A Tale of Two Taco Places
In the last month I have knocked off both the Lakewood taco places on my most recent "Places to Eat in Cleveland" list. Here's the tale of the tape.
El Carnicero is the more upscale of the two and opened in 2013. CFA and I went there before the Galactic concert on February 11. After considering the tamales and tacos carefully, I opted for a pork belly taco with a fried egg on it. It came in a small bowl with three warmed tortillas on the side. There was more than enough taco filling for three tacos and then some. The pork was nice and crispy, and the salsa complimented it well. CFA had a vegetarian taco with cumin-roasted carrots and watercress. She really liked those as well. We also had some chips and salsa. For drinks, she got a beer and I ordered the margarita sampler. All three flavors of margarita were excellent, but the rooster claw (spicy mango) margarita was particularly delicious. Dinner for two with drinks costs us about $45 (I think, she was paying because I bought the concert tickets), with tip. I'll definitely be returning here again; in fact I already have tentative plans to go here with coworkers in March.
El Barrio has two locations; the Lakewood one is newer and opened in 2012. I've been walking Tulip past is ever since, but I hadn't actually managed to step inside until tonight when I went there with gieves, darlox, EdZ and Emma. This being the first half-way warm Friday night we've had in ages, it was pretty crowded, so we stood at the bar and drank margaritas until we were seated. I wish I could tell you the flavor margarita I got, but gieves ordered it and I've already forgotten. Anyway, despite the crowd we were seated reasonably quickly. The menu here isn't as fancy; instead you are given a pad of paper and you can mark off the taco ingredients you want, with different selections available for the tortilla, meat, vegetables, sauces and sides. There are also some pre-rolled tacos that you can select from a different pad, as well as chips and salsa. The table devoured a whole bunch of the latter, including some fancy Tuscan salsa that had goat cheese on top of the guacamole. Yum. After eating all of the chips, I barely had room left to get through my three tacos; I probably would have been better off stopping with two.
On balance, El Carnicero wins on taste. El Barrio wins on location (I can walk easily), price ($3/taco!), and at least on the night we were there, atmosphere as it was a rowdy Friday night. However, both are definitely places I'd go to again.
El Carnicero is the more upscale of the two and opened in 2013. CFA and I went there before the Galactic concert on February 11. After considering the tamales and tacos carefully, I opted for a pork belly taco with a fried egg on it. It came in a small bowl with three warmed tortillas on the side. There was more than enough taco filling for three tacos and then some. The pork was nice and crispy, and the salsa complimented it well. CFA had a vegetarian taco with cumin-roasted carrots and watercress. She really liked those as well. We also had some chips and salsa. For drinks, she got a beer and I ordered the margarita sampler. All three flavors of margarita were excellent, but the rooster claw (spicy mango) margarita was particularly delicious. Dinner for two with drinks costs us about $45 (I think, she was paying because I bought the concert tickets), with tip. I'll definitely be returning here again; in fact I already have tentative plans to go here with coworkers in March.
El Barrio has two locations; the Lakewood one is newer and opened in 2012. I've been walking Tulip past is ever since, but I hadn't actually managed to step inside until tonight when I went there with gieves, darlox, EdZ and Emma. This being the first half-way warm Friday night we've had in ages, it was pretty crowded, so we stood at the bar and drank margaritas until we were seated. I wish I could tell you the flavor margarita I got, but gieves ordered it and I've already forgotten. Anyway, despite the crowd we were seated reasonably quickly. The menu here isn't as fancy; instead you are given a pad of paper and you can mark off the taco ingredients you want, with different selections available for the tortilla, meat, vegetables, sauces and sides. There are also some pre-rolled tacos that you can select from a different pad, as well as chips and salsa. The table devoured a whole bunch of the latter, including some fancy Tuscan salsa that had goat cheese on top of the guacamole. Yum. After eating all of the chips, I barely had room left to get through my three tacos; I probably would have been better off stopping with two.
On balance, El Carnicero wins on taste. El Barrio wins on location (I can walk easily), price ($3/taco!), and at least on the night we were there, atmosphere as it was a rowdy Friday night. However, both are definitely places I'd go to again.