I love Mexican-style tacos, particularly tacos al pastor. Tacos al pastor use pork marinated with pineapples, chilis, and other spices. Sometimes the meat is put on a big skewer like kebab or gyros. Not many tacquerias around here do it this way, which I am fine with as this method seems to dry the meat too much. I have already been to many tacquerias around town but never shared these places with anyone but my friends. So I'd like to share some of these (mostly my favorites) with you all!
The Place
Los Ocampo is a small, local chain of restaraunts, and specifically Tacqueria Los Ocampo is their faster-food/casual/takeout style restaurant brand. I visited their location on Lake Street in Minneapolis tonight for some tacos! Here's my review.
The dining room is really nice as far as casual Mexican restaurants go. There is ample and varied seating, from booths to 4-person tables to bar seating against the window. Each table is clean and has a napkin dispenser which is really handy for certain Mexican food. Other restaurants in the area put a napkin dispenser on the wall or make you ask the cashier for some, c'mon! The bathroom is nice but it could use some towels instead of the hot air dryer. Sometimes it takes a while to get your food order here but tonight, with moderate business, it was quick.
An awesome thing about Los Ocampo is that someone brings you your food to your table after announcing your number (brush up on Spanish numbers though or you might miss it). Not many fast-casual Mexican places do that. They are open really late every day, until 1 AM Sunday-Thursday and 4 AM on Friday and Saturday (!), which was good for me because my options were limited when I visited, most places being closed. The menu is diverse and there are some meats you don't find everywhere like buche (pork stomach). I usually stick to tacos al pastor though. :)
The inside is well-lit and clean, and the menu is awesome.
Erika rang me up and she's super friendly
The Tacos
Three tacos al pastor, pictured as it was served to me
As served
Most of the time tacos al pastor have this reddish crust on them from the marinade and grilling. The makes them even more appetizing. Here the crust is very delicious, sweet, and somewhat tangy. It's like eating candy meat. The tacos were served nice and hot right off the grill, with doubled corn tortillas, also warm from the grill. On top are cilantro and onion, a combination that makes tacos even better. To the side are two piles of lime wedges and sliced radishes. The taco feast was served on a styrofoam plate with a paper liner.
They also bring two cups of salsa, one verde and one roja. The green one is a thicker jalapeño salsa and brings the taco up a notch in heat and several notches in flavor. The red salsa tastes ok, not as good as the jalapeño one, and it's a little runny, so I gave it a try tonight but did not like it as much.
Chowing down
I ate my first taco without any salsa, lime juice, or radish slice. Just by itself, the al pastor meat is delicious. The marinade uses pineapple but you might not know it if you tasted the meat. It just has a wonderful savory and sweet flavor. The texture of the meat is a tiny bit crunchy on the outside from the grill, but still moist and soft on the inside which I really like. The onions and cilantro add a little crunch and the great synergistic flavor too. The corn tortillas seemed fresh and had that delicious masa taste.
After taco #1 I squeezed a lime wedge on the other two, and put the jalapeño salsa in a line on the next. These additions only make the flavor better, and the spice is nice too! I also tried a radish slice in one bite but it doesn't really add anything to the taco for me so I left the radishes off to the side. For the third taco I tried only the red salsa, but after two bites it needed more, so I combined more of the green with it. The combo was different but I like the jalapeño alone.
Conclusion
I finished my tacos, satisfied. Los Ocampo makes them right and they taste excellent. Value is something I think about when I consider tacos (I've been reviewing them in my head for a while), and at $2.75 plus tax each, these aren't the cheapest. But you get a decent amount of tasty meat and a nice clean dining room along with it. Overall it's a nice place to get a taco or three.
4 ½ Pineapple Piggies out of 5
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