Calaveras Food Truck — Restaurant in Tulsa

2017 was the last time I dined at Calaveras Mexican Grill. (Review posted on Yelp by Spike S.) During the peak of the pandemic, Calaveras closed. Today, I found the restaurant was operating as I remembered. Calaveras is a great, clean, comfortable restaurant. Paintings of brightly decorated skulls from the centuries old, Mexican tradition, brighten the interior. Minimal service. Order at the counter, food delivered to your table. Chips a little stale, because they don’t keep them heated. The serve yourself salsa/condiment bar, still located along the west wall of the restaurant. It is a satisfying assortment of capsaicin levels salsa blends, colors and flavors. Essential sliced peppers, radishes and limes are provided to satisfy to most anyone’s Mexican food condiment desires. It required several trips, but I tried them all. I had an excellent meal. My choice was the Vampiro Tacos. I do recommend these. Check the menu for an inventory of the components and the meat options available. I had carnitas on mine. Perfectly cooked shredded seasoned pork. Moist, tender, pork with satisfying crispy strands on the outside from being fried. The corn tortillas had blackened charred patches of aroma, that blended perfectly with the pork, fresh pico de gallo and guacamole! They exceeded my expectations! Welcome Back Calaveras! Spike's Nonessential information……. For years I have been wandering around Eastern Oklahoma trying every new, and established hole in the wall Mexican restaurant I could ferret out. I have experienced the full spectrum of the cuisine that falls within the broad definition Mexican food. Some unpalatable, some delectable and some as mediocre as a frozen Swanson’s Enchilada dinner. I have read the testimonial analyses in hundreds of reviews that declaim a restaurant to be “authentic” Mexican, Tex-Mex or the despicable Cali-Mex. Many of the weak assessments based solely on the color of the cheese used. Something I have learned in meeting and talking with the proprietors of the small mom and pop restaurants, is that “authentic” Mexican food is very diverse. The variations can be representative of the many regions of Mexico and heavily influenced by family recipes passed down through the generations. I have been in restaurants that are so filthy stray cats refuse to eat the scraps tossed out the back door by the kitchen staff. I am certain that staying current on my hepatitis vaccinations has prevented lengthy hospital stays. I have found very few restaurants to be pristine. The exceptions exist. Those that are, make my favorite lists and get appropriate accolades. In my opinion, street tacos are the baloney sandwiches of Mexican food. Very little culinary skills are required to prepare and assemble, using two or three simple ingredients that anyone can duplicate. But it is a current fad. And, never eat anything from a food truck. The health department probably doesn’t know it exists and likely has never visited. For more look for Spike S. on Yelp and...

Very expensive disappointment. Pretty much everything was extremely salty, and that’s saying lots because I love salt. The salsa for the chips tasted rancid. If they change out their salsas for fresh made daily, they wouldn’t have this issue. Also, the prices are sky high…for these prices, I expect a good quality meal at a sit down service restaurant. Sadly, the food just is not good quality Mexican food. Lesson learned. Do not know how they have such high ratings.

Per the owner’s request, this is what we ordered: tamale plate with rice and beans (salt level ok there, actually) Chicken Quesadilla (extremely salty, I told my daughter she did not have to finish it. I made her take it with us because I personally hadn’t tried it yet and thought I’d be able to finish it.), LA Burrito (husband also complained of the salt levels and just said it wasn’t very tasty.) and a queso cup (this one was not itself salty, but the chips were very much so and it couldn’t really be enjoyed due to the salt level). The rancid salsa we had was the tomato one that is labeled for...

Ok, let me start with TikTok telling us about Birria Ramen, so we HAD to try it when next in Tulsa! We drove in for our daughter's pom competition and naturally had to eat something. This spot is right off of historic Rt 66, so as a car nut, the environment is already perfect! Then we were greeted immediately and offered a seat and a menu. The Mrs ordered Birria ramen, the daughter ordered red tacos (birria), my little cousin/ the daughter's beautician had enchiladas on flour tortillas, and I had hands down the best Torta I've ever eaten! To make it even better, you can choose spicy level from 1-4. I went level 3, which was right on for my spicy tolerance (somewhere around habenero heat). As if that's not enough you may pick your salsa from the salsa bar to enjoy with your chips(one paper boat of chips per entre ordered) I had the pineapple mango habenero salsa which was amazing, with a perfect balance of sweet heat! I am looking forward to our next trip to T-town so that I can explore the...