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Was totally surprised to hear a spot in Columbus even got a look,
let alone a place on Food Network’s Top Five…especially on the taco
episode. We still haven’t found our way to Hot Chicken Takeover but
we did get to the tacos. We also found a couple of other stops for
adventure including a beer soaked deli,
a bakery and a lot of
popcorn. |
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Las Gauchos, the one of two we visited, is in a little strip plaza and I can’t imagine risking anything but takeout during busy hours. The first thing you see after walking in is the huge bees nest (shout-out to Jegunda) of pork rotating on the spit with a pineapple crown. We’re in business. The next thing I saw were the two bowls on each table. Huge, the first was filled with lime wedges and the second a mix of marinated veg studded with several rings habanero, a little wot-wot for your taco, if you’re interested.
First, they make three beverages in house, a horchata (a sweetened
rice drink) with a very sweet and lightly starchy flavor, an
hibiscus water which was much sweeter than it was flowery –
fortunately, and a non alcoholic Pinacolada which (even though I
detest coconut) was extraordinary. Usually don’t care much for
really sweet beverages either, this is way sweet, doesn’t matter. I
had two and the rest of Steph’s second. |
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 Delicious Unique Beverages |
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We ordered three tacos, beef tongue, chorizo, and the vaunted al pastor (bees nest pork mountain) plus nachos, a burrito and a gringas(?). The nachos we started while waiting for our fourth and they consisted of fresh fried chips covered in mozzarella, pico and sour cream. We chose the brisket, which was fine. I wasn’t overjoyed by the whole nacho package, in fact my favorite part of the whole plate were the slices of cucumber and radish on the side. Not a typical side as far as I know but they were really refreshing.
The burrito was the el favorite with chicken, melted cheese, refried
beans, onion and cilantro. It was tasty but dry and really needed
the punch of the big bowls or hot sauces on the table to really turn
it into something. |
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The tacos. I so wanted to be blown away…especially by the al pastor,
I really wasn’t. The tongue was tender but didn’t offer a lot of
flavor. Neither did the al pastor for that matter. The chorizo was
much better, working its way through the corn wrapper and at least
making an appearance. The spicy red squeeze bottle and the
refreshing green one, either or, or both helped but didn’t erase
disappointment.
There was something on the menu called a Gringas. The menu says
they’re famous Grilled flour tortilla, melted cheese, onions,
cilantro, pineapple, and marinated al pastor. Sounds a lot like the
al pastor taco, ‘cept flour instead of corn tortilla, cheese, and a
slice of pineapple. This HAS to be what they were talking about on
the tube. The changes don’t appear significant, but they make the
whole thing come alive, spectacularly alive. All four of us
instantly tasted the difference. Going back, I would skip the
nachos, skip the tacos, skip the burrito, and fill the table with
Gringas and Non-alcoholic Pina Colada. There is happiness there.
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| Ratings | |||||||
 Food |
 Service |
 Ambiance |
 What's Best |
 What's Worst |
 Overall |
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| C+ | C | C | A | C | C+ | ||
| Gringas!!! | The Rest | ||||||
