Where The Weather is Wacky and the Forecasts Don't Matter

Yes, Comedian/Host Drew Carey knows what's up with Ohio weather

I've been in the Midwest long enough to get the joke about Ohio (and other surrounding states) having eleven or twelve seasons rather than the traditional four.

This year proved to be no different, starting off with a (way) early Spring in early January, which was quickly displaced by brief spell of Polar Vortex, and then followed by an elongated period of the "Big Snow coming - psych!" season, where seeming promising big snow days were turned into groan-inducing "mixed precipitation" slushfests.

Winter hung around like a drunken sailor late March well into May, never allowing Spring to gain a solid foothold and keeping the soils exceedingly soggy - I recall I didn't get a chance to mow the well overgrown back yard until just before Memorial Day.

Visions of Noah and his ark came to many in June, when deluge-type rains threatened to drastically cut into the state's prized corn crop and overwhelmed quite a few basements.  Then, a not overly hot but often humid summer season took over, drying things to the point where some parts of the state reside in mild drought status. Despite a few head fakes from the Autumn season, this has remained the status quo into October, so much so that some folks are wishing Summer completely away. If all the forecasts are correct, those cooler vibes will have arrived to this region the same day this blog post was published.

Central California Adventures (Pt. 2) - International Bright Flung Things

Statue of Ignacy Jan Paderewski, famed pianist, former Prime Minister of
Poland, and one of the most famed residents of Paso Robles

As it turned out, our dalliance with an Paso Robles' Pappy McGregor's (an Irish Pub detailed in my last blogpost) was just a sign of the unexpected international tour we would end up getting with our Paso Robles travels.

Obviously, California has more than held their own in the wine making world the past few decades, and much of that has come with grape varietals such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Blanc that originated on French soil (on a side note, Zinfandel, one of California's big players in the wine-making world, actually traces its origins to Croatia.)

However, less familiar stateside are wine styles from France's Rhône Valley. Grenache and Syrah will probably ring bells for even the casual wine drinker, but seeing other grape varietals such as Marsanne, Mourvèdre, Picpoul Blanc and Counoise are still somewhat uncommon.  As it turns out, many of the wineries around Paso Robles feature the perfect climate and soil to grow these grapes, and we heard word that the wines coming from the grapes grown at Tablas Creek Vineyard, a pioneer in the state for these Rhône varietals, are among the best.

Playing The Host: A Kid-Friendly Tour of Columbus (Pt. 2)

A bloom hangs on against the impending winter cold at Columbus's Park of Roses

As noted in the last blogpost, we don't get to play host very often to family members, so when we do it becomes a special occasion, especially when there are kids (in this case, a 10- and a 13-year old) involved. This kid-friendly (though, in reality, an all-ages-friendly) excursion continues in this blogpost with another German Village staple.

Ice Cream Chronicles (Year 5): Double Your Pleasure

Si Señor is but one of the numerous Columbus-based institutions
undergoing expansion within the metro.

In the 1960's novelty song "I'm Henry VIII, I Am", the British beat band Herman's Hermits used repetition to great effect, taking a song that proclaimed "Second verse, same as the first" to the top of the charts.

This phrase might describe one of the main themes dominating the Columbus restaurant scene over the past year or so, as the most highly anticipated arrivals have come with existing eateries. The momentum seems especially high with places like Hot Chicken Takeover, Si Señor, Los Guachos, Harvest Pizzeria, Sweet Carrot, Momo Ghar, Little Eater, Westie's Gastropub and Katalina's either opening or planning new locations within a relatively short time frame.

The local ice cream scene happily has not been immune from this expansion, especially when it comes to the Mexican-based purveyors. Diamonds Ice Cream, which I wrote about in this blog post, has expanded to both Hilliard and Linworth (the latter as a partnership with newcomer restaurant Tomatillos.)  Meanwhile, those living on Columbus's Westside or near Cleveland Avenue where Columbus and Westerville meet up can make the journey to sample the sweet life.

California Brunching (Pt. 1): Motorbikes and Explorer Hikes

We stopped into a shop we passed along the way

Well we sat down on our seats and we began to say

We know you like you to bake, and you know we're gonna' stay

California brunchin' on such a winter's day

(Inspired by "California Dreaming" by The Mamas and the Papas)

The North Coast of California is full of drive-thru coffee establishments
such as the uniquely designed Gold Rush Coffee in Eureka, California

One thing we noticed during our first excursion through California's North Coast area is the plethora of drive-thru coffee places. Anchored by the Grants Pass, Oregon-based Dutch Bros., a franchise with 270+ locations scattered through the Western U.S., it seems every town you pass has at least one such place, perhaps inspired as much by the long distances you have to drive between towns as much as the sheer number of overcast days found in the region. When Mother Nature's natural pickup is blocked overhead, a little caffeine enhancement is almost a must.

For us, drive-thru coffee was not in the cards on this California excursion, but it didn't mean we didn't find places to enjoy a good cup of java. Even better, the places we stopped by provided both unique atmospheres and some good eats to accompany our morning caffeine.

The San Antonio Stroll (Pt. 1): La Colorido Tierra

Mamma'd smile and say, "Child don't you know

There ain't a thing in this world

To make you fall in love girl

Like the San Antonio stroll"

Tanya Tucker - "The San Antonio Stroll"

San Antonio lingers in the distance as you drive south through Texas' Hill Country

San Antonio, clocking in at just 1.4 million people (seventh largest in the U.S.) at the end of 2014, might have changed quite a bit since our last and only visit for both of us, but our visits were too brief to know for certain. One thing we did know for certain was this wouldn't be just any ordinary warm-weather escape for us northern climes living folks.

My spouse fully realized this after hearing the all-Spanish-chatter of gathered diners during a late-night-eats run at the Southern Texas mini-chain Taco Palenque (whose founder started the more familiar El Pollo Loco chain of Mexican quick eats.) Memories of visits to similar eateries came flooding back from her years spent as a grad student in the state of Texas.

Still Craving After All These Years: Moschetti Coffee (Vallejo, CA)/El Molino Central (Boyes Hot Springs, CA)

While our recent travels with California were filled with a lot of new explorations, a couple of old favorites popped-up in our excursions.  Needless to say, they did not disappoint even with a few years removed between visits.

Moschetti Coffee: Similar to the craft beer phenomenon (see my prior post on Vallejo's Mare Island Brewing Company), finer coffee has bypassed this East Bay town until fairly recently. Even the goliath of Second Wave coffee, Starbucks, took their sweet time to come to town, arriving within city limits at the start of the new millenium (2001.) A few smaller, hometown-styled coffee houses dot the landscape, including the Ferry Building-located Panama Red (a small regional chain of coffeehouses) as well as the former gas station that has hosted Java Jax near downtown Vallejo for several years.

One of the more unique members of this small coffee clique has been making the rounds for more than 25 years, and has provided the locals a taste of what a more refined cup of joe can be for the last several years for absolutely free (yes, I said free.)

Fabrice Moschetti, a native of France who started the commercially-oriented Moschetti Coffee in 1989, acknowledged in a recent Vallejo Times-Herald article about his 25th anniversary that most of the people back then "didn't care. Coffee was coffee." But with the growth in the coffee industry (Starbucks, a company Moschetti definitely has some strong opinions on, grew by 12,000 stores in the decade after finally arriving in the area in 2001), Moschetti eventually found more and more interested in the hows and whys behind the coffee they were brewing and drinking, and he was only more than happy to help them out via what has become a regular community gathering in their weekly "Tasting Saturdays", where all coffee sampling is on the house.

Dispensers featuring all of Moschetti's single-origin and coffee blends
were lined up like I remembered from past visits

This visit to Moschetti had been the first for me in a couple years and the first ever for my spouse. The interior of the facility, essentially a warehouse building with a small adjoining office, was setup more or less how I remembered from past visits - coffee beverage dispensers filled with brewed coffees from pretty much all of Moschetti's roasted beans are lined up throughout the space.

Moschetti had all manner of coffee preparation, from old school to nitro brew

However, there were some notable enhancements since my last visit, mainly in the number of coffee brewing equipment systems in-house, from basic coffee brewers you might see in your corner cafe to fancier items like nitro cold brew and the Curtis Gold Cup, Not surprisingly, we found Fabrice himself stationed by the espresso machine, offering espresso-based drinks to those who came by to say hi or talk shop about coffee and current events. Even on this post-Christmas weekend, quite a few folks were already in-house early on; one person who seemed to be a regular felt comfortable enough to show up in flip-flops and a bathrobe.

Among the bags of coffee, Moschetti Coffee's owner Fabrice
was pulling shots for the customers who dropped in as usual

Another eye-catching change lay outside of the main space: the facility has become much more reception-friendly. Along with the familiar cargo container filled with the roaster's beans, a seating area and a fire pit for the cooler (by California standards, anyway) winter weather conditions had been setup. More seats stood scattered about as well as a stage of sorts: at the time of our arrival, a local musician was setting himself up for an acoustic guitar performance.

As befitting a community-based gathering, visitors can almost always find a couple of locally-based vendors selling their wares at the event. On this visit, sample and bring home the confections of Ian Scott and the bath and beauty products of Shameeka Dream. The friendly and casual conversation with these vendors, as these interactions often are, are perhaps some of the most favorite aspects of our travels. Even if many of these end up being single-shot experiences, they are often the main ingredients to a very simple but highly desirable goal: getting out of the house and having a great day for yourselves.

Local vendors are almost always found at Moschetti's Tasting Saturdays
Top: Shameeka Dream and her homemade body- and beauty-products
Bottom: the Pumpkin Seed Brittle and Pistachio Cherry Chocolate Bar
from Ian Scott Confections

Moschetti Coffee
11 6th St
Vallejo, CA 94590
(707) 556-9000
Facebook     Instagram     Twitter     Website

El Molino Central - Trends, hot neighborhoods and the latest"you've got to try this place" change rapidly in a food-focused area like the San Francisco Bay Area, so its very easy to forget about places that were in the spotlight even for the briefest of moments.

Our return to El Molino Central, in the easy-to-drive-by town of Boyes Hot Springs (most folks would see this small town of 7,000 as part of Sonoma itself) was one such place, until my spouse recalled it from a previous trip when we were still dating. It seemed like a good candidate for a revisit, as we enjoyed our food there and the vibe and the food are reminiscent of a Columbus eatery we have grown fond of in the form of Katalina's.

El Molino Central is a small eatery owned Karen Taylor Waikiki, who had long set her mark on the Bay Area dining scene through Primavera and their organic, homemade tamales and tortillas. Opened in the middle of 2010, her Sonoma-area cafe (the "Molino" in the name refers to the mill where corn is taken to be ground into masa; this eatery takes pride in milling its own masa) showed that her talent with food reached far beyond those two Mexican staples, sporting a seasonal menu with unique creations such as Swiss Chard Enchiladas and Chalupas.

Those same items were the very first we sampled on our first visit ever: my spouse loved the contrast of bitter provided by the chard and the salty in the cotija cheese in her enchiladas, while my dish (definitely NOT anything like the Taco Bell item) sported layered taste extravaganza of tender chicken, onions, beans and salsa on top of freshly-made masa. The pour-over Blue Bottle Coffee was just icing on the cake.

El Molino's interior is pretty much all kitchen and prep space; while some
eating areas have been appended, this eatery is geared to take out

As we found out, not much had changed in terms of the building setup. Visitors find out quickly that the main building doesn't really have a seating area: the kitchen, preparation space, and the ordering area pretty much take up what is readily visible. While a small, functional patio-style seating area appended to the rear of the building remains an option (some additional umbrella-covered outdoor bench seats have been added since my first visit), El Molino Central is really suited for take out orders. Also changed is the coffee provider: El Molino Central has switched from Blue Bottle to a pretty-much equally regarded coffee roaster in Four Barrel. Our Honduran Ventura provided a fruity flavor profile for our wake-up cup of joe that morning.

The Chard Enchiladas were again on the menu along with other unique items like the Pozole Rojo with Tostada (hominy pork soup stew with traditional garnishes), German Butterball Potato and Cheese Tacos (with salsa, habanero, sour cream and pickled jalapeno), as well as tamale options and a special with Dungeness Crab. However, much to our chagrin, we had arrived a bit too early, so the only option available to us was their Chilaquiles Merida.

Mmmm....El Molino Central's Chilaquiles Merida

This turned out to be a rather delicious consolation prize, as these were some of the best chilaquiles we've ever eaten. The handmade tortillas chips (reminiscent a bit of the Shagbark chips used in Katalina's Huevos Rancheros), huge chunks of avocado, and a just spicy enough roasted chipotle salsa made this quite a satisfying and filling breakfast as we made our way through Sonoma's wine country this day.

El Molino Central
11 Central Avenue
Boyes Hot Springs (Sonoma), CA 95476
(707) 939-1010
Facebook     Instagram     Website     Yelp

Primos Carnales: Barrio (Cleveland) and Condado (Columbus)

What do you get in Ohio when you blend together fancified, customizable tacos, a good selection of adult beverages, and a restaurant space splashed liberally with Day of the Dead-styled motifs and similar decor?

You get restaurants like Cleveland's Barrio and Columbus' Condado.

The common denominator with these two kissing cousin eateries lies in one Joe Kahn. Kahn started up Cleveland's Barrio in 2012 in the Tremont neighborhood; its ncreasing popularity prompted a second Lakewood location in 2013. As it turned out, Kahn wouldn't be much longer for the Cleveland market after its opening, as he sold the rights to these restaurants to his partners with the intent of bringing the concept down to the Columbus area.

Since Kahn's departure, Barrio has since continued to grow, opening a third location at the 5th Street Arcades in the Gateway area of downtown right around (appropriately enough) Cinco de Mayo of 2014. Two-and-a-half hours southward on I-71, Kahn's Columbus-based Condado was setting up shop in the Short North, already the home of a very well-received and similarly fancy taco and adult beverage oriented Bakersfield.. Kahn opened the doors to Condado just over one year ago in November of 2014.

The interior of Barrio's Gateway location in downtown Cleveland

My first visit of these two eateries took place at Barrio at their newest downtown location. Sporting an outdoor patio area (perfect for casual dining in the warmer months) and a main dining area with a centralized bar area, it was evident that this eatery is a natural draw for some post-work libations for area workers: a steady flow of patrons filtered in after I took my seat at the bar area. Interior decor was dominated here by spiky-star light fixtures and a Day of the Dead mariachi band mural.

Condado sports its own festive interior at its Short North location

In contrast, Condado's interior decor is a bit more varied: what seemed to be a town fiesta mural dominated one side of the room, while the rest of the room was dotted with tilework, animal and human masks and skulls, and a large "Tacos Delicioso" sign. Here, the bar lies to the rear of the space; individual and longer bench-style tables, the latter featuring some neat swing-out stool seats, dominate the central area of the space.

Along with atmospheres geared for socializing, both places are equipped with adult beverage choices to help loosen diners' tongues. Margarita and tequila options as well as a good selection of craft beer on tap are available at both locations, with several handles devoted to local Ohio-breweries.

Like many similar restaurants, its easy to gorge too much on the pre-menu chips and salsa, and these are generally fairly addicting renditions. I also got the chance to try the basic guacamole at Barrio, which is both a notch better than most and a fairly large helping for the price paid.

Obviously, tacos are the main way to go at either of these eateries (though Barrio in Cleveland does now offer a brunch with a couple of non-taco items), and I imagine your decision will really be influenced with how hard you want to think. Both places offer both build-them-yourself or pre-designed varieties which they dub "Taco Suggestions."  With my first visit being to Barrio, I was dead set on mastering the make-it-yourself system, which is done with Scantron-like forms to mark off tortilla types, toppings and proteins.

The ordering forms at both reminded me of the Scantron forms
I used to take a myriad of exams at the college level

Though taco trucks are definitely my preferred source for tacos, I do like the opportunity to experiment with the multiplicity of options at both these eateries. In reality though, you as the diner are at least partially to blame if your combo doesn't quite work out taste-wise. Perhaps the best (and only) way to figure out what works long-term is through multiple visits and narrowing down what's truly appealing and what's merely ancillary.

In contrast, with my chances of dropping of Condado on any given day being a lot greater, I wanted to test out some of their items on their "Taco Suggestions" menu for future "don't want to think about it too hard" days. The pork-based "Poncho's Ghost" (a hard shell with pulled pork, red cabbage, onions and tomatoes, cheese and ghost pepper sauce) was the clearn winner from my batch of tacos, cementing my feeling from Barrio that the pork and flavorful ghost pepper sauce (despite the scary sound, this sauce's heat level is toned down a bit at both locations) are go-to items in future visits.

Experience with the taco ordering process at one of these eateries
will easily prepare you for dining at the other

In terms of other proteins, the chicken featured in tacos at both locations (at Condado, the chicken came with the Herve Villechaize, a soft shell taco featuring lettuce, onions, tomatoes, smoked cheddar, pineapple salsa and habanero mango BBQ sauce) was just a touch dry on its own but otherwise well-grilled. The story was similar with Barrio's chorizo: it sported less kick than I might have liked, but it was otherwise perfectly tasty.

The only quibble I have with Condado's vegetarian El Posada (featuring a flour shell, tofu, chipotle honey, jicama, queso fresco, salsa roja and pineapple salsa) was not so much with the taste (I appreciate that this option is on the menu; Barrio sports a similar item in their Saturday Night Live punnily-named "Curd Ferguson") but the size of the tofu. With the slippery interior, the tofu tended to come out whole from inside before I could bite through these big pieces. Perhaps I'll just have to try to master the art of eating tofu in a tortilla the next visit out, or maybe take a knife to cut those cubes to a more manageable size next time around.

Barrio
503 Prospect Ave (Gateway)
Cleveland, OH 44114
216-862-4652
Facebook     Instagram     Twitter     Website

Condado
1227 North High Street (Short North)
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 928-3909
Facebook     Instagram     Twitter     Website

Ice Cream Chronicles (Vol. 15): Todos Gritamos para el Helado - Diamonds Ice Cream

With a series like the Ice Cream Chonicles, you figure this blog would have a write-up on an ice cream experience on the proclaimed National Ice Cream Day, held on the third Sunday of July.

Never fear, because you've struck gold here...or would that be Diamonds?

In many ways, the feeling in visiting Diamonds is a lot like my last visit to Young's Ice Cream in Yellow Springs: in both places, I found out that there was a lot more to the place than just the ice cream.

In Diamonds' case however, the more proper term would nieves or helado, depending on whether they are water- or milk-based. Diamonds offers the Mexican-styled version of this frozen confection and offers a variety of flavors, from the standards (vanilla and strawberry) to more novel flavor variations like Piñon (Pine Nut), Queso (Cheese) and Tuna (Cactus Fruit.)

Diamonds throws south-of-the-border flavor combos into the
mix for their solidly made ice cream scoops

I started off with the standards for me: Mango and Nuez (Butter Pecan) - the flavors were both fine, with big chunks of nuts in the Butter Pecan and a pleasant fruit flavor in the mango (not quite enough to supplant Mardi Gras for my favorite mango in the area, however.) Both scoops had a chewy texture right out of the case, but acquired a more smooth mouthfeel once they warmed up.

You could go here strictly for the ice cream, but you would be missing a lot. In fact, this place reminds me of a place I liked to frequent back in California in Vallejo's La Michoacana.  This paleteria and panaderia (which is NOT related to the Columbus-area La Michoacana Markets or the paleta brand originating in Mexico (for a fascinating side story, this Wharton School of Business article has a nice summary on the attempts to trademark the brand name)), as detailed in this Vallejo Times-Herald newspaper story, offered delicious paleta popsicles that, similar to their ice cream, are both water- and milk-based. These paletas generally put most typical American-style popsicles to shame with their intriguing flavor profiles and combos and large and often visible ingredient chunks.

In Diamonds' case, we've had a chance to sample their Nuez, Fresa (Strawberry) and Mango con Chile paletas so far. Interestingly, as much as we like spicy items, the latter flavor turned out to be merely okay in our books with a one-note spicy heat and most of the mango fruit  chunks concentrated on the bottom. Much better were the Fresa (nice refreshing berry flavor) and the Nuez (big chunks of nuts in a creamy base.) Other than the plethora of flavors, a frequent buyer card should be more than incentive for anyone to continue exploring Diamonds' paleta inventory.

Diamonds matches its unique ice cream offerings with an equally
novel flavor collection in its paletas, a selection of aguas frescas
and horchatas, and other unique-sounding edibles.

While La Michoacana back in California had bakery goods (including excellent bolillo rolls) to complete its trifecta of offerings, Diamonds adds a trifecta of other product offerings to inspire future visits for us to their Northwest Columbus location. These items include various flavors of horchatas and agua frescas, elote (flavored grilled street corn) and a menu of fruit and vegetable-oriented "Specialties."These items basically consist of chip-based dishes (nachos and potato chips with hot sauce, for example) as well as intriguingly prepared fruit and vegetable salads that fuse sweet, sour and tangy profiles in various blends depending on the main focus of the dish, whether that be Piña (pineapple), Sandia (watermelon) and Pepino (cucumber.)

Diamonds Ice Cream
5461 Bethel Sawmill Center (Northwest)
Columbus, OH 43235
(614) 718-2980
Facebook     Yelp

The Art of it All: Denver Art Museum

The Denver Art Museum holds one of the largest art collections
between Chicago, Illinois and the West Coast

The spouse and I have been through a fair number of museums during our travels. Some can be experienced in about an hour or so (the quaint Little Traverse History Museum in Petoskey, Michigan comes to mind) while others take longer. Many of the museums we have visited in both Ohio and California are the types which can be done as part of an itinerary of several destinations within close proximity to each other.

The Denver Art Museum, located In the city's Golden Triangle Museum District, is not one of those places. It lies up there with many of the Smithsonian Museums in Washington D.C. in that to fully appreciate its contents, you really need close to a full day to do so. We had only a few hours to roam around the museum, and we quickly found out it wasn't going to be near enough time to see and appreciate the over 70,000 pieces of art spread out among ten dedicated collections, not counting special exhibitions.

There's a lot to see both outside and just as you enter the museum

Like similar previous posts where the visual medium best tells the tale, I'll leave most of the telling to photographs to hint at what lies within the facility's 350,000 square feet (the museum consists of two buildings connected by an elevated passenger walkway.)

Altar Piece, Keith Haring's final work before he passed away
of AIDS in 1990, was one of the first pieces of art we focused on

The Northwest Coast portion of the museum's American Indian section,
which featured artwork from Tlingit, Nuxalk and Haida peoples.

Not surprisingly, many of the works in the  Pre-Columbian and Spanish
Colonial Art section had religious/Catholic themes

 

 

The section dedicated to ancient artwork from Mexico and the
Americas to the south was a favorite of mine.

Some of the quilt works found at the museum, including
one with references to the Buckeye State

This elevator sign gave us a quick primer on some of the art
we wouldn't be seeing on this particular visit

Visitors to the museum can observe employees preparing art
pieces for display, as in this 18th century Flemish tapestry

 

The Denver Art Museum has lots of interactive opportunities for
its visitors to experience, with hands-on displays, and old-school
(books and magazines) and new-school (iPads) media available.

Denver Art Museum

100 W 14th Ave Pkwy (Golden Triangle)

Denver, CO 80204

(720) 865-5000

Facebook     Instagram     Twitter     Website

Gringas en Gahanna: Los Guachos

The front of Gahanna's edition of Los Guachos

I was cruising the northeast side of the metro after a good solid bike workout looking for a combination of two things: something that would kill some time before I had to pick up my spouse and some unfussy replenishment for dinner. I initially focused on the Easton area: perhaps a burger at Flip Side would sate my cravings, or perhaps sampling a grilled cheese at the newly opened Melt in the Easton Gateway area.

Then I remembered Gahanna wasn't too far away. Gahanna's restaurant scene has been growing by leaps and bounds with places like El Arepazo, The Barn at Rocky Creek, Superchef's and 101 Beer Kitchen recently or due to setup shop in town. I did a little quick research on my smartphone to see what I could find and uncovered a surprise.

Los Guachos? In Gahanna? Perhaps it's because I live a lot closer to their original brick-and-mortar location on Godown Road in Northwest Columbus that I was not aware of this lovely fact. But now that I knew this, my destination was set.

Los Guachos' Gahanna sports a brighter and seemingly
larger space than its Godown Road cousin, but the
decor and food remain the same.

Opened in September of 2013 in a strip mall off Morse Road just outside I-270, this second brick-and-mortar for one of Columbus' most well-known Mexican eateries basically brings the decor and style of their Godown location into what seems to be a slightly bigger and brighter space. Not surprisingly, televisions broadcasting Spanish-language channel programming (in this case, a Liga MX  soccer game) were available for patrons to watch. And yes, all those creations that have made Los Guachos a favorite of many are here for the ordering as well.

All the items typical of almost all taquerias (the pickled vegetables and array of salsas/sauces) and unique to Los Guachos (their unique red onion/habanero/soy sauce blend) are also here for diners. Last year's Columbus Food Adventures Taco Truck Tour brought my first exposure to the latter combination, something my spouse and I wouldn't think would work but does so brilliantly (in fact, we have often composed our own version for garnishing many of our home-cooked Mexican-style meals.)

Los Guachos' meal garnishments, including their unique blend of
sliced habanero peppers, red onions and soy sauce, were heavenly
on my order of gringas, volcanes and juanas.

Their famous Gringa, accompanied by their delicious al pastor de trompo, melted cheese, pineapple, onions and cilantro on a crispy grilled flour tortilla was a must, but I wanted to do some venturing on items I hadn't had the chance to try yet. The Volcanes essentially was a mini-quesadilla of sorts, while their Juana is something of an open-faced double-tortilla. The proteins that accompanied these creations (the suadero (beef brisket) and lengua (beef tongue) were well prepared; the latter was one of the better versions I've experienced.

In a way, this experience here pretty much cements the thoughts that crossed my mind when I first bit into that Gringa from Los Guachos' anchor taco truck in the Hilltop area of Columbus. Los Guachos' brick and mortar locations produce really good versions of their various offerings. But there is something about their mobile setup that kicks their creations to a higher level.

By all means, drop by Los Guachos' locations in Gahanna and Northwest Columbus and visit them often. But if you do make their brick-and-mortar locations your primary destinations, by all means supplement these visits with an occasional visit to Sullivant Avenue and their original taco truck (more currently closer to a taco rig.). Order some of your Los Guachos favorites from there; if you're lucky like my spouse and I, you'll reach that brief nirvana of mind-blown status.

Los Guachos
1376 Cherry Bottom Road
Gahanna, OH 43230
(614) 471-4717
Facebook    Website

Other locations:
5221 Godown Road (Northwest)
Columbus, OH 43235
(614) 538-0211

3990 Sullivant Avenue (Hilltop)
Columbus, OH 43228
(614) 493-1874