for months... Shelby and I decided that the drive to Norman would be worth it and we hit the road on Saturday night.

 

Upon arrival and perusal of the menu, I decided on the following tacos [pictured in order]:

• Crossroads: smoked beef brisket with grilled onions, jalapenos, cilantro, jack cheese, and a slice of avocado. Served with tomatilla sauce on a fresh corn tortilla. [I got mine on flour].
• Green Chili Pork: slow-roasted pork carnitas simmered with green chiles and topped with queso fresco, cilantro, onions, and a wedge of lime.
• Fried Avacado: hand-battered fresh avocados fried and served with vegetarian refried beans, topped with pico, lettuce, and cheese. Served with poblano sauce on a corn tortilla. [I got mine on flour].

  

My thoughts on this Torchy's experience:

• The Crossroads
• Tender brisket
• Perfect spice amount with the combination of jalapeno and green salsa
• Jack cheese had a good flavor profile against the pork
• I don't like cilantro
• Avocado was not ripe
• Overall, just missing something
• The Green Chili Pork-
• Tender pork but lacking flavor other than the lime I spritzed
• Cilantro :(
• Cheese
• Meh
• The Fried Avocado-
• Too full, stuff was falling out no matter how I went at it
• Light spice
• Avocados were perfect once they had been fried
• Sauce made it a bit too spicy for me
• Refriend beans gave a great textural difference with fried avocado, but so many beans that it overpowered other flavors
• My margarita was too small for the price that I paid

To be quite frank, I was really disappointed with this Torchy's experience compared to the last. This location was definition more of a chain vibe where you ordered at the counter when you came in and got a number for them to be brought to your table, whereas last time we had a great bartender/server. Honestly, I'm almost glad that this experience was not as good though because it has forced me to be more realistic regarding ratings and what is "perfect."

Any given taco on any given day, friends!

Rating (out of 5):

Torchy's Tacos (Northside, Houston, TX)

I'm just going to put it out there, Torchy's had the best tacos of my "taco trip." By far my favorite tacos, neighborhood, and service of the weekend.

We planned from the start to hit Torchy's for brunch on Sunday because who doesn't love brunch on Sunday? Plus we knew that it would be our most low-key of days on the trip since we were driving back Monday [12 hours straight through - YUCK!]. When we got there, there was definitely a line so we just snagged a few seats at the bar and away we went.

Our bartender's name was Claire and I loved her. She was from Kansas so naturally, being MU alumni, Will and I gave her some crap about her KU background. [Some things will never die]. She poured a great drink, and overall was just really pleasant so the experience was enjoyable.

  

As far as tacos go, let me lay it on ya. Here's what I ordered:

- THE REPUBLICAN: Grilled jalapeño sausage, shredded cheese, pico de gallo. Served with pablano sauce, flour tortilla. [Back right].
- THE DEMOCRAT: Shredded beef barbacoa, topped with avocado, queso fresco, cilantro, onion, lime. Served with tomatillo salsa, fresh corn tortilla. [I chose to get mine on a flour tortilla]. [Left].
- THE INDEPENDENT: Hand-battered and fried portobello mushroom strips, refried black beans, roasted corn, escabeche carrots, queso fresco, cilantro, avocado. Drizzled with ancho aioli, flour tortilla. [Front right].

 

Now, I have to admit, I partly ordered these tacos for the blog story. The Republican, the Democrat, and the Independent in a taco shop? Golden content if I want to take it political. Though I do have my own thoughts on the political parties, I will be honest in my opinions of the TACOS and the tacos only:

- THE REPUBLICAN: I have to say, this one was tough to get through. When the menu said sausage, I wasn't expecting the sausage to be in it's full form, I thought it would be crumbled. This made the bite difficult. It wasn't overly spicy, and I liked the flavor combinations, but I did not finish it.

- THE DEMOCRAT: The Democrat was a beautiful taco. I loved the combination of fresh ingredients and fat from the avocado. The meat was seasoned well. The salsa was great!

- THE INDEPENDENT: This was my favorite taco of the meal. I'm not sure if it was the variety of ingredients [carrots, corn, etc] or the aioli that added just enough moisture. Honestly, I didn't think I would like this one because it didn't have a traditional protein. It turned out that the crunch of the fried mushroom added a cool level of complexity to the taco and I loved it.

Rating (out of 5):


EXTRA 411:
- This is my first 5 and that's really exciting to me!! I would like to say though, while I give Torchy's a 5, that doesn't mean my quest for the perfect taco is done. I haven't found it yet, I don't think!
- With this being the last segment of my Houston reviews, I would like to say that every taco experience I had in Houston was great. We had great food, service, and experiences. I sported something "KC" every day [or was loud about my hometown] and we met so many great people who were from Missouri or had visited, and honestly, making those connections with strangers was so fun. So to the man in the Royals hat at NASA, the guy in the Chiefs hat at Torchy's, Claire, and so many others -- thanks for being kind. Both times I've been to Houston, people have been nothing but hospitable, and that makes such a difference.
- This will be my last "non-Tuesday" post for a while. I wanted to push the HOU reviews out so they were timely. Until I have a little more free time [summer, maybe?] we'll be going back to Taco Tuesday posts!

I'm currently pondering as to where I should travel for tacos next. Suggestions welcome!