BarTaco

I love tacos! My favorite restaurant we went to on our last vacation to Charleston, was Taco Boy. I also love the idea of small plates so you can try a variety of things in one sitting without gorging yourself. Taco Boy serves their tacos by the piece in that "small plate" idea for that very reason. So when we saw this new restaurant going in at Reston Town Center called BarTaco, we discovered they had a similar concept on their menu and we knew we had to check it out.

BarTaco's opening couldn't have come at a better time. We opted out of a vacation this in an effort to save some money so we did a "stay-cation" instead. Having dinner at BarTaco during this stay-cation, was like a little piece of the beach here at home.

Even though we came for the tacos, we couldn't pass up the fresh-made guacamole to start the meal! It was creamy and spicy with a touch of lime. Instead of being served with traditional tortilla chips, they were large round fried tortillas that you could break off into any shape or size you wanted. A nice little different twist.

Our first line up of tacos went like this: duck, duck...goose! Haha, just kidding! At least about the goose part. Actually we both did get duck tacos, then I also got a curry shrimp and Superking got a pork belly. The duck was super tender and juicy and topped with fresh onions and cilantro. I think this one was my favorite. The curry shrimp had tomatoes and cilantro with a light curry sauce full of Indian spices. And the pork belly was topped with pickled red onions and cilantro.

For round two, we had sesame ribeye, portobello mushroom, and curry chicken. The ribeye taco had a sweet and zesty Asian flair. The portobello was light and earthy with a bit of queso fresco. And the curry chicken was similar to the shrimp and delicious! Every single taco was a bite of happiness!

And you can't have great tacos without amazing churros!! They were hot and crispy and smothered in cinnamon and sugar and served with a semi-sweet chocolate. The perfect ending for a vacation meal!

Taco Boy

This had to be one of my favorite meals in Charleston. It would hard just to pick one favorite because we did eat a lot of really good food! But I also really love tacos!

Taco Boy in Charleston is a little bit off the beaten path.  There is a second location in nearby Folly Beach as well.  Just as in most cities, it doesn't take too long outside of the downtown area before things start to get a little sketchy. But just make sure you have a reliable taxi (Green Taxi service was awesome by the way!!) and an empty tummy before you head out to Taco Boy.

They do offer other items but obviously tacos are their "thing".  They have 17 different kinds of tacos on their menu and you order them by piece. So you can order one of these, one of those, two of that one, whatever and however many you want.

Hubby ordered a Kimchi Beef taco and a Fried Chicken Taco.  The Kimchi beef taco had Mexican spice-marinated grilled flank steak, Korean BBQ sauce, kimchi, sesame seeds & cilantro. A little heat and lots of flavor!  The Fried Chicken taco had breaded chicken breast, lightly fried, with marinated carrots & red cabbage, jalapeño cilantro mayonnaise & chipotle bbq sauce. Also a little heat and some tasty Southern fried chicken with a Mexican twist.

Left: Kimchi Beef; Right: Fried Chicken

I had a Braised Beef taco and a Tempura Avocado taco.  The Braised beef had braised beef shoulder, topped with jicama radish slaw, toasted spiced pumpkin seeds & queso fresco cheese. Very tender beef and the slaw was fresh and light. The pumpkin seeds were what really caught my eye with this one. Who would think to add pumpkin seeds to a beef taco?! They actually added a really good nutty crunch to round out all the other flavors.

The Tempura Avocado taco was amazing! Again, very unique to fry an avocado slice in tempura batter. How does that even work?  I'm not sure but it was delicious!  The avocado was crisp on the outside and almost creamy on the inside. It was topped with a sweet Thai chili glaze and a citrusy slaw.

Left: Tempura Avocado; Right: Braised Beef

The decor of the restaurant was pretty neat too. Colorful lanterns everywhere, beautiful stained glass windows, and traditional Mexican art. Even the bathroom was decorated with old Mexican ads and comics!

Lastly for dessert!! Edgar's idea of dessert was another taco...Carne Asada.  Grilled flank steak marinated in Mexican spices and topped with green chile sauce and salsa cruda (which is kind of like a pico de gallo).  Simple but full of flavor!

I, on the other hand, had an actual dessert.  Chocolate Tres Leches Cake.  Now I'm normally a chocolate-peanut butter dessert kinda girl.  But I do love a good tres leches cake.  It sounds a little gross and weird to think of eating a cake thats cold made soggy with milk. But there's something about it that allows me to get past the texture and enjoy it! So imagine my surprise to see they had a chocolate version available!!  It was a huge piece and after a tummy full of tacos, there was no way I could finish the whole thing but I was certainly willing to give it a try!!

It actually was surprisingly light...both the whipped icing and the lovely cake!! (I still only was able to eat about half though unfortunately.) Chocolatey and creamy, every bite!

Pablo had his fare share of tacos too and gave Taco Boy 5 ants!!