Monday, April 18, 2011

CLOSED!/mexican: i recommend TACO2GO



TACO2GO
No. 10, Lane 76, XinSheng S. Rd, Sec. 3
(02) 2368-3209

MRT: Gongguan

website: Taco2GoTWfacebook page

hours: 11AM - 3PM; 5PM - 9PM

$

Kid friendliness: only 4 outdoor stool seats; can take food 2go

Visit reviewed: 4/3/2011


Let's not forget what city we're in, but somehow Taipei has seen the opening of three new Mexican joints the past six months (Taco2Go, Macho Tacos, Mayan Grill), revamping of one opened last year (Oola), but the closing of four others (El Gallo, La Casita, Yuma Southwestern Grill, Taco Bar). The math is complicated, but the taste test is easy.

Hot, cheesy and cheap- that's a good start for my bite of burrito right?


In a blink and you'd miss it location tucked along the alleys near Tai Yi Milk King, Taco2Go is the perfect name for this colorful, five month old hole in the wall. If you thought Macho Tacos was small, you haven't seen Taco2Go yet. There's only four barstool seats so if it's crowded or raining, you should get your food to go. Thanks to readers Ginny and Mei for the heads up that I should give it try.


The tacos, burritos and quesadillas (with ground beef or chicken) are impressively under NT$100, while the nachos are NT$129. The quesadilla is NT$50- seriously, how can you beat that? The couple that runs this tiny kitchen moved back from the states and the spirit of Taco2Go seems very friendly and wanting to please. After a drought of good Mexican food in Taipei, I find it amusing that there's suddenly a new wave of entrepreneurs want to take that on, but I'm pleasantly surprised. Keep it coming!


I watched as my burrito was quickly made with spoonfuls of pre-made rice and refried beans. Setting it on the panini grill made it nice and hot, and melted the cheese which glued everything together. The ground beef seems spiced with taco seasoning and tasted like something I might have made at home- but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's not going to the most authentic thing I've ever eaten, but it's probably just as good as what I could quickly make for myself (unless I was craving enchiladas and guacamole- for that, I'd have to get in the kitchen).

The more I ate it, the more I liked it and it reminded me of when I ate my panini-grilled shawarma in Toronto, walking and devouring. The size was good for the price and taste was good enough to make me curious about the nachos. I'll have to go back again. A bonus is that I'll save room for a big bowl of shaved ice afterwards, with Tai Yi just a few lanes over.

Are you just as surprised as I am by the new Mexican food wave? Don't forget to tell them where you heard about Taco2Go if you go check it out and write back and tell me how you liked it.

15 comments:

hamper said...

looks delicious! I like your review and I haven't even tried it yet. :)

Johnny said...

the first pic looked like a 燒餅 crossed with a panini.

Anonymous said...

Hi hungry girl and greetings from Finland!

First I'd like to thank you for this funny (and tasty!) blog. I'm coming to Taiwan/Taipei in the beginning of June (for the first time in my life) and it's nice to see what kind of food Taipei is offering to me :)

I have a question for you. What would be the first restaurant where you'd take your (European) guest to have a nice meal? :)

Thank you! :)

-Sanna/Finland

joanh said...

hamper: i think you'd like it! let me know what you think if you do.

johnny: haha, well it's just a grilled burrito, so yep sort of like a panini

sanna: thanks for your comment! are you looking for Asian or Western food? I usually take friends to places like Sumie Japanese, Shinyeh 101 or Din Tai Fung if you are looking for a nice Asian meal. For nice Western meals, you can try Saveurs, Flavors, Abu or No. 168 Prime Steakhouse. Hope that helps a little and hope to hear from you again.

Marian said...

I enjoyed reading your post, a great tour to my imagination. The way you wrote this review made me feel as if I was there myself savoring the food that you described in the place that you went to. The one in the picture looks so delicious (I suddenly felt a pang of hunger), and I know it is really delicious. Very informative post about the food and the place to go.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for answering :) I was just curious what would be your choice, though I don't know any of those places :D (okay, I read about Shinyeh 101 few days ago)

-Sanna/Finland

joanh said...

hi Sanna! you can google those places or search through my blog in the top left hand white box for the addresses/posts about those places!

Anonymous said...

Well when you wrote they use ground beef in their burrito it true Mexican style food. Living in CA. gotten spoil Mexican food.

Carnita I prefer in my burrito or taco


Eric

Kung Food Panda said...

I think Taiwan should open a Taco Bell or something :)

With that said, the prices look good and as you said, it's close to TaiYi

Unknown said...

so well yeah.....this is NOT really Mexican....it's more LA pseudo-Mexican fast food.

Emilio

Jenn said...

The food at TACO2GO was good. The 25 min wait was not so good; our order was 2 soft tacos and 1 burrito. Not sure we will go back. Thanks for posting great review Hungry Girl!

LaxinTaiwan said...

I certainly enjoy hitting Taco2Go occasionally, but find that the portions are entirely too small (and have the same problem with Macho Taco). I lose any savings I might have made by ordering one set of tacos or burritos with an an additional side order of another two tacos/burritos. I wish that they were a bit more generous with the filling. (I should add here that I'm a petite woman)

I find that the ground beef is nicely seasoned and the flavors go well together in the tacos, but the burritos are still a bit too Cali for my taste (as I'm from Houston). I ordered the Limonada yesterday, and it was wonderful; unfortunately, I can't say the same for the pico de gallo which lacked flavor and was made nearly entirely of mealy bits of chopped tomato.

Overall, it's a decent place to get a Mexican fix, but could improve.

Anonymous said...

Just ate there today. It was the best "Mexican" food in Taipei that I've had so far. They really did a good job on the food. It was quick and the people who worked there we nice. The inside is pretty small, but there's enough room to eat. I will for sure be going there more. Thanx for posting about it!

Anonymous said...

I tried to eat there on 6/28 and was so sad to find it closed. After looking at their facebook page, I found out that they closed as of May 2014. So sad, I was really looking foeward to a quesadilla!

KEvin said...

Agreed with previous comment: It is Closed now :/

:)