LIME - went in for a cocktail, ended up having a taco. Greenwood Village, CO

        

LIME, An American Cantina

5425 Landmark Pl.

Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111

http://www.eatatlime.com/Landmark/Landmark.html

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Thursday was a warm evening (they all are in Denver during the summer) and it was one of those busy work days that needed to be rewarded with a cocktail.  My friend was really in the mood for margaritas somewhere in the Tech Center.  Well we're not going to Darcy's Irish Pub for margaritas, that's for sure!  We both agreed with visiting a place we both have liked on previous visits, but hadn't been by in quite awhile:  LIME. 

There are four LIME restaurants in the area, and this one is great because it's in the Landmark, an outdoor lifestyle type plaza where you can stroll around to shops, a movie theater and a good selection of restaurants.  Most of the restaurants here have wonderful patio seating and LIME's is one of the nicer ones.  It's tucked back a bit in the shade so you just don't get blasted by the Colorado sunshine. 

We ordered up two margaritas, called the "mini-mighty"  listed at $7 on the menu (and their margarita menu is pretty big).  I believe they were about 12 oz., which was perfectly enough for us.  Joshua, the very friendly bartender (we had to be sat inside  at the bar, due to the patio being jam-packed) offered us the menu and informed us we can go the al la carte route on a couple of shredded chicken tacos.  Love that.  Again, what person eats 4 tacos in one sitting?  Calorie-counter here, reporting for duty! 

The chicken tacos come with guac, lettuce and pico de gallo.  I swear there was sort of a ranch- dressing-sour cream thing going on inside it as well.  And I liked this ranch-sour-cream-thing-thank-you-very-much! They totally were what the doctor ordered after having one "mini-mighty" marg.  Those cocktails are potent!  This evening was a short and sweet cocktail hour. One taco, one drink, with one friend.  Fridays are food numerous friends, many cocktails and a bazillion tacos! 

We asked for our bill and guess what it was Happy Hour or #HH in twitter-speak!  Holler! My $7 margarita was $3 and my taco was $2.50.  Um hello?  $5.50.  That's just crazy good.  Joshua also told us about the $1.00 tacos on Taco Tuesday.  Will definitely be placing LIME on my Taco Tuesday rotation (doesn't everyone have a Taco rotation?). 

Taco Nose Best Stars:

Margarita - 5.0 stars

Chicken Taco - 4.5 stars

Bartender - Josh gets a 5.0

Atmosphere - if we were outside I'd give it a 5.0, but inside more like a 4.0

Parking - a huge lot at Landmark, but it does fill up by 5:30PM due to the movie

 theater so I'll give it 4.0

Can't wait to return to LIME!  Maybe next time their Larimer Sq. location. 

One word: WOW - Tacos DF in Denver, Colorado

Tacos DF

2020 S. Parker Road, Denver, CO  80231

(303) 671-2986

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Today I found myself on the east side of Denver close to Aurora.  I don't normally get over here to Parker Road & Iliff Ave., so I used my handy-dandy Yelp App to see if there were any good taco places mentioned.  Typed in tacos with "my current location" and B-I-N-G-O!  up popped Tacos DF.  Where the heck is Jewell and Parker Roads?  How did I ever get around in 2005 before GPS in my car and, of course, my foodie Iphone applications?  This taco stop is an easy one to miss.  Hidden in a small strip mall between a liquor store and wireless shop, my friend/passenger yells, "there it is!"  Two U-turns later we enter the parking lot. How many times can I mention, how excited I get for huge parking lots or tons of street parking in Denver?

Getting out of the car, I knew this was going to be good!  I just had that feeling.  A taco person just knows (or nose) these things.  Did a quick crossing of my fingers that this place will take a credit card, and headed inside. 

Tacos DF was pretty packed for a Monday before the lunch hour.  As we headed up to the counter, a mouth watering salsa bar is the first thing you see.  Holy cow this is going to be good.  Don't look, at the salsas, don't look at the salsas (I tell myself). Concentrate! You need to go to the counter and place your order. (Yes, they take credit cards, yay! We don't have to go to the McDonalds down the road with my MasterCard.) 

After a couple of minutes of "why don't you get this, and I'll get that" we decide on two Asada tacos and two Al Pastor tacos.  Behind the counter they also have your typical Mexican soft drinks, Horchata, Tepache, Tamarind, Mexican Coca Cola.  Love that!  

Even with the busy crowd of people inside, our order was super speedy and we were at that salsa bar 5 minutes later and ready to get down to some serious business.  What was really cool, in addition to all 5+ salsas, was this sort of a salad bar area if you will, with extra items like, lettuce, limes, cilantro, tomatoes, onion, jalapenos.  This is my kind of place. I like toppings and extra wonderful things to place on my tacos. 

All I can say is WOW.  One bite of my Al Pastor sold me!  I think I called 3 people to tell them how awesome this place was on bite number 2.  The marinated pork was probably the best I've had in Denver.  Just the right amount of flavor, juices, which sometimes can be tricky with Al Pastor.  Tacos DF serves them up with lettuce and cheese, and I added onions and tomatillo from the salsa bar. My "side dish" today was Tacos DF's sort of pickled jalapenos that were also at the salad, I mean, salsa bar (see in the photo above).  Washed all this down with a Mexican Coca Cola.  My lunch date gave me a big bite of his Asada tacos, and another WOW!  Note to self: get one asada and one al pastor next time. 

The bill for two of us at lunch:  a little over $11.00 for 4 tacos and 2 drinks.  We left and headed to the golf course.  What a great start to a casual day.  Would of been even better if we had a few more minutes for dessert (they had Flan and Arroz Con Leche). 

On hole number two at Kennedy Golf Course we were talking about Tacos DF's salsa bar and reminiscing about it (it has been a whole 55 minutes ago).  We realized we didn't snap a pic of the salsa bar (such blogger tragedy).  I actually thought, maybe we should head back there to get the photo and while at it, get two more tacos.  Unfortunately, we didn't make it back today, but now it's my excuse to hit up Tacos DF for dinner later in the week.

Taco Nose Best Stars for Tacos DF:

Food - 5 stars

Service - 5 stars

Parking - 5 stars

Atmosphere - 3.5 stars

A Classic Car Show and Tacos? Sure! - Colorado

 Classic Car Show and Tacos?  A perfect Saturday afternoon. 

The plan today - hit up the 2012 Summerfest at The Landmark in Greenwood Village, CO.  I think my exact words were “let’s go to The Landmark and check things out, and then afterwards we can find a cool taco place to have lunch.” 

From the brief blurb I read on Twitter, the Summerfest was going to be a Classic Car Show with your typical booths selling beer, popsicles, and then those booths trying to get you to sign up for something boring like car insurance. 

Wow, did this little Fest blow us away.  First, the cars.  We saw Mustangs and Malibus from the 1960s, Race Cars, Model T’s, even Flight For Life, a sponsor, did a helicopter fly over.  Very cool, but where’s the beer booth?  Found it!  Shortly after a light beer (ok 2 beers), we scoped out the food stands.  Fro-Yo, sushi, sandwiches,  AND  then we found the taco stand.  Well not really a taco stand, but the Doubletree Hotel booth, making kimchi, pulled pork tacos. We stopped dead in our tracks, chatted, tasted, and learned all about their amazing little café called Zink.  Wow, these Korean street tacos were excellent.  The Asian BBQ pork was smoky and perfectly seasoned.  Then a bit of avocado and some chili garlic salsa.  Sign me up. Doubletree/Zink even served it with a lime wedge.  Now this is a classy, Classic Car Show food booth!  I love garnishes!! 

The people running the Doubletree/Zink booth were all employees too. One from Human Resources, another from the kitchen, another worked the front desk - just really cool to see them excited about the restaurant and festival, even though most of them don't work directly with food day in and day out.  They were having a blast, despite the 90+ temperatures, and really sold us on stopping in to Zink’s actual restaurant in the coming weeks. They informed us about some of their other menu items including burgers, sliders and wraps.  Sounds like the perfect lunch destination when some friends visit next week.  You can find more info about Zink here at: http://www.zinkdtc.com/

Another Great Day in Colorado!  A FIVE star day for sure.  Now what's for dinner?  Maybe shrimp tacos at home.  I'm tired and need an evening of air conditioning. 

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Summerfest: http://greenwoodvillagechamber.chambermaster.com/Events/details/2012-summerfest-at-the-landmark-7548

Doubletree by Hilton

7801 E. Orchard Road, Greenwood Village, CO  80111

http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/colorado/doubletree-by-hilton-hotel-denver-tech-center-DENEWDT/index.html

Zink: http://www.zinkdtc.com/

I've eaten at the first Chipotle, have you? - Denver, CO

I've eaten at the first Chipotle, have you?

If you're a taco fanatic and find yourself in Denver, Colorado, a must see is the original Chipotle Mexican Grill, located near the University of Denver campus.  Address:  1644 E. Evans Ave, Denver, CO  80210

Everyone has their own Chipotle story.  You were skiing the Rockies and stopped on in for some grub, calling the place Chi-Pol-tay, (you now know the correct pronounciation thanks to Steve Ells being on some reality foodie show a few years back).  You grew up in Denver, and now live in a state that has only 2 Chipotle locations (both over 25 miles away) and it saddens you every Taco Tuesday.  Am I right?  Feel free to leave a comment on your Chipotle story below!


My story goes back to about 1994ish, I was doing a promotional event for the Honey Baked Ham Store and was hungry for lunch.  What was I going to do?  Devour a spiral ham and turtle cheesecake?  My co-worker Kim and I headed back to our office on the lookout for good tacos (most of my stories start with "we were just looking for tacos").  We stumbled on to Chipotle on E. Evans, and thought we would give it a try.  That day, walking in, I had no idea this concept would blow up into what it is today.  Shoot, Steve Ells probably was one of the 3 or 4 employees at the counter making our lunch that day!! I remember being confused by how to order, as the assembly line way of ordering tacos was fairly new in these parts.  That day, I'm sad to say, I even ordered the burrito instead of tacos.  Yes, shocker!  I think it was perhaps because tacos weren't even listed on their menu yet.  It was a burrito type place.  We received our lunch, and were smitten.  I think I personally told 75 people to immediately drop everything and go to "my new discovery."

You all know the rest of the story.  Chipotle conquers the country and a new one pops up on a corner each and every day.   They're giving the public some great and quick food for a very decent price. Today I went with the chicken, and you can't go wrong, their grilled chicken is amazeballs.  Added some brown rice, green tomatillo and pico de gallo.  Perfect food to give me some power for the gym in an hour.  I find myself here all the time and I'm always happy with my lunch or dinner choices.

Make a point of swinging by the original sometime.  The staff will even give you a nickel tour of the weird crawl space in the basement (see photo above).  You'll be amused at how tiny the first location is and of course take a pic outside the door to upload to your Facebook page if you're a true taco nut!

Stars for the Original:

Food - 4.5 stars

Atmosphere - 5.0 it's the original place people!

Employees at this location - 5.0 (they're happy to take your photo eating at the original!)

Parking - negative 4 (I've never seen a parking space available since 1996 in this neighborhood)

Benny's Tacos Venice

 I love tacos....  I love breakfast...   I love breakfast tacos?   Of course I do! 

 Benny's is one of my favorite taco joints in all of the land.  It's the little restaurant that can...  Many places just want to get by but Benny's takes the "taco stand" to the next level.

It's counter service but everything is made fresh with smile.  I've been there many times for tacos, but the other morning I decided to stop in for breakfast. 

Without too much though we ordered both the breakfast quesadilla and the "steak & eggs."   What we got was a little bit of breakfast heaven....

 The steak and eggs ended up being a huge portion of carne asada that made my morning.   Served with black beans, chips and guac, what more can you ask for? 

The quesadilla was simple goodness with fluffy eggs, cheese and crispy bacon.

I often start my mornings with a run on the beach, but mainly so I can take the day off for a Benny's breakfast.... and you can bet I'll be back for the tacos and burritos too!

 

 

Benny's Tacos

427 Lincoln Blvd

Venice, CA 90291

310-396-8749

 

Fernando's Taco Inn, Los Angeles

Some car washes have a hot dog or taco stand attached as a bonus so customers can grab a bite while they their cars cleaned.  At Fenando's I think it's the opposite... the car wash opportunity is the bonus and the tacos are king!

Right across from the Staples Center and LA Live you'll see the car wash, and Fernando.  I'm lucky enough to work just up the streets so I'm a walk in regular aside from my dirty car needs.

They may be famous for the "Carlos" but I'm a fan of the street tacos.  I usually get 3 a la carte... asada, al pastor, and carnitas.  At $6.00 for the 3, you'll be stuffed and loving it! 

On a side note, check out the salsas, they have one of the hottest green salsas I've ever tried, and the dark red is super smokey and sultry.

Fernando's Taco Inn

815 West Olympic Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90015

(213) 489-7615