Elias Tacos

The two times I've gone to Elias Tacos will be the first of many. These visits have also been immeditely proceded by  myself and a coworker teaching at least four hours of heath classes taught in our second language at the nearby, gigantic, and extremely well organized Sawyer Elementary School. I recommend the elementary school for the same reason that I give Elias five stars: there's a lot going on, you don't have to settle for just one thing, and you're definitely going to like whatever you decide.

To be real, both times I've gone there, I've gotten tacos de pollo- lots of meat, big pieces, nicely marinaded. They give tomatoes and lettuce as the default for pollo, which I'm ok with. I've also had tacos de lomo and picadillo- not as good, kind of gristley, but no lack of flavor there- and the onion and cilantro that came with them was fresh and not overwhelming. The tortillas are properly doubled up, and there's enough meat to divide amongst the tortillas so that one may leave with more tacos than you ordered- I ordered three, and left with four. Rice is nicely greasy and well seasoned, beans are nicely un-greasy and bland.

You've heard about the free soup that come to you in a little cup as soon as you sit down, but I need to emphasize the healing power of this soup. After teaching handwashing to 174 squirmy kindergartners, I'm pretty deep into my own hypochondria, and the schmaltz floating on top of this soup does more to calm me down than any guarentee on a squirt bottle of hand sanitizer. Two types of noodles, both cooked to gultenous comfort, the carrots and celery having given thier all to the broth. My companera goes crazy for the chips with crema and salsa, and we both got excited about trying a pickled Brussles sprout we found in our bowl of pickles today, but I'll remember the steam from that soup long after those kids I just taught have died from MRSA.

Some really good, some really bad.

Been here many times, service is usually good depending on the waitress (most are really nice but one of them is kinda rude, If you go I hope you don't get her, because if you do you will know, LOL). As soon as you sit, they bring salsas, chips and the most delicious cream I ever had. ( I could literally come here just for the cream) and chicken soup that is really good and fresh.

To the dishes now: Huge menu,  AVOID breakfast, I have tried them a couple of times and they are horrible, just horrible. They are the typical Mexican breakfast with eggs, (ala Mexican, sunny side up, scrambled, albanil) bland rice and beans.

I have had some really good dishes here as well.  Their Carne a al Tampiquena is amazing, the best I've ever had. They grill the meat to your taste and with a cheese enchilada on top, truly delicious.
I have also had their combo dishes and they are good. 3 out of six choices, taco, enchilada, tostada with rice and beans.
Seafood is decent here, nothing to brag about.

Usual drink menu of a Mexican restaurant, you know the deal, bottled Mexican drinks, horchata and jamaica water.

Elias tacos good, yes. Great no.

We sat down and got our menus and a few minutes later we got our chips, 2 salsas, pickled veggies, crema and 2 bowls of chicken noodle soup.

Chicken noodle soup was fresh and tasty. Definitely homemade stuff.
The green salsa had like a alcohol taste to it. Red one was better.

Large Horchata - If you like more of a cinnamon flavor to this drink then you will like theirs.

Taco Dinner - I opted for 1 steak, 1 al pastor and 1 lengua. The steak was nice and flavorful. I had half of a lengua and it was tender and flavorful. I nibbled on a little al pastor and thought it was a bit dry. Rice was good. Hmm...I actually wasn't too crazy about the tortillas they used.

Chicken Fajita - My guy said he thought it was a bit salty. I had a piece and it was a little salty.

Overall, I can see potential. Think I would like to try a carne asada next time. There also was a bit of a language barrier. I was trying to order a steak burrito for my brother to go and the waitress didn't understand me at all. Also, she didn't understand when I asked for a box. Ended up they made the steak burrito for there and I think it was the owner lady and I told her it was to go and I needed a box and she took care of everything.