Food For Thought | PA Taco Co.

PA Taco Co., along with Wicked Pie, opened somewhat recently in the basement of the William Pitt Union. I reviewed Wicked Pie when it first opened back in the fall semester. I planned to review PA Taco Co. along with it, but by the time I remembered that resolution, I figured it was already too late.

But I’ve seen and heard some students saying they weren’t particularly fond of the taco restaurant, and that wording is putting it nicely. So, I decided to find out for myself what the food was like. Could it be good? Well, just wait, because all your questions will soon be answered. Well, not all of them. Just the ones about the tacos.

Because I figured that most students would likely get a meal exchange when they went to the restaurant, that is what I decided to try. A meal exchange comes with two tacos, chips and a drink.

I chose the pollo taco and chorizo tofu taco, both on corn tortillas. I also got a choice between hot and mild sauce, and chose hot for both tacos.

To my surprise, the meal also came with chips and salsa — a pleasant addition. The chips are plain tortilla chips, so there is not much to say about them. The salsa is also not particularly noteworthy, though it suffices as an addition to the two tacos. I only wish the salsa tasted a bit more fresh.

The chorizo tofu taco was my least favorite of the two, though it was still adequate. It was topped with cabbage slaw, pico de gallo, vegan queso and hot sauce. This taco is meant to be suitable for vegans, so although it is called a “chorizo tofu taco,” there is not actually any chorizo in it. Instead, the tofu was used as an imitation. The tofu was an alright imitation of meat, though it could use more seasoning, as it still retained a lot of the tofu taste. Personally, I didn’t mind because I really enjoy tofu, but I think it was quite different from the seasonings used to achieve the taste of chorizo.

The cabbage slaw gives a nice crunch to the taco, especially considering tofu is known to be a soft food. The pico de gallo and vegan queso were hard to detect in the taco, so I cannot say much on that front. The hot sauce was very good, though I might not classify it as “hot.” But I understand the restaurant needs to cater to a lot of students with many different tastes, so that may be why the hot sauce is not particularly spicy.

The pollo taco features roasted chicken, cabbage slaw, corn, hot sauce and pico de gallo. Once again, the pico de gallo was hard to detect in the taco, and the hot sauce was good but not very spicy. The cabbage slaw added a crunch, but there was not much of that topping when compared to the chicken.

The chicken and corn was really where this taco differed from the chorizo tofu taco and was what makes all the difference. The corn had a good taste that complements the chicken well. It added crunch along with the cabbage slaw. The chicken was very juicy and tender, something that I didn’t expect from Pitt dining. It was also nicely seasoned.

In both tacos, the corn tortilla was a bit flimsy but otherwise good. It did not break underneath the toppings, as corn tortillas sometimes do.

Because the meat — or faux meat, in the case of the chorizo tofu taco — was much more abundant than the toppings in both tacos, it makes or breaks the meal. This is why I much preferred the chicken taco. Although the tofu was alright, the chicken was simply much better.

Overall, the tacos were only alright. I appreciated that they came with a generous portion of chips and salsa, too. I would have to disagree with the criticism that inspired me to do this review. That being said, it definitely wasn’t my favorite on-campus dining option. I’d definitely go again, but I don’t know if I would frequent the restaurant.