Review: Macho Taco. Way south, way good!

In an effort to explore more of the local, unchained melodies of food joints in deep South Austin, I ran across a tiny, hole-in-the-wall place called "Macho Taco" that, to me, signaled it was going to either be the best mexican food place in town, or one that would only end in tears and many, many flushes. Thankfully, I had heard it was the former, and finding an opportunity to go sample their flavor, I did just that. Located right near the end of Manchaca Rd, Macho Taco is nestled in a small shopping strip with a Gatti's Pizza. Chances are you'll see the Gatti's well before the Macho Taco sign. But don't let the small sign, and single door fool you. While small, the place is spacious inside (thanks in part to not having tables and chairs everywhere). The walls are decorated in some mexican memorabilia, paraphernalia, and bits of artwork, lending itself to that hole-in-the-wall'ness that we in Austin love so much.

The menu consisted of standard mexi/tex-mex fair, with various tacos (both hard, and the ever tasty puffy type!), burritos, nachos, etc. I'll say it straight away. The prices are very, very reasonable. You'll see why if you scroll down to the pictures of the food portions. Anyway, I ordered a chicken burrito (with a side of refried beans and potatoes) and a water for $6.75. This is fairly comparable to the price of, say, Chipotle, or Freebirds. Burritos, if I remember correctly, are about a dollar more at Chuy's. Steven ordered the "Macho Nachos" for $6.25. While waiting for the food, I took note that the place was clean, quaint, and aside from the paint job, felt like it could be someone's home, and even then, you might see the paint scheme somewhere.

So. The food.

I was told to expect a large portion, and my expectations were not to be disappointed. Unlike the usual pick-up-and-eat style Tex-Mex burrito, this was a knife-and-fork affair. Whereas Chuy's gives you a foot long submarine of a burrito, the Macho Burrito was a tortilla bulging and spilling its guts. Reminiscent of the Monty Python "wafer" sketch. It's a 12" flour tortilla filled with chicken (or beef), rice, lettuce, beans, and jalapeños. It was also good to note that there wasn't an overwhelming proportion of one ingredient over another. The burrito was stuffed pretty uniformly with innards. From first bite to last, it was really, really good. I've had Mexican food, and I've had Tex-Mex, and while I love Tex-Mex, this is distinctly, and safely (and thankfully) on the Mexican side of the line. The chicken was excellent, and the jalapeños had more taste than burn - those of you who know me know that I'm a fire hydrant around the weakest of spice, and while I was sweating a good deal, it was merciful. I think one reason I liked it so much was that the tortilla was pressed, not crushed, and not steamed into submission like a lot of other burritos out there. It gave it the crispness without it sticking to the roof of your mouth. You know exactly what I mean by that if you've eaten tex-mex burritos. The refried beans were tasty enough. I can't say I'm the biggest fan of refried beans and couldn't identify a canned bean from a fresh one, so I can only say that they were "tasty enough." The potatoes tasted of homefry goodness, and I definitely recommend them in place of rice (figuring that the burrito would have enough rice in them). Plenty of variety here.

The nachos came on the same sized plate, but it looked to be a small mountain. I would be mighty impressed if a hungry person not named Kobayashi, or the guy from Man vs Food, could finish the plate. What really sets the nachos apart from the norm, and this particular bit gets my thumbs-up of approval, is that they pour queso on it AND top it with shredded cheese. That right there would have been a $.75 up-charge at Freebirds. Though I didn't eat any, I was assured they were mighty delicious, and food enough for a bus full of high schoolers.

In my quest for staking out more local, homegrown restaurants, I'm happy to report that I can whole-heartedly recommend Macho Taco. For the amount of food you get, $7/person is well, well worth it, especially in this day and age where restaurants are charging $2 for a soda, bumping the cost of most meals up near $10. But best of all, it's delicious.

Macho Taco
12110 Manchaca Road
Austin, TX 78748
(512) 291-5104