Whoever the hell Randy is - He makes a hellava giant crispy chicken taco. At Randy's Mexican Restaurant in Benicia California they serve it up "Cali Style" with lots of shredded chicken, lettuce, cilantro and Parmesan cheese. uh......Say what esse? Parm on a taco? Dude, consider this, you're in Cali where if somebody were to put moldy Velveeta and broken glass on a taco it would probably STILL be bad-ass. These ain't no sissy sized tacos either - just two of them will put you at the limit and while you're waiting to see how that sits, you need to contemplate how you're gonna manage that mountain of pinto beans and Spanish rice that is staring up at you. A LOT of food. Back to the taco......awesome chicken in a corn tort which is then folded and fried forming the tort in an unbendable taco shape. Convenient and neatly packaged, yes, but the rigidity of the tort will likely cause massive tort failure upon biting as the inward stress vector created by biting teeth completely compromises the structural integrity of the entire taco. Don't be surprised if you find yourself abandoning the hand-held option and eating it with a fork, taco salad style, after just two bites.
Randy's is a white boy place, as is the town of Benicia. This is not the place to come if you are in need of a big bowl of menudo or nopales....in other words, you won't find "La Raza" holding Caesar Chavez inspired civil disobedience strategy meetings here. - but it's not a yuppie place either as it looks as if Randy has spent no more than about 12 bucks decorating the place.
The value is there too. $10.95 for two tacos and really good rice and beans isn't too bad when you consider 1) you're in California, 2) The tacos are easily twice (or three times) bigger than typical taco stand sized tacos, and 3) you have lots of leftovers for lunch the next day.
The Review:
Taste: 4.5/5.0 (moist chicken - I'd say "juicy" but hate when people say that because meat does not have juice in it)
Veggies: 3.5/5.0 (lots of lettuce and tomato - needed less of that and more cilantro. Jalapenos are available - BONUS POINTS)
Tort: 3.5/5.0 (tasty fried tort - but too rigid for the untrained taco eater - probable massive tort failure)
Restaurant Decorations: 4.0/5.0 (Randy knows the food is "mas importante" decorations are for Chevy's)
Value: 4.0/5.0 (big portions great prices)
Total: 3.4/5.0
