Taco War #2 (it might be #3) Tavial Grill

We always say, try a place a number of times to see if it's consistent.  That was our experience with the Tavial Grill.

Visit #1 - OCT 16

Tavial Grill Carnitas Plate & Quesonga

So, undaunted by our not so great experience on our visit to Jess Fleming's recommended taco place, we again went in search of the perfect taco (or decent Mexican food).  This time we ventured to West Seventh Street to Tavial Grill.   We think this is in a former pizza place (can't remember what was there before).  We found the place to be in decent condition (better than we expected based on being another re-used facility) and it was VERY clean.  

This place turned out to be the opposite of that other taco place.  The guy at the cash register was clueless!  Too much texting seems to have challenged the upcoming generation.

Following the challenge of order things went smoothly.  We sat where I could gaze into the kitchen during food prep (that drives John crazy--but really, I don't tell him if his food hits the floor before it comes out, so I don't know why he gets his undies in a bunch over this).  I watched the cook skillfully use 2 spatulas to grill the food and carefully move it from grill to plate.  He was crisply dressed with an impeccable haircut....the kind of guy you want making your food because he's meticulous.

John had the carnitas plate and I had the quesonga or quesohonga (it was spelled differently on each wall)....but basically a cheese and mushroom grill with onions.  

Our number was called within 5 minutes and the food was attractively arranged on the plates, with steaming hot tortillas in aluminum foil.  John's carnitas was hot and juicy.   He didn't share any of the rest of his plate, so it must have been just as good.  He actually said the beans were delicious and he's not a big refried bean fan.

My dish was delish, but I wouldn't describe it as Mexican food.  Gooey cheese, lots of mushrooms, and lots of onions....all melted together into a helping of comfort food  (I kept thinking this would be a great Sunday brunch item).  I enjoyed every bite....a little Mexican flavor would have enhanced the experience, but it was tasty. The helping of grilled heaven was worth the cholesterol bump.

All in all a very satisfying experience.  We think this is a family-owned restaurant...so we like to give 'em some support.  Other than the need to knock the cashier in the head and wake him up, everything else was well-executed.  We know we could go back tomorrow and find another delicious dish from the menu that had many choices.  A nice way to end the week.

Visit #2 - OCT 23

Tavial Grill Chilequiles

Tavial Grill Choriqueso

Our first experience there was 5 star...excellent all around.  The guy making the food was nicely groomed, and followed food safety procedures.  The food was well-prepared.  This also resulted in a wonderful meal.

So we tried 'em again.  This time, not so good.

We order the chilequiles with beef and the choriqueso.   We noticed that the guy making food tonight was not quite so good.  Bare hands in the food bins.  Not so well-groomed.  Maybe not so good at food prep.

Our food rating was about 2 on a scale of 1 to 5; John said his choriqueso was about a 1.5.  If this were our first rating, we'd give it 2 stars and say it was overpriced for the quantity and the value.  The tortillas were the best part of the meal.....

So, our advice is the same.  Try a place several times to see if it's consistent.  Might be consistently good, consistently bad....or the worst....consistently inconsistent.  Then you never know what to expect.