Torchy's Taco: Restaurant Review

Just from looking at the sign, you know you're in for a quirky experience when eating at Torchy's Taco. It's one of the smaller places; with only 5-6 tables in the entire place, but it still draws a crowd at all hours of the day. I've gone early morning on the weekend and around dinner time on a week day and the lines are out the door. Thankfully, the line moves really quickly since the menu is pretty condensed into two major categories: tacos and miscellaneous.

Of course, the draw is the creative variety of freshly prepared tacos, but I think the experience of waiting with the small crowd of eager eaters is also part of the appeal. It's got a very hippy/edgy feel to it, and the staff all rock tattoos and wear those artsy thick black frames. So very stereotypical but it fits for the place.

But enough about the setup, what about the tacos? Well, they are delicious. I had the Brushfire Taco (pictured below) that had Jamaican jerk chicken, grilled jalapenos, mango, sour cream, and cilantro served on a flour tortilla with Diablo sauce. If you check out their menu, it is simple, yet every taco has some kind of twist that you just wouldn't think of that makes it so special. Even their presentation added to the eating experience, which was a complete shock to me considering the slightly ghetto layout, but the tacos looked gorgeous when they were set out on the counter for pickup.

The only thing that I can think of as a "con", is the price tag on each taco. One taco will run in the neighborhood of $3-$4, which isn't bad considering the quality of the ingredients, but it is definitely something that would cut down on how many times I would eat there.

Whenever first time visitors come to Austin, this is one of the places that they are introduced to, and they always leave satisfied that they got to try it.

Verdict: Highly recommend.