Chronic Tacos

Chronic Tacos
382 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC

Here I go again, to another taco shop. Somehow it has become such a popular dish there is a need to open yet-another-location. OK, OK, Chronic Tacos an American import is not necessarily new(est) kid on the block, not to mention they sell other tex-mex fare (like burrito) but, lately, I think I have seen one too many places selling tacos popping here and there (namely, Cartel Taco and Arturo’s Mexican To Go). Of course, while some taco shop are “traditional” (as in La Taqueria and Doña Cata) others add that dread “fusion” twist, like Roaming Dragon and Cartel Taco, Chronic Tacos does not hide one fact: it is not necessarily meant to be authentic Mexican fare, rather the Californian iteration, based on the original version. With that in mind…

Ambiance is not something that I mention often but, in the case of Chronic Tacos, I have to do so: It is not a restaurant in the same veins as, again, Doña Cata or La Taqueria. Instead, think a sports bar, with an actual bar. Something like this:

On my first visit (yes, I went there more than once), it was pretty quiet mainly because there was nothing sport-y going on. However, on my second visit, it was a Sunday around noon and the place was over half full by sport jocks (read: NFL Sunday). With over six big screen TVs showing different games, I am not sure how they were keeping track of which game or what but, every couple of minutes, I could hear them yell and shout. As a note, I used to watch NFL as well as NBA but there are reasons I no longer do so… Anyway, I am not here to watch games but something more important: the food.

In a quasi-built your own combo scheme, you can add a drink and chips (with salsa) for an additional charge. Just for kicks, I ordered it with my order and… Well, I have had worst. While this can be considered free in Doña Cata (but not in La Taqueria), I felt that additional charge wasn’t worth it. The bag of chips was so large for the amount of salsa that, well, I wasn’t sure what I would have done had I finished the salsa. Otherwise, it is something you could get from the supermarket. As for the salsa… Well, it was chopped finely and has too much liquid but, otherwise, your regular salsa.

Taco #1 (or as they call it “Fatty tacos”) was the carnitas. I will go straight to the point is that I ordered them with *everything* but the kitchen sink. After they reheat the tortillas and add the appropriate meat, in a Subway-like assembly line, you can add cheese, salsa, guacamole, onion, cilantro and cabbage. OK, purist, don’t bother bashing either me or them, it is what it is. Cheese??? Cabbage? The cabbage was bitter so, by the time I was having my second taco, I was removing it. Now, I have had raw cabbage but this one didn’t work for me. And cheese… I won’t have mind something on the line of queso fresco just that cheddar here… No…

But, as for the taco itself – or the pork meat here – actually, the meat was quite “juicy”, in the sense there was still a lot of liquid, though the fact it was submerged in it before scooping and putting on top of the taco had a lot to do. Overall, it was messy but will have to admit the pork wasn’t that bad (as in have had worst, not that it is necessarily good).

Taco #2 is al pastor; however, the meat resembled more ground meat than meat sliced from a spit. As for the taste… Nah, it was lightly spiced but nothing special. Sorry, the description is a bit lacking because the carnitas was better than this that I just didn’t care much.

Normally, I would have stomach to eat at least three if it wasn’t for one interesting detail: At $3.29, these can be considered expensive out of the gate; however, it is also slightly larger than the one of the other taco shops. So, because I could only taste that many, I went back for a second visit to try more tacos (yeah, shame on me…)

Taco #3 is a fried taco, with the filling being a potato. OK, what happens here is that they wrapped the cooked potato with the tortilla, chill it and, when requested, throw it to the fryer. After it is out, it is “opened” and dressed with the fillings mentioned above. Now, I learned from my initial visit so I skipped some toppings, namely the cheese and the cabbage, as I thought they didn’t add much, if anything at all.

As for this one… Well, it was crispy but was a mess to eat. That’s because, after it was “opened” to fill it up, it sort of “broke” the taco at the bottom. Given it is not flexible, it “felt” down when I tried to lift it. The potato filling was interesting in the sense it was soft to contrast the crispy texture of the outside. But, past that, nah.

Taco #4 is fish, grilled version. They also have fried but I chose this one instead for one reason: It goes on the lines of the Baja California taco de pescado (literally fish taco). In addition to the same toppings as mentioned previously, they added some “Baja sauce”, which was slightly tangy and sweet sour-cream-like sauce. It was a good thing they added it because, while you could see the fish was there, you couldn’t really taste it or even “feel” it and the Baja sauce is what made the taco. Now, it isn’t that the fish was bad; rather because of the soft flesh of the fish used, it couldn’t stand to the texture of the rest of the components.

Finally, taco #5 which is the shrimp, battered version. A comparison point would be the one I had at El Centro. So, how do these compare? On one side, there were several small shrimps here but the batter wasn’t as seasoned compared to the one in at El Centro. Unfortunately, because it wasn’t too seasoned, it didn’t translate too well in the final product and, similar to the fish taco, it had to rely a bit too much in the Baja sauce again.

Overall, I initially thought it was sub par, in some cases, par at best, compared to those mentioned above. However, it hit me: probably I am not making a fair comparison. Given this is an American chain, why should I try to compare it to more “traditional” Mexican establishments? If I use that fact as a starting point instead, plus the fact it is a sports bar, I will give them some credit: you could just go there to have some tacos, burritos, burritos bowl or similar fare and hang out to watch a game. However, I am not that market and I have had better food so, to me, it is a pass.

Tagged under: Fish • Mexican • Pork • Seafood • Vancouver