Taco lover always, but now a Slopper lover too!

Gray's Coors Tavern
Pueblo, Colorado

Found myself in Pueblo, Colorado this month for the big to-do.  The annual Colorado State Fair.  Last time I had been to Pueblo was about 7 years ago and that was for a backyard barbeque and then we zipped back up to Denver.  I've always vowed to get back to Pueblo and actually SEE the city. 

We crossed the Arkansas River into the fairgrounds (did you know the Arkansas River was the former Mexican border?) and had a great day at the State Fair.  Saw a lot of cows, horses, chickens, but the food was your typical funnel cakes and cotton candy, and that's not going to cut it.  I did see some folks selling some Pueblo style sausage called Kolbase (not to be confused with Kielbasa), but I'm in Southern Colorado and all I can think about is GREEN CHILI. 

For years my Pueblo friends, who now live in Denver, have been raving about Gray's Coors Tavern. Some simply call it Gray's Tavern or Gray's.  They went on to tell me about this steelmill bar and how they serve up the Slopper.  This food item is found in Pueblo and a few parts of Colorado Springs.  A burger, served in a bowl covered in green chili.  Sounds like a hot mess!  Even searching for photographs on the internet of what a slopper is all about, not one picture made the dish look remotely appetizing.  But again, friends from Pueblo, and friends who just had been down there from time to time, said hit up Gray's Tavern, you will not be sorry!

 

Entering Gray's parking lot, it's your typical divey looking place in a blue collar part of the city.  They did have a patio area, but we needed some shade inside.  Enter 1935, ok maybe 1975.  The place was built in the 1930s, but maybe had a remodel in the early 70's.  And by saying that, I'm meaning that it's very cool!  Something to be said for a place with history, retro signs, wooden booths, and a friendly waitstaff that will tell you what else you NEED to hit up in Pueblo (hello Taffy's... loved your Orange Aid slushy drink that the girls at Gray's told me about... but that's another story!).

 

 

 



 

Browsed the menu, but who am I kidding, there was not a question in my mind on what I was ordering.  The only questions asked were if I wanted a double or single, and if I needed onions and cheese on top.  My party of 3 ordered three singles (in our case one double to share, and one single to save a few bucks).  That's plenty, right?  They also have these schooner glasses of Coors Banquet but sadly we didn't partake.  Hey, I have to drive 2 hours back to Denver.  I'm responsible! 

 

So out comes the SLOPPER.  It looks totally like crap in a plastic bowl.  I swear my high school cafeteria in the 1980s had the same style bowls and red plastic water cups... anyhooooo...   I take a quick photograph, see below.  Gross right?  Waitress comes back with a bag of oyster crackers.  I'm like I didn't order any soup.  She explains they go on top.  OK.  Not messing with tradition in Pueblo. 

 

 

My first bite.  I finally understood what the fuss was all about.  This slopper put me back in my childhood home having a burger in my Mom's kitchen, where she had buttered a pan and seared the edges all crispy and almost a charred flavor.  Then the green chili hits you, loaded with pork.  Spicy!  You remember Yes, Yes You Are, in PUEBLO.  Homeland to the green chili of Colorado.  The cheese is American and perfectly right in this combination and on top, onions and oyster crackers.  All this sits on a hamburger bun buried on the bottom.  It's there sopping up all that green chili.  It's heaven. 

I devour my Slopper in 5 minutes and then have one regret.  I didn't order the double.  I totally should have ordered the double!!  I Facebooked the whole experience, and my pal back in Denver from Pueblo, basically tells me "I thought I told you... always order a double". 

The bill comes and you realize how cool Pueblo is.  Our lunch was like $14.00 (again, no schooners of beer, but if we did I'm sure it would have still been like under $25).  Is this 1975?????? I love this city.  When was the last time you ate out with two of your pals, at a bar, for 14 bucks?

It was time to go and I make a promise to myself to visit Pueblo again soon.  There's too much that we didn't get to see.  Mauro Farms to get Pueblo's famous pastries, the Riverwalk boat tour, and the farms where the Pueblo chilies are grown.  I will be back Gray's Tavern, I mean Pueblo!

So taco lovers, if you find yourself in Pueblo, maybe this one time put the tacos on the back burner and seek out a Slopper.  Think of it as a taco burger in a bowl.  The flavors will be very recognizable and you will not be disappointed.

Info on Gray's Coors Tavern:
515 W. 4th
Pueblo, CO  81003

(no website, however they do have a presence on Yelp! at - http://www.yelp.com/biz/grays-coors-tavern-pueblo )

Slopper info on wikipedia too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slopper

Margs World Taco Bistro or Margs Wraps? What would you call it?

Margs World Taco Bistro or Margs Wrap Restaurant? 

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Margs World Taco Bistro has been on my radar for the last few weeks.  It seems that every one of my foodie Facebook friends has done a Foursquare check-in at Margs in the month of July. My friends' reviews and Yelp reviews for Margs actually have not been that great, but that's OK, as my friends also like places that I can't stand and Yelp, well you can only trust maybe 25% of the reviews on that website. 

Thursday, I went for drinks and dinner at a business meeting at NORTH in Cherry Creek.  That place totally bites, but whatever, this is a review about Margs!  Anyway, after the meeting, we were in the mood for some additional beverages and decided to walk over to 1st and Fillmore. 

If you haven't been over to Cherry Creek North in a long time, Margs is where the old Einstein's bagel shop was located.  Margs shares that enourmous patio area with the Starbucks at Fillmore, you know the one, where you people watch while drinking your morning lattes?  That's THE corner in Cherry Creek North.  Hello people watching opportunity on the patio! 

Unfortunately zero tables on the patio that were available for a party of four (it was like 10PM too!). I can never seem to get a good parking place or table lately.  Seems there had been some tequila promotion or something, as there had to be 25 people wearing free promotional cowboy hats with some tequila I've never heard of.  Anyway, we went inside and some hipsters were paying their bill and we managed to score 4 barstools.  Next up, Pacifico and time to look at the taco menu!

Out of the 4 of us, I was the only one eating here.  Did I mention we had already eaten dinner at 7PM at NORTH?  Ok, well it was 10PM now and I was hungry again.  Got a problem with that?  The taco menu looked really good.  You can go with a 2 taco platter for $8.25 or 3 for $9.95.  Comes with rice and beans, so it's not a bad deal.  Plus, it's here in CHERRY CREEK, where everything is like $18min for a plate of food. 

I went with the Korean Pork, Carnitas, and the Margarita Shrimp.  The Korean Pork tacos were slow roasted natural pork with pickled cucumbers, scallions, hoisin sauce and sirachi.  OUT OF THIS WORLD FLAVOR. If you're going with a 2 or 3 plate here, get this one for sure. 

The Carnitas were also very tasty.  Same pork as the Korean Pork tacos, with a pepper salsa, serrano pickled red onions, queso fresco and a bit of lettuce.  Yum! 

The Margarita Shrimp tacos were a big miss here.  I'm not a huge black bean fan or really that much into corn salsa.  They are also served with avocado.  IMO shrimp tacos, you just have to keep it real simple.  Shrimp, queso fresco, cabbage and tortilla.  That's it!

From the bartender Doug, I learned that Margs makes their own hand pressed flour tortillas. The torts tasted great.  Here's the weird thing though about Margs tacos.  They are served on a plate, folded over, and then there's a toothpick inserted in them to hold it together.  While this doesn't make the tacos taste any different, I couldn't help but just be a little bit weirded out by it.  I felt like I was at the Smiling Moose restaurant eating a Caesar salad wrap.  Don't wrap up my tacos please!!!!!!  It aggravates me and a lot of others.  And the toothpick thing (see my photo at the top of this post), don't place toothpicks in my food unless it's a Tuna Sandwich or something at the local deli.

Asking the staff about the toothpicks and wrap-style tacos, I received the same answer from 3 different employees.  Something about that they aren't trying to be a taqueria but want to be a bistro. Huh? Because there are so many bistros famous for their tacos, right?  Whatever.  I just feel that if they lose this plated presentation, toothpicks, wrap-style and all, they would please their customers ten fold.  The employees seemed to give me the impression that they are asked this same exact question over and over.  Seems they might want to bring this to the head honcho's attention on the next all-staff-meeting. 

Will I be back?  Yes!  I'll put them on my re-visit list for sometime in September to see if they're still serving up wraps.  Yes, unfortunately, that's how I would describe them to another person who is looking for a good taco place in Denver. Actually, if someone asked me "where can I get a really tasty wrap sandwich in Denver?" --- I'd direct them to Margs.  I guess it's like if a hot dog place served hot dogs on a French rolls instead of a hot dog buns.  Would that be a "Bistro Dog" of some sort?

So that's my 2 cents on Margs.  Yes, they should just call themselves Margs, and not Margs World Taco Bistro, whatever that means. 

More Info:
Margs
200 Fillmore
Denver, CO
303-321-6274
www.margstacobistro.com
(also a location in LoDo at 1519 Wynkoop)

Wahoo's - South Denver location. Great spot to eat lunch on the patio.

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Lunch at Wahoo's Fish Taco:

Been busy entertaining friends and family from the East Coast and guess what?  They aren't all about eating tacos.  Can you believe that?  Had my fill of burgers and pasta this week!  Today, finally, I had a day to catch up on my love of corn tortillas and decided to make a trip over to Wahoo's Fish Taco.  http://www.facebook.com/wahooscoloradofans

It was just me today and it was a work day.  Many emails to return, texts to send, but I wasn't going to skip lunch.  Not to mention, we haven't had a blog update in quite some time.  Nothing better than having a table to myself with a taco and a diet coke.  Nobody bugging me, enjoying some food and getting things done.  The vibe at Wahoo's is great.  I always feel like I'm somewhere coastal like Hermosa Beach.  Surf boards, bumper stickers all for the eye to see.  Hipsters mingling with old folks.  It's just a generally cool place to hang. 

I know what you're thinking, that I went with Fish Tacos, but actually I ordered a chicken taco. Suprise, surprise!  The counter person suggested the Cajun spices/chicken taco, but I told him I'd save that for my next visit in August (who am I kidding?, see you next week bud).  I always feel super healthy when I eat Wahoo's tacos.  They go easy on the extras.  You get chicken, tomato, and lettuce.  I don't think they even ask you if you want guac or sour cream.  Plus you don't need it.  The taco was filling and with a drink I spent maybe 4 dollars and some change. 

After lunch I was ready to leave, but then my cell rang.  Decided to take my call out on the patio (loaded with umbrellas and tables) and well, one 10 minute call catching some rays, turned in to me "working" out of the Wahoo's patio area for a better part of the afternoon.  Note to self, when I want to work outside in a quiet space and eat tacos, head to Denver's I-25 and Hampden's Wahoo's Fish Taco. 

#TacoTuesday - join us on Twitter for a taco discussion!!! TONIGHT!

LIVE Taco Discussion starts now!  (4:15PM Pacific)

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Well today is Taco Tuesday, or if you are a hashtag kind of guy or girl, it's #TacoTuesday (hello Tweeps and Instagrammers).  I've already hit up Del Taco for lunch, and it was delish as always.  Went with the Chicken Carbon Tacos today. YUM.

Tonight we are grilling up some fish tacos at home, and making a super nacho plate for an appetizer.  The Sol beers are chilling in the garage fridge (strictly our beverage refrigerator), the table is set, and the itunes play-list (called Taco-Tuesday-Tunes) is ready to click.  First song on the playlist is 5 O'clock Somewhere by Alan Jackson. Isn't summer just the best time of year?

Tonight we want to have a patio discussion on our Twitter feed.  Wanted to invite our followers there to instagram us their pics, twit-pic, or however you share you foodie pics.  We're going to be RT'ing our favorites!  Talking some tacos, sharing our favorite places, our must-try-food-trucks, and general #TacoTalk. 

Will you join us? Let the games start now.  DC Taco is already past dinner, but I have a feeling he might be still enjoying one last taco.  Rocky Mountain Taco (me) is turning on the BBQ grill.  West Coast Taco is still probably savoring lunch.   

Hope to see you on Twitter tonight.  Remember our twitter address is:  http://twitter.com/TacoNoseBest

Happy Tacos, happy times, happy #TacoTuesday.

Tacos on 4th of July? That would be a YES people!

After I finish this blog entry, I’m off to Safeway to do my 4^th of July grocery shopping. 

You know the deal, some paper plates with stars all over them, bratwursts, buns, mustard, Cool Whip (making one of those American flag Cool Whip cakes this year, holler!!).  But things are different at our home.  We usually need a bigger shopping basket, as we don’t stop with the typical standard fare.

What’s the addition to our 4^th of July menu?

Shrimp tacos!  On our picnic table, next to the potato salad and watermelon, you’ll see various dishes of guac, pico, and cheese.  You'll also see us grilling up some good sized shrimp next to the burgers and brats.  Shoot sometimes the smoker is going too if we're making ribs (we like to eat, here I go off on a tangent again).   Not one, not two, but at least three varieties of tortillas.  Salsas, well that usually turns in to some competition with one of our guests bringing over his favorite or my husband making his world famous salsa. 

Who says you have to eat pasta salad on Independence Day?  Is that written somewhere?  So that’s what’s on the menu in this household on Wednesday.  Tomorrow’s shopping trip will be all about the beverages.  Do we go with traditional red, white, and blue beer (Budweiser), or Coronas and Pacificos? 

Happy 4^th of July everyone.  Have a wonderful celebration with your family and friends. 

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