Macho Tacos Taipei City

[sandman]

Tried to go today, but found that the metal door was half pulled down and a hand scrawled notice put up - "starting today, we're closed every Tuesday for training sorry."

Great. What a waste of time.

I've been. A couple of times. I'm not from KKKalifornia (although quite what that has to do with Mexican food I'm not sure -- I've heard that middle-class KKalifornians sometimes consider themselves to be some kind of Mexican food gourmands, but nobody I've ever known from yer actual Mexico would agree) but I worked as a chef in a Mexican kitchen for several years and I thought the tacos were quite OK. Not great, but then, they were UBER-CHEAP! So I give it a good thumbs up.

[the chief]

Tried to go today, but found that the metal door was half pulled down and a hand scrawled notice put up - "starting today, we're closed every Tuesday for training sorry."

Great. What a waste of time.

I've been. A couple of times. I'm not from KKKalifornia (although quite what that has to do with Mexican food I'm not sure -- I've heard that middle-class KKalifornians sometimes consider themselves to be some kind of Mexican food gourmands, but nobody I've ever known from yer actual Mexico would agree) but I worked as a chef in a Mexican kitchen for several years and I thought the tacos were quite OK. Not great, but then, they were UBER-CHEAP! So I give it a good thumbs up.

Yeah, I've had a couple of better-than-average feeds from there for a real great price, so I can't complain.



Plus I get a bit of a woody thinking about you-know-who being an owner...

[circleback]

I just tried a chicken burrito from Macho Tacos. To be honest, looking at the Mexican wrestler-themed marketing documents was more interesting than the taste of Macho Taco's chicken burrito. Pretty disappointing. The shredded chicken was bland and tasteless. What happened to flavorings? You know, cumin, chili, garlic, maybe a bit of lime, cilantro.. something! Also, I am definitely not a fan of rice IN the burrito. In my view this is a sneaky way to reduce costs. Refried beans all the way! Nevertheless, the rice appeared nicely colored like traditional Spanish rice. But like the chicken - bland and tasteless. After a my first few disappointing bites I decided to give it a good douse of the hot sauce that came with it. The sauce was hot enough and had a good color, but again, it suffered from the same symptoms described above - bland and tasteless. I have to say this is the worst $125 I've spent in a while. This item does not merit the name "burrito", but instead, a "California tortilla wrap sandwich" IMHO.

[tango42]

I love the Macho Taco theme and advertising campaign, it is somewhat world class and seems well thought out. It could be a winner and help them become a largely well known name or brand with maybe even some franchise opportunities. Kudos. The staff is also friendly and hospitable.

Unfortunately, sadly, the food doesn't match and doesn't have the flavor and freshness. And the hours don't even match some people's eating habits. But that doesn't really matter in Taiwan as low price, notoriety (have you heard ?), and location take precedence over quality of food.

But to add to my happiness, I have recently found 2+ other somewhat new good places for tacos and burritos. One of them has become extremely popular with everyone to which I have introduced. Will post that information separetely.

I can't believe I am talking so much about food and places to eat food... alas, the final sign that I have become Taiwanese...

[elektronisk]

But to add to my happiness, I have recently found 2+ other somewhat new good places for tacos and burritos. One of them has become extremely popular with everyone to which I have introduced. Will post that information separetely.

Post or I'm gonna nuke you.

[jonstains]

Macho Tacos is going downhill fast. Meat is dry, cheese on the nachos unmelted and it clumps, no more cholula, and even the horchata is awful. I actually had to pour it out and sneak some soda.

[ironlady]

They've opened up one near Shi-Da now (they are in soft opening starting Wednesday until their "grand opening") so everything is 10% off until then.

The place was totally empty for the most part, but it's on Pucheng St. so a bit off the Shi-Da beaten path in a way. I ate there twice -- once for lunch, once for dinner. I'm simultaneously pleased and underwhelmed. I felt everything was really good, flavor-wise, particularly the rice with cilantro and lime and the carne asada. But I wanted to burst out laughing when I got the soft taco I ordered on my first visit. If you're going to call a place "Macho Taco" you don't want to be handing out "Teeny Tacos". Really, the diameter of the tortilla (which was lying flat open on the plate) was such that I could span it with my thumb and middle finger stretched out. What's that, like 5-6 inches? Not impressive IMO. Slight problem with the soda machine which was fixed within minutes.

Chips were meh. Staff were very nice, spoke unusually good English (the kind where you don't get irritated by it) and after I'd eaten, I liked the flavors of everything well enough to think that what they gave me was probably the portion size I ought to be having anyway. I did end up feeling like I'd had enough to eat.

[ell_tee]

That looks almost worth a trip to TPE. Ohh. You're killing me!

Before you hop on the HSR for a visit, take a deep breath and say, "Wait a minute. Mexican food. In Taiwan." Then think about it. Repeat if necessary.

I gotta second this. Honestly, it's average. I haven't eaten everything on the menu but the burritos I had were just okay. My buddy Richard makes stuff at home that kicks the ass off what I've had here.

[chrisone]

Hey all, I am an owner over at Macho Tacos and would like to thank everyone for taking the time to critique our shop. Of course it's hard to hear negative feedback, but in most cases it is taken under consideration. We have a tremendous number of people who love our food and support our desire to bring something new to Taiwan. Due to us being a start-up and not a chain restaurant sometimes things can get messed up... its just part of tying something new. Since its impossible for me or one of my partners to always be present as each dish goes out to the customers sometimes something will get missed. The problem lies in not learning from mistakes or taking into consideration our customers options and experiences. so, again, thank you for your feedback.

I taste most items most days and the flavors are mostly where we want them, however at times after being in the steam table for a bit some flavors are not as great as they are right off the grill. we cook our meats fresh daily after an overnight marinade. same for the rice.

Burritos are by nature a very personal item. people from all over the place have all grown up with different types of burritos with different fillings and its impossible to please everyone. you can always add and subtract to get as close to your palate as possible. and ADD "the works", if u want extra hot sauce tell them to put it inside, no rice double beans no problem.

horchata! this post really upset me cause nothing has changed with the horchata at all. Maybe something got missed when making that batch and the flavor was off. sorry about that. in the future let the counter know and they will gladly refund u and treat u to a soda. Please PM me and i will ensure you have one on us in the future. a shot of tequila too!

that goes for anyone who feels they have not received the quality of meal they expected. I would be happy if you allowed us another try at our expense.

Bare in mind we are a small taco shop just trying to bring something we loved from back home to Taiwan.

please continue the conversation. all feedback is taken under consideration. much appreciated!

[monokuro]

I went to the Zhongxiao branch on Friday and was also disappointed with the burrito.

I ordered a "Macho Pork" - which, whilst being very big, had hardly any meat and was just padded with rice. I paid the 30NT extra for "The Works", but again, that provided hardly anything.

One thing I would like to suggest (if possible) is on the burrito, not to make them in sections - on mine for example, the meat was all down the right hand side, rice in the middle, and the cheese and bits on the left. It made it impossible to eat a bit of everything at once - much better if it was all mixed together.