I love me some Taco John's. Â Is it the best Mexican food? Â Not even close. Â Is is the best Mexi-Style fast food? Â Probably not. Â However, it was one of my favorite places to grab a quick bite in Bozeman, Montana, back in the day. Â As such, I seem to have an irrational attachment to their food. Â Sure, my favorite sandwich, the Original "Sierra Chicken" sandwich (the one with a whole boneless chicken breast) is long gone. Â The strip version that replaced it was sad and disappointing. Â But, I can still get original crunchy tacos, complete with that "not quite meat, not quite paste", filling that some of us love. Â Also, the Potato Ole's (that is piping hot and slightly spiced tater tots to those of you not familiar with TJ's) are just short of addictive. Â Finally, the green super hot sauce (made from pureed whole fire-roasted jalapenos) is so painfully full of capsaicin, that the release of endorphins (happy chemicals) should almost be illegal. Â No other fast food chain that I am aware of offers a sauce quite this nice.
So, why 4 stars for this location? Â It looked new and clean. Â And compared to other locations (I am talking to you, the dirty, fly-ridden TJ's/Steak Escape near 58th and I-25) this is somewhat of a rarity near Denver. The staff were friendly and well-groomed. Â The food was as good as it ever gets for Taco John's, which was just fine with me.