La Paloma Taco-Taco

This place has closed (as of ⁵⁄₂₀₁₂) — I’m disappointed, I really enjoyed their breakfast tacos.

Last Thursday I woke up with a hangover. The type that can only be cured by a quality chorizo and egg burrito. Unfortunately I’ve found chorizo and egg burritos to be lacking since moving out here– tacos, sure, but the burrito seems few and far between.
I decided to try this place as its near my house and I’ve passed it a few times wondering how the food is.
I’m glad I stopped in. It reminds me of the little taco/​burrito shops that I used to frequent in Los Angeles– traditional Mexican, not tex-​mex. Just good meat, beans, rice, and tortillas with some salsa or onions and cilantro.
I liked it so much that I went back a couple days later. Will probably become part of my weekly rotation– and likely my first dukedom.
Excellent for breakfast, but their carnitas and pollo are also good. Barbacoa– there’s better in the area, pass on it here. Next time I’ll be trying their al pastor. Its spit roasted the way it’s supposed to be, so I’m excited.

I go to school nearby and have an hour in between classes. I decided to do drive thru one night and was pleasantly surprised. Not only was the food good but I noticed they also serve alcohol. Today I went inside to eat and noticed they have a full bar as well. The owner mentioned to me that on Fridays they will be having a dj. I think this place needs more exposure because it is great! Plus you can’t beat .99 cent tacos with a margarita. They also have a happy hour! Will definitely be coming back after class!

I heard good reviews about la paloma. When a new location near by opened up, I decided to check it out. I went on a Sunday afternoon at 5:30pm and they were closed. The sign clearly says that they close at 8:00pm. When we inquired with one of their staff on why they were closed, they just stated that they «had to». One foot was already out the door. I think that’s very odd because they are purposely closed before even attempting to serve for dinner.

We were hungry on a Sunday evening and we needed to think fast and get something before the game started. After driving by this place multiple times, we finally decided to give it a try. When we first walked in, we noticed all the chairs were up and we could smell cleaning solution. Were they closed? Or closing up? Not sure but someone soon came out to greet us and said they were still open… great! We took a look at the menu and there were a lot of choices that looked good.. .The man that came out to greet us also gave us a few tips on what to order and what they have on the menu. He had a smile on his face and seemed very enthusiastic and passionate about the food.. .probably the owner?
We finally decided on a couple of things to share: The enchiladas with the chipotle sauce (beware it’s pretty spicy), the paloma tacos (we ordered a couple– grilled chicken, carnitas) and then the taco plate (comes with 2 flour/​corn tacos with rice and beans). Our food also came with chips and spicy salsa.
Overall the flavor was there — good mexican food, but I was a bit irked by how they packaged the food for us (we took it to go). They put the rice and beans in styrofoam boxes and because the boxes were pilled in the bag in an odd way (they couldn’t stack em on top of each other perfectly), the beans fell through the crack and leaked into the bag… yuck! Wish they could have put some foil in there first. It was a bummer because the beans and rice were really good! I’ll definitely have to come back to try their other menu items.

After a few recent trips to the Galleria I noticed that the strange coffee shop adjacent to the slew of office buildings across from the mall was gone. In it’s place was a soon to be opened taco place. I knew I had to try it just to get a picture of what a coffee shop turned taco vendor looked like. When it finally opened I went inside, apprehensively, but was instantly surprised. The menu is displayed on high definition tvs above the kitchen, which is quite classy for a taco joint. I immediately noticed how streamlined the menu was, and most of the possibilities were numbered for easy ordering (things were also described in English for simpletons).
I ordered the number 1 (Paloma Taco) and tried 3 different meats (Carnitas, steak, and spicy pork), a side of chips and my dining companion scooped up the Super Huarache along with a fried quesadilla for us to share. The chips were just okay, I simply found them rather thick, but the taste was definitely there. The fried quesadilla was also not THAT impressive, though the presentation was quite nice. The entrees are what really made the meal. My tacos looked exactly like the image on the menu, which is a rather rare occurrence, especially when talking about fast-​casual Mexican. Also the Huarache looked and tasted amazing. The fact that they even have it on the menu is impressive, you’d typically have to venture to a very authentic sit down Mexican restaurant to get one, and even then they might not have it on the menu. The most impressive part was just how fresh the ingredients were. The tacos were topped either Cotija or another fresh Mexican cheese as was most other menu items. The fact that over processed cheddar wasn’t used was refreshing. Tomatoes, lettuce, and onions all tasted great and looked like they hadn’t been sitting in the backroom for any length of time at all.
The staff was very nice and gave us punch cards (with a few extra punches!) they also threw in some coupons for next time! I don’t know if this type of Mexican food is ideal for take out, it seems like it would be best straight off the counter. Since my first trip I’ve been back, and it was still equally good, and very affordable (especially with their coupons). Hopefully this place will stick around.
La Paloma is obviously a highly popular name for a taco place, but I believe this one is completely independent of other similarly named places (distinguished by the taco-​taco perhaps?) and it seems their website agrees. Needless to say, I will be back.