Tacovore — Restaurant in Corvallis

I was in Corvallis visiting my son and he loves this place. We sat outside and the outdoor setting was nice. Our drink order was taken promptly and the Hibiscus Tea was tasty our water didn't have any ice and was room temp. We ordered Chips and Salsa as an appetizer because they aren't free. The chips were ok, fresh and looked like they make their own, but didnt have much flavor The salsa is NOT GOOD, the texture and consistency was good but had almost no flavor. It needed onion, garlic, salt, and some cilantro. Needless to say I would not recommend the chips and salsa, they were probably the worst I have ever had. They looked pretty busy and our tacos took about 15 or 20 minutes to arrive. Our food was brought by a nice young lady that wasn't our server. They were presented nicely and tasted good and used good quality ingredients. They were a little cold when they arrived. Our server never came back during our stay and he was quite busy attending to other tables and bringing dogs water (without changing gloves). We had finished our meal and were waiting for the bill for quite a while, my wife got cold and went to the car. Having never been there before I didnt know if we were supposed to bus our own table and pay inside so that was what I went to do. I went inside and asked for a take home container and went to pay. Only then did our server approach me and kind of rudely said that we had to go back out to the table and pay for our meal. The pay process was hands off due to Covid 19. I swiped my card and then he asked how much tip I would like to give. The server said there was no wrong answer. I only tipped 15% trying to give them the benefit of the doubt as they were obviously busy. His service was bad enough that he really deserved no tip but having worked in a restaurant before and customer service currently I decided to tip a little. I usually tip more and hope they split their tips with the other staff as I had better interactions with them. All in all it sounds like experiences are better than mine. Probably wont go back and would definitely not order the...

Before I say anything else, I’m excited to have Tacovore in Corvallis. Tacovino is great, and so is El Machin, but Tacovore kind of fills the space between them as far as environment goes. It’s nice-ish, and definitely not cheap, but is a really fun casual place to grab a quick lunch or dinner.

Unfortunately the tacos fall far under the bar set by both of the previously mentioned establishments.

I tried the pescado, carnitas, and carne asada tacos. I also had an order of the chips and guacamole and a house margarita. 4 tacos, chips and guacamole, and 1 margarita = $30 plus tip. Not outrageous, but not cheap either.

None of the tacos were great. All were dry and a little bland. The salsas that are available helped a little (tried the chipotle and the tomatillo), but didn’t do much to make up for the deficiencies. They weren’t bad, but just lacked so much flavor compared to more authentic tacos.

They’re like the English breakfast version of actual Mexican tacos.

The guacamole and margarita were okay. Not going to blow your mind, but I was happy with both of them.

The real draw that Tacovore has for me is the atmosphere and environment. It’s cool, it’s fun, and I enjoyed eating here. Even if the food is about as “ehhh” as you can get, I’ll still be back.

Discoslures:

1. I’ve never been to the Eugene Tacovore, so I cant make that comparison.

2. I’m from Texas, and used to eating Mexican food made by Mexicans.

3. I gave it three stars instead of two because I REALLY want this place to be just a...

our local chain, exclusive to Oregon. They have 3 locations; Eugene, Portland and Corvallis.

As the name suggests Tacos Galore... They do have other items as well. This place gets packed. Looks like its a popular spot with the locals. By the time we left there were no empty seats in the house. The venue is a good size and there is plenty of parking. There is also a decent outdoor dining area in the back. The staff is friendly and helpful, they may get overwhelmed a bit at times, they never brought out the requested extra chips, we had to get it ourselves.

#Tacos: ~ Seafood Taco - 4.5/5 This thing was stuffed with Scallops and Mango pieces. No complaints from me. Scallops were lightly fried...hence the description; "Tempura Bay Scallops" Loaded, Crunchy and Savory. good stuff.

~ Carnivore Taco (Bacon-Cheeseburger) 3.5/5 This sounded better on paper. Looks like it was missing some Beef...lol. They definitely skimped on the Beef on this one. I couldn't even taste the Bacon. It was OK. The Fried Pickled Cucumber stood out the most...lol

~ OLD E. - 3.5/5 I thought I ordered the "OLD E." Whatever I got didn't exactly match the description. Where is the Hard Shell?! Not to mention they skimped on the meat on this one. Flavor was decent tho...

I've been here before, and I thought the Tacos were a bit on on the pricey side. The prices have only gone up since then...like everywhere else. Food Inflation is ridiculous.

Overall 3.5 *...