Amaya’s Taco Village is a mainstay of the i-35 taco scene.. Not much has changed in years… expect to find the place packed at lunch time. The highlight of the (otherwise lackluster) menu are the Village Tacos.. Served in thick yellow corn fried shells that are a combination of chewy, crunchy, and greasy.. with processed yellow cheese, lettuce and tomato.. then your choice of ground beef, shredded chicken, or beef fajita. Though you can get as many as 3 tacos to a plate, with rice and beans, 2 is more than enough to keep your belly full for the rest of the day.
For me, its the combination of the greasy, chewy shell and the half-melted yellow cheese that make these tacos taste so damn good.. sometimes you just have wipe that ’south austin – holier than thou – organic – whole food ‘ look off your face and enjoy the beauty of processed cheese… at least i do. The ground beef is ok, but i would reccommend the fajita beef at a small extra charge.. it adds to the amazing texture of these tacos.. Amaya’s tacos have a weight/mass to them that is unrivaled.. a true gut-bomb if there ever was one.
I found this GREAT little taco stand just a couple minutes South-East of Austin, off Hwy 183 and DG Collins Rd. I was the only gringo there, and the girl inside spoke ZERO engles…which is always a good sign in my book.
Chorizo/egg taco (.99) was and great, especially with the chunky, vinagery house salsa piled on top..reminded me of Maria’s w/ the chimichurri (though not quite THAT good).
Bomb Taco Alert: the Al Pastor Taco (.99), was more like a BBQ pulled pork smothered in red sauce – but it was AMAZING…highly recommended.
Las Flores – try to remember that name – and go there next time you head out near the airport or traveling towards Lockhart – its right off 183 about 5 min south of hwy 71…It may be a little off the beaten path, but there’s also a Pollo Regio stand across the street- if you feel like u wanna double up.
TacoTown saw it comin….Pro eating douche Adam Richman thought he could just mosey into our town, swipe an taco eating record, purge himself in the ladies room, then collect that hefty Travel Channel paycheck…WHAAALE – maybe he didn’t get the memo: the East-side’s Juan in a Million don’t make no sissy tacos: The Don Juan breakfast tacos weigh in at around 3/4lbs. each…So, not surprisingly – he peetered out at 4.5 tacos- a few short of the record 8 tacos…weak sauce!! come back when you have an appetite, holmes.
originally posted 10/13/07…bumped for your pleasure, and since TacoBlob has apparently given up writing, or tacos…or maybe he’s too busy prowling for glutes.- cabeza
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
El Taquito does things a little different.. First off, you wont find any tostada chips there.. not sure why. What you will find is delicious tiny tacos (taquitos), an assortment of queso’s, fresh items at the salsa bar to accompany your meal (raspas, salsa’s, crema, limes, etc), and interesting daily specials..
The restaurant itself is nice and clean, with vibrant colors and plenty of natural light.. The ordering counter is basically just the front of the open kitchen.. you can plainly see the cooks (all ladies!) doing their thing.. It really gives off the vibe of a home kitchen, which made me feel comfortable about the food..
Queso Fundido with Raspas in the Foreground
The menu is fairly limited.. tacos – chicken, beef fajita (called ‘originales’), and al pastor – they come in large or taquito sizes.. Then there is a selection of different quesos.. these are queso fundidos, thicker than your usual tex-mex soupy queso, and served in a warm skillet and ready to dollop on a fresh tortilla.
strawberries were a nice touch
On one of our visits, the daily special was chicken enchiladas suizas, of which Cabeza happily partook. The enchiladas were very good, fresh out of the oven, made with flour tortillas and topped with a tangy verde sauce and creme..
They also offer fresh agua frescas, that you can see in large glass barrels near the cash register.. I couldnt resist the horchata..and it was a perfect, complete with slices of strawberry thrown in to sweeten the deal.
El Taquito 1713 E Riverside Dr
Austin, TX 78741
(512) 851-8226
The Score
Food Quality: 8 (great)
Service: 7 (friendly)
Salsas: 7 (solid
Atmosphere: 7 (clean and bright)
Price: 6 (reasonable, but not cheap)
Total: Rating: 76%
Check out the always entertaining Taco Inspector’s video review of El Taquito:
Rico’s Tamales on Cesar Chavez..
this is the 3.99 tamale plate.. pork tamales smothered in tex mex sauce.. it was mighty tasty.. and the salsa they give you adds alot to the experiece.. one is jalapeno creme, the other is a vinegar based red sauce.. both were great..
find all the Austin reviews on our Taco Map!
Posted by tacogod »
Oct 10, 2006
» Filed under East-Side, Reviews
Rating:Across the parking lot from the east 7th HEB, tucked away behind the gaudy Pinky’s wireless store, stands a little restaurant named El Zunzal. Today at lunch I braved the weather in what will heretofor be remembered as the great deluge of October 2K6 in order to find out what the Zunzal was all about. I’m going to skip ahead a little bit and impart some knowledge I picked up off google after my restaurant visit. Playa Zunzal is apparently a tiny Pacific coast beach in El Salvador (south of San Salvador) which is some kind of gringo surfer heaven. Accordingly, El Zunzal has a healthy smattering of authentic Salvadorian cuisine, in addition to the standard Austin Mex faire that is found at virtually every place in town. Read the rest of this entry »
The first thing that the Peruvian-born Rosa Santis will tell you if you ask about her business ethic is that her goal has always been to provide jobs and to serve the community. This was how she approached her construction business when she took it over from her ex-husband 20 years ago. An acquaintance of mine worked for her for eight years and remarked, “Rosa’s good people,” when I asked him about her. “She was always real fair, treats her employees like family.” Santis’ business philosophy seems to have paid off. Since the Eighties, she has made a small fortune in the utilities construction business, expanding rapidly with Austin’s own dizzying growth. Read the rest of this entry »
El Chile – Cafe Y Cantina 1809 Manor Rd, Austin, TX
512.457.9900 • website> Rating: 37.5 out of 50
RETURN ViSIT:
We ate El Chile again this past Friday night with my lady and some friends. El Chile did NOT dissapoint! Do be prepared to wait on busy nights as the place ony sits about 50-75 peeps. But the food is worth it.
Here’s what I got:
Arrachera Sirloin steak topped with melted Chihuahua cheese, poblano rajas, and grilled onions.$12.95
Basically beef fajitas, but I had to cut it up myself. It was very tasty! tender, perfectly cooked, savory, supple beef. This cow must’ve had a personal massage therapist. I Placed the cuts inside their home-made tortillas with peppers, cheese, my favorite chipotle salsa in town, and behold…a truly world-class fajita taco.
Also gotta give props to the Holy Grail of beer mugs- I had about 4 Dos Equis in these monster glasses, they weigh about 20lbs. each. Sarah ordered the Chilango Margarita:Spicy orange infused frozen margarita. I don’t really dig spicy drinks, but this one was outstanding.
Upon the half-assed recommendation of my roommate, I decided to make a saturday afternoon trip to local east-side old timer Nuevo Leon for the first time. I could tell from his half-assedness that I was taking a gamble.The ridiculuous blue sign outside the restaurant was almost enough to turn me around, but the parking lot was full of nice, shiny, expensive looking vehicles. Could this be the east side taco den of the rich and famous? I boldly threw caution to the lion on the big blue sign out front and swaggered inside. Upon entrance, the trap was sprung. As we were escorted to our table in the back room, I noticed the biggest room was full of what look like a seriously rockin’ bat mitzvah. This would explain the full parking lot, as opposed my guess about the popularity of the restaurant. Read the rest of this entry »
76%
The first thing that the Peruvian-born Rosa Santis will tell you if you ask about her business ethic is that her goal has always been to provide jobs and to serve the community. This was how she approached her construction business when she took it over from her ex-husband 20 years ago. An acquaintance of mine worked for her for eight years and remarked, “Rosa’s good people,” when I asked him about her. “She was always real fair, treats her employees like family.” Santis’ business philosophy seems to have paid off. Since the Eighties, she has made a small fortune in the utilities construction business, expanding rapidly with Austin’s own dizzying growth. 
Rating: 
