I have heard many good things about Condado Tacos on Liberty Avenue, a restaurant that serves tacos, tequila and margaritas.
In Spanish, Condado directly translates to “county.” For their sake, I hope that meant the dishes were supposed to represent Allegheny County under the guise that they were supposed to resemble any dish from Mexico.
When I sat at the bar, at first the bartender was very attentive when I first came in, checking in on me until I ordered my five tacos and two sides.
After I waited for about 20 minutes, my food came out wrapped in foil and placed in to-go bags, without my requesting take-out. I was sad to have not had a full dine-in experience. While I understand that five tacos is a lot for one individual, he should have asked if the food was to-go.
I proceeded to sit at the bar awkwardly as he pulled the pay machine away from me. I proceeded to individually unwrap each taco where I sat. After taste-testing each taco, I waited at least 15 more minutes before said bartender noticed me so I could pay.
When I left, I brought the food to my Hispanic friend Andy’s house, who is from Mexicali, Mexico. I wanted him to tell me if my tastebuds were wrong or not after not enjoying a single one of the tacos. The food from the restaurant was flavorful and spicy, two things that my Caucasian mouth can’t handle.
As he proceeded to try each taco, his face gradually became more and more scrunched, further and further into disgust. I believe that he even spit out the “Rango Tango” taco into the trash.
The “Lucy’s Fire” taco at $5.75 had “Sweet Lucy with firecracker shell, roasted chicken, lettuce, cilantro + onions, Middlefield smoked cheddar, corn salsa and cilantro-lime aioli.”
This one was ok tasting, it had a tip-of-tongue spice without being too crispy, with the sour cream and lettuce adding a cool flavor. Andy said he was underwhelmed, and the spice attempted to overpower any taste the chicken had.
The next had ingredients that did not belong in a taco. The chicken bacon ranch taco at $5.65 came with a flour and hard shell, a bed of gross cheddar cheese below the hard shell, chicken, bacon, tomatoes and avocado ranch sauce.
This one was probably one of the worst. Andy called it “basura,” meaning “trash.” We agreed that the taco didn’t deserve the flavors of a pizza. However, he did say that the street corn at $5.75 didn’t have a bad flavor, and that the chips it came with were good. Although I would be concerned if a restaurant could mess up fried tortillas.
The next taco topped even the last atrocity by placing coleslaw inside. The “Braised + Confused” brisket taco at $5.55 had a distinct, separate meat flavor from the veggies. The sauce did not help it taste good.
The Rango Tango at $5.40 was a plant-based taco with spicy tofu and lots of vegetables. It was sweet and crispy. The red cabbage carried most of the flavor until I ran into a piece of tofu that filled my mouth with spice, only to be mitigated with a chip.
The last taco, the purple haze at $4.85, was the best taco out of the five. Pork-based, with a soft and crispy shell, it had the most normal ingredients inside of it. These were ingredients that actually belonged in a taco: chorizo, cilantro, onions, cabbage, queso and aioli.
The only thing I would recommend on the menu were the loaded tots for $4.75. They were warm, tasty and not too greasy, but ultimately pretty average. For that price, I would rather purchase a $5.08 kid’s quesadilla from Moes.
In the end, if you’re Hispanic or Latina, genuinely enjoy authentic Mexican food, or are in a rush, do not go to Condados Tacos. If you hate yourself and want to try American combinations inside of flour and corn tortillas, by all means, walk down to 971 Liberty Avenue to this lovely chain restaurant.
