Pancho’s Taqueria
7023 Michigan Rd
Indianapolis, IN 46268
http://www.panchosmexicantaqueria.com

If I had a list of my favorite foods that I like to eat, burritos would be firmly planted towards the top.  Even a bad burrito can be palatable.  When I talk about Mexican food in Indy, I always get recommendation to go to Pancho’s Taqueria.  Indianapolis Eater already gave the Allisonville location a try and gave it a WIBIA-Yes rating.  I tried it about three years ago and it didn’t leave any lasting memories, so I thought that I would take another swing at it.

What I Ate: Lunch Special #12 – Burrito with sour cream and lettuce.  Drink was included; $7.90 with tax.

Now, this was a little misleading.  A sign on the front said they had specials from $4.99, but I didn’t see any lunch specials for that amount.  Also, the sign said that all lunch specials were served with refried beans and rice.

As you can see, no beans and rice.  When I opened my burrito, there were beans and rice inside, so I would assume that is what the sign meant?  Kind of confusing.  Pancho’s has a salsa bar with seemingly freshly made pico and four different types of salsa.  I tried the pico and the “salsa for chips.”  Looking at my plate, I thought…what am I going to do with iceberg lettuce topped with sour cream and a nasty looking tomato?  I opened the burrito and dumped it all in and with a full scoops of the above mentioned salsa.  The burrito shell was slightly grilled and made it difficult to reassemble with the increased amount of ingredients.

Pancho’s gives you the ability to choose from about seven different meats.  Normal fare includes chicken, steak, ground beef, chorizo, carnitas, tripe, etc.  The carne asada (steak) was cooked well and cut into very small pieces.  I picked a few pieces out to taste them outside of the burrito and I found it to be a little bland.  However, the meat was gristle free and had very little fat.  The beans and rice were filler.  If you have had ‘em once, I guess.  The pico brightened it up a little and the salsa made the burrito a little too runny.

Would I Buy It Again?  No. This was a boring burrito.  $7.90 for a burrito and a drink is about as much as Chipotle and I am not sure if I would pick Pancho’s over Chipotle.  For burritos or tacos, I prefer neighboring El Pastorcito or even El Taco Torro.  It wasn’t a bad burrito and you should give it a try to see if you are with the masses.  I found Pancho’s to be a step above the El Rodeo’s of the world, but a step below the burrito elite in Indy.

-Wibia

El Taco Torro
79^th and Michigan
Indianapolis, IN

The WIBIA inbox is a pretty funny place (btw, thanks for all the e-mails).  One e-mail trend that is consistent is that people seem to really dig the taco joints.  The good news is…I do too.

I have passed this place up a few times and always wondered about it until I ran into this now defunct Indianapolis blog that had a review.   It looked good, so I gave it a try.

More of a seated restaurant with the server and chips/salsa setup.  Menu has tacos, burritos, tortas and a few other items as well but is mostly a standard taqueria.  El Taco Torro has a little more selection of meats than normal, tongue or intestine, etc.

What I Got: Taco Carnitas, Taco Al Pastor $1.50 each.  Carne Asada Burrito $4.99.

The tacos were stuffed full and I could barely fold them.  The Carnitas was a big miss.  There were a number of really fatty pieces that were inedible.  They were about the size of a piece of Trident and never should’ve made it to the plate.

Taco Al Pastor was a let down as well.   Instead a flavorful marinade carrying the taste, it reminded me of a seasoning packet that you would mix with water.  Plus there was no sign of a gyro spit (usually you can see all the meat staked and then sliced like a gyro)…bad sign there.   What was I thinking?  Both tacos were a little heavy handed on the sour cream, but since it was not a normal taqueria setup where you only got cilantro and onions, it was a nice bonus, especially at the price point.

Carne Asada Burrito

The carne asada burrito was pretty good actually.  The best quality of meat out of the three items I tried.  It was a good size and packed with beans, rice and a little too much sour cream. Really nice, no complaints here.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes/No.  No because the tacos were huge, but not very good.  The chef was heavy handed on sour cream and the red salsa with the chips was not to my liking (my guess, chilie de arbol based.)  Yes, because service was friendly, had a solid burrito, wide range of meats on the menu and the green salsa was good.

Bottom line…I need a re-visit.  I think there could be a couple of winners here, but I am not 100% convinced to sign my name to giving it a YES without reservations.

-WIBIA