13 Tacos and Taps — Restaurant in Raleigh

My wife and I went for dinner late on a Saturday evening. We were looking at reviews of places on line and I saw a photo of the enchiladas with homemade mole. The photo only hinted at the how good it was. We knew we would arrive 15 min before closing but that mole picture just danced in our heads. We we were welcomed and seated and warned that the kitchen was closing soon. We quickly looked at the menu and ordered. Fresh guacamole? Of course. Fresh hot spicy queso? You bet. The room was pretty empty of people but was very nicely decorated with custom art, and a bar for drinking , eating and watching. Plenty of outdoor seating in addition to the dozen tables inside. The food was promptly served and was delicious. Such attention to detail. Mole sauce was deep and dark and rich. The enchiladas were stuffed with freshly prepared chicken that was full of flavor and juicy, not dried out. The guacamole was chunk full of avacado and full of fresh ingredients. The shrimp and grits tacos ( yes that’s right) we’re unique, fresh and flavorful. Lots of spices and the creaminess of the grits really complimented the overload of perfectly cooked shrimp. The uniqueness of all that in a street taco is what excited me about it. The slight crunchy texture and flavor of the tortilla just complimented the grits and allowed every morsel to find its way into my mouth instead of stuck to a bowl. While we were finishing the chef came out and greeted us and thanked us for coming. We were afraid we may not be served because we were so late but instead we felt welcomed and treated well and then thanked for our business. The Chef talked with us a bit about his street corn on the cob dish that I thought was so good. It is a grilled cob of corn that is coated in a white coating. I bit in and was surprised that it was sour cream. It was deliciuous. It was coated with Mexican cheese before being smeared in this white creaminess that the chef said has sour cream, agave and a few other things in it. The sweetness of the corn, the tanginess of the cheese and sour cream was so good and unique together but did not hide that subtle smokey flavor of the grilled corn. The prices were moderately above average, and the service was great. All of this expected at 5 star establishments. Lots of outdoor seating. Only negative was that...

When Chubby’s Tacos closed down in this same location we were almost devastated. A few months later we noticed 13 Tacos & Taps would be moving in so needless to say we were stoked. There are a few things at 13 Tacos & taps that we like such as interesting taco offerings, the bar and fresh ingredients. Things we didn’t like include a somewhat limited menu, high price, food comes as is (no modifications) & a loud environment. To elaborate, dinner tacos come as 3-taco entrees and at $14-15 ea. That’s 5 bucks per taco not counting side chips or rice. Also, the tortillas were smaller than expected (4-inch I'm guessing) so the portions were not as big as the price made me believe. One of us in our party did not want raw onions due to heartburn concerns and were told that the chef refuses to accommodate these requests because he thinks it would take away from the overall taste (even has it printed on the menu corner). Although the onions were scraped off by us, I found it odd that asking for no onions was detrimental to flavor while our waitress asked us if we wanted hot sauce for the tacos. Dumping on hot sauce is OK and must not detract from overall taste I suppose. Since we had 3 tacos each and all ordered something different, we shared. Overall the tacos were tasty, however we all thought the portions were small and rice was absolutely flavorless. The filet taco was soft and cooked nicely and the Baja was good. Honestly, nothing spectacular and nothing we haven’t tasted before. The restaurant was only about ½ occupied but sounded so loud. Lastly, and it is a minor quibble, table service feels unnecessary and wouldn’t hurt to be replaced by counter service. Waiting to be seated and having to wait for wait staff feels sluggish, especially with a limited menu that cannot be modified. Counter service could be quicker and cheaper! Also, 2 dinner taco entrees and drinks is approaching $40 dollars before factoring in the tip. I might go back to try the Korean tacos, but do not see myself as returning often. It only made me miss...

My experience while at this restaurant was fair. I appreciate small privately owned businesses and prefer them but I will say as of late it has been quite difficult to continue to patron. I don't mind spending money when it makes sense however I don't like being nickled and dimed for everything. I had a taste for a burrito and they said they can turn any taco into a burrito. I'm pescatarian. I ordered the shrimp burrito but it would have literally had nothing in it but lettuce Oaxaca cheese and pico. They allowed me to put my side of rice in the burrito but otherwise no substitutions were allowed to jazz it up. If you can turn anything into a burrito then make it one and put the fillings as one should have. Rice and beans at minimum. I payed extra for avocado, they gave two slices on top of the burrito instead of inside and no salsas were offered or given. It's a Mexican restaurant. I asked for sour cream or crema and for a tiny little plastic cup they wanted to charge a dollar. The shrimp were undercooked. I looked at pictures prior to ordering and the shrimp seemed to be cooked a bit more with a little char on the outside like grilled but that wasn't the case for me so I ended up having to pull them out and just ate a rice and cheese burrito lol. I will give some positives that the guacamole and queso were better and were used that to jazz up the burrito but overall it wasn't worth the drive and time. The amount of shrimp, if cooked, was good as well that you will get some with every bite. In my opinion not offering salsas or crema at a Mexican restaurant is weird but again owning your own business you make the rules and as customers we either choose to continue patronizing or go else where. With some improvements it would be a spot to come and grab a quick meal. All in all I paid 40 dollars for a burrito that I barely ate lol...and tip for take out is a whole other discussion...