Saturday, May 25, 2024

Daniel's Taco Shop ~ Colorado Springs, Colorado


Latest visit: May 2024

First visit: Jul 2021

Founded: 2010

I really had no intention of revisiting Daniel's. I didn't consider them a "rotation" restaurant, and my first experience was good, but not great. It was lunchtime and I decided to try my recent "Pollo Asado" test. And look what popped up? It just so happens I was at an estate sale all of two minutes from Daniel's. As I read the below, it appears I wanted to try their tacos con salsa, and guess what I did? I went for three tacos: Grilled Chicken (they were careful not to call it pollo asado - more on this later); Grilled Steak (not carne asada); and Ground Beef. Received two salsas in small containers, one mild green, and the other a hotter red. Just as with Erickberto's last week, I passed on the guac and pico de gallo and made sure to have lettuce and cheese for the first two options. The older Hispanic gentleman (probably my age lol) running the counter is super nice. A few minutes later, my meal was delivered. These are massive tacos, similar to the burrito below. And that's where the superlatives end. The chicken didn't have a grilled flavor and was a bit tough. The green sauce was hotter than a usual mild, but too thin and didn't impact the flavor much. Exact same with the steak, and even though the red is hotter, it too was thin and not impactful. There was no other option to save these. The ground beef was better, wonderful crunchy homemade shell, and the meat looked heavily seasoned. And yet it also - strangely - seemed to lack much flavor. Overall Daniel's is a nice clean place, with large portions of food. But not one to tickle the tastebuds. Daniel's remains out of the rotation.

---original 7/1/21 review

Ah, B Street. Been many a year since I last found myself here. If memory serves, the original Earth Pig Records was on the block, and that's how I ended up here some 26 years ago. It's a mix of heavy industrial and Army grunts, with a side of head shops and strip clubs. So yea, the perfect RJG kinda neighborhood. Daniel's sits in a respectable strip mall (<> club) in the midst of all this. I was doing some thrifting down south, and wanted to try something new. Similar to last week's Felipe 109.

Walk in, and head to the counter. I ordered a Breakfast Burrito with eggs, bacon, and cheese (no potato), which is more expensive than the usual version. Why? Because they load the burrito with bacon instead, to make up for the lost potato. You really get your money's worth here. I also smothered it in the spicy green. So yes, definitely a very good burrito, though I wanted more from my smother. The green chile was truly a sauce, and it seemed like it came from a Hatch (brand) can. I don't think it did, especially considering this is much spicier than that, but it reminded me of Hatch from a consistency standpoint.  Not necessarily a bad thing, but I was looking for more... something. The building itself is nice - a bit warm in the summer. Nice modest interior - comfortable - with plenty of places to sit. I definitely want to come back and try their tacos con salsa at some point. 

7/1/21 (new entry); 5/24/24

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