Talkin' Tacos: A review of my Almost Dinner--More Yelp reviews from yours truly.

Talkin’ Tacos: A review of my Almost Dinner—More Yelp reviews from yours truly.

Cascabel got a new location!!!

Yes, finally! After waiting months for their new location to move literally 2 doors south, to the corner of 80th st and 2nd ave their new location is finally open. Tonight on my lunch break I decided to head over and check out what the new location was like for myself.

My lunch breaks come sporadically on the night shift. Either they’re early, around 8pm or they’re late, sometime closer to 10. Tonight, it came at 9:30. I mentioned to a few co-workers that I was going to try the “new Cascabel” and a few ooh’d and ahh’d, one even said, “Meh, it’s OK.” But I’m a taco lover and working on the UES my options for tacos are very limited. Let me say this. Tacos are my absolute favorite all-time food, ever. If I were on death row, I’d choose Tacos for my last meal. I even go so far in my love for Tacos that I capitalize the T in Tacos. They mean that much to me. I’ve had tacos all over the eastern seaboard. Delicious tacos in Naples, Fl from straight off the boat immigrant workers (the best I’ve ever had) to tacos in Greenville, Sc, made by some hick missing teeth (still not bad). So, anyway, I’m a Taco connoisseur. Can I curse in these reviews? Because I wanted to type, “I’m a F’ing Taco Connoisseur.” But didn’t know if I could F- bomb…

But yeah, it’s 9:30 and I sprint across 2nd ave and walk south. I notice even from a distance that Cascabel is crowded. Of course it is, it’s a new restaurant. Even though it’s basically the same restaurant it’s just moved down two store fronts. Now, I’ll note that a block away, one street north is Blockheads. I hate Blockheads. It’s crampt, full of children, crowded in an uncomfortable way. Cascabel feels more adult. It has a classy vibe to it which Blockheads (3 dollar Margs aside doesn’t have).

I walk in, it’s 9:31 and I pick up a menus at the bar. A beautiful—I mean beautiful—woman behind the bar greets me. I can’t help but smile. I look down at the menus and see the item I want, Tacos. To the right of the word “Tacos” are three numbers and a decimal point. those numbers, left to right are, 8, decimal point, 5 and zero.

Two Tacos. Eight Dollars and Fifty Cents. I literally recoiled in horror. Almost ten dollars for two tacos after tax. My mind reeled. How can they charge four dollars and a quarter for one taco? Is this legal? Should I call 3-1-1? I placed my menus back where I found it and expeditiously went across the street to H & H Midtown Bagel East (where I’m the Mayor on Foursquare) and bought myself a turkey sandwich on a plain bagel. I’ll be damned, damned to hell before I pay almost ten dollars for two tacos. That is outrageous and borderline immoral.Upon returning to work, a co-worker commented on my story with, “This is the *Upper East Side*, Mike…” and left my name hanging in the air like a axe waiting to fall upon a man’s neck.

$8.50 plus tax for two tacos is simply ludicrous. Irregardless of location a food as simple as tacos should never be priced over say, 2.50 EACH. 3 dollars MAX, if you’re in Williamsburg at Union Pool’s taco truck. I will not be returning to Cascabel anytime, ever, unless the management there decides to wise up and offers me a free meal to compensate my vast disappointment. Also, I’d go back if that bartender working tonight agreed to let me take her out. These are very simple requests/demands and I don’t see why they shouldn’t be met. I will not recommend the New Cascabel to any of my friends, or co-workers. And you better believe that I’m tweeting and blogging up a storm about how bummed that a few jerks on the UES decided to take a traditional mexican food and turn it on it’s ear and charge an arm and a leg for it.

Shame on you, Cascabel, shame.

Link to Yelp review!

So in an interesting turn of events the owner or manager of Cascabel Taqueria sent me a message on Yelp, stating that I was unfair to her business to give her a one star rating even though I had not ate the food. This made me think for a while. Think about eating the food at Cascabel, think about if I indeed was unfair to her business (how far my actual reach is e.g. do I have the Juice to actually hurt her business based on my review).

But after considering all of this—and I appreciate the fact that she took the time to contact me— I’ll note that she 1. didn’t offer me a free 8.50$ plate of tacos, like I requested NOR 2. she didn’t indicate if that bartender was interested in me. My contention is that I’m sure she’s making a killer percentage on on the sale of tacos and never addressed in her message, and probably won’t in the future the fact that these are indeed overpriced.

To her my review isn’t about the principle of the review, my truly vast disappointment that night I really wanted tacos but the price deterred me. To her it’s about the image of a 1 star rating and how that effects her restaurant’s image.

Additionally I have half a mind to actually buy the damn tacos, eat them and then write another negative review because there’s no way I’d ever pay 8.50$ (pre-tax, did I mention that, that’s PRE tax) for tacos twice. It’s just incomprehensible and I wonder how many servings they sell per day.

I don’t know. I have a lot to think about.

heymikewaskom