by Kevin Buchanan of West and Clear , Pete Wann of West and Clear

I think Yucatan already has a great start and will likely be one of our favorite eateries. It’s another jewel in the Magnolia/Park Place restaurant crown.

Kevin Buchanan

Note: This review of Yucatan Taco Stand features input from not one, but two West & Clear staffers. The first part of the review is from Pete Wann, and the second part is a vegetarian perspective from me, Kevin Buchanan, along with my photography of the place. Enjoy!

P.W. - There’s been a ton of discussion about the decor of this place. I think it looks like a cross between Gloria’s and Ronin. Not exactly modern — more Mayan Riviera minimalist.

The ordering process is similar to Fuzzy’s or Pei Wei (Or so I’m told — I can’t remember the last time I was in Pei Wei.), where you order your food and get a number, then the yummies are brought out to you.

Kevin Buchanan

I ordered the shredded garlic beef sandwich (one of a list of “Latin American Style” sandwiches), which came with fried plantains and chipotle ranch on the side. My companion tried one of the fish tacos and a tempura chicken taco. We also got chips and salsa, but no queso. (Cheese isn’t meant to be liquid, IMO.)

The chips were dusted with a VERY spicy mix, but fortunately the salsa was cold and a little sweet, so the two balanced each other well.

I didn’t try either of the tacos, but judging by the “snarf snarf” sounds I heard from the other side of the table, and how short their time was on this plane of existence, I’m guessing they were pretty good.

My sandwich was interesting. The bread it was served on was thoroughly toasted on both sides, and a little sweet. The sweetness of the bread almost overpowered the delicate flavors of the shredded beef and special cheeses tucked inside. Don’t get me wrong — the sandwich was good, but not really anything *spectacular*. (And for $7.50 for a sandwich with a side of flavorless fried plantains, I sorta want to see SPECTACULAR.)

Kevin Buchanan

We also ordered margaritas, and I think they were the highlight of the trip — strong, and obviously made from scratch, not with some overly sweet premix. J&J’s Hideaway fans rejoice! The bartender on duty Thursday night (his first) was none other than Matthew, he of the highly stretched earlobes and newly yellow faux-hawk.

My prediction — TOYTS (Sorry, but The “Original” Yucatan Taco Stand is too much to type every time) will be a hit. Every restaurant needs a little time to tweak menus and recipes, and TOYTS is starting from a great place and with successful Fort Worth restaurant DNA. Considering they’re not “officially” open yet, they’ve still got plenty of time to get things just right.

I bumped into one of the managing partners while I was there, and he mentioned that the partnership is looking at a few more opportunities around the city, specifically mentioning a vegan restaurant planned for the Race Street area, along with a boutique hotel and a neighborhood market, as well as a couple of other things that he wouldn’t go into. Considering how successful Fuzzy’s has been and the promise that TOYTS shows, I’m expecting good things out of this group!

Kevin Buchanan

K. B. - At long last, the long-speculated-about Yucatan Taco Stand has opened on Magnolia. I left the carnivorous fare up to Mr. Wann and companion above, and decided that as is usually my way, I would take the vegetarian route. So, a day before Pete took his trip, the lovely Lady Southside and I wandered down Magnolia and entered the dark, woody atmosphere of Yucatan.

We ordered chips, salsa, and queso (I have no qualms about the stuff, and good queso is essential to my enjoyment of a meal). The salsa was cool and flavorful, and the chips were great as well. I was especially impressed with the queso. Thick, and with an interesting slightly smokey flavor I’ve never encountered in a queso before. Top notch.

Kevin Buchanan

She had a vegetarian burrito bowl, an elaborate affair that she described as “like Chipotle but way better.” Bigger, too - the bowl was impressive in its size. The tastes I took of it led me to the same conclusion: the vegetarian bowl is indeed a tasty dish.

As for myself, I took opportunity of the time and ordered one of the after-4:00 PM dishes: The vegetarian “mix-mex” grill. This arrived on a long, skinny white plate, and was a sight indeed. Starting from the right, there were some black beans, a mound of rice, some grilled onions, a pile of grilled asparagus, some friend plantains, grilled squash, grilled zucchini, grilled peppers, mashed potatoes in an artful swirl, tortilla strips, and a dipping sauce of some sort (for the life of me, I cannot recall what this was). It was quite an assortment of food.

Kevin Buchanan

The black beans had a great flavor. The rice was tasty and very well cooked. I’m not much of an onion sort of guy, but these grilled onions were great. The grilled asparagus was even better. The plantains were truly wonderful - contrary to Pete’s experience, I found them very flavorful and delicious, and they went nicely with the dipping sauce. The rest of the grilled veggies were good as well, though it took me long enough to get to them that the squash had gotten a little soggy. I was enjoying the rest of the dish too much to hurry. The mashed potatoes were a great touch as well. They tasted great and added a nice counterpoint to the rest of the ingredients.

Kevin Buchanan

For dessert, we ordered the tequila lime sorbet, but alas, the machine was broken. They offered us any other dessert for free, so we opted for the cappuccino pie. This thing - this was something else. It had an interesting texture, both to the crust and the pie, and the flavor…well, after the first bite, I couldn’t help but remark “My God, it’s full of stars!” Beyond that was the whole interstellar wormhole thing with the flowing colors and surreal images. As I took the last bite, I could see myself as an old man, laying in a white bed in the middle of a white room as a nine-foot tall slice of cappuccino pie stood over me and the first notes of Also Sprach Zarathustra rose up from silence.

In other words, it was extremely good.

All in all, we were extremely impressed by Yucatan. The vegetarian offerings are many and varied, which always impresses us. Everything we had was fantastic. There are obviously tweaks to be made as the place finds its footing, but I think Yucatan already has a great start and will likely be one of our favorite eateries. It’s another jewel in the Magnolia/Park Place restaurant crown.

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