City of Houston Health Department
When a foodie thinks about Austin, what often comes to mind is a quirky, casual spot that serves good food in a somewhat offbeat setting. Ever since Austin was just a college town and a hippie hangout, it’s had its own sensibility that is slightly out of step with the rest of Texas. In a good way, of course.
So how will Torchy’s be received in Houston, a town known for its hundreds of family-run taquerias? We went to find out.
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Dining room at Torchy’s Tacos |
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Green Chile Pork taco at Torchy’s |
Our first surprise was the relatively small size of the tortilla, which was generously overflowing with fillings. The second surprise was the tremendous amount of cilantro – no folks, that’s not lettuce in the photo. Biting into the taco confirmed the over-abundance of cilantro, not surprisingly. When we raked off 3/4 of it, we were left with a fairly bland taco; the mild pork flavor was lost beneath the onions and the remainder of the cilantro. We can think of a number of taquerias around town that put this semi-traditional taco to shame. On to the next one.
For many folks, Tex-Mex means fajitas, so next up was Torchy’s Beef Fajita taco. The ingredients are right out of Tex Mex 101: Marinated, grilled skirt steak, grilled onions and peppers, shredded cheese and pico de gallo.
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Beef Fajita tacos at Torchy’s |
Biting into this taco, we were impressed by the tender quality of the fajita beef, but we found ourselves wishing for a bolder marinade; the beefy flavor was very mild. At the suggestion of staff, we added their avocado hot sauce – a creamy combination of tomatillos, avocados, and roasted jalapenos. This certainly added some heat, but now all we tasted was the sauce. We think the solution is a bolder marinade, not a saucy disguise.
Our final taco was the one we’d repeatedly heard great things about: Torchy’s Trailer Park taco. Fried chicken chunks, green chiles, shredded cheese, pico, and lettuce are the standard toppings, and at the advice of a Torchyphile we know, we ordered it “Trashy”, with the lettuce removed and a dollop of melted queso on top.
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Trailer Park taco at Torchy’s |
This taco was a hot mess. Good quality fried chicken, but utterly bland pico de gallo and a morass of cheese made me think of a KFC chicken bowl, not Austin’s most-talked-about taco. A dab of Torchy’s poblano hot sauce helped, but we’re firm believers that you shouldn’t have to fix a dish by smothering it in sauce to make it good. The result was certainly edible, but it’s not something we’d seek out again.
To say we were disappointed with Torchy’s would be an understatement. Like many things from Austin, the reality doesn’t live up to huge level of hype. On the plus side, the ingredients seemed to be high quality, but on the minus, Torchy’s can’t be bothered making fresh tortillas. The individual tacos look good on paper, but spotty execution and weird proportions of ingredients leave you with a taco that just tastes bland. The result is a mediocre experience by Houston taco standards.
That may be good enough in Austin. In a Tex-Mex mecca like Houston, Torchy’s is going to have to up their game.
Torchy’s Tacos | 2411 South Shepherd Dr. | 713-595-8226 | TorchysTacos.com
15 Comments
Anonymous
I've noticed that about the Austin imports. All style; little substance.
It looks like I don't need to seek out Torchy's, either. Thanks for saving me the trip!
Torchy
Proud to be from Austin, and proud to serve Damn Good food.
Cory
I think it was a mistake to get it trashy. The trailer park is MUCH better without the queso on top. I think Torchy's much more than style over substance. Damn good tacos.
Anonymous
Torchy's is amazing. Go back to Taco Cabana (really!?) and stop hating on great food.
Albert Nurick
Cory, thanks for the suggestion. Next time I'll try the Trailer Park without queso.
Anonymous
Torchy's has great food. They handle huge lines and have great customer service. They are by far the most creative taco joint in Houston that I have seen.
Anonymous
In a blog mecca like Houston, it's sad to see such misspelled words and punctuations mistakes. But that just accounts for the taste of the writers. This place has great food and a fun twist on tacos. I say keep it up, Torchy's. Thanks for coming to the Bayou.
Anonymous
I love this restaurant. The only bad thing about it is the PARKING. "The Republican" taco with a side of their delicious queso dip! Makes for a kick ass lunch!
Anonymous
I'm from Austin and have been obsessed with Torchy's since it opened. Was actually the first customer at the Houston location when it opened. For some reason, though, I don't like it as much in Houston.
Has anyone else found that the quality of Torchy's isn't as good in Houston, or am I imagining things?
Anonymous
I agree with Anonymous above.
Anonymous
Do you guys work for Torchy's or something? Their tacos are really boring, and they've got lots of health code violations, too. http://houston.tx.gegov.com/media/search.cfm?q=d&f=CD0F7B41-F73D-010A-BC1B36E99A0922C8&i=4EE92812-A531-4781-E976D9950A206D95&sd=07/24/2009&ed=08/08/2012&z=ALL&m=LIKE&maxrows=10&e=torchy%27s&tp=ALL#
Bren Hill
I visited Torchy's this past weekend and was considering a review myself, but I would merely be reiterating everything you say here. Good ingredients, prepared ineptly and without flavor, and tacos whose only flavor comes from cilantro and sauce. All in all it was a disappointing experience. I ordered corn totillas because that's what you're supposed to do with great tacos, right? It was a complete disaster! Apparently nobody orders them because they were stale, tasteless, and rubbery.
Anonymous
Anon 6:02PM: "Physician, heal thyself."
Anon 12:59PM: Location does make a difference in the execution. Chuy's, for example, is TERRIBLE in Houston. Elsewhere, it's much better.
Anonymous
Hi,
East coast transplant here. Would you mind offering examples of 'better' Houston eats? Ever since I've come to Texas, it seems like other parts of the state (Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Corpus, little towns, the countryside) have better … you name it than Houston. (And I've also found that Houstonians defend the city to death by deriding the other parts – without giving concrete examples of what's better here. Inferiority complex?) Examples please!
-Thinking Houston needs to step up its game, not its talk.