Let’s Tacobout It!

A warm, delicious, flavorful taco sounds great, doesn’t it? Well if you want to find the best tacos in the local area keep reading. Over this past week, we reviewed four taco restaurants in the local Ridgewood area. The taco restaurantswe visited were, Titos Burrito’s And Wings, 3 Chicas, Sombreros Tacoria, and Jalapenos. We chose to go to these places because they were recommended by many of the students here at BF after sending out a survey that included a poll of which place was their favorite. The same three tacos at all four of these locations were sampled to provide continuity (beef, chicken, and vegetarian).

Sombreros Tacoria, located in Ridgewood, New Jersey was the first stop we made and one of our favorites. We rated the customer service 8/10 because the employees were very accommodating, kind, and friendly. The food came out pretty quickly compared to some of the other places. We were able to watch our tacos being made together. After tasting all three tacos, we were able to rate the overall taste an 8/10. 

First was the chicken taco, priced at $3, not our favorite one, but still really good. The chicken was a little dry, and we believe that the tortillas may have been on the stale side. The second one we tried was the beef taco, priced at $4, our least favorite of the three, but still pretty good. Again, the tortilla was stale, but the meat was quite good. We got steak chunks instead of ground beef which was really nice. The last taco we tried was the veggie taco priced at $3. To be honest, none of us had high hopes for the veggie taco, we’d all rather eat a meat taco, but we wanted to try it for those who don’t eat meat. 

Although none of us were very excited about trying something new, we went for it. Out of all the places, this was our favorite spot for veggie tacos. There were mushrooms, peppers, onions, carrots, cheese, and sour cream. At first, we thought carrots on a taco was a little weird, but it worked, this was the best veggie taco yet. In the presentation category, we gave Sombreros a 9/10. The container was really nice, the three tacos could fit in one container, the tacos looked very appealing and appetizing. The price for each taco was quite reasonable, and fit what you were getting. Overall, Sombreros was definitely one of our favorites. 

 3 Chicas was the next restaurant on our list. This is another great place to get tacos, where you can find free candy, great customer service, and good food. 3 Chicas is located in Wyckoff, New Jersey. We rated the customer service 10/10, they were super friendly, funny, kind, and pleasant. They gave us free drinks and free candy. The first taco that we tasted was their chicken taco. They gave us a taco shell with just chicken and then on the side they gave us pico de gallo to add on to it. 

When we added the pico de gallo onto the chicken taco and tried it, it was very good. The chicken was seasoned very well but it was a little dry. Overall we rate the chicken taco from 3 chicas a 9/10. Next, we tried the beef taco. The beef taco from 3 chicas is not ground beef, it is steak. Overall the meat in the taco was a little bit dry but it was really good overall. We also rate this taco a 9/10. The last and final taco that we tried was the vegetarian taco. In this taco, there were only cooked peppers and onions. Although this taco was a little empty and it did not have much flavor it was not too bad. Overall we rate this taco a 7/10. On the menu, it said that the vegetarian taco had a flour tortilla and the beef and chicken tacos had corn tortilla but all three of the tacos tasted like they had corn tortillas. Overall this place was very good, with very friendly people. If you are in the mood to get a good taco and great customer service, we would recommend going to 3 Chicas. 

The third restaurant we went to was Tito’s Burritos and Wings, located in Ridgewood NJ. This place was our favorite taco shop. The customer service was pretty good, and although the woman at the counter was most likely new to the job she stayed very friendly. We had an issue with the card but they were very patient and waited for us to finally finish the payment. The food was cooked fast and they were so positive the whole time! Not only did Tito’s get our order right but they also included a free side of chips and stickers! So overall Tito’s service was an 8/10. This was one of our highest ratings and we really enjoyed the friendliness, and the environment at this place.

For the presentation of the taco at Tito’s we rated it an 8/10. The tacos were kept warm because of the tinfoil it was wrapped in. Also, they had everything labeled with stickers so we didn’t get confused when looking for the taco we wanted to try. They made the food look great and we really liked seeing that the food was appealing to the eye which made us want to eat more! The taste was the best out of every taco place that we tried. For the chicken taco at Tito’s, we rated it an 8/10 because the flavor was there and it was delicious but the chicken was a little bit dry. For the beef taco at Tito’s, we also rated it an 8/10. The beef taco is the best taco from Tito’s. We really enjoyed all of the flavors that were included in the beef taco. For the vegetable taco at Tito’s, we rated it an 8/10 as well. We really enjoyed how they included a bunch of different vegetables inside of the taco. Finally, the value of the tacos was about 14 dollars. We thought that was a good deal for the tacos since they had a lot of food and a lot of good flavors. We think the taco matched the price very well and definitely will be going back! 

The last place we went to was called Jalapenos. Jalapenos is located in Glen Rock, New Jersey. When we entered Jalapenos we all had high hopes because it was very nicely decorated. However, when the price of our food, the food itself, and the customer service hit, we were disappointed. $46.62 is simply too much for three tacos.

Turns out, it was actually six tacos along with rice, beans, guacamole, and sour cream. The customer service was rated 1/10 because the waitress was rude and distracted. When we asked to cancel the order, she said we couldn’t, when we went in she didn’t greet us, but immediately went to the order, and she said we couldn’t get one taco, we had to get the whole meal.

The vegetarian taco had pickles in it, along with carrots, and peppers. The beef taco, rated 5/10, was the best out of the three, and it included ground beef, not steak beef. The beef itself was too greasy but the tortilla on all three tacos was better than expected. The soft tortillas almost made up for the greasiness but didn’t come close to making up for the rest of the experience. The chicken taco we rated 2/10 because it was not completely terrible but still could use a lot of improvement. The chicken taco had too much sauce for our liking and ruined the nicely cooked chicken. Overall with the vegetarian taco rated 1/10, the chicken rated 5/10, and the beef rated 5/10, along with the poor customer service, we do not recommend going to Jalapenos. 

  We’ve come to the conclusion that Tito’s is the best place for tacos. We tasted all three tacos from Tito’s, and the taste, presentation, price, and customer service were the best. Along with this, the survey sent out included a wide range of student opinions about which place was their favorite. 71.4% of the student body favored Titos over all the other places, meaning many agreed that Titos was their favorite place and we can see why. Many enjoy their food and friendliness along with everything else. The food tasted fresh and homemade, and it was just an overall great experience.