I made another trip to Taco Mama for the purpose of trying the remaining two beef/steak tacos that they offer. I had already tried the beef taco and thought their beef taco was closest to El Pollito Loco, at 7-Points, but I had not tried the remaining steak/beef offerings.
Today I ordered the Barbacoa and the Tenderloin Taco. The Barbacoa is said to be braised beef slow cooked for hours and that it taste like. To me it was like a Pot Roast Taco and was my favorite of the meat tacos that Taco Mama offers. The Tenderloin, or Steak, taco was strips of tenderloin steak cooked on their grill and although it was good I thought the braised beef was better.
Taco Mama is still experiencing a huge opening and most of the prime hours the line, to order, is stretching out the door to the street or wraps down the sidewalk. Part of this is due to limited seating inside and another part of the line is due to slow ordering process. Although they try and maintain two registers going to order at, at all times, the line is still quite long and takes a while to negotiate. Seating in the restaurant is table only, with some tables on their patio, and there are a very few two person tables, about 5 or 6 four person tables then several 6 person tables and 2 eight person tables (I believe).
I still (being a person that doesn't like hot spices) believe they have the best mild salsa of any place I have tried and their Cheese dip (Queso) is very good although is matched by Rosie's Cantina and Taco Garage.
For overall dining experience (restaurant experience) you can't beat Rosie's Cantina as you can get dessert and parking is very good. Parking at Taco Mama still may be an issue but once the opening crowd lessens I really thing that the street parking only may work alright for them. What is an ongoing disaster though is handicapped access but that is mostly due to unavailability of handicapped dedicated parking. Once in the restaurant though the handicapped shouldn't have any issues, it's just getting into the restaurant.
Having tried most of the Mexican Restaurants in the area my pick for the best would be between:
Rosie's Cantina, Taco Garage, and Casa Mexicana. That is not to say the others aren't any good because they are and in fact everyone has different taste and to another they might like Taco Mama better or Fiesta Mexicana. Of the Fiesta Mexicana (local) chain I like the Cloverdale Rd location best but the 7-Points location is a close 2nd. Casa Mexicana I like Mall Rd then Muscle Shoals of their locations. I am not a fan as much of LaHacienda or La Trojas ranking LaTrojas last due to their customer service or service in general (or lack of it). If La Trojas service was up to the quality of the food I've had there I would rank them quite higher.
Best Queso (Cheese Dip) 3 way tie Rosie's, Taco Garage, or Taco Mama
Best Chicken Taco - Taco Garage (hands down, no competition)
Best Steak Tacos - Rosie's Cantina
Best Beef Taco - Rosies Cantina
Best Desserts at a Mexicana themed Restaurant - Rosie's Cantina
Best value/price - Pretty much all of them because it depends on the way you order.
My personal picks : Either Rosie's Cantina or Taco Garage and if I tire of those then I'll choose Casa Mexicana.
