Tacusa ~ Fort Worth, Texas

Our original location in far north Fort Worth is still open along with one in Arlington. The Keller locale is closed.

Latest visit: Dec 2017 (Keller - closed)

First visit: Sep 2015 (Fort Worth)

We're always on the lookout for high quality street tacos at the RJG, and the Mrs. is a fan of the Salvadoran favorite papusas, so Tacusa came across our radar for a try. This was in 2015, and we were surprised they've recently opened another location closer by. With our local Tacos y Mas now closed up, we thought we'd give Tacusa one more try.

While the front of the menu clearly portrays a Mexican taqueria, it becomes obvious quickly this is truly an El Salvadoran eatery. All the same, I stuck with street tacos and tried their carne asada, pollo, and al pastor. Priced attractively at $1.25 and listening to a sizzling kitchen, I felt I could do no wrong. Tacusa features a salsa bar with 4 different sauces, an onion/cilantro mix, lettuce, and other items. Right away I was disturbed with the lack of a covering at the salsa bar. That seems like a health code violation to me. Since we came early, not long after opening, it was still fresh looking, but I wouldn't want come in the late afternoon. We gathered up a sample of each, sat down, and a few minutes later out came my tacos. Well these are kind of dinky, aren't they? Explains the cost. Double corn tortillas, but extremely small, and filled with the meat of my choice. From there you add the onions, etc... The carne asada was the highlight on this visit, and the only one packed with a good portion meat. It was also very hot and delicious. The al pastor had a very nice marinate, but was the smallest, with literally 5 tiny chunks and tough at that. And the chicken had some delicious spices, but again I think they could have offered a bit more meat. On this visit I went for taco plate special, which comes with rice and beans and a canned soda. The rice is somewhat non distinctive, but hearty and good enough to pass muster. The beans just blow. They're runny, and kind of nasty really. One bite is all I could manage. The salsas were somewhat disappointing. Both the molcajete and the verde were thin - and lacked spice. The spicy chile de arbol was by far the best, but even at that, it was a bit mild for the style, and lacked flavor. Mrs. RJG had two papusas, one with pork and the other shredded chicken. She didn't enjoy the pork much, but said the chicken was very good. She did like the cheese quite a bit, and the corn tortilla was cooked right.

On the visit to the Fort Worth location (and I presume Keller will be similar), Mrs. RJG had the horchata, which was creamy, rich, with a nice cinnamon flavor. I sampled a couple of sips. Not something I would drink a lot of, but certainly can appreciate the beverage. They also have homemade lemonade, otherwise it's bottled drinks.

You'll find Tacusa north of Keller Parkway near Bourland Rd, in the same shopping center as Funky Baja's, I Fratelli Pizza, and Baja Cantina - they are on the east end in the newer section. The digs are pleasant, minus the open salsa bar. They also wear their beliefs on their sleeve, and you get Christian pop music blaring over your meal, with lots of testimonials. To me it all sounds like the exact same song with different lyrics...

I fear to say that Tacusa is not our kind of place. We've now tried both their Fort Worth location and Keller, and I remain unenthused. I don't suspect we will be returning anytime soon.

9/21/15 (new entry); 12/30/17