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| - Chico's Tacos is kind of the queenly sister of the chain Mexican restaurants peppered around Phoenix like so many grains of sand in your swimsuit. It is clearly several steps up from your local generic Mexican drive through, but it's still just not tasty.
This fact does not dissuade me from visiting Chico's on a semi-kinda-regular basis - it is close to my work, and the wait is generally minimal. Please keep in mind that my experience is only a reflection of a typical "lunch rush" Chico's environment - the atmosphere is probably different most other times of the day, but I imagine that my observations on the food will hold true regardless of the hour.
A quick-talking girl at the counter will hustle and bustle you into making your order as speedily as possible, and will then hand you a slip of paper with your order number on it. We all know how this game goes - hang out, and wait for said number to be called.
If you need to be in-and-out quickly, this is a good time to fill up a few little plastic cups with salsa for the road - there is a salsa bar with probably 5 or 6 salsas to choose from, and there will be no salsa already included with your to-go order. I like the salsa bar...it's always clean and well-stocked, and all of the salsas have a good flavor. Your order will include a meager serving of restaurant-made (but not quite warm and delicious) tortilla chips.
I have ordered many things at Chico's, and, okay, I understand - it's a Mexican "grilled" platter, or the entree includes "grilled' chicken, but does everything need to be blackened and charred and dry to the point of an unusual "crunch"? This is where that salsa we discussed earlier comes in. Doused in copious amount of salsa, it's not too bad, but I can't imagine straight-up muching on it without that extra step of preparation.
The rice is good. I can't comment on the beans, because I don't eat them!
The inside of the restaurant is cute - much nicer than your usual chain, reflete with wooden parrots and brightly-colored tiles. Something about the inside of the building makes it very loud inside at lunchtime - not a spot to sit and bring a book and contemplate the mysteries of and the reality of your newly found adulthood...not that I've, you know, tried that...or anything...
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