Photo by John Anderson

Much Respek to the brothers Vallejo and their 2nd annual Pachanga Latino Music fest this past weekend in East Austin.  The fest was huge success by all accounts…but more importantly, they managed to expand the definition of “a musical instrument” to include the BBQ Grill.

Serrano’s owner Adam Gonzales actually cooked fajitas LIVE, onstage during the Panchanga All Stars set – a super-group featuring members of Vallejo and Grupo Fantasma, with Michael Ramos, Willie Alvarado, Haydn Vitera and a bunch more…

Now TacoTown calls that innovation.

Full Festival Review here >

We’ve been to the downtown Serranos location plenty of times, with pretty good results, but their south location – next to Best Buy and other “big box” stores down near Mopac and Ben White has been passed by 100′s of times.. I think the fact that its flanked by an Applebee’s just kills my appetite every time I see it.. But these days, Cabeza and I have basically run out of new places to try, so its time to start digging in the dirt..

My interest was piqued when i spotted the vinyl banner  hanging from the side of the building as we drove up.. “Tuesday Lunch Special $12.99 Fajitas for Two” Okay, i can work with that… Probably cheaper than my backup lunch choice – Spec’s deli.

Not surprisingly, the 2pm lunch rush was nonexistent.. we got chips and salsa and our iced teas quickly.. The salsa was a minced pico variety..  a little dry.. it couldnt even be stirred.. just a lump of pico.. but tasty enough.. I spotted a lady in the kitchen making fresh tortillas and my spirits were once again lifted..

The mixed chicken and beef fajitas came to our table in a matter of minutes and we got to making our own personal fajita tacos for which to scarf..  Accompanying our skillet of meat and onions, we each got a plate of mexican rice, charro beans (with shredded queso blanco on top), and shredded yellow cheese.   All ingredients were tasty.. The meat was cooked right.. the beans were flavorful.. the rice was a nice filler.. but the star was the fresh made tortillas that made every bite shine… A great lunch at a great price..

ps: Tuesday is the Fajita special, but Monday is buy 1 get 1 free enchilada plates..

this beef fajita meat is pretty good, substantial chunks, unlike say, the kind of thin-strip jerky shank you tend to get from Arandas and its clones. The meat was marinated and cooked right, so the flavor and tenderness were there. this could be the best thing on Maudies menu besides the standby tex-mex enchiladas..

We arrived in San Marcos with our bellies empty and not much time to sit down and grub.  The venue we were playing at happened to be right next to this place called Cancun Rob’s.  Personally, it looked right up my alley.. what with all the fishnet, christmas lights, and caribbean decor.  I was sold but Chappy, TacoBlob, and Beako De Gallo were definitely not.  So Beako de Gallo went to hit up some advice from the gas station right next door.  Because you know, the people at gas stations are always so adept at restaurant suggestions.  Well, right away the lady in there told Beako that this Cancun Rob’s place was simply bombastic;  “best fajitas and tacos in town”, she says.

Upon entering Rob’s we notice that we are only 4 of a total of 6 people in the restaurant.  Not usually a good sign but we were in and ready to go to town.  The waitress took our drink order and was headed to get us some chips and salsa when Taco Blob started blasting out Glute pics and Chappy broke out his damn “i(would rather play with this thing than talk to my friends)phone”.

The chips and salsa blew ass!  The chips were the thick kind which i hate and the salsa was basically tomato sauce with not even a hint of spice or any outstanding flavors such as cilantro or onions.  Blandbot central.  On the menu they really only offered fajitas and tacos.  They had burgers and kids shit but none of us were interested in that tonight.  TacoBlob and i split the Spicy Chicken Fajitas for Two and Chappy and Beako split the regular Chicken and Beef Fajitas for Two.  When they arrived they were a sizzlin fury and were accompanied with a lot of good stuff:  cheese, sour cream, guac, pico de gallo, etc.  However, TacoBlob and i ordered the SPICY fajitas and just like the salsa, they werent even close.  We had to request a side of japs just to make this worthwhile of a good ole fashioned ulcer sprayfest.

On the non-spicy side of the fajitas, Beako de Gallo said that the meat looked and tasted like those frozen packets of already cooked fajita meat that you can get at HEB for like 3 bucks.  I sort of agreed but still ate as much as i could.  The plates were reasonably priced at about $14 a piece and being that they were made for two people, spending $7 on these things felt just about right.

Overall i dont think i would go back here.  The food and the salsa’s lack of boldness, flavor, vigor and spice did not leave me yearning for mas.  However, the Pacificos were amazing as usual… so i got that going for me, which is nice.

Cancun Rob’s Fajita Hut
311 E Hopkins St
San Marcos, TX 78666
(512) 392-5171
[MAP]