Lone Star Burger Bar — Restaurant in Portland

So my partner and I have been literal La Taq addicts since our first visit back in 2016. The vibe, the food, the drinks, the staff...all amazing. Back when Doug, our favorite bartender of all time, Ali, Sarah and some of the other gals who used to bartend there were all apart of the team. We were absolutely regulars. Then covid hit and everything closed, some places for good, La Taq being one of them. We would call Podnah's on occasion and check the status of when or if La Taq was ever going to open again. Then one day it finally did! We were absolutely thrilled and were in there pretty much immediately. Our first return was a little rocky but nothing absolutely terrible. The food was alright, it didn't feel as fresh or "loved" as it had been way back when and the drinks took an abnormal amount of time to make considering there were less than 4 tables in service but regardless we understood. Everyone had it rough especially the service industry and naturally we weren't going to let that deter us so on our second return when we had close to the same experience we were a bit more wary but again the issues weren't so terrible we'd never return. Last night we decided to take our family to La Taq as a third time's a charm type of thing and were hopeful that by now things would be a little better. While the service was, for the most part, pretty okay it does seem that La Taq has lost it's pizazz. We ordered the chips, guac and queso appetizer since they advertise it on the menu as like a bundle starter for cheaper then if you were to order everything separate. One of the bartenders let us know they were out of guac, which was totally fine. However we were still charged for it. It was a few dollars difference and it's not the money that irked us as much as it was the principle. Good luck finding anyone who'd be okay with paying for something they didn't receive. In fact they were out of quite a few of the items on the menu and our server hadn't even told us until we attempted to order most of them for dinner. Our drinks took quite awhile despite an almost empty restaurant and a few staff members were talking quite loudly about some customers they didn't particularly care for from previously in the night. They used language that was a bit more...colorful. We definitely could've done without that part of the experience. In total our tab was ~$170 and that is no small amount of change. At that price I expect much more than what we were given and we were all completely underwhelmed by the quality if not pretty much the entire experience. The lack of professionalism is almost laughable. I checked our receipt 3 times because I could not believe we had paid that much for such a disappointing experience. Sadly my partner and I will not be returning. I'm not typically one to write reviews but these experiences at La Taq have stuck with me for some time and it truly makes me sad. I hope La Taq can turn it around in the future. This place has so...

So, I know this place just opened, but since its the same owners as Podnah's I had very high hopes... probably too high.

When first walking in I was pleasantly surprised by the decor and ambiance. It has the southwestern vibe that I was looking for with the punched aluminum decorations hard wood tables. There is very minimal seating, but don't try to call ahead, because they don't have a phone yet.

There was a little bit of a wait when we got there, understandable, even exciting, because it means people are showing up in the first week and hopefully liking it. It was the 15 minute wait to be greeted after seating that initially put me off. Again, sure its their first week, I'll even let that one slide.

By the time the server stopped by we were ready to order our food and drinks both, so we did that. It then took 10 minutes to get our drinks. If there is one thing I can't stand, its leaving me thirsty when you can tell I'm already hungry. When I tried to order my nachos, no pinto beans sub black beans, my server said no. WHAT? If you don't make them, sure, if they nachos are already pre-assembled, sure, if you just have a bunch of the ingredients that you would use there and you just WON'T, booo. I took it upon myself to ask a different server later and he said that would be no problem, so I guess maybe the problem is the lack of experience of their staff, because anyone I've ever met in service knows to say yes as frequently as possible.

So, besides all these missteps, the food was okay. I ordered a Paloma and it tasted far too watered down compared to the house margarita that I tried second. The brisket was tender and delicious, but everything they made with it they covered in an enormous amount of sauce, maybe mole, more like red sauce, some unknown and over bearing sauce. They forgot about our queso, so we finished with the apps instead of starting with them.

I might go back and give them another chance because they were new, but the experience was not...

Sheesh, I’m so bummed. La Taq has been one of our favorite spots in PDX since they opened, and we’ve tried most if not all of the best taquerias in town. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a review, probably because I don’t think the PDX service industry in general really cares anymore, but here goes in hopes La Taq cares and wants to stay in business: Apps: Chips typically were the best in town, house made, warm, light & crispy, the right amount of grease, a reason to show up all on their own. Tonight they were cold, overcooked, under salted. Guac, avocado base tasted good and fresh but otherwise bland, needed salt and some heat from peppers/jalepeño/serrano, plus cilantro. Queso was good but not warm Salsa was tasty and good layers of spice Entrees/tacos: the brisket taco is usually my fave and one of the best in town. Tonight it was different, fat not rendered like the brisket didn’t spend enough time in the smoker - but somehow dried out and not moist either. In addition there was dry spice garnish that I didn’t recognize but was very bitter. Poblano taco was overcooked, no texture/snap left in the poblanos Al pastor was tragic, like stew, so soupy it broke through the tortilla. It definitely isn’t cooked on a trampo to give it those crispy edges, it’s likely braised but not for long enough. Drinks: Margs were good not great. The salt was caked on so thick around the rim that another bartending grabbed the glasses from our bartender and tapped to reduce the salt rim by at least half. I thought these used to be fresh squeezed, but maybe mistaken. Everything was pre-mixed this time and a little too sweet, not...