El Taco Tote Phoenix — Restaurant in Phoenix

HEY! Guys, sorry to brake it down to you BUT, The food at El Taco Tote IS NOT !!FRESHH!!!. I was there yesterday at about 8pm with my family, we had been there before and thought the food was great. So yesterday we order the TACO TOTE PACK (of barbacoa), as we were eating I noticed that the restaurant was packed and more people kept coming in since we sat near the front desk. So me being a restaurant owner asked my wife, how come there is so many people in here, and they got about the biggest line waiting, BUT THERE IS NO ONE COOKING????

Have in mind we sell FRESH FOOD at our restaurant REAL FRESH FOOD. so we know how hard it is to keep up with the orders, everyone is running all over the place to get the food out in time. But that dint seem to be the case here. One old lady was calmly opening cans at the back of the kitchen; there was nobody on the main grills, I HONESTLY did not see anybody cooking, but one guy Who seem to be prepping carne asada, and the lady making the “FRESH” tortillas. When we finished the TACO TOTE PACK we where still hungry so we order a second one, it took about 15 min to come out.

!!!!!!PLEASE READ THIS!!!!!——) When it came out after about 15 min it looked like it was stored in a fridge and REHEATED In the !!!!!!MICROWAVE!!!!!! Parts of the barbacoa (beef head) were hot but some parts were warm and some cold which was DISCUSTING and made me loose my appetite. So I took it to the lady standing in the front desk and told her that my food was cold with a disgusted face. She looked at me like it was normal and said she would make me a new one, and took it to the back.. GUYS 2 minutes later one of the guys came back with a “new” plate of BARBACOA, but check this out. -FIRST of all it took about 15 min to make and it came out cold. SECOND , when he comes with the new plate about 2 minutes after the complaint. The food was zeziling hot and steaming. and the grease was boiling!!!! What???? BUT I DIDN’T SEE ANYONE COOKING !!!!!!!! AND I haven’t yet seen with my years of restaurant experience a FLAT TOP, GRILL OR A STOVE make something Zezil, boil, steam like that in 2 MINUTES!!! —!!!! ONLY MICROWAVES DO THAT !!!! — And we knew that SO WE DID NOT EAT IT!!

Let me tell you what. Do you know how dangerous it is to eat undercooked meats????? MY WIFE IS PREGNANT!! You know how dangerous that is for her and the baby??? But they acted like it was normal and like it wasn’t their fault, AND REFUSED TO GIVE US A REFUND...

So this is what really goes on at EL TACO TOTE. Your getting MICROWAVED food ohh and REHEATED TORTILLAS, yes the tortillas are being made in front of you, BUT their not being served to you. They are only prepping them for the next day to be reheated then served. AND the only guy cooking, was PREPPING as well for the weekend..

EL TACO TOTE claims to be fresh, but there is NOTHING FRESH about them.

BE CAREFUL AND CHECK YOUR FOOD BEFORE...

I was little hesitant to try this place out at first given that there are thousands of hole in the wall Mexican food places in this neighborhood. But when I walked in I was pleasantly surprised at how clean and open the restaurant looked and felt. The menu was colorful and everything looked delicious. When we stepped up to the register we were greeted by a pleasant young man and this is where our trip took a turn in to the nightmare that I was sure we would encounter. Upon closer inspection of the friendly young man behind the counter, I noted that his clothes were dirty and his hair was greasy and unkempt. While he was unkempt and dirty, he was polite and obviously new at running the register. He asked the woman that was behind the counter with him, Kimberly, to assist him entering the orders. To which she sneered at him and said in a very rude tone that she didn't have any time to help him. After getting about halfway through our order the young man had to call Kimberly over for assistance, she then mumbled something at me to that I had to ask her to repeat. When I asked if I could get a 50/50 split portion on the meat of the burrito that I ordered she gave me a dark look, turned up her nose and told me flatly "No.". Shaking off her bad attitude we took a seat in the clean dining room that staff were busily cleaning and then I noticed the serious fly problem. And when I say serious, I mean there were more flies at our table alone then there were people in the entire building. My fiancé, who was facing the grill then mentioned to me that Kimberly, the same rude woman from the register, was cooking our food and while she was wearing gloves she wiped sweat away with her gloved hand. I pushed this to the back of my mind and waited patiently for our food to arrive. Only, we was met with more disappointment. The food that was given to us was nothing like what was shown on the menu, not even remotely close. Upon tasting it, we found the beans to be canned, the rice to be flavorless. And the tortilla soup? This was the biggest joke of the meal. When it was set down in front of us, we could see a layer of grease congealing on top of it, with lines (not a dollop, but actual lines) of sour cream in some type of lattice style pattern with half of an avocado that still had bits of skin on it. And though we ordered it with chicken, you couldn't prove by me that there was any in there. One taste was all that we needed to know that this was in fact just tomato past with water and grease from the trap under the grill. I find it ironic that your corporation has the audacity to call itself a "Real! Mexican Grill" when I could have easily gone to Taco Bell, gotten twice the food for half the money, (food made from ingredients that may also be from a can but actually had some flavor), service with a smile and not worry about fighting the flies to...

Above and beyond in both food and service. Currently on a path to self enlightenment and somehow chose this to be the first place I've ever (in 38 years!) to dine in alone and I'm sooo glad I ended up here! Came in with a craving for carne asada and ended up ordering chile relleno plate, then the aroma of grilled steak made me u-turn and order a sirloin taco(another 1st, I usually go for asada/bistek but the super friendly girl at the counter suggested I try this) and baked potato. The relleno was perfect, not gobs of cheese smothering the chile but just right as was the sauce on top. The rice was good as well. Then came the taco and potato, and wow the meat was seasoned perfectly and so tender overflowing the yummiest (I ended up ordering 2 to go!) freshest flour tortilla that was both soft and crisp! And the potato was soo good and I consider myself to be somewhat of connoisseur and this was perfect. Not dry and black bottom burned nor mushy it was great. The girl at the counter was nice, the bus boy was also very gracious eventhough I'm sure they were probably tired as it was late. And finally the most surprising plus was the fact that for as many people frequent the only Taco Tote that im aware of in PHX, the restroom was SPOTLESS!! It may not matter to some but if a restaurants bathroom is filthy it makes me wonder about the staffs cleanliness and that of the kitchen. I mean it was shocking how clean it was that's how clean I'm talking!! Awesomeness! Btw they close @11 Sun. through Thurs. and are open till 12am Fri. & Sat. Hope this helps. thanks TT...