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Favorite torchy's taco


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I have not lived in Austin since 97 so I never had Torchy's until they opened one near me in SA.  Loved it.  Tortillas were shit, like Taco Bell quality, but the variety of non traditional fillings more than made up for that.  My favorite ever was the Creeper.  Trailer Park Trashy and Ace of Spades after that.  The burrito, as others have pointed out, is also great.  When Covid shut everything down I stopped getting Torchy's because their tacos don't travel for shit.  

We got a Velvet Taco last year in the same area-ish, The Rim.  I think it crushes Torchy's at its own game.  Also they don't recycle their WTF nearly as much as Torchy's does their Taco of the Month.  I went back to Torchy's for the first time in years last Summer or so and they have definitely upped their tortilla game, at least the two locations closest to me, Rim and Stone Oak.  They seemed scratch made vs the Sysco shit they used to use.

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I started eating Torchys when it was a food truck outside of little Woodrow’s on west 6th. I knew a couple of the owners and many of the original staff from my time waiting tables at Hul Hut; really good people who knew wtf they were doing and worked incredibly hard and cared deeply about their product.  For the next decade, a Mr Pink on corn and a half queso with a Maine Root Cola soda was a staple of my diet.  For most of that time, the total for that order was $10.  
 

Like most things it touches, private equity fucking killed Torchy’s.  Within a year of that $400M injection, literally zero of the things on my recurring order were still on the menu; the Mr Pink kept shrinking until it disappeared entirely.  The half queso, which was basically just a half priced full queso because it was served in the same sized bowl, got downsized and upcharged.  Coke replaced Maine Root.  My go-to order went from a $10 dream to a $20 bag of trash.

I haven’t eaten at Torchys in years.  Fuck private equity.

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Had Torchys on Saturday. One taco, one chips and queso and it was $17.  I can't be doing that.   I'm outpriced.  The meat on my taco was small.  Gonna be a while before I venture back in. 

I haven’t eaten torchys since they overhauled and totally fucked up their online ordering.

Jalapeños do not appear as an available addition? Fuck. That.
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On 1/15/2023 at 9:57 PM, Snake Diggity said:

I started eating Torchys when it was a food truck outside of little Woodrow’s on west 6th. I knew a couple of the owners and many of the original staff from my time waiting tables at Hul Hut; really good people who knew wtf they were doing and worked incredibly hard and cared deeply about their product.  For the next decade, a Mr Pink on corn and a half queso with a Maine Root Cola soda was a staple of my diet.  For most of that time, the total for that order was $10.  
 

Like most things it touches, private equity fucking killed Torchy’s.  Within a year of that $400M injection, literally zero of the things on my recurring order were still on the menu; the Mr Pink kept shrinking until it disappeared entirely.  The half queso, which was basically just a half priced full queso because it was served in the same sized bowl, got downsized and upcharged.  Coke replaced Maine Root.  My go-to order went from a $10 dream to a $20 bag of trash.

I haven’t eaten at Torchys in years.  Fuck private equity.

I think you may have solved a mystery for me. I had moved out of Austin and had people tell me they loved Torchy’s. Then they expanded. Finally a few years ago tried it. Sucked. Tried it again. Sucked. Then a third time. Sucked worse. Gave up. 

I could never understand how Austinites thought Torchys was good. Maybe they fell in love with what it used to be. 
 

And as someone posted earlier, the tortillas are bad. And rule number one of a good taco is that you can’t have shitty tortillas.

Torchy’s is the most embarrassing example of the new Austin. Torchy’s is the new Jan Brady from Brady Bunch.
 image.jpeg.28b1ecd327a4a07cf4e0983768295d58.jpeg

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13 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

I think you may have solved a mystery for me. I had moved out of Austin and had people tell me they loved Torchy’s. Then they expanded. Finally a few years ago tried it. Sucked. Tried it again. Sucked. Then a third time. Sucked worse. Gave up. 

I could never understand how Austinites thought Torchys was good. Maybe they fell in love with what it used to be. 
 

And as someone posted earlier, the tortillas are bad. And rule number one of a good taco is that you can’t have shitty tortillas.

Torchy’s is the most embarrassing example of the new Austin. Torchy’s is the new Jan Brady from Brady Bunch.
 image.jpeg.28b1ecd327a4a07cf4e0983768295d58.jpeg

Not the new Jan from the Brady Bunch Variety Hour?

 

TSDBRBU_EC024w.jpg

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13 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

Torchy’s is the most embarrassing example of the new Austin.

I'm not defending Torchy's but the food in Austin has improved over the years. There's always been institutions with shitty food and even shittier service. 

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On 1/15/2023 at 5:01 PM, Hozz said:

We got a Velvet Taco last year in the same area-ish, The Rim.  I think it crushes Torchy's at its own game.  

I’ve never had a velvet taco, but Hobby airport is getting one soon and I’m pretty hopeful that it’ll be better than average airport food. 

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Velvet Taco at the original in Ft Worth is better than Torchys and doesn’t have the attitude; its roots are from late night after drinking meals. Hope it’s expansion hasn’t fucked it up, a near impossibility.

On the other hand, hope you’ve enjoyed the real Velvet Taco in your life.

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Can't speak for Fort Worth location but the Velvet Taco I tried in Austin is definitely not as good as Torchy's.  If Torchy's can be accused of sometimes trying too hard, then Velvet Taco is the try-hardiest joint around.

 

 

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The tots are Velvet Taco are worth the trip on their own.

The thing Velvet Taco and Torchy's have in common is their side dish is better than all their tacos. Give me Velvet Taco's tots and Torchy's queso and I'll be happy even if the tacos are worse than some indeterminate past.

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21 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Isn't the Scally Wag the usual August one?  Or is it the "hot gauntlet"?  Maybe they figure it's too god damn hot for that.

Yeah they used to release several, with increasing levels of heat throughout the month.  Scallywag, Brushfire Shrimp, and the Barn Burner.  I always enjoyed that progression.

But you're likely right that they decided it's just too damn hot for all that.

 

 

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