Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, June 2, 2009
Chow Are You Someone Who Eats at Taco Del Mar?
Posted by David Schmader on Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 1:41 PM
If so, have you noticed something weird about the sauce?
You're not alone. Last week my guy Jake came home after tasting the weird new sauce and wrote a letter to TDM overlords. Here's the response (all exclamation points by training manager Shelby K. Sakoda herself):
Hi Jake,We received your feedback that was left on our website recently and wanted to thank you for your comments!
We did recently make some changes to the sauces (as you noticed), and what we are doing is making them from scratch ingredients in-house. I do apologize that it wasn’t up to par with your last meal, and just so you are aware we have made some adjustments recently from what you most likely tasted in Ballard. Our intentions were not to have a “tomato saucy” salsa, but a more “habanero flavored” salsa.
I’m glad that you are a long-time loyal customer of Taco Del Mar, and am glad that we have satisfied your hunger and taste after all these years!
If you have any questions or just want to drop some feedback, please do not hesitate to contact me!
Thanks and have a great week!
Shelby K Sakoda
Franchise Business / Training Manager
TDM Support Team, TDMFC
"I'm not going back until Shelby Sakoda emails to say they've worked out the kinks," vows Jake.
3
I'd rather have variations in the salsa than batch-made, less fresh, shipped across the country salsa. If you want to get the same shitty food every time you go then go to Taco Bell or something.
4
When I want to get shitty food I go to Taco del Mar. The only edible thing there is the fish tacos. What kind of place can't even make good rice & beans?!
6
I had this experience for the first time there less than an hour ago:
"would you like chipotle sauce or sour cream?"
-"sure, both"
pulls out weird orangey tube and douses the burrito'
-"uh, which one is that?"
"oh, that's both"
"would you like chipotle sauce or sour cream?"
-"sure, both"
pulls out weird orangey tube and douses the burrito'
-"uh, which one is that?"
"oh, that's both"
10
I had a friend who worked at a Taco del Mar for a while and told me (a) that there were cockroaches in the food, (b) that one of the other employees liked to shoot up in the bathroom, and (c) that any time I wanted to stop by and visit they would give me a free taco.
12
If only these crap shacks would spend more money on ingredients and labor and less on advertising I might someday eat there again. ¡Hasta!
13
@7
Every time I eat at Taco del Mar I throw up all morning the next day. And I have a tough stomach. Happened to a buddy of mine too.
Every time I eat at Taco del Mar I throw up all morning the next day. And I have a tough stomach. Happened to a buddy of mine too.
14
I have never had any problem with the food at Taco Del Mar, and I will go there for a burrito when the mood strikes (not often). But I have yet to try their new salsa.
15
Their rice tastes funny. Maybe that's supposed to be more authentic or something, but I don't like it. I've eaten there once; I do not intend to return.
17
Taco Del Mar is awesome good for cheap, basic food. I'm pretty sure you people are just not used to tasting food without lard or corn syrup in it.
I mean, the beans aren't right?! They have one ingredient: BEANS. And they're fresh and well cooked! Black or pinto! Wow. Compare them to Taco Rancho or whatever, whose beans also have one ingredient: oil-soaked lard.
I mean, the beans aren't right?! They have one ingredient: BEANS. And they're fresh and well cooked! Black or pinto! Wow. Compare them to Taco Rancho or whatever, whose beans also have one ingredient: oil-soaked lard.
18
The Pioneer Square TDM makes good tacos and beans (the rice is hit and miss). Most of the same fellas have been working there for years. The manager is a thin wirey bearded guy. He takes pride in his work and the food (he'll tell me if there's a bad batch of food...I guess the tourists get that).
My grandmother owned a mexican restaurant in Colorado, so I know a thing or two about tacos and beans. TDM is more than adequate.
Anyway, local business, even if it is a franchise, is still local. If you get to know the people, you'll generally get good service and good food, in some cases, as good as what you get from independents. Believe it or not, independents try to cut costs and sometimes have cleanliness issues too. It's the nature of running a business.
Actually, in terms of "local" franchises, I'd give the nod to the Quiznos across from Elliot Bay bookstore. The owner is a young UW grad and most of the employees have been there quite a while. The bonus is that his employees appear to be local and not from Mexico. Not that the nationality matters, but as a general rule, immigrants are more likely to be exploited than locals.
My grandmother owned a mexican restaurant in Colorado, so I know a thing or two about tacos and beans. TDM is more than adequate.
Anyway, local business, even if it is a franchise, is still local. If you get to know the people, you'll generally get good service and good food, in some cases, as good as what you get from independents. Believe it or not, independents try to cut costs and sometimes have cleanliness issues too. It's the nature of running a business.
Actually, in terms of "local" franchises, I'd give the nod to the Quiznos across from Elliot Bay bookstore. The owner is a young UW grad and most of the employees have been there quite a while. The bonus is that his employees appear to be local and not from Mexico. Not that the nationality matters, but as a general rule, immigrants are more likely to be exploited than locals.
19
I love TDM but haven't been in a while - now I'm pissed that they've missed with something great.
21
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention how my entire diet is lard and corn syrup. That's totally why I've had great rice and beans at plenty of really good Mexican restaurants. Sorry, I should have raised that as a salient point.
22
I giggle at the fact that Jake takes it upon himself to contact the Del Mar authorities directly, but I'm not surprised.
23
This sounds like they might have started serving REAL salsa, which means my homesick Texan ass is going to try it out soon. Thanks for the heads-up; until someone opens a place that serves real-deal queso and legit breakfast tacos, I will continue dealing with it by making snide comments on Slog whenever possible.
24
Leek, crappy "authentic" Mexican restaurants use TONS of lard and corn syrup -- more than crappy "authentic" American restaurants. That's why Mexico just surpassed America as the most obese country in the world in the past couple of years, and why factory food-related diseases like swine flu come from there.
If you can't recognize the basic ingredients in your basic foods, your comments on food quality are equivalent to a 5-year old saying "me like lunchables!"
If you can't recognize the basic ingredients in your basic foods, your comments on food quality are equivalent to a 5-year old saying "me like lunchables!"
26
All you TdM haters are weird.. Their burritos are delicious. Plus, I loved the new salsa when I had it a couple of weeks ago.
27
Lizzie: You're making a ton of assumptions about me and anyone else who has the taste buds necessary to detect TDM's suckiness. I've made my own Mexican-style beans from scratch, adding neither lard nor corn syrup, and I've bought vegetarian canned beans from places like Whole Foods and PCC that were acres better than the crap they serve at Taco del Mar.
I was on your side when you were up in arms about foie gras, but your all-or-nothing arguing style really serves you poorly.
I was on your side when you were up in arms about foie gras, but your all-or-nothing arguing style really serves you poorly.
30
I was going to write that Guaymos had changed their pico, and it wasn't as good but then I saw these stupid comments in here.
You people are so full of shit - figuratively and apparently literally too. None of you got sick or had diahrea from eating at Del Mar, just grow up.
You people are so full of shit - figuratively and apparently literally too. None of you got sick or had diahrea from eating at Del Mar, just grow up.
31
TDM is hardly good food, but they're about par in the realm of locally-owned-food-best-suited-to-the-corporate-lunch-crowd. The tortillas are stale, the rice and beans are mediocre, and pretty much everything about it is uninspired, which is immediately apparent if you go to a taco truck. But a more habanero-y and less tomato-y salsa can only be delish, no?
Frankly, I doubt they soak their lard in oil, but if they did it would only be more delicious. And given that I work with people from rural Mexico who are skinny and malnourished as fuck, I need to see some data on how Mexico is fatter than us. Last I checked, the UK was runner up and Mexico wasn't even in the top 10. Also, lard doesn't make you fat--lifestyle makes you fat. I don't think the French have an obesity epidemic.
Finally, I've never even had foie-gras, but now I kind of want to force feed geese for the hell of it, because the anti-foie-gras crowd are more often than not raging douchefucks. I'm predisposed to be on their side, and even I want to smack them. Them and the people in charge of the sea kitten campaign.
Frankly, I doubt they soak their lard in oil, but if they did it would only be more delicious. And given that I work with people from rural Mexico who are skinny and malnourished as fuck, I need to see some data on how Mexico is fatter than us. Last I checked, the UK was runner up and Mexico wasn't even in the top 10. Also, lard doesn't make you fat--lifestyle makes you fat. I don't think the French have an obesity epidemic.
Finally, I've never even had foie-gras, but now I kind of want to force feed geese for the hell of it, because the anti-foie-gras crowd are more often than not raging douchefucks. I'm predisposed to be on their side, and even I want to smack them. Them and the people in charge of the sea kitten campaign.
32
Lizzie: You don't appear to understand the ways of the internet, where a reasonable-sounding apology is never the right answer. (Thanks!)
P.S.: The pico at La Carta de Oaxaca is on occasion the best thing in the solar system.
P.S.: The pico at La Carta de Oaxaca is on occasion the best thing in the solar system.
34
OMFG - get thee all to the salsa bar at El Rinconsito in Burien (or any of the Taqureia Guaymas outlets, for that matter) before you extol the virtues of any sauce Taco Del Mar has ever used - it's been bland and weird since they first opened. Now, I will readily grant that TDM is a cut above Taco Bell - but only just.
And just fan the fires of this particular culinary flame war, I think Taco Time's salsa actually isn't too bad for white people Mexican food....
And just fan the fires of this particular culinary flame war, I think Taco Time's salsa actually isn't too bad for white people Mexican food....
35
I know I'm like a year late on this but I am so happy about Taco Del Mar's new salsas!! I don't like chipotle so I stay away from the medium but the tomatillo and the habanero are really good!! The hot salsa with a pork quesadilla and some jalapenos = YUM. I'm so glad they've changed! Mad kudos.
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