Restaurant Review: Taqueria Mi Mexico

While driving down the two-way stint of Armenia the other day, I noticed Taqueria Mi Mexico (4205 N. Armenia Ave, Tampa, FL 33607, 813-387-0091), a small Mexican eatery with a few accents of authenticity and plenty of room for improvement.

The things that this place does well it does very well. Outside, a small tent was set up with meat cooking. You could smell it as soon as you got out of the car, and the pungent smell of beef and pork filled the air.

The dining area is large enough to hold probably 30-40 people between both rooms, and the place seemed clean enough. The service was both humble and sweet, as you’d expect it to be.

On the table, two kinds of habanero sauce that I had never seen before reminded me that I was in an authentic place.

When I ordered my dinner, I noticed that they had glass bottle Coke. I hadn’t had a real Coke in a real glass bottle in a while, so I ordered one. It was exactly as it should be. That’s one of the real treats of eating in a place like this.

I decided to order both the Tamale and the Chili Relleno. I had eaten both a number of times and knew what I liked and didn’t like, so this place had an uphill battle if they wanted to compete. The Tamale came out very quickly, as they were waiting in a chaffing dish. The serving was small, a lot smaller than I’m used to at the Taco Bus and other place I’ve found in Tampa. The cornmeal was a bit dry, but the meat inside was very flavorful. I made the mistake of putting too much of the habanero sauce on it and it unintentionally drowned out the flavor. The more of it I ate, the dryer it became it was evident that this wasn’t the freshest tamale I had eaten this week.

The main course was very different than I expected. Firstly, the relleno was not sauce or smothered in cheese, as I am used to. It was fried to a crisp with rough edges. As I bit into it, a chunk of unmelted queso rolled out of the pepper. The flavor was there, but the texture was tough and unexpected. The middle of the relleno was light and creamy, but the outer edges being so tough made it difficult to eat.

I can pinpoint the exact reason the consistency was so tough. I saw the waitress go several times back and forth to a microwave oven. She did this for the rellenos, the shells and several other customer’s plates. I’m assuming that everything is made in batches in the morning and then is re-heated as needed. Seems unorthodox, but it did get the food out quickly if nothing else.

The rice and beans were standards and were as expected. The small lettuce and salsa side served with it was watery, but when mixed with the beans and rice made for a more acceptable meal.

What did impress me about this meal is the quantity of tortillas they give you. Normally, you get between 4 and 6 tortillas in a restaurant. They brought me a whole stack, probably 12-15 piping hot shells. They were good shells too, not too dry and not oily. If nothing else, their shells saved the rest of the meal.

I was at the restaurant after 7PM, so I think a lot of my experience came from the lack of freshness. I’m going to be going back at some point at lunch time to see if food quality improves. The good service, glass bottle coke and tortilla count convinced me this is worth another shot.

Mexican mexican foo, tacos