TacoVino — Restaurant in Corvallis

My wife and I have been going to Taco Vino for years. We love their DYI Guac, great atmosphere, and great drinks. I wanted to post about our most recent experience here. I want to preface this that most of our other experiences were good, this one was not.

My wife took me for my birthday and I ordered the curry chicken taco, among other things. Halfway through my taco I felt a sharp puncture into the back of my mouth, almost at my throat. I pulled a very sharp chicken leg bone out, and my mouth bled as I went to the restroom. A staff came by and I told them that I almost swallowed a sharp chicken bone and would like to send it back. They asked me if I would like to finish my taco and I responded, no. They then asked me if I wanted another and again I said no. They took the plate and said, "that's never fun."

Our server dropped our check off and didn't say anything. As they was walking away I got their attention and asked if we could get some sort of compensation because of the situation. They responded with, oh the chicken taco was taken off of your tab. When it was time to tip the bill, we received our first apology about the chicken bone. We paid the bill, tipped, and left.

I'm left feeling quite a bit disappointed about the whole situation. I still have a sore in the back of my mouth, and I could have been really hurt if I swallowed that. I know that these things happen on occasion. I just don't feel the service was what was needed for that situation. We probably won't be going back...

Top tier food at a budget price. The tacos are innovative recipes — they must be preparing this food on site.

The curry chicken has a few pieces of candied ginger in it to brighten it up. The chicken was moist with the perfect amount of curry to make it moist while not being too drippy to eat. The curry is the yellow English style, not Thai or traditional Indian.

One of their specials yesterday was blackened cod with crispy potatoes. The potatoes were small shoestring potato chips sprinkled on top. The sauce on the fried fish was flavorful and applied with just the right amount to moisten the fish while not making it drippy.

Carnitas tacos had tender meat with delicious guacamole sauce on top.

Yesterday was one of the first days of spring in Corvallis and Taco Vino had 6-8 tables outside under a canopy. It was a pleasant inviting space. Instead of sitting there we took our tacos across the street to the riverfront park where they had half a dozen benches and a couple picnic tables.

The person who seated people also took our to-go order and money. He was extremely busy but polite and helpful. He made multitasking look easy.

I wish I had taken a picture of the mural of a woman on the side of the building. It is gorgeous. If I saw it in a gallery I’d want to buy it to hang at home, but it would be too pricey I’m sure. I haven’t looked, but I’m guessing some other Google reviewer has posted a picture of it.

Next time we are in Corvallis, I will definitely be back...

I had been here twice and originally liked the food pretty well. Despite the name, the wine selection is average at best, but that was okay. One experience I had was odd, where I was served a taste of muscat that tasted exactly like a gris, and the owner, who was a bit curt, insisted it was just a special type of muscat. Being experienced with wine, but not a complete expert, I just played it safe, and ordered a table red instead. The next time I went there for my birthday and we ordered the guacamole with chips as a starter, but the corn chips were so overdone they were even a bit brownish in color, and you could smell that they were overcooked. Some of the chips were even sticking together in stacks. Two of my friends had much experience in restaurants, and both said they were way overdone. One of my friends and I wanted to get different chips. We told the very friendly server, who got the owner, and he said that the chips were fine. At our insistence that the chips were overdone, he checked with the cook (the other owner), who said there was nothing wrong with the chips. He insisted that the place was in no way Mexican cuisine, or related to it, as an argument for having overdone chips. He offered to refund the chips, but how do you eat a bunch of guacamole without chips? He was very rude to my best friend (who is Mexican), and I decided to leave. I will not go there again. The severity at which he treated my best friend was inexcusable for any business owner....