HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS: November 2006

Sliders
1645 W San Carlos Street San Jose CA

When we first agreed to change our tacoteam blog to the hungry Hungry Hippos, Crispy Pata suggested that he was going to blog Sliders...my response? FUCK ALL THAT. Thats my joint. It was a race against time to beat PatasUno but me and Bistro represented kid!

This place is run by Koreans and let me tell you they can hold it down burgerwise son! Hey Clarks. Kirks. You should come down, these cats hold clinics everyday. There menu consists of burgers, steak sandwiches, chicken sandwhiches and the such as well as some rad extras like my personal fave fried eggs.They use only the freshest quality meat and their condiment bar is second to non. They have this rotating grill going that cooks them bad boys up lovely.

I odered the 8oz combo with chilli cheese fries and a hienieken. I had them throw a fried egg on my burger for a bone more. What?! how much was this meal fit for a king? 8 bones playa. Beat that Clarks. So mossie your bellys down there and judge for your self. Oh and they sell fried chicken too.

La Guadalajara Market #1
1661 Alum Rock Ave.

Ok, my last post was pretty heinous. To make up for it I decided to scope out a more familiar spot. La Guadalajara is an old school spot in San Jose. It's been around for years. They offer many different Mexican staple dishes on the menu including Tacos, Burritos, Tamales, and chili rellenos but, I was here for Tacos.

They have a pretty big selection meats, all in front of you so you can see what's going into your Taco. I ordered up 1 Taco de Asada and 1 Taco de chili colorado and my cousin orders 2 Tacos de carnitas. We took them to go, and when the lady asked me if I wanted "con todo" (with everything), I kindly replied, "si, en la lado por favor" (yes, on the side please). I get home and open up the box to find my Tacos intact, salsa on the side, and ready to eat! The carne asada was on point, chopped just right, and very tasty! The chili colorado was chunky, tender, and flavorful too! The Tacos also come with rice and refried beans, making this a very hearty Taco. If you don't like beans and rice, you can ask them nicely and they won't put it in there. My cousin made the mistake of eating twice before he came, so he couldn't eat his other Taco. No problemo cuzzo...I got your back! So, I smashed that Taco as well. The carnitas were on point too! For $1.99 a Taco, you really can't go wrong. Two Tacos are like a meal wrapped up in two tortillas. (each Taco is wrapped with two store bought, but tasty, corn tortillas) I would highly recommend this spot if you are looking for delicious, fairly priced, Authentic Mexican food. The service is excellent, and pretty fast too! Great spot for lunch!

look at the size of these bad boys!

nice selection of meats and foods

they sell many authentic Mexican products too

they also carry Pan Dulce, in case you want a lil something for the sweet tooth! :)

La Esperanza Market
1201 E Julian St.

Ok, people...not every place I review is going to be a good one. Here is a perfect example. I walked into La Esperanza Market looking forward to some dollar Tacos but, I was stopped dead in my tracks when I witnessed something very terrible. I saw the cook chopping some meat, turn around and whack that same knife on the edge of the garbage can. my first thought was, "OMG Chase, that's freakin naaassssty!!!" I turned tail and hauled ass outta there. I don't care if that can was used solely for Taco scraps, that's just bad practice. That was a BIG NO-NO in the food industry...the cook might as well have been smoking a cigar while prepping the Tacos. Eat here at your own risk!

Taco Bell

Whaddup people! Your boy is back with another round of Taco Posts. The Taco Blog appears to be neglected but, that's not the case at all. I've been gathering content for the Blog in the meantime so, I'm back with a few places to speak on. Oh, last night I added a new pict and some info about La Toluquena #2. It's a must see! Now, let's get this started...

You should have seen this one from a mile away! For this post I decided to review the one, the only, Taco Bell. Why, you may be asking? Simple..Thee name of this establishment has the word Taco in it and I had to put it to the test.

Let me clear up one misconception about Taco Hell..I mean Taco Bell. This is NOT authentic Mexican food. You will NOT find Mexican Pizza's, Enchurritos, or Chalupas south of the border...sorry to bust your bubble. This is the Americanized Fast Food version of Mexican cuisine. You can find a Taco Bell in almost any part of the good ole' U.S. and A. They're basically a chain restaurant like Mickey Deez, Burger Kang, and KFC. If you're looking for authentic, quality Mexican food, you might want to refer to one of our other Taco posts.

The Tacos at Taco Bell consist of a crunchy Taco shell, "just-add-water-ground beef", shredded cheese, and shredded lettuce. You have a choice of Hot suace, Fire sauce, or Mild sauce...each one comes in a tiny lil packet. This Taco tastes like a Taco, it even looks like a Taco that you see on a box of El Paso Taco Shells. They're not too bad, but it's nothing like a real Taco from a local Taqueria. They do offer soft Tacos but, they come with a flour tortilla, not corn. flour bad, corn good. Taco Bell is sorta like a guilty pleasure for most people. You know you shouldn't be eating it, but sometimes it does the trick. You can go ahead and eat here if you don't care about the quality of food you put in your belly...I'd rather have some real Tacos though.