Taco Shop

1288 Hornet Road
Rio Grande, NJ 08242
(609) 600-2961
Website

Cape May Brewing is a fantastic off-the-beach shore stop. A wide selection of good beer, the only thing missing was something to eat. Until Taco Shop opened next door, that is. In the same industrial area that the brewery operates, a number of small shops have taken root.

Taco Shop has a small menu, with standard burrito, bowl, quesadilla, taco options and then a choice of protein for each. When I saw they were hand making the tortillas for the tacos, I figured a sampler was in order.

Place an order, step next door to the brewery and have a beer while you wait, then pop back in, pick it up, and head back to the bar.

I got some tacos, a special shrimp tostada, and some street corn.

From left are the mole chicken, the carne asada, and the chorizo.

The "De Chorizo Casero" consists of housemade chorizo, salsa roja, and xni-pec (pronounced shneee pec) has Mayan roots, and refers to a wet dogs nose, a reference to the runny nose you will have from this spicy habanero hot sauce. While I didn't find this particularly hot, I did rather enjoy the chorizo. While I generally like my chorizo rendered down and grilled hard, this had lots of flavor and a great texture.

"De Carne Asada" taco was garnished with cherry tomato, avocado, pickled red onion, and creamy chimichurri. The brisket was nicely crisped, and well rendered, but it was lacking a strong punch of flavor. The topping worked well together, but I was looking for a deeper, more beefy experience (perhaps adding some stock or boullion to the braise mixture would work). Certainly it was still good, but the flavor was a bit subdued as opposed to what I expected.

Meanwhile, "De Pollo" was well shredded chicken, simply garnished with mole poblano. pickled red onion, and queso fresco. Again, everything was fresh, well thought out, and assembled with care, but it was lacked the depth of flavor I expect from mole. It had no distinct, characteristic flavor, such as nutty, chocolaty, etc.

The shrimp tostada was my favorite of the protein (a special), because of the chiptole mayo. That stuff was like crack. A crisp tostada flat topped with avocado, tender shrimp, queso, and crema. The stuff dreams are made of.

Finally the street corn. Chipotle mayo (fantastic), crema, queso, El Muerto salt (red flakes below, absolutely delicious, you can buy it here), lime, and cilantro. I loved this street corn. The spicy mayo and El Muerto made it stand out from the dozens of variations I have tried, and numerous versions made myself. They might bump the flavor up a bit on some of the offerings (though I imagine they are catering to a specific niche, but overall, this is a SOLID place to eat when quaffing some delicious Cape May Brewery beers.

Roy Pitz Barrel House

990 Spring Garden Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
(215) 995-6792
Website

I stopped by Roy Pitz for an after work drink with some friends. While I was not initially thrilled with the menu options, as they were rather run of the mill, I was pleasantly surprised by the execution.

The large interior space and proximity to Union Transfer makes it convenient for pre/post show drinks.

Roy Pitz started in Chambersburg, PA and then moved to Philly as an expansion. The focus is on barrel aged and sour beer, with other local spirits and wines available as well.

The Bavarian soft pretzel was quite a sleeper (I ordered a second after quickly polishing off the first), and the house mustard paired with Old Jail beer cheese sauce made for buttery carb-dipping bliss.

Golden brown, airy and with a generous salting, I enjoyed this much more than I had thought I might.

The Barrel House wings were another highlight, fried crispy and rendered down quite nicely, the Dutch Honey IPA Hot Sauce was a tasty play on traditional wing sauce, and the chunky blue cheese was a very welcome and chunky complement.

You can see the rendering of the skin, and the ample sauce. Very nice wings.

The Barrel House Burger boasts a blend of short rib and brisket burger with porter caramelized onions, pickles, sharp cheddar and Liquid Art sauce.

The burger was solid, with just enough bacon, cheese and grease.

I liked the thick pickles, and although past my requested medium rare, there was still pink in the middle.

The fries were fresh, crisp, and well seasoned.

To keep things light, I went with the Barleywine smoked brisket mac and cheese on the side. The roasted mushrooms were a nice touch. There was a significant amount of sauce on this mac, making for maximum cheesiness.

I liked all of the food options, and it was good, hearty beer drinking fare. I would certainly not hesitate to return.

Goldie

1526 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(267) 239-0777
Website

Goldie came on the scene as a vegan, Israeli(ish) falafel spot. I am partial to Mama's, but always open to try new fried balls of deliciousness. They offer a small menu, but so does Mama's. This spot is a collaboration by Micheal Solomonov and Steve Cook, and thus subject to much fanfare. There was one thing that was worth its weight in gold, while a few others took home the bronze.

Located next to my favorite Center City bar, Oscar's, parking is horrible. I suggest walking, riding a bike, or taking public transportation. It SERIOUSLY sucks parking around here. Oh, and there WILL be a line. There will also be a machine making falafel. A falafel robot.

There will also be pickled tomato little bits, which is always a plus, though it was no Mama's topping bar (noticing a trend?).

They have few menu items. Tahina milkshakes, falafel sandwiches, (shwarma) french fries and falafel salads. That happens to be the order of precedence when you get to the counter. The tahina shake is hands down one of the best things I have consumed this year. It is a dairyless milkshake, that tastes like a hundred peanut butter cup interiors blended with ice. Just amazing. Among the best frozen shakes I have ever tasted. The consistency is thick but the large format straw made (too) quick work of it. I kept saying, "holy shit, this is good".

I ordered a salad, because I wanted to try everything on the menu. Baby kale, romaine, carrot, cucumber, tomato, tehina, za’atar, sumac, parsley, dill, mint. It was lacking "zing", and was likely the healthiest thing I have ever eaten. The falafel themselves were good, but not exceptional. They lacked crunch.

All of the ingredients were fresh, but it needed pickled tomatoes (I added some) and bit of heat and salt. Also, at $9 it was the most expensive thing on the menu.

I did like the falafel mix, fresh and herbaceous.

The sandwich with harissa was better than the salad. Probably due to the exceptional pita from Dizengoff. The harissa sauce was great, as expected, and the chewy wrapper held the crisp veggies in well. Again, it was the lack of crunch to the falafel that I took issue with.

The shwarma fries were good, fresh, a zesty spice mix, and nice portion in the paper bag. They could have used a couple more dipping options than ketchup and HOT schug. All in all, this place is good. But the shake is five cheesesteaks, the pita and fries are three, and the salad is two. Weighted together, an overall three.

Gritty McDuff's Brew Pub

187 Lower Main Street
Freeport, ME 04032
(207) 865-4321
Website

Freeport Maine is known for their reasonably priced active outdoor-wear, and Gritty McDuff's (probably). This place is pretty well known in Maine, and so I generally make it a point to visit when I am in the Pine Tree State for some beers and decent bar food. Check out the bowl of Iggy Azalea below. Just kidding, it is actually lobster bisque, not clam chowder.

It was certainly creamy. And had lobster chunks. I would have loved some sherry swirled in, or some heat to it, but overall it was solid comfort food.

One of the more interesting things I tried was the barley battered fried chicken sandwich. The chicken was great, a nice hearty crunch, and the portion was huge. I would have liked the Swiss to be melted, however.

Honey mustard, bacon, lettuce, tomato. Good bar food.

A pair of lobster rolls (it IS Maine after all) were again pretty tasty, though obviously nothing gourmet about them. For about $14, it was a nice deal, and made for a tasty bar bite.

The lobster was fresh and well cooked, nothing rubbery here.

A bit of bib lettuce made this basically a salad.

I would certainly order all of the above again, but would love if they stepped it up JUST A BIT. Either way, when you have bought all of the plaid shirts and rubber boots you can carry, this place is the next stop for a pint and bite.

Jaco Taco

21 W State Street
Media, PA 19063
(484) 444-2839
Website

There is a Jaco Taco in West Chester I had passed by on weekend strolls a few times, but never had the want/need to try. Mainly because it is a taco and JUICE BAR. While I am no stranger to some authentic fresh juice with my tacos, this was the yuppie version. That being said, I decided to give the Media outpost a shot.

The interior is nice, with a bar or high tops to sit at and your food is complemented with some New Jersey hot sauce, Hank Sauce.

The "Baco" juice drink boasts fresh squeezed OJ, carrot and ginger. I was here for a late breakfast, so I figured I would give it a go. Surprisingly my body reacted perfectly okay to the healthiest thing I have consumed in 2017.

To round it out, I got some tacos. And a burrito. From the top and going clockwise, a "Froman" burrito, a "Baco" taco, a pulled pork street taco, and an adoba chicken taco.

The "Baco" taco was shockingly my favorite. Avocado, sweet onion, tomato, sweet corn, cotija cheese, tomatillo salsa and roasted poblano crema, this one had the flavor that I wanted. Which was "a lot". The sweet corn and roasted poblano crema had the sweet and savory, with some tomatillo salsa bringing just a touch of heat. Can't believe the meatless thing was my fave.

The adoba chicken (hiding under that cabbage) had quality chicken, but it was dry and somewhat bland. This was kind of rectified by the addition of hot sauce, but this should have brought some chipotle fire. Braised chicken, cabbage slaw, cotija cheese, tomatillo salsa and roasted poblano crema should not be mild in flavor.

I could have used some more cheese too. It was lost in the jazz cabbage.



On to the Tijuana street taco with pulled pork. The pork was nicely rendered, but had a serious lack of salt. I want my pork salty, crispy and decadent. They did fine on the crispy edges, but this was again lacking any "pop". I did appreciate the nod to street fare.

The "Froman" burrito features scrambled organic egg, chorizo, potatoes, caramelized onions and blended cheese. This was a pretty tasty breakfast burrito, with the addition of some salsa it was livened right up.

Don't mind the color, just add some red salsa and ask for a side of the poblano crema.

Overall, they had a decent thing going here. If they jacked up the spice beyond basic gringo, I might be a regular.