5.03.2010

Lunch Out @ Senor Roy's Taco Patrol

Senor Roy's Taco Patrol is one of the handful of food trucks to hit the Cincinnati scene in the past several months.  I needed a quick lunch option, and remembered they usually post up for lunch at the corner of Main and Central Parkway - only a few blocks from my office.  I'm glad I tried it, but doubt I'll be going back.  It was quite disappointing.

The Food:  I ordered 3 tacos, one of each of the meats they offer - Grilled Chicken, Grilled Flank Steak, and Al Pastor.  I told them I wanted corn tortillas and then encouraged them to put any toppings they wanted to make them as good as possible.  I told them I like it pretty darn spicy, but not like I need to drink a gallon of milk spicy.

When I opened the styrofoam container when I got back to the office, the first thing I noticed was that I got flour tortillas - I guess that's the default.  But, the tacos looked large and colorful, so I was hopeful.  It went downhill from there.  All three meats are listed on the menu as being marinated or rubbed with something, but all three were almost flavorless.  Maybe I got a batch that had been missed or something.  There was a  sweet and smoky mango salsa they put on a couple of the tacos that was pretty good, but for so many ingredients all 3 tacos were severely lacking in flavor.

The Ingredients:  They don't mention anything about local, organic, or sustainable ingredients.  Who knows, maybe they'll come around some day.  I hope so, it's a great concept, and it simply should not be that hard (or expensive) to increase the amount of seasoning and spices they're using to greatly improve the product.

The Story, Setting, & Service:  Two guys were operating the truck when I got there, and they were both very nice.  They seemed happy that I'd let them pick the ingredients.  The service was fast too, so I wasn't made to wait around, which was good.

After eating, I did a quick search to see what others had been saying about this taco truck.  From the looks of it, get in mah belly's experience wasn't any better than mine.  Who knows, they're new, maybe they'll improve with time.


Señor Roy's Taco Patrol (Food Truck) on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

tblanx said...

I can't speak to their tacos or to how my taste buds were after a late night at Grammer's, however, I thought their guac was decent.

Gavin DeVore Leonard said...

Thanks for the comment, Tony! And indeed, there are a plenty of things on the menu I haven't tried yet. Hard to argue with a late night option outside of Grammer's too - glad to hear they're getting around...