Kevin and Joel's Meal of the Week: El Paso, Part II

Kevin and Joel's Meal of the Week: Chico's Tacos

Just to keep the rules straight, we made sure to wake up early. Or, early for the sportswriting and sports photography set. Luckily for us, the No. 1 vote-getter for the Meal of the Week opens early, even though the restaurant doesn't have a breakfast menu like most little fast-food type joints.

That's right, the No. 1 vote-getter for the El Paso Meal of the Week -- and subsequently, the pregame meal for the Permian game -- is Chico's Tacos, a local favorite and a huge favorite of Rick Taylor of the San Antonio Express-News, a man who swears by this restaurant.

Chico's Tacos has five locations, although we picked the one closest to the Socorro Activities Complex, the stadium that we're sitting in now.

And there weren't a whole lot of people at Chico's Tacos. Not that we were really surprised, since a taco and burger joint doesn't really whet the breakfast whistle at all. Considering that we passed a mall, a Pei Wei, a Starbucks and a host of other corporate-America type places on the way in, I was a little surprised to see an armed security guard standing at the ready at 9:15 a.m. Not exactly sure what to think of that.

Now, for a famous place, Chico's Tacos does one thing well. Tacos. You can order a single order of three tacos or a double order of six tacos, and I opted for the double. The single didn't look like a ton of food to me.

For those of you who read the OHS coverage last night, you know that the OA has the dual teams of the OHS team -- beat writer Lee Scheide and photographer Cindeka Nealy -- traveling with OA photographer Kevin Buehler and your friendly neighborhood Permian beat writer this week.

Lee opted for the famous tacos, so did Cindeka and Kevin added his own portion, but Kevin made a few modifications to his menu. Rather than stick with the tacos, Kevin added fries and a hot dog, a hot dog that comes on a hamburger bun.

Let's talk about that hot dog a little bit. Kevin's hot dog came shredded and filleted into long, thin strips, spread out over the bun and covered in chili, complete with plenty of red beans. Looked a little like a gut bomb to me, but Kevin was suitably impressed. "This is actually really good," Kevin said. "Really good way to put a chili dog together." For their part, the fries -- Cindeka ordered a batch, too -- were the solid crinkle-cut variety that should be a staple of most American diets.

Now, about those tacos. Lee put it best. "My tacos were swimming in so much sauce that they need a lifeguard." To call Chico's Tacos a taco is a disservice to most of the tacos that you and I are used to. Let's face it, Chico's tacos are more like taquitos on steroids, rolled up, covered in a spicy tomato sauce and covered -- I mean absolutely smothered -- in cheese. Getting a double-order only hurts your wallet to the tune of about 3.50, but you're paying for the quality you get.

Kevin liked the tacos, although he wasn't spectacularly crazy about them. As for the rest of us, we were a little underwhelmed. Trying to get the little plastic forks they give you to punch through the hard rolled shell and keep it on the fork all the way up to your mouth is really hard -- Cindeka's polo shirt has a big blotch of tomato sauce on it now, after a rogue taco decided to jump ship. Spearing the taco gets a little easier if you allow it to soak in the sauce, but then you have a soggy, drenched corn shell, and I was definitely not a fan. Chico's adds some green, hot salsa that Cindeka and Kevin both liked, but you'd need the best salsa in the world to make these tacos taste like anything other than a cheap $3 snack.

Kevin's Dessert of the Week

Before I tell you about the dessert we picked up, I have to admit something.  We had to cheat a little bit. Chico's doesn't really serve dessert, per se, but Cindeka, Kevin and I made a late-night foray to Applebee's after the Bronchos win last night.

And after the P.F. Chang's experience with dessert in a shot glass, Cindeka asked our waitress, Dian-e -- her actual name is Diana, but the manager changed it to Dian-e because another co-worker had the same name -- if Applebee's serves any dessert in a shot glass.

Luckily for us, they did. Kevin ordered a chocolate mousse, Cindeka headed back to that old favorite, strawberry cheesecake, and I was really hungry. I went for two. Hot fudge sundae and strawberry cheesecake. OA photographer and dessert aficionado Kevin Buehler was a huge fan of the mousse -- it was awesome -- and Cindeka warned me that the strawberry cheesecake was the absolute best.

So I started with the hot fudge sundae, which had creamy, sweet vanilla ice cream, tasty whipped cream, a cherry on top and some hot fudge. Could have used a little more fudge -- I like my ice cream drenched in chocolate sauce -- but it was definitely a solid mix.

And Cindeka wasn't kidding about the strawberry cheesecake. Smooth, creamy cheesecake, filled with tangy bits of strawberry and bottomed out by a solid cookie-crumble bottom. Man, I headed back to the hotel -- the Hawthorne Suites -- more than happy.

Final Analysis

Chico's Tacos might be famous.

But with apologies to Rick Taylor, the El Paso staple got decidedly mixed reviews from the OA group parked in the city. Kevin liked it, but he wasn't amazed.

And the rest of us? Not sure if we're going to make it a point to stop there the next time I come to El Paso.