Fuzzy's Taco Shop
I went to Fuzzy's Taco Shop (the company website)for lunch today. It's a new taco restaurant on Southwest Pkwy. across from the Kroger shopping center. If you're in a hurry and don't want to read a full review, here's the short version:
I probably won't go back unless accompanying someone who insists on going there.
Access:
Getting in and out of the parking lot can be tricky if you're coming from Texas Avenue. The only entrance accessible from the westbound lane of Southwest Pkwy is at the end of a long, unbroken median. The end of this median can be a bit of a jam, since it's also the only entrance from Southwest Pkwy. into the Kroger shopping center. With both lanes of traffic trying to turn into their respective shopping centers as well as people trying to exit across traffic from each of them, it can get very messy there. I have witnessed accidents at the end of this median in the past, and feel that I may well do so again with the increased traffic due to Fuzzy's.
My recommendation for getting to Fuzzy's would be to go to Southwest Pkwy. via Anderson drive, turn left (east) on Southwest Pkwy. and then turn right into the parking lot to avoid having to deal with the median. When exiting, don't try turning left onto Southwest. Just turn right and then turn onto Texas to exit. Otherwise you will be dealing with the median congestion I mentioned earlier.
Parking:
Parking is a major issue. The restaurant is in a shopping strip with two empty locations, and the parking slots were all full except for two in front of the restaurant. There are additional parking slots on the side of the building, bu they are clearly marked "no parking." You can park in the parking lot of the Shipley's Donuts next door, but to do so during lunch, when Shipley's is still open, would be rude.
Decor:
The decor is as generic as generic can be, with a bit of "half-assed" thrown in. The walls and tables are all primary colors (red, blue, yellow), with the top 1/3 painted black to "hide" the exposed rafters, fire suppression system and insulation. The chairs are unremarkable, but the booths are quite uncomfortable. They are plywood booths with no cushioning at all. They're painted rather poorly and seems to have a tacky feel to them as if they'd been poorly spray painted.
The service:
This was absolutely the best part of lunch. The service was really, really good. They were quick to answer questions about the unfamiliar menu and make recommendations. When an order was accidentally marked as "to go" by the cashiers, they quickly corrected it to a "dine in" order with no complaint.
Table busing:
Like most fast food restaurants, you bus your own table at Fuzzy's. The problem is that they serve their food on very heavy stoneware plates or large, thin metal pans (like those used to serve pizza). They give you real silverware to eat with (which is nice while eating, but awkward while busing, as you'll see). They also serve the food on large plastic trays.
The problem with busing your own table comes down to their busing station. It's a typical cabinet with a garbage can inside and a hole in top into which to dump your garbage. There is a small shelf above the cabinet for, well, everything else. The shelf is just small enough that putting a tray on it feels unstable. Once you put the heavy stoneware plates on it, it's very easy to imagine the whole deal crashing to the ground at your feet. There is no place at all to put the silverware. you end up scraping the garbage from your plate into the garbage and the stacking it, your tray and your silverware among the garbage of those who went before you on a shelf that's just too small to feel safe holding everything. They need to supply a larger busing station, one with an area for plates, one for silverware, one for trays, and a receptacle for garbage (many other places to this, so they should be able to as well). After busing my table and stacking my dishes along the dishes of previous patrons, I felt a distinct urge to wash my hands. Not a good feeling.
The food:
The most important part of a restaurant is the food. And this is where I really felt let down. Fuzzy's Taco Shop appears to be marketing itself as a "baja style" taco shop, so I expected a lot of flavor and fresh ingredients. When I got my meal, I suspect they misspelled "bland" and "baja." The tacos come with letuce, tomato, cheese (cheddar), cilantro, feta and a garlic sauce.
I got the pulled pork tacos. I have a very strong aversion to cilantro, so they left it out (after all, they have pretty awesome customer service). However, the tacos had the least flavor of anything I've ever eaten. I could barely taste the feta. I tasted no garlic at all. The pork was a flavorless lump of pork-textured pulled meat. The lettuce they use is shredded iceberg lettuce, so I wasn't expecting any flavor there. This is the first time in a long, long time I've ever had to use a restaurant's hot sauce on something simply so that it would have *some* flavor.
On each table, they include a bottle of "Fuzzy's Butt-Burning Hot Sauce." which is probably the most inaccurately-named hot sauce I've had in a long time. It's not hot at all, really. I believe it's a cayenne-based sauce (I did read the ingredients, but can't remember them specifically right now), but the first flavor impression I got from it was a very sweet caramel flavor. While it did give some flavor from the otherwise bland tacos, I never got a true "hot sauce" flavor from it.
The taco plate comes with your choice of two sides. I chose the "Mexican fried potatoes" and the Borracho Beans. The beans were absolutely wonderful, and they were the best part of the meal. The potatoes were soggy, pan-fried potatoes with no spicing at all (even salt) and tasted as if they'd been cooked in the same pan as something fishy (which is likely, since they do serve fish tacos as well).
All of that and a large drink for about $8.75 is a pretty good deal as far as the amount of food per dollar, but it isn't something to make it stand out. There are quite a few other places around town with the same or better food/dollar ratio.
Between the lackluster food, the busing situation and the location, I will likely not be returning to Fuzzy's unless someone I'm with insists on eating there.
I probably won't go back unless accompanying someone who insists on going there.
Access:
Getting in and out of the parking lot can be tricky if you're coming from Texas Avenue. The only entrance accessible from the westbound lane of Southwest Pkwy is at the end of a long, unbroken median. The end of this median can be a bit of a jam, since it's also the only entrance from Southwest Pkwy. into the Kroger shopping center. With both lanes of traffic trying to turn into their respective shopping centers as well as people trying to exit across traffic from each of them, it can get very messy there. I have witnessed accidents at the end of this median in the past, and feel that I may well do so again with the increased traffic due to Fuzzy's.
My recommendation for getting to Fuzzy's would be to go to Southwest Pkwy. via Anderson drive, turn left (east) on Southwest Pkwy. and then turn right into the parking lot to avoid having to deal with the median. When exiting, don't try turning left onto Southwest. Just turn right and then turn onto Texas to exit. Otherwise you will be dealing with the median congestion I mentioned earlier.
Parking:
Parking is a major issue. The restaurant is in a shopping strip with two empty locations, and the parking slots were all full except for two in front of the restaurant. There are additional parking slots on the side of the building, bu they are clearly marked "no parking." You can park in the parking lot of the Shipley's Donuts next door, but to do so during lunch, when Shipley's is still open, would be rude.
Decor:
The decor is as generic as generic can be, with a bit of "half-assed" thrown in. The walls and tables are all primary colors (red, blue, yellow), with the top 1/3 painted black to "hide" the exposed rafters, fire suppression system and insulation. The chairs are unremarkable, but the booths are quite uncomfortable. They are plywood booths with no cushioning at all. They're painted rather poorly and seems to have a tacky feel to them as if they'd been poorly spray painted.
The service:
This was absolutely the best part of lunch. The service was really, really good. They were quick to answer questions about the unfamiliar menu and make recommendations. When an order was accidentally marked as "to go" by the cashiers, they quickly corrected it to a "dine in" order with no complaint.
Table busing:
Like most fast food restaurants, you bus your own table at Fuzzy's. The problem is that they serve their food on very heavy stoneware plates or large, thin metal pans (like those used to serve pizza). They give you real silverware to eat with (which is nice while eating, but awkward while busing, as you'll see). They also serve the food on large plastic trays.
The problem with busing your own table comes down to their busing station. It's a typical cabinet with a garbage can inside and a hole in top into which to dump your garbage. There is a small shelf above the cabinet for, well, everything else. The shelf is just small enough that putting a tray on it feels unstable. Once you put the heavy stoneware plates on it, it's very easy to imagine the whole deal crashing to the ground at your feet. There is no place at all to put the silverware. you end up scraping the garbage from your plate into the garbage and the stacking it, your tray and your silverware among the garbage of those who went before you on a shelf that's just too small to feel safe holding everything. They need to supply a larger busing station, one with an area for plates, one for silverware, one for trays, and a receptacle for garbage (many other places to this, so they should be able to as well). After busing my table and stacking my dishes along the dishes of previous patrons, I felt a distinct urge to wash my hands. Not a good feeling.
The food:
The most important part of a restaurant is the food. And this is where I really felt let down. Fuzzy's Taco Shop appears to be marketing itself as a "baja style" taco shop, so I expected a lot of flavor and fresh ingredients. When I got my meal, I suspect they misspelled "bland" and "baja." The tacos come with letuce, tomato, cheese (cheddar), cilantro, feta and a garlic sauce.
I got the pulled pork tacos. I have a very strong aversion to cilantro, so they left it out (after all, they have pretty awesome customer service). However, the tacos had the least flavor of anything I've ever eaten. I could barely taste the feta. I tasted no garlic at all. The pork was a flavorless lump of pork-textured pulled meat. The lettuce they use is shredded iceberg lettuce, so I wasn't expecting any flavor there. This is the first time in a long, long time I've ever had to use a restaurant's hot sauce on something simply so that it would have *some* flavor.
On each table, they include a bottle of "Fuzzy's Butt-Burning Hot Sauce." which is probably the most inaccurately-named hot sauce I've had in a long time. It's not hot at all, really. I believe it's a cayenne-based sauce (I did read the ingredients, but can't remember them specifically right now), but the first flavor impression I got from it was a very sweet caramel flavor. While it did give some flavor from the otherwise bland tacos, I never got a true "hot sauce" flavor from it.
The taco plate comes with your choice of two sides. I chose the "Mexican fried potatoes" and the Borracho Beans. The beans were absolutely wonderful, and they were the best part of the meal. The potatoes were soggy, pan-fried potatoes with no spicing at all (even salt) and tasted as if they'd been cooked in the same pan as something fishy (which is likely, since they do serve fish tacos as well).
All of that and a large drink for about $8.75 is a pretty good deal as far as the amount of food per dollar, but it isn't something to make it stand out. There are quite a few other places around town with the same or better food/dollar ratio.
Between the lackluster food, the busing situation and the location, I will likely not be returning to Fuzzy's unless someone I'm with insists on eating there.