‘Vampiro’ tops chart of tasty items at local taco shop

By James McElwee ’10
THE ROUNDUP

Driving down 7th street just south of Thomas road, it is hard to miss America’s Taco Shop, residing in an old yellow and “Sedona” red house, boldly proclaiming “the Greatest Carne Asada in the Valley.”

This proclamation is not in vain.

Featuring a veritable heap of meat-related products, America’s Taco Shop does its carne asada quite well.

Unfortunately there are not many other choices for vegetarians or the less-meat inclined.
In fact there are only two choices for vegetarians; the no lard bean and cheese burrito and a vegetarian quesadilla.

However, for those who do not mind eating various cow parts there a variety of choices ranging from tacos to burritos and to a surprisingly delicious “vampiro.”

The vampiro is a scrumptious concoction of melted Monterrey Jack cheese, guacamole, carne asada, lettuce and caramelized onions, all served on a crunchy grilled tortilla.  It makes for a Mexican-pizza like dish.

The tacos at the aptly named taco shop are quite good.  They have the potential to become a classic, filled with carne asada, guacamole, lettuce and caramelized onions.  The only real problems are that the tacos are somewhat small and the onions were not quite as caramelized as they could be.

Their burritos have pretty much the same filling as their tacos, all wrapped in a big flour burrito.  It was really quite good and offered a slight variation from tacos.

America’s is one of those restaurants where they have five ingredients and they do them quite well.  While a little variety could never hurt, there is not much too complain about.

The one thing America’s does have a lot of variety in is its drink selection.  It has a few different drink choices like their homemade “agua fresca” of Jamaica, Tamarindo and Horchata.  If you like Horchata it is especially good here.

They also offer bottles of Coca-Cola from Mexico, which means it is made with real cane sugar instead of corn syrup.

There were only really a few things lacking from America’s Taco Shop; a little variety with their menu, and a beach outside their little house.

Keep the authentic flair, add onto the existing menu and they will have a recipe for true success.

America’s Taco Shop gets a 3.5 out of 5.