Sunday, July 15, 2007

Badlands 'Voodoo Highway'


I found myself wanting to try something a little different yesterday… I spent lunch in a place that I haven’t stepped foot in since they were putting toys into their kids meal from The Tick TV series back in 1995… Taco Bell.

Yeah… It’s been over a decade since I was last in a Taco Bell. I’ve never really enjoyed Mexican food. I’ve never liked the seasoning on the meat and I don’t enjoy the veggies loading down the food… Tomatoes, lettuce, and onions. I’ve gotten used to tomatoes and lettuce, but I don’t EVER think I’ll enjoy onions. Unless they are cooked until all the pizzazz and punch are gone… They are putrid and vile to my taste buds.

Since a friend of mine has gotten me to try new things and revisit foods deemed unworthy again… I have found that my tastes have been changing. I’m now enjoying things that once made me gag or look for the nearest waste can to spit them from my mouth. My taste buds are maturing… Or with my age… They are simply dying off. So who knows… Within 10 years, I may be able to eat eggplant without a chainsaw being held to my throat.

Growing up… I was the only one in my immediate family who didn’t enjoy the weekly taco night. My mother was gracious enough to fry me up a hamburger after she prepared the taco meat. And everyone LOVED going to Taco Bell except me. So instead of making 2 separate stops at fast food joints, it was decided that I would enjoy a Bell Burger from Taco Bell.

That was a bad move… Not so much for them, but for me. They used the same seasoned meat found in their tacos… Eugene went hungry. And from what I understand… Taco Bell no longer has the Bell Burger on the menu.

It was more like a Sloppy Joe than a burger.

But I recently tried my mother’s taco meat again… And found it to be delicious! I couldn’t stop picking the meat out of the frying pan with my fingers and popping it into my mouth. So I did the right thing… I grabbed a taco shell, filled it up with meat, piled on the cheese, and poured on some medium hot taco sauce.

I had been convinced and converted!

Recently, Taco Bell have been advertising quesadillas hard and heavy. Chicken or steak quesadillas… Mmmmmm… Two of my favorite kinds of flesh. Throw in some cheese, wrap it in a flour tortilla, and toast that joker… It appeared heavenly to me.

I finally tried one when my father had an extra steak quesadilla… The heaven was a slight exaggeration, but it was some good eating.

I went with meal number 7 yesterday at Taco Bell. I got a chicken quesadilla with a beef and cheese taco. All these years, I had no idea that I could order my taco with only meat and cheese… And the lady taking my order threw me off when she asked if I wanted it regular or with a soft taco.

Yes folks… My mind was being blown.

Eating those items weren’t nearly as exciting or as great as I had hoped for. They basically filled the void in my stomach and stopped that joker from rumbling. It was merely good, but for some reason… I have a feeling that it’ll be some AWESOME food when I’m drunk as hell some Sunday morning at 1:30.

Should I venture to a bigger and better Mexican food place? Am I short-changing myself with the faux offerings at Taco Bell?

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:36 AM

    As you know, I'm partial to the make-your-burrito-in-front-of-you chains that are popping up all over town. I think those are a good way to ease into "Mexican" food. (I put Mexican in quotation marks because these places aren't Mexican - they're half-assed, yuppified TexMex.) If you want real Mexican food, I suggest you try Casa Vallarta. I took my daughter there for lunch the other week and almost half the customers in the place were Mexicans. I took that as a good sign that we were getting the real deal.

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  2. Well.... Donna and I ate at Moe's... You know that you broke me in on that joint... And you KNOW that I totally dig Chiptole too!

    Would I like Casa Vallarta?

    You know my deal, Christine.

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  3. Anonymous1:01 PM

    Yeah, I think you could definitely find things you'd like to eat at Casa Vallarta. Hmmm...I'm thinking that should be our next joint food outing...

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  4. Anonymous4:19 PM

    Don Juan's in K'ville has some tasty items on their menu, plus the added bonus of some fabulous margaritas!

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  5. i just had moe's for lunch today! mmm...joey bag o' donuts...

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  6. Anonymous3:16 AM

    I have heard tell of taco places "better" than the mighty Taco Bell.. but I have yet to ever step foot in one. Back in the glorious day of the "57, 79, 99" deal, me and my friends at at the Bell at least once a week. This was back when they kept the sauce out in little bins in the front of the dining area. One night we were heading back here from the grocery store, with plans to make our own taco. To save money (as we were poor college students) we hit the Taco Bell, ordered exactly one soft taco, and each managed to grab a handful of sauces. I am thinking things like this are the reason the days of get-your-own-sauce are over. Now they have jacked the prices so hight that I rarely go anymore. And when I do, I can never bring myself to pay like a buck for a taco. That is craziness.

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  7. Anonymous9:43 AM

    Mmmm...tacos....

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  8. Anonymous9:44 AM

    La Fiesta....Wholly Guacamole....Oh how I love the tacos....

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