TacoSon Authentic Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Temple Terrace

Please let me begin by saying: please DO NOT compare this restaurant to the Taco Bus. There are so many differences, I would not know where to start. How about with: THE FOOD, which is so delicious and plentiful (unlike the T.B., which may be plentiful, but tastes bloody awful- very like dog food smells), or with: THE SERVICE, which is also outstanding (not super busy and too-cool, like T.B.). The staff make every effort to assist you in choosing food to meet your requests and they are always polite and informative (even if they don't speak Spanish sometimes). The prices are very reasonable, the portions are plentiful, the salsa is so, so wonderful.....I want TacoSon right now! I just had dinner, but writing about how much I love this place is making me hungry again. For me, there is only one negative comment to make- sometimes the cuts of meat are not what I would prepare at home. While using fattier cuts increases flavor and texture of meat for certain dishes, I've become quite a Polly-Pissy-Pants with regard to "chewy bits." I honestly can't stomach them. It is a personal issue and most dishes at TacoSon are not offensive to me in this way, but once in a rare while, there will be a "chewy bit" and I will get put off by it. It is one of the reasons that I like Thai food so much, the poultry and meat portions are very "clean". That is, they are free of fat and gristly bits. This also creates problems with foods that are meant to roast or stew for long periods of time. You need the fat and "odd bits" to add flavor to the overall dish. TacoSon has flavor ALL DAY, though with that you might get the odd chewy bit. It isn't enough to keep me away. I would eat at this restaurant 5 days a...

SMALL PORTIONS SIZES. I ordered 2 chicken tacos with rice and refried beans on the side, 1 steak taco, 1 shredded beef taco, and rice, refried beans, and steak combo plate with a side of sour cream. The chicken flavor is not that great, so do not get anything chicken from here. Instead get the steak or shredded beef, they are much more flavorful. The rice and beans are extremely flavorful, I could eat those by themselves. But they really skimp on the portions of the rice and beans. I ordered a rice, refried beans, and steak combo plate to see if they’d skimp on the portions again, and they did and charged $10 for the whole plate. The amount of rice was less than a third of the plate and same for the refried beans. The amount of steak was acceptable. But to charge $10 for that much food is unacceptable. Even places like chipotle will give at least 3x the amount of rice and beans because those are cheap items that can fill you up with little cost to them, absolutely no excuse to skimp on those items. I won’t give a 1 star because the flavor on the food here (except the chicken) is actually really good and the ingredients they use are really good, especially the sour cream. They gave me this sour cream packet from “Glenview Farms.” This was the best sour cream I’ve ever tasted in my life. I’m used to brands like Daisy and Breakstone, but this sour cream tops it all. They also have their own hot sauce and their hot sauce is really good. Good food, but be aware of the portions. I’ve looked at other reviews of this place and it seems like some people who used to come here have noticed that they have been reducing portions....

Bottom Line on Top: Drive-Thru is a real winner!

The food here is good. It's solid, consistent and tasty. My only flavour complaint is that they might have a parrot in there; anytime someone asks if a dish needs anything, the parrot screeches, "More Cilantro!" Every dish we got was something of a cilantro bomb.

The standout was, as with many such places, the carne asada. I really enjoyed the pilbil, and the barbacoa was a solid flavour and perfect texture. The guac was delicious with a strong punch of citrus (probably lime, but they serve lemons with the tacos).

In the mixed-results category are the flautas (perfect technique with crispy, flavourful shell, but mealy and mushy chicken inside) and the queso dip (I expect more than a cup full of microwaved queso blanco). The chips are disappointing; in fact, all of the tortillas were pretty sad -- the flour were the best, but the corn and the hard-shell were simply sad.

Lastly, the price: If I'd gone in, sat down and had this meal, the price would have been largely in line with expectations. As a drive-thru with no real service, refills, or platter-type side-dishes, it was expensive. That said, where else could you even TRY to get respectable Mexican food at a drive-up window? Taco Hell? I'll pay extra any day compared to the bland, AmeriMex monstrosities that you normally expect from...