Torchy's Tacos — Restaurant in Boulder

The service was quick and flawless, but I didn't like the atmosphere, and the food was mediocre and a poor value for what I ordered.

I ordered the Baja shrimp taco. I found that the shrimp was lacking in flavor (entirely unseasoned), and I do not believe it was freshly fried based on the temperature and consistency of the breading. There was not enough sauce to provide flavor, and the slaw and pickled condiments were forgettable and didn't add anything to the dish. The taco fell apart in my hands, which I think is easily avoidable with the addition of another tortilla. Overall, this is not something that I would expect after spending six dollars on a taco.

Edit: The customer service team reached out to me after my complaint and offered me a gift card, which I used to go and get some more tacos. This just further reinforced my belief that Torchy's has excellent customer service and subpar food.

I ordered the Trailer Park and Democrat for my second time around.

The Trailer Park was rather disappointing, on par with the sort of food concoction you'd put together in the school cafeteria. The Democrat was actually pretty good with some hot salsa, but...it's literally just a barbacoa.

I've come to realize that half of the menu is unflavored bunk thrown together, and the other half is just pretending that traditional Mexican styles of cooking/seasoning meat are something Torchy's invented: The Democrat, the Swinger, the Green Chile Pork, Steak Fajita, etc. I feel like there are some comments on cultural appropriation here that I'm not qualified to make, but that was the part that made me feel icky about the atmosphere. I don't really understand the appeal here. If you like Mexican food, go to one of countless food trucks or Mexican restaurants in the area and save some money. If you like flavorless meat in a tortilla, you can just heat up some frozen...

This is specifically about the Boulder location, which is an absolute disaster in comparison to wonderful experiences with Torchy's in both Texas and Denver. No online ordering, not the full Torchy's menu, and the restaurant definitely wasn't ready to open when it did. Also, the layout of the restaurant is poorly designed, which leads to utter chaos inside -- no room to wait for takeout, and it's odd that it seems so cramped now when the same space seemed so huge back when it was Turley's. We were so excited about the Boulder location opening, but after such a horrible experience there, we have found ourselves just sticking to other locations in the Denver area when we happen to be nearby one of them. If you visit the Boulder restaurant, please don't judge the entire chain based on how awful this one location is.

Edit: they now have breakfast tacos, so we decided to give them another chance. Not sure what’s going on here, but this is two #2’s unfolded to show the contents. Notice how the one on the left has about half the filling of the one on the right. When I first picked up the foil, I thought that it was just a plain tortilla and not an actual taco. No more second chances for this embarrassment of a Torchy’s location. If whoever oversees Torchy’s at the corporate level sees this review, you might want to do something about the poor management at the Boulder location. We won’t be returning.

Update #2: I actually filled out the online comment form before Torchy’s posted their reply below. Still haven’t heard back from them a month later. They don’t seem interested in improving the Boulder location, and the copy-and-paste reply to candid reviews appears to be nothing more than a perfunctory attempt to appear...

Not the place I used to love so much. I would have written a review like the guy did at the top before coming here but...sigh...my initial love of the Austin places are a far cry from what this Boulder location is. No longer can you get a great breakfast taco at an extremely reasonable place, early before work...they don't even serve breakfast during the week anymore...so forget having breakfast and lunch for an afternoon snack. The menu is still mostly there but for what they saved in construction costs by handcuffing the interior designer, they did not pass on in savings to the customers. I get it...it is expensive real estate and tastes change but I now have to answer eager out-of-town friends who want to see it and relive our past encounters at other locations with "you'll be disappointed"...it's like the design team from an airport and Cold Stone Creamery got together and tried to recreate someone else's menu. The throwback-chic of the red diamond tiles and re-purposed design elements of old gave been replaced by boring and sterile ones. There is absolutely no attention paid to the bar design and it has a very awkward sense of depth. Nothing looks handmade anymore...even those unique light sculptures look factory here. Torchy's used to present the feel that it was built, cooked, served and staffed by friends and locals...even if it wasn't (look at the other Colorado locations).and they served great dishes. Now...this place kinda feels like it's time to get some locals together and do what Torchy's once thrived on but can no longer deliver. It was haaaaard for me to give it less than three so I won't. Strongly...