Taco Del Mar

Its lunch time on Monday and you are hungry. The answer: Taco Del Mar's Double-Punch Monday!

This place makes great gringo burritos all week, but Monday there is a special reason to go. Like many places, T.D.M. does a frequent buyer card, where if you eat 10 burritos, the 11th is free. On Mondays, though, you get a double punch, which means that if you play your cards right, you can score a free burrito after buying just 5. Being cheap and eating out at lunch way too often, this becomes an excellent incentive to gobble down these overly large burritos.

Of course, I went today, which constitues a major tactical error. But that's beside the point, really, because the food's still tasty.

Taco Del Mar offers tacos and burritos, as well as a few nacho and salad options. In my opinion, the burritos are the best value at around $5 (depending on the filling). You choose your tortilla, with options including standard fare and also spinach or tomato wraps. Your options for meats are fish, pork, chicken, shredded beef, ground beef or their newly-added steak. There is also a choice of refried, black or whole pinto beans. All burritos come with rice and salsa, pico de gallo, and veggies. You can get cheese, sour cream, and guacamole for a bit extra.

I am generally a Pork guy, as this is the only place I can consistently load up on vitamin P. I did, however, try the steak option today and would recommend the steak also, as it is tasty and not-too-chewy in the burrito. The chicken and pork fillings are nicely seasoned too, and are good options. I have never got round to eating a fish one, but it is a popular choice and fish often runs out at the lunch hour downtown. Rusty had one today, and judging by how fast he devoured it, it must have been at least tolerable.

The burritos are definitely on the large size, and many have questioned how I can stuff one down in less than 5 minutes, but hey I am Gastro Boy! For those of you that lack the skills (aka a fat gut) to get a whole burrito in you, they do offer a half size and kid options. My seven year-old boy loves to get a kid-sized chicken with beans and rice.

The thing I like about T.D.M. is that the burritos are consistent and tasty and made to order quickly. The folks that work there are generally a fun group and can whip you up a big, steaming burrito in about 90 seconds. The burrito is always big and tasty (they never skimp on you), and does not have that fast food taste that some burrito joints have. Now, there are plenty of Burrito places downtown for lunch and some may make a more gourmet, fancy burritos, but for my $5, Taco Del Mar is the best value by far. That said, there are plenty of authentic burrito places out there too, including all the great taqueria vans. I will do a review of taco vans some time in the future, as there are now several in town that need to be mentioned due to their good authentic grub. But Taco Del Mar is that perfect gringo burrito, not too authentic, way too big and always consistent.