Las Cazuelitas Restaurant

Hi guys and gals. Yes, the lack of monsoon madness has created more madness. Its time for a business meeting and I need a taco post. This trip was quick and necessary. I met my business appointment at Las Cazuelitas on Ft. Lowell just west of Dodge. I tend to think that most good Mexican food stops geographically at 22nd Street to the south but I went here because it was convenient and I had not visited a Las Cazeulitas restaurant in years. This is their third location located at 3535 E Ft. Lowell (784-0405). It was still hot and there was a small lunch crowd. Everyone there was a friendly crowd and very welcoming. Service was quick with the usual chips and salsa and beverage. The salsa was a little liquidy but had some spark. I ordered tacos a la carte so to try as many differnet tacos as possible. One ground beef taco, one machaca taco, and one fish taco. My appointment friend who I was trying to recruit to be a taco blogger ordered two fish tacos. We both admitted that we were each the best taco makers ourselves. She specialized in fish tacos and I specialize in machaca tacos. Once they arrived they arrived quite hot and they were quite good. The fish taco was a little bland and a little soft in texture. We both admitted we like a little crunch. My ground beef taco might be the best basic ground beef taco I have had so far. Here they excelled. The meat was cooked inside the soft tortilla until it came out crunchy. It was old fashioned and of course plainly unhealthy but good to the palate. Once again, mums the word with my friends at Bluecross. The machaca taco was cooked the same way and was a little overdone in my opinion. It was a good plate overall and receives a middle of the pack ranking. One thing that we have never experienced at a Mexican food restaurant during the Taco Trail 2009 is the over supply of well dressed people coming to our table to make sure we enjoyed our lunch and how was the service. By the third time by yet a third different person, my lunch appointment accused me of calling ahead to identify myself to get better service. No. I did not. These guys were generally interested in how we perceived our visit and the food. These were not professional mystery hosts. We thanked them. Service was great. While not quite as good as those joints on the southside, this place offers a reasonable alternative to driving 20 minutes south.