Love & Hominy Tacos — Restaurant in Hood River

First and foremost, the employees and super kind and personable. The person at the cash register made an effort to have a fun conversation with us and I greatly appreciate that! However, my partner and I were unfortunately left very underwhelmed by every taco we tried. We are no stranger to eclectic tacos with world-wide flavors (in fact, fusion tacos are almost always amongst our favorites!). However, I just don't think the flavors are executed well in my opinion. First of all, the majority of the tacos are filled with white rice-- I could understand this adding to SOME flavor profiles, such as the Hawaiian, Thai, or Korean. However, we all know white rice is cheap compared to protein, so having this be the base of every taco flavor, especially those where white rice is inauthentic to the flavor profile (i.e. Tex Mex, Nashville, etc.) comes across as a way to save money on protein and make a profit without adding a benefit flavor-wise (especially charging $5.50/taco). I'm so sorry if this brutally honest, but we truly couldn't taste any difference between the chicken, pulled pork, ahi tuna, or shrimp (and honestly couldn't tell any protein was there) because the rice overpowered all other flavors! I was most disappointed by the Nashville taco-- I LOVEEE buffalo sauce and I'm not ashamed to admit it lol. But when we tried it, it tasted overwhelemingly of honey and I believe cinnamon on the outer shell? As mentioned, I am all for funky food creations, but I couldn't detect a buffalo flavor at all and just didn't think their flavors overall were balanced. I would be open to giving them another chance if they made some adjustments to their menu, either omitting the rice altogether or cooking the rice in a variety of ways that compliment each flavor, but as it stands right now, I would pass and unfortunately would...

A very cool place with a great vibe. This review is only related to ordering a drink to go, but it made such an impact with me that I had to post a review. There's a sign on the sidewalk outside the restaurant that says, hey, you can order an adult beverage to go and walk around the streets of Hood River with it. Sounded like fun. Clearly the sign says Margs and a couple of other options like a Frose were available. There's a self-serve kiosk just inside the door where you can place your to-go order, so I did that, paying $13 for a margarita and then adding in a 15% tip for a total of just under $15. But then out pops a receipt which requires you to stand in the normal line and show a copy of the receipt and ID to the cashier to get your drink. Fair enough, but what was the purpose of the self-service kiosk, since the drink doesn't get made until you show the receipt? I guess it's basically a pre-payment. Anyway, all good until I'm told that a regular margarita (with alcohol) to go can only accompany a food order. Hmmm...nowhere was that noted on the sidewalk sign or the self-service kiosk that I saw. What I COULD get to go was an alcohol-free marg, which didn't sound like any fun at all, or I could order food. I chose instead to get a frose (frozen rose) in a plastic bottle, that was totally unsatisfying especially since it was maybe 10 ounces and cost $15 with tip. The young lady at the counter was nice enough, and seemed to imply that the instructions were indeed confusing. But dang, what a bad experience. Standing in line we were saying that we were definitely coming back here to eat, but after my sad frose experience I can't in good faith return...

Updated review:

Hip vibe, friendly staff, fun menu, not every combo worked for us, but we had a good time.

We spent $30 + tip for 4 small tacos, chips, and 2 salsas which seemed a bit pricey especially when you add gratuity (they asked for a tip before any service was provided then gave us a look as if we'd lowballed them so my husband tipped more in cash).

They have a self serve water station, napkins and cutlery in a bin on each table, and the restroom was relatively clean. The art on the walls was retro.

I would prefer more meat over rice in my taco, but it did help balance out the tacos that were too salty for us (mainly the tex mex one). It was thoughtful to provide options of meat and taco styles.

The Hawaiian taco with pulled pork didn't work for me, but the seared ahi tuna did. The canned pinneapple on top also didn't do the taco justice. The Tex Mex taco with chicken or pulled pork were fine combo wise, but they were both too salty and the beans, corn, and soy bacon didn't really add anything for us. We loved the salsa and queso....