Rusty Taco ~ national chain : Hurst, Texas

May 13, 2022 update: So it looks like they went back to their original name of Rusty Taco. If I do manage to get to one of the Denver locations, I'll be sure to update the logo. The chain seems to be doing pretty well, and our dispersed through the country. Texas and the Midwest seem to be their strength areas.

Last visit: Jun 2017 (Hurst, TX)

First visit: Mar 2013 (The Colony, TX)

OK, I'm going to move this one forward. The review below was written for their Colony location, that has since closed. It was much more of a dive than our Northeast Tarrant locale, which is actually quite nice in a fast food sort of way. But for whatever reason, it just wasn't as good as I remembered it. Have they changed? I don't know, but I think a revisit is in order for the RJG. Now that I think about it, we didn't have frozen margaritas either. Hmmm maybe it helps with a buzz on? We'll move forward again if our opinion subsequently changes. And in the meantime, they changed their name to the hipster like R Taco. I guess the word rusty and food don't go together well eh? In any case, they've expanded mightily since the below was written. So they must be doing something right. We need to get back over there pronto (and rewrite the below review).

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While we await Torchy's and Digg's to come to Southlake (2017: Diggs never did!), Mrs. RJG and I decided one Saturday to venture onto other cow pastures for a good taco and a frozen margarita. We first saw Rusty Taco while driving on Greenville Ave. in Dallas a couple of years back. I recently came across the name while viewing new restaurant openings on Urbanspoon (2017: Old times, huh?), headed over to their website, and determined that The Colony's location would be the closest. Once you start heading northeast on 121, and get through the airport DMZ area, it's only an additional 10-15 minutes to The Colony. This would be the first official RJG visit to The Colony, an area I've somehow managed not to roam in prior.

Rusty Taco's setup is familiar to anyone who has ever been to Fuzzy's. It's counter service, with a whirling frozen margarita machine behind. They serve a variety of 13 different tacos, and so on this visit we tried 5 different ones across the spectrum of tastes. Our favorite was the Baja Shrimp taco which is filled with delicious crunchy shrimp and a spicy "Baja" sauce. The fajita chicken was our next fave, and the marinate on the chicken is very good. Following this would be the fried chicken taco, which is basically small chicken fingers in a corn tortilla with jalapeno ranch dressing. 4th was the Texican, which is their variation of the carne molida (ground beef) taco. The meat was seasoned somewhat like a Hamburger Helper, but we found it quite good despite how that might sound. The only miss was the roasted pork taco, which was greasy and left a puddle down below. The meat was somewhat gamey too. But 4 out of 5 is quite a good percentage, especially considering how great the Baja Shrimp and fajita chicken tacos are. And they're a decent bargain at $2 a pop (the shrimp and fish tacos are $2.50). They're not super large like Funky Baja's, nor are they traditional $1 mini-size street tacos. I think they're priced right for what you get. The frozen margarita was a bit too icey (not smooth) and too sweet. But it did pack a punch, so I can't fault them there. I'd probably settle on one of their bottled beers next time, and they have a pretty decent selection.

Rusty Taco also features 3 salsas served up in large plastic ketchup styled bottles. The mild red was actually quite delicious, and the medium "tangy green" had a slight sweet taste and is a good variation of a salsa verde. Best, of course you knew the RJG would say this, is the orange habanero sauce. A delicious sweet flavor and plenty of kick to satisfy our palates. It's not really that hot, so give it a try if you have some tolerance for heat.

It's pretty clear now that the big rage in the QSR (aka fast food) market are these kind of taco stands. And while DFW is beginning to see them on every corner, other parts of the country haven't been exposed yet. The race is on, and Rusty Taco has decided that East Texas and the capital of Minnesota is where they would like to branch out first. Obviously Fuzzy's has began to dominate this market on a national scale, so it will be interesting who else becomes the "Burger King" next to Fuzzy's "McDonald's" standing, if you get my reference.

3/23/13 (new entry); 6/4/17