Los Maguey's

Consumed Tacos: Asada, Pollo y Chipotle
Preference: Asada

About a month ago as I was dropping off some donated goods on Seminary Drive (east of 1-35) near the Forest Hill area, I noticed a slew of taquerias. While I was unable to stop and enjoy anyone of them, much like McCarthur to the Philippines--I vowed to return...

I selected the first one I viewed doing east on Seminary. That would be Los Maguey's. Granted there are at least five other taquerias in eye sight, from this location, but much like opening gifts on Christmas morning, you must start somewhere.

As with many taquerias in south Fort Worth, when I entered Los Maguey's it seemed as though everyone stopped talking, and the music stopped (with the scratching record sound) and all eyes were squarely on me. As a friend once told me, "They don't like Canadians in that part of town". In all seriousness, I have ALWAYS been welcome with open arms in Tacoville and any other area of the hunt---Los Maguey's was no exception.

As I approached the counter, I looked at the wall menu, and was shocked at the abundance of dishes they have available. The only thing missing? Tacos! I (embarrassingly) asked the woman at the counter, "Do you have tacos?" She immediately called for help, who was a young gentleman that ended up being my translator. He showed me on the paper menu their choices of tacos. I immediately saw the price of $2.00 per taco, which raised my eyes. "We make the tortillas fresh" he said.

For those that read the Antojitos Latinos review, you will see that "homemade tortillas" will send you to a place you've never been. At least the ones at Antojitos Latinos did. Thus I figured $2.00 per taco was fair, and ordered two Asada and one Pollo y Chipotle.

You can remember from the Antojitos Latinos review that homemade tortillas can take some time to order. Thus expecting it this time, I was patient. However, I was a little disappointed that my wait time did not include chips and salsa. After about a 10 minute wait (which seemed like 20) I was greeted with a nice cup of water (on request) as well as my tacos and bottles of red and green taco sauce. As

As an experienced Tacovillian, I've learned the importance of tasting the taco sauce prior to placing it in your tacos. Sometimes it is too hot, and- sometimes it simply tastes like crap. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin tacos I waited 10 minutes for.

Thus I poured some sauce onto a piece of Asada, took a bite, and then...POW!!! It actually was not the sauce, but the Asada was in a league by itself. While it was not the best cut of meat, it was EASILY the tastiest Asada I've ever had. "Oh my goodness", I thought, "this combined with homemade tortillas? I could about to be eating the best taco in my life"

Remember the screeching record sound I mentioned at the beginning of the review? Well, once I bit into the taco, I heard it again. The homemade tortillas I had waited so long for were average at best. In fact, I was fairly certain they were homemade flour tortilla, which is nothing in comparison to homemade corn tortilla.

This got me thinking---what is more important in a taco? The meat or the tortilla? I have to lean toward the latter, so with all the promise the Asada had, the tortilla was a bit of a letdown (especially because it was 'homemade'). One other issue was the lack of a lime wedge. In thinking about it, this might be the time during The Hunt that my tacos did not come with a lime wedge. I am a fan of lime juice on my tacos, so this was another disappointment.

I was excited about the Pollo y Chipotle as I had tried it only one other time--at Tacos Earnesto's (not to be confused with Earnesto's Tacos) and it was a top two taco in the hunt. Because the Asada was so tasty I figured the Pollo y Chipotle would be out of this world! (Queue record scratching music again.) I never realized chicken could not have taste--but this was the case at Los Maguey's. Frankly, I think it was just a little watered-down.

While Los Maguey's probably deserving of 3 1/2 tacos, I am rounding down due to the long wait for average tortillas, and the lack of lime was inexcusable.

I will say the staff was VERY friendly. Probably the best service I have received on the hunt.

I did get a kick out of the payment transaction. The waitress/cashier did not know how to say the amount. She struggled a little bit, "Seeeaahn. Seeevahhhn.." then she gave up and wrote $7.57 on a piece of paper. I looked at her and said, "Oh, siete dólares y cincuenta siete centavos." She laughed, I winked and walked out....