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Taco Cabana..No Enchiladas, WTF?

SHOOTER12

By SHOOTER12
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Fudge Nuggets

Fudge Nuggets 19189

Posted
Posted

I've sworn off the TC near me.  Three attempts during "these trying times" I've placed an online curbside pick-up order.  The app said it would be ready in about 10 minutes which is fine because that's about how long it takes to get there from my abode.  Average wait time after arriving was 20 - 30 minutes meaning 40 minutes from the time I placed my order.

angtft.jpg?w=371&h=206

Fuck 'em, I'm not going back.

 

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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We used to get this coupon for some insane deal on family fajitas.  It was enough to last my wife and I and our first born for 2 full meals plus a snack on top.  And it was less than $20 all-in with the coupon.  We were trying to turn the little one on to tex-mex, so it was a cheap and easy way to do it. 

I'd go down to the one at William Cannon and MoPac.  The drive-thru was always a shit-show, so I'd walk it in and order in person making sure they knew I needed corn tortillas and borracho/pinto beans.  I'd have a beer and meticulously pack up different salsas and jalepenos, etc.  Over the course of two years, that store went from needing 10 minutes to turn my order around to about 45 minutes.  Plus the quality dropped off immensely.  I know it's not gonna be Las Palomas good, but it went from above average to shit-tastic almost overnight. 

Right at beginning of Covid in February. I was having my car repaired off Manchaca and I walked over to the TC on Ben White there to wait for it early one day.  Ordered the off-menu breakfast mentioned above and was looking forward to it, had been probably 15 years since I had a TC breakfast.  So I go to wash my hands after getting my salsas and coffee, waiting on my plate, etc.  She tells me I need a code to get into the bathroom.  I look across the way and realize the tent city is probably the reason why.  I punch in the code and open the door and it was like six homeless guys had a contest who could shit spray their best Jackson Pollack impression of Carne Guisada sauce all over the restroom.  I gagged and lost my appetite completely and walked out and ate at Radio Coffee instead.  Have not been back to a TC since and I doubt I ever will again for the rest of my life.  Whole thing has just gone downhill in every way.  

But yeah, their chicken enchiladas did slam back in the day.  The one on MLK satiated me many a time in college.  

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BurdineBandit

BurdineBandit 815

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Posted
1 hour ago, Hate said:

I’m still pissed they stopped serving their carne guisada tacos. TC was the only place I’ve found near where I lived that had a decent carne guisada as crazy as that sounds.

Had no idea they stopped doing this. Up until a few years ago my go-to meal was a Chicken fajita Cabana Bowl with a carne guisada taco. I unfortunately saw them pour it out of a bag once (not sure what I expected, it was just weird to see), but it always had a good consistency and flavor, really in the South Texas style. For some reason I haven't gone in a couple years now, and not sure if I'll ever be back. Without carne guisada and/or enchiladas it's just a fast-food taco spot where the "premium" item would be fajita I guess. It seems like everything they do could be done twice as good by a Taco Palenque. 

 

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Pescado_Rojo

Pescado_Rojo 19413

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21 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

They’ve done everything possible to fuck up their brand over the last decade.

At least the beef fajitas and eggs plate is still an off menu item. It’s cured many a hangover.

Do they still do the Eggs Mexicana off menu? That was a go to for young hungover Rojo for a long time. Add a side of papas and two extra tortillas. 

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DFWTexEx

DFWTexEx 276

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The only thing really left that I like are the breakfast burritos.   The tortillas could use another minute or so of cooking and they are not knock outs, but they are good, including the barbacoa and chorizo.  And for a group, TC's early hours, the boxes and individually wrapped and labeled tacos, are really helpful.   Local taco shops can't match up for satisfactory product and ease of use, even in Oak Cliff.

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DalTxHornFan

DalTxHornFan 3097

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Posted
  38 minutes ago, C-Man said:

The one closest to me in Dallas (on Lemmon) has been hot garbage the last 3-4 times I've been. I don't even bother anymore.

Truth.  That location is no bueno.

  23 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Taco Cabana is no bueno.

Fify

Totally changing the "quote"?  You must be a journalist. 

 

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Nivek

Nivek 16922

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Posted

in the 90s they were the amazing in San Marcos.  Miami Subs was also fantastic in Broward County, FL. as well.   Amazing how seemingly great franchises implode.   The TC near GOOF (Houston) doesn't look like a place I would stop to take a piss, let alone eat. 

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elfenix

elfenix 34223

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:
  38 minutes ago, C-Man said:

The one closest to me in Dallas (on Lemmon) has been hot garbage the last 3-4 times I've been. I don't even bother anymore.

Truth.  That location is no bueno.

  23 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Taco Cabana is no bueno.

Fify

Totally changing the "quote"?  You must be a journalist. 

 

welcome to the internet!

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Pescado_Rojo

Pescado_Rojo 19413

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5 minutes ago, Nivek said:

in the 90s they were the amazing in San Marcos.  Miami Subs was also fantastic in Broward County, FL. as well.   Amazing how seemingly great franchises implode.   The TC near GOOF (Houston) doesn't look like a place I would stop to take a piss, let alone eat. 

I used to eat the shit out of the Miami Subs on campus. I'd alternate between the Gyro and the Philly. 

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JohnnyChorizo

JohnnyChorizo 20

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Posted

I picked up TC tonight for me and my two boys 8 and 5. Chicken flautas with the queso were excellent. Ordered a beef fajita burrito for myself and found out they aren't making burritos. What the fuck, no burritos? Ended up with the steak fajita quesadilla. It was good, but no burrito. Grabbed a bean and cheese as a last second panic order and it slammed. Oh yeah, bought 6 $2 margs for day drinking tomorrow. Each marg came with a little bottle of Margaritaville tequila taped to it. Threw them in the freezer for safe keeping. All in all, TC hit the spot tonight!

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Hate

Hate 20106

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Posted
If you live in San Antonio or Austin, there is no reason to even go to cabana.  Every cabana I know about I know there's an even better drive through taco place less than 5 minutes away.  

Born and raised San Antonion and I used to go to the original TC on San Pedro and Hildebrand after a night on St Mary’s Street. A lot of these drive through taco places you mention aren’t open at 2 or 3 in the morning so TC has to suffice.

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54207

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Posted
59 minutes ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

If you live in San Antonio or Austin, there is no reason to even go to cabana.  Every cabana I know about I know there's an even better drive through taco place less than 5 minutes away.  

Bingo.  There are literally 10-15 trailers or gas stations in San Marcos that sell better tacos than TC.

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NeverMarryAStripper

NeverMarryAStripper 21874

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Posted (edited)

I remember when Taco cabana got in that lawsuit with the other chain that copied them ( I can't remember the name of the other chain).  They won the lawsuit and the other chain got acquired by TC.  That was the beginning of the downhill slide in fast food Tex-Mex because the other chain was better.

 

I just looked it up.  It was Two Pesos.  Two Pesos started in Houston and was much better than TC.

Edited by NeverMarryAStripper
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Knoxtnhorn

Knoxtnhorn 5971

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TC was high-class for me when in college.  I was usually a .99 cent Whopper, 3.99 Gumby's pizza, or Gatti's All You Can Eat with some aluminum foil to sneak out extras.  But man, once a semester when I had all that "extra" cash, TC it was.  (Keep in mind, I didn't have a car so options were limited.)

All that being said, the decline of TC was extra severe for me because I left Texas in the late 90's and came back 3 years ago.  The first time I ate at TC, I was all, "WTF is going on?"  Having read this and other threads, I see it's been steadily declining for years.  Sad.

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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21469

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It may have been in decline for years, but the last 2-3 have been horrendous.  There is one by my office that I would stop by on a regular basis and get a bunch of breakfast tacos for everybody.  The last time I went there the bathroom looked like that scene from Desperado.  No mas for me.

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utee94

utee94 15805

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9 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

It may have been in decline for years, but the last 2-3 have been horrendous.  There is one by my office that I would stop by on a regular basis and get a bunch of breakfast tacos for everybody.  The last time I went there the bathroom looked like that scene from Desperado.  No mas for me.

Yeah, at the locations I've visited in NW Austin, it wasn't so much a slow decline over a decade, as a sharp fall off a cliff in the past 2-3 years.  

1 hour ago, yoladu said:

used to love getting bean and cheeses and loading the free pico into them, but the drive thru was always a crap shoot.

the chances of getting your exact order in the bag was pretty low. Sometimes you won, sometimes you got the shaft.

Ha!  Totally agree on the drive-thru.  Especially very late at night.  There are times when I'd order a couple of tacos and end up with 12.  Other times I'd order a few, and end up with... well... poop.

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Knoxtnhorn

Knoxtnhorn 5971

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Last time I went to TC was about a year ago in Eastern Dallas.

I ordered something straight off the board behind the register.  The girl said she didn't know what that was.  Thinking she was new or something, I pointed to the item on the board behind her.  Honest to God she replied, "I don't have a button on the register for that".  So, I order something else. 

I'm given a table tent with the #14 on it.  I sit down and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Keep in mind, I'm the only person in the dining area.  Finally, I go to the counter and see my meal just sitting there.  Nobody brought it out to my table.  Nobody called the number.  Nobody thought, "Hey.  There's one customer in the place, this tray of food must be his, perhaps I should say or ask."  

I RARELY complain about food, but this was the worst-tasting plate of nachos I've ever had.  

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45888

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I knew things were off when they decided that flour tortillas would be sold at the individual price if one didn't buy an integer multiple of a half dozen.  As in, 7 tortillas cost 7X the price of one tortilla.  Those were some good tortillas, though.

I've eaten a ton of their chicken fajitas and their bean and cheese nachos.  I eventually decided I was probably taking my life in my hands on the fajitas, and then (as others have said) the refried beans went to hell a couple of years ago.  No more TC for me.

 

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CooterBrown

CooterBrown 18003

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The decline started with getting rid of the grilled half chickens about 10 years ago. It was the best thing on the menu.

Then the fajitas and eggs plate and eggs Mexicana were removed.

Then the green salsa last year.

Now the enchiladas.

In another two years they’ll probably get rid of the house made tortillas.

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Hagbard Celine

Hagbard Celine 10850

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Over the past 10 years, 90% of drive-through orders have a taco filched, or the 2 extra tortillas filched.  It's how the staff builds their "to-go" free (lifted) meals at the end of the shift once the cameras are off.

When you call them on it, they get super-pissy.  Did the online comments form 5 times about 9 out of 10 orders not being filled completely when the bag is first handed over.

Ninety. Per. Cent.

NINE TIMES?

NINE TIMES.

/bueller

====

Went for the first time this year on Friday night.

Was flabbergasted at no enchiladas.

2 cheese, 1 beef, extra lettuce and tomatoes, add a crispy beef taco, and 4 bean & cheese soft tacos for breakfast.

Not.

In the late 80s the TC on Ben White was an unbelievable value.

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wood

wood 11225

Posted
Posted
On 9/2/2020 at 12:26 PM, CooterBrown said:

They’ve done everything possible to fuck up their brand over the last decade.

Seriously. Talk about killing the golden goose. FML. The worst things are the sheer unpredictability of the quality ... and the way too long drive-thru wait times due to understaffing.

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wood

wood 11225

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 9/4/2020 at 3:15 PM, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I remember when Taco cabana got in that lawsuit with the other chain that copied them ( I can't remember the name of the other chain).  They won the lawsuit and the other chain got acquired by TC.  That was the beginning of the downhill slide in fast food Tex-Mex because the other chain was better.

 

I just looked it up.  It was Two Pesos.  Two Pesos started in Houston and was much better than TC.

Didn't the same thing happen with Tacasita? They were an absolute carbon copy of Taco Cabana.

ETA: Nah. One brother broke away from the other brother and renamed his stores Tacasita. I remember they were always really, really good.

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wood

wood 11225

Posted
Posted
On 9/3/2020 at 5:14 PM, Viking said:

Rosa's Cafe replaced TC in my rotation years ago.

 

 

On 9/4/2020 at 12:59 AM, Wanker Bob said:

Rosas makes far better beef fajitas now. Not even close

Yep, and yep. Rosa's fajitas are quick, always very good, and a fantastic deal for the money. They heap on the food, have awesome, always-fresh pico, 3-4 kinds of salsa, jalapenos, cilantro, etc. The place is always immaculately clean, staff very friendly & helpful. You know, basically how every company should be run.

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PilotsError

PilotsError 2286

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Prior to covid I would stop at the cedar park TC at get a few shredded chicken soft tacos. They were delicious. I havent flown since March, obviously, until two weeks ago. First time I stopped there the chicken had a whiff of feces. Not a figure of speech, it tasted awful. Thought it was a one off. Stopped again last week, same thing. Absolutely terrible and like a pinch of feces was in it. I'm done. Don't know what is in their meat but something is bad.

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