So, it’s been a little while (again) since I’ve posted from the Midwest. I know, I know, I have an excuse EVERY time. I have a really, really good one this time, but I’ll get to that later.
First, I’d like to address two very important things: Taco Bell taco trucks, and Taco Bell’s new attempt at cantina tacos.
Let me begin by saying that I haven’t yet tried Taco Bell’s cantina tacos, which actually look pretty darn appetizing. Last week a friend of mine posted Slash Food’s review of the Taco Bell cantina tacos on my Facebook, and another friend of mine, one Patrick Kelly, commented on the link by stating: “I’ve had them twice in the last two days…For fast food, they’re actually pretty tasty. Each one comes wrapped in foil with a little piece of lime wrapped up in there. I kinda wish they were flour instead of corn tortillas, but you could definitely fool anyone into thinking you went somewhere other than Taco Bell.”
I’m interested in trying them, but I’ve been feeling some hesitation as of late with regards to ingesting Taco Bell food. Recently, I saw a commercial for a Taco Bell promotion which was offering a set of four $2 meal deals which included a 5 layer burrito, a medium soda, and a bag of Dorritos. Now don’t get me wrong, as an American I’m super pro on values, but when a small bag of Dorritos at the store costs a dollar, and a soda costs almost two, why am I getting what is essentially a FREE 5-Layer burrito? That’s FIVE layers of food for nothing. Not for 5¢, or a high-five, or a can of old tomato soup for the poor. A free burrito. That’s fucking disgusting. At least give me the illusion that I’m getting something valuable for my value, and not old, grey, under hangings of the beef, and E-Coli grade lettuce. Pretend like it’s so delicious I should want to pay more than $2 for a reasonable amount of food. But hey, maybe I have it backward, and I’m paying $2 for a burrito, and it’s the chips and soda that I’m getting for free. And in that case, it’s a hell of a deal.
Which brings me to the best deal, the free Taco Bell taco truck (they have a Twitter?) that was spotted all around the San Diego Gas Lamp district during ComicCon. I know guys, didn’t I just spend a paragraph of your life (and mine) on a stupid diatribe on Taco Bell under charging for their crappy food, and now I’m all pumped about them giving me the cheapest of meals? Free isn’t cheap. Free is free. And when you get something for free, your awareness of the chance you are taking is inherent in your decision to accept the gratis goods. These tacos were free, about par with the standard to which I hold Taco Bell, and didn’t make me sick, so chalk up a win rather than a striking case of hypocrisy.
I have heard a rumor that the trucks aren’t just to get Taco Bell back into the public favor (although the Cantina tacos are an awfully loud cry to regain, or gain, credibility), but that Taco Bell is just checking to see if there is a fair public response to the advent of a Taco Bell taco truck. If the people approve, they shall have even faster food. If the people protest, Taco Bell will return to it’s drive through status. Anyway, the free tacos were tasty, but I’d rather buy food from a real taco truck any day of the week…and I fucking WISH that Minneapolis would get with the trucks now that they are legal.
Jesus.
Anyway, while on my jaunt to the South West I made a vow to eat every and any taco that presented itself to me, which is to say that I didn’t have a choice when it came to the Taco Bell taco truck anyway, but also means that when I arrived at the Houston airport for my layover, I had no other possible course of action than to eat airport tacos at Pappasito’s Cantina. I mean, you have to admit, it looks like a pretty awesome time.
They had every beverage you could possibly desire (they serve the devils drink at the airport food court in Houston, so add bottled beers to the list of other things to find in Texas, such as steers, and queers), and it looked like they were freshly grilling their taco meat. I was so excited to have a real taco at a locale typically reserved for fast-fooderies.
How blind I was! The tacos were over priced, served in giant flour burrito wraps, and filled to the brim with oily ground beef. I’ll admit that they hit the spot, but weren’t the kind of food you want to be eating before sitting for five hours on a plane. My bad.
The sides were really, really delicious, though, and Pappasito’s really touched my heart with their sprig of fresh cilantro. Anyway, it beat having another boring old hamburger, or over priced sandwich from Starbucks.
Finally, although it’s not a formal review, I’d like to give a “shout out” (did I use that term right?) to Rettew’s catering in Lancaster, PA for catering our wedding with such awesome tacos, and such delicious gazpacho. Everyone loved the food, and Bob and I really regret not getting to eat more at the reception. We were kind of busy…but what we had was super tasty!
Alright, now I’ll tell you why I’ve been slacking on my taco review duties. With our recent acquisition of a Playstation 3, and the wise purchase of the contemporary classic Heavy Rain, I haven’t been getting much of anything done. Or, I hadn’t until I finished my first play through of this mind-blowing game.
At first, I thought the game was awfully boring, and just an example of a video game company making some intricately structured controller-centric game to display the “future of gaming,” and to flaunt the things that they can do. Sort of like 2012, but with video games. But then, about half way through the game, it got really really good, and I could hardly stop playing it to even go to work. I was just itching to know what was going to happen.
I’m not really sure how much to say about Heavy Rain without giving anyone thinking about getting the game preconceived notions about it. I also don’t want to ruin the plot. What I will say is that everything you do, all the choices you make, effect the outcome, and there are 20 different endings- some of them really, really sad and some of them disgustingly happy. Although, it doesn’t strike me that the way you actually play the game affects the outcome, like Silent Hill 2 where if your fighting style was up-close with melee weapons, and you waited until James Sunderland was almost dead to heal, your ending would be the tragic suicide ending, but rather Heavy Rain’s endings revolve more around a set of specific decisions and encounters. I haven’t read up yet on Quantric Dream, and how they dealt with the choose-your-own-adventure -style mechanism of the game, but I’m planning on it. I’ll report back if it’s interesting.
But seriously, if you haven’t played Silent Hill 2, get on it.
Currently I’m working on a second play through, but I’m finding the drudgery of the first half just awful, having already played it myself, and watched someone else play it. I’m really trying not to just look up all of the endings.
After all, I’ve got plenty of other games on tap.
What’s with this video game review, smack in the middle of this taco blog? Well, we’re working on a new content format. We here at All the Tacos were thinking that there is so much more awesome stuff to love and discuss than just tacos, why not talk about it all, especially video games? But don’t worry, we’ll still be hitting you with the hardcore taco reviews you’ve grown to know, love, respect, and envy.
