After a long 10 hour day at work, and nothing much to do this evening, I got the feeling I got to ramble… So I head down to where I used to dwell, Riverside area in South Austin. Thank god I just paid my car insurance, one thing about driving on the East Side, especially around Oltorf and Riverside is that folks drive like cock-asses. After dodging low riders and angry community college kids, I decide to go down memory lane and drive by my old misery pit, my old apartment complex in South Austin. Chevy Chase Downs, I actually picked the place because it was named after Chevy Chase, it had two pools and looked pretty depressing.

This was a great match at the time as I was fat, angry and miserable.I stopped by and realized that I don’t know why the fuck I just made the choice to revisit that place… Why do they bother to put up flags in these urban apartment shitholes? As to say there is something majestic about a mass quantity low cost apartment complex that makes it “flag worthy”. Although I high tailed it outta there, something dawned on me, this area reminded me of all the badass places to eat down in this neck of the woods… Taco-Rama, Taco-lane, whatever ya-wanna call it, South Austin, Riverside, Congress, we all know they hold some of the best true to earth taco places… Being a Yankee asshole from the North, this is truly an experience that grows on you. I was fortunate at a young age to travel to Mexico and experience real taco stands … this place brought back that flava, now if only I could get my virginity back…

Ahh the sweet smells of Riverside, I can hear the gangsta rap, and those fuckin grackle birds that shit all over everyone are flyin all over the place. I think I hear someone being raped in the alley, ahh fuck it I’m HUNGRY! It’s a full moon tonight, I’m hungry. As I walk in, it’s yellow, it’s bright, I am somewhat familiar to this out-of-country experience. Just a few folks scattered about the room. I sit down, and received prompt service. Salsa is pretty good, fairly predictable, and the darker chipotle salsa is not really my cup of tea, but still pretty tasty. I ordered a Tecate and the Alambres Especiales. WOW! I will get back to this, but let me just say, I had NO idea how badass this dish was. Let me repeat, Alambres Especiales $7.25, glad I opted out for the $10 BJ down the street.

As I munch down chips, the waiter came over to change the channel from the static channel to more static with WW-II warplanes crashing into the sea, some sort of war documentary, apparently he thought I might find this interesting. An old man came in and sat close to me, he was talking to himself in Spanish, I thought that was kinda neat. I think he muttered “yo quiero comer el gordo gringo”, maybe not.

Taco Mutt™ is not very happy, she is not allowed in, I probably could have taken her out on the patio, maybe next time. Not too sure if it’s safe to sit out on that patio, last time I was in this area we got rear ended by a drunk guy in a car wash parking lot, it was useless to try and do anything about it, hey just like Mexico! I made sure to order her the Taco Mutt a Lengua Taco, we’ll get back to that shortly. She took the liberty of getting it all over my leather seats.

The Alambres Especiales is listed on the menu as Beef Fajitas, bacon, onion, bell pepper and cheese. Let me add that they threw in some sort of mystery sausage ham, I looked all over the menu and didn’t see it. Either way, this dish was amazing. Unfortunately I must compare it to a cross between the top of a meat lovers pizza and a Denny’s meat lovers skillet, but this did not compare. It was fresh and zesty, lots of fresh green peppers all woven together nicely with nice cuts of beef and plenty of mozzarella on top. Talk about portions, I was starving and couldn’t finish the dish. This was really impressive, in the four years of frequenting local S. Austin taco joints, I finally found a dish that truly stands out for me. I was really impressed with this dish, and it’s different from some of the “usual” dishes we are often ordering when we go to places like Arandas and La Tapatia, etc.

Staff was great, nice, I speak Spanish pretty good so it wasn’t awkward. There was one guy in the restaurant that eyeballed me the whole time, and I am certain he wanted to stab me, but as I left, he smiled at me. No really, it was badass, and they get a B+ all around. I have yet to find a south side taco place with comfortable lighting, but I guess low lighting costs allow for cheaper tacos so Amen, Dios Mios.

The menu looks good, and next time I will be trying some of the Caldo. The guy sitting next to me had a huge bowl, it looked really good.

Recap: Location blows, Riverside is a depressing place for me, because I lived a depressing life for a while down there. So get yer car insurance renewed and haul ass down there! They have awesome food, fresh and clean. Nice people. I used to eat at Pollo Regio down there as well, some of you have Pollo Regio near your house, it’s those drive thru shacks that usually look like they are on fire, wow, I love that stuff! Cheap chicken, also a favorite of mine.

Let’s not forget about TacoMutt™! She downed her taco super fast. Her rating: She was panting about 5 minutes after she ate it, but she did not wake me up last night with any sort of issues so she gives it a two paws up.

If you have full coverage, head down to Riverside:

Taquerias Arandinas
2110 E. Riverside

• Atmosphere: C+
• Staff: B (Spanish required)
• Food: A-
• Price Range: $5-7