Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Taqueria Cazadores (Santa Clara, CA): Nachos with Chicken

Sometimes, to get good food, ya gotta go to the "wrong" side of the tracks.  Not that anywhere in the city of Santa Clara is nearly as "wrong" as the funky parts of some cities in California, but hopefully you get my drift.  This little taqueria with 90% comfy booth seating (Nice!) is located off of Lafayette near Monague Expressway in a somewhat hidden strip mall.  20 minutes from my office, but worth the trip (and risk?).  Sorry - I'm over-doing it.  For the most part, the folks at Cazadores (Spanish for hunters) didn't over-do it on the nachos.  Characteristics of this plate fall into 3 categories:

Underdone:
- Cheese microwaved with some unmelted shreds hanging out on one side of the plate
- Under-ripe avocado (althought I love "pure" guacamole, I would rather they'd mixed the slices up with something else to mask this)
- My friend had to mix  of their salsas together (pico de gallo and roasted salsa) to get something that was really tasty, although the creamy green salsa (tomatillo and avocado?) was pretty good, if not a bit too spicy)

Just right:

- Chicken in a sauce that tasted a lot like enchiladas (bonus!)
- Home-made fried tortilla chips.
- I Remembered to hold the beans
- Their Logo...
...awesome, eh?  Looks like a cross between a jackalope, a lion, and a deer!

Overdone:
- Come on - just because I used a Google Wallet voucher ($5 for $10 of food), you add a $1 gratuity?  And you didn't even walk our food over to our table?  Puh-leaze!
- $3 for a 16 ounce bottle of Coke?  Ouch.
- $10.93 total for nachos and a can of coke is seriously pricey - thank God I had the Google voucher!

Rating: 3½ out of 5
Rating Notes:  Above average chicken, built-in enchilada taste and home-fried chips will get me every time!  Could have done with some better avocado/guacamole and salsa.  Questionable neighborhood.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/M0cY8f

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