taco guild gastropub

i had a pretty good experience here. i like how this place is nested in an old church. i really enjoyed looking at the paintings on the wall and the cool chandeliers while waiting for my food. i always appreciate any place that gives you chips and salsa. the chips were a little salty for me, but i like the variety of dipping sauces and salsa for them. i ordered the three tacos plate with the red beans (which were delicious). my favorite was the yucatan shrimp. it was full offlavorand had a generous amount of shrimp in the taco. the al pastor pork was good but i found the guild chicken just ok. i never know what to think of the prices of these street tacos. i think i'm used to getting $1 street tacos in mexico where the whole point is good food at a cheap price. majority of the places here in the u.s. i have visited (like joyride) charge $4 to $5 a taco. i guess that is just how things are these days. overall, i had great service and the food was pretty good. the story of why they named it taco guild is kinda cool and creative (on their website).

i had the cherry steak taco, crackling lamb taco, and duck confit taco. the lamb didn't have the same intensity offlavoras the other two, but is still something i'd get again. the duck taco gave me multiple mouthgasms. theflavorpermeated every fiber of the duck, smoky, savory, a hint of sweet. very reminiscent of molé but drier. the habenero salsa was very well balanced. i'm going back to get my duck fix next pay day.

if you want a surprise in a taco be sure to try this place. it's a given that latin based cuisine features exciting and often times surprising flavors, but even more so with the food here. they will blow you away with the interesting combinations offlavorthey have going on. beef with mango, duck with plum sauce and apricot compote. très delish! i still find it a little unsettling though that it was once a church and the bar is located where the alter once was, if you're a really religious person you might be a little shocked about that. but food wise, i still find the food to be exquisite and original.

noisy. i already was beat to the punch on this one by another reviewer...the noise is overwhelming due to concrete floors and the volume of space. i had to constantly say "what" to my dining partner and by meals end we were practically shouting at each other. the restaurant was less than 3/4 full also. my other complaint is that i did not see one thing on the menu for someone who doesnt like mexican. this may sound silly, given the name of the restaurant, however if someone didnt pick the place, they could be out of luck. went for happy hour and had the taco of the day..chicken. they were very good. i had a margarita which was very good, but how do you mess up a margarita?? i ordered the peking duck taco and did not like theflavorat all. the upside here was that the service was very attentive and the bill almost seemed incorrect when it came, due to the low total. i would certainly go back, however they really need to address the sound issue or maybe i am not the hip young diner they are trying to cater to.

big miss for me - dry meat. we did the tacos because it is a taco place. the chicken was dry, the beef was dry and the pork was dry. the only one that had goodflavorand wasn't dry was the lamb which was outstanding, i mean really really good!!!! you never know it could have just been a bad day back in the kitchen but i really hate dry meat and for that i probably will not go back.

i really wanted to like this restaurant, the location is great and i was really excited about its opening. the margaritas were good, but that's where my praise of the new establishment ends. the guacamole was bland and our tacos were cold. my biggest gripe was with the old world al pastor taco, it was generic and bland, and didn't even look and taste like pork. we questioned the waitress as to whether or not the meat was pork-it looked and tasted like chicken. after returning from the kitchen, she told us the chef said that pork is the other white meat- ya, we know that already. if customers are questioning the type of meat in your tacos, i'd say that you have an issue with theflavorof your food. the taco did not at all look or taste like an al pastor taco. this is arizona- when you serve tacos you'd better get the flavors right! customers have a lot of choices when it comes to mexican food, and bland tacos are not going to keep customers coming back!