Pizza Hut? Taco Bell? Neither!

Before you begin reading, I think this fits nicely with my title

Well, it’s definitely more on the side of Taco Bell, but it’s definitely a higher quality of food.  As far as the authenticity of it, though?  It’s probably on the same level.

Taco Hut is a staple in Jamestown.  According to the resounding two people that have talked to me about it, the restaurant’s best and most popular aspects are the a la carte, cheap tacos.  I haven’t tried them yet, but, I mean, why would I?  That’s not the point of this blog.

Prior to ordering for the blog, I had been there twice.  The first time I got shrimp quesadillas and the second time I got shrimp tacos.  You might be thinking that I literally just said I haven’t had their tacos.  Yeah, well, these were a special and they weren’t a la carte.

So far, I’m becoming less and less impressed.  I’m not saying the food was bad because it’s not.  I’m not really feeling why the hype is worthy.

I’m not going to review the quesadillas (best) or the shrimp tacos (good) because that’s not what this blog is about.  If you want to know my opinion on those, hit me up on MySpace.

When I asked my server what the least ordered dish was, it didn’t come to her immediately.  She told me that everything on the menu is pretty popular due to the fact that they have so many regular customers that have their regular orders.  After a bit of consideration, she pointed to the Chicken Encasserole.  The menu describes is as “tender pieces of chicken breast slow cooked with green peppers & onions in our spicy red sauce. Served over rice in an edible bowl. Topped with melted cheese. Served with sour cream.”

The chicken was definitely tender as if it had been “slow cooked.”  I’m sure it was slow cooked at one point, but I’m also pretty sure the chicken mixture and rice had been sitting somewhere heated because the green peppers and onions were indistinguishable within it all. I also came to this conclusion because this dish came out of the kitchen a little too fast. The rice didn’t add any unique texture and neither did the cheese.  It’s a very soft, retirement home-friendly dish.  Yeah, there was the crunchy tortilla bowl, but that’s just it; it’s the bowl.  Kind of an afterthought.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t have much of a chance to read the menu description of the dish while I was at the restaurant.  However, while reading it online now, I come to realize that the red sauce was not spicy at all.  I may have a high tolerance for spiciness, so maybe you’d be better off feeding this to someone with a more sensitive pallet for this test.

An unaltered chicken encasserole

An up-close bite

A cross-section of chicken encasserole

If I had to suggest something to improve this dish, I’d say throw some fresh peppers and onion or pico de gallo on top as a garnish to give it a little texture.

Don’t get me wrong, this dish isn’t bad.  It’s just not great.  It’s not for me.  If this is the least ordered dish on the menu, maybe I should order something more popular.  I wouldn’t recommend this dish to anyone, though.