Torchy's Tacos — Restaurant in Highland Village

I love Torchy's, so it is hard to not give this dining experience a stellar review. But as for this one day, I am struggling to give it a 3. It was right after 12pm, and there was a long line of patrons ahead of me.

The cashier who took my order had no business serving customers. She had no personality at all. She didn't look at me, even when I tried to be friendly about how busy they were. Which to be clear, I was not upset. It was a Friday at 12. It's totally understandable. She lacked basic customer service skills, no other way to describe it.

Food came out piping hot and quick despite how busy the restaurant was. The food runners improved my opinion of the experience with the cashier. One person in our party received the wrong tortilla on her taco - flour instead of corn - and the runner immediately apologied and had a new dish made for her.

I ordered the Friday special, trashy trailer park, chips and queso and a drink. The spice sauce added to both were so hot it was not able to be eaten by me. I am pretty sensitive to strong heat flavors, so that was a disappointment. I've ordered both queso and the trailer park in other locations, but without the hot sauce added, so that could have been a mistake on my part not knowing this location kicks up the heat.

The restaurant itself is in a brand new development area. Great location! It is very loud in there, as are many Torchy's locations. The ice machine was out of ice entirely. Will this experience keep me from dining at future Torchy's restaurants? No, but I doubt I'll return to...

I gave it another shot, after being disappointed by my previous visit sometime last year. What an expensive disappointment. I give it two stars and not one because they serve good sodas. Here are the highlights:

Ordered two tacos and a drink, total came to $12something. Then a tip. I have no problems tipping on service, but also, it's already a $12something lunch. Added a tip for service not yet known, finished up and headed to get my drink I was excited for, since most carry the big nasty soda products. Maine Cola: all carbonation, no syrup. Disgusting waste of product. Poured out the first one, went to the second dispenser, which also were all carbonation and no syrup. Another waste, and deeper disappointment. Settled on the Doppleganger, which was okay at best. Got outside and cleaned off my table, and two cold tacos were brought out. The meat wasn't even a hint of warm, it was literally cold, like it was just gotten straight out of the fridge. So much for marinated and GRILLED. The lady was very nice about it and brought out a fresh basket, though that time, the actual basket was hot and the tacos and meat were lukewarm. I ate it, frustrated in my decision to go there and not Chipotle, as it was double the cost for less food and far less superior quality. And took twice as long.

The real humor of it all, is the big bold claim across the top of the menus: damn good tacos.

No. Nah. Nope. That's a no from me, dawg.

Go...

Cook staff NOT wearing masks. I am normally a fan of Torchy’s. Tonight we went to get some taco’s and eat on the patio (being very careful with COVID). I went to use the bathroom and the kitchen doors opened to display that no one in the kitchen was wearing a mask. None of the line cooks had masks on. Not a single one. Neither did the managers talking in the back corner, the waiters who were grabbing the food (they had pulled their masks down) or anyone else in the kitchen area. I called my husband and asked him to come inside for a second to show him and we decided to ask for our money back and just go home. Didn’t seem they were showing any extra care or precautions to keep the community safe which is very disappointing.

All of the staff in view of customers (checkout, delivering food and bar) had masks on. But no one who was handling said food has one on. The girl who took our order and gave the refund was very sweet! Appreciate her help.

Don’t suggest going to Torchy’s at all. Especially now. There are other restaurants in the area that are taking COVID much more seriously. For example, Gloria’s staff all have masks on and I saw them all washing their hands every time they went in and out of the kitchen. I suggest supporting one of these establishments instead.

Torchy’s needs to re-evaluate their...