Review: El Pollo Tapatio
Author: WIBIA | Filed under: Food Reviews, Location: Indianapolis, IN
El Pollo Tapatio
4112 N High School Rd
Indianapolis, IN 46254
I can say with a good amount of certainty that I have tried the majority of taquerias in Indianapolis. El Pollo Tapatio has been on my list for a while, so I decided to cross it off on a rainy night, dining by myself. I kind of chuckled at the name as it basically means “A Chicken from Guadalajara.” Tapatio is also a brand of hot sauce as well.
I walked in about 35 minutes before closing, but they said they were open. The waitress spent the majority of the time talking to her boyfriend which was the only other person in the restaurant at the time. Chips and salsa were provided. The chips were straight out of a bag and I found the salsa to be good for a taqueria as I usually dislike taqueria salsa. This one had a hint of dried chile de arbol which I didn’t love, but overall it is better than the majority I have had.
The menu is straight forward. A good amount of seafood which I wasn’t 100% trusting, so I decided to stick to what I know.
What I Ate: Super Burrito $4.00. Mixed meat, carnitas and carne asada, lettuce, pico, sour cream,
The waitress advised that I could combine up to three meats in a burrito. I went for the above mentioned two. I would think that they would split the burrito half and half, however they put the meats side by side in the burrito. I can’t say that I enjoyed this and it was difficult to tell the difference between the meat. Both meats were shredded, but they neglect to fry the carnitas before putting it in the burrito to achieve a little bark on the outside. Basically, they were pulled out of a roasted pan, grease and all and sat the meat in the burrito.
The pico, sour cream and lettuce were really non-factors. It was a very meaty burrito.
Would I Buy It Again? No to the burrito. My problem is that this burrito was really greasy. The grease made the shell transparent and when you squished the grease out of the meat, it just wasn’t that flavorful. However, maybe to El Pollo Tapatio. Four tables after me ordered the same thing, Whole Chicken for $10.95. It appeared there were two whole roasted chickens accompanied with tortillas and fixings. I saw a few families eating just this and loving it.
All in all, it wasn’t a horrible meal, but I literally had to stop and get a few napkins to wipe off my steering wheel because or residual grease on my hands…and yes, I washed them after I was finished.
-wibia
Tags: Burrito, el pollo tapatio, Food, mexican, salsa
unfried carnitas = super lame. but dude, if you are at el pollo tapatio… how are you *not* going for the pollo
just jivin, the roasted birds sound worth the trip.
did you catch man v food last night?
@tom h: I caught Man v. Food last night and I was embarrassed for Indianapolis. I’ve never seen Adam end a challenge early without even really trying like he did at Bub’s and I’ve also never seen him be so unmotivated/unimpressed by the food like he was at Gray Brothers or at Edwards. It was truly an awful portrayal of the city. Plus, that tenderloin and meatloaf did not really look appetizing at all (the strawberry pie did) and I rarely say that about anything that they feature on the show. The tenderloin looked like an oversized frozen pork fritter and I can honestly say that there are a ton of places that feature better tenderloins than that throughout the city. I’m going to climb off my soapbox now, but I am truly upset.
@IE, I’m pretty much right there with you— at least they showed him, um, beating the meat at Edwards. So it *wasn’t* a frozen fritter, but the end result sure looked miserable and dry. Like you say, we could have directed him to some much better spots. I thought Bub’s came off pretty well – I suspect he would have done a lot better had they kept the Uglies coming at a better pace.
Haha and did anyone else notice him hitting on the Carmelite 16yo?! wtf
@tom h: Completely agree that Bub’s torpedoed him on the challenge by bringing them out so slowly. Maybe that’s why he ended the challenge without even really trying. He might have been pissed by their antics.
By the way, it was hilarious when he pronounced Mooresville as “Morrisville”. Nice production job there.
I think you guys are being a bit harsh. I watched the episode and didn’t think it was that bad. Could they have found some better places to go other than a drive in and a cafeteria? Yeah absolutely, but then again I thought the meatloaf and the other stuff at the cafeteria looked delicious.
@Brent, probably not a good idea to read the blog tomorrow!
@WIBIA, eh I don’t care that much. I’ll still read tomorrow’s blog.
If you are in the same neighborhood again and are into taquerias, stop by Guanajuato’s over in Pike Plaza. It’s a grocery store, but man…I just love their tacos.