Taco and Mexican Food Reviews

Review: Polvo's - Austin, TX

South 1st street in the ATX: Taco Row, The Isle of Mex, whatever you wanna call it, you could slip on an enchilada and fall into basket of tacos one step off the sidewalk. This is where the taco obsession started for me, my taco homeland. I used to work in an office at Monroe and South 1st.. come lunch time every day, we would choose the next restaurant in line.. El Mercado, Jovita's, Little Mexico, La Reyna, La Mexicana Bakery, Aranada's #5, and of course, Polvo's...

Polvo's is about a "South Austin" as you can get.. Its not overly-trendy by any means.. it is real. The decor is funky and colorful.. the patio is always crowded and the wait staff is laid back and helpful. Its where the real Austinites go to eat. Its a great place to have some drinks, you'll probably run in to an old friend and see a semi-famous Austinite or two there as well. The food is not tex-mex, rather, it is mostly authentic central mexican dishes, they are known for their fish tacos. Oh and by the way - Polvo is spanish for Octopus!

The salsa bar is there right when you walk inside, a round ice trough with 4 or 5 fresh salsas there for the tasting. Grab a bowl and see how many varieties you can carry back to your table without having an accident. My favorite is the dark red roaste ancho salsa.. its the perfect amount of tangy-spicy-ness. don't forget to try the free escebeche... pickled carrots and jalapenos...tasty.

On this particular day, I was in the mood to sample some new stuff. I decided to order 3 different tacos..one beef fajita, a chicken mole, and a pastor taco with rice and beans to complete the meal. My runnin pardner, Cabeza, ordered the fish encholadas with the cartuja pipien sauce, which is a rich almond creme sauce that I have sampled in the past.. Its an amazing sauce that you have to try to understand.

Food came. My tacos looked beautiful, large, and steaming hot. The homemade corn tortillas were everything they should be, dense and strong enough to survive a large amount of fillings without cracking or getting too soggy. they are damn near perfect in that they dont distract you from the taco fillings. I went for the chicken mole taco. It was tasty, with shredded chicken and a generous amount of mole sauce drizzled on top. I keep trying mole in this town and I am always led back to Curra's.. if you dig mole - its my hands down favorite. Polvo's mole was respectable, but not worthy of much praise from Chappy.

The highlight of my taco triage was most certainly the beef fajita.. it was amazing.. the beef was marinated and cooked to perfection.. tender and exploding with flavor.. the grilled pablano peppers mixed in were a pleasant counterpart to the beef. I was having a taste bud oragasm eating this taco. I was not expecting this at all.. most the time the beef fajita meat is a standard afterthought, but here, and in the late afternoon no less, the beef fajita was the shining light of taco beauty that made Chappy want to die and ascend into the the heavens while eating on the last bite. I'm not kidding.

Cabeza's fish enchiladas where a very respectable runner up to the beef fajita taco. FYI - a past highlight of the menu has been the exotic tacos - where you can get the aforementioned Almond Creme Sauce on an open face tortilla with your choice of meat.. its cheap and huge - 1 taco is enough for a meal. All in all, a great Polvo's experience. Another reason why I love this town. There are endless opportunities for fearless taco explorers to roam the streets in search of mexi-perfection. On this day, I succeeded.

Polvo's Mexican Restaurant 2004 S 1st St (Cross Street: W Johanna Street) Austin, TX 78704 View Map (512) 441-5446

The Score: Food: 9 (quality across the board) Salsa: 8 (great salsas - good variety) Tortillas: 8(perfect corn, standard flour) Price: 8 (cheap meal) Service: 7 (sometimes slow, but always friendly)

total: 80%

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