My Meal Cost: $8.94. Health Rating B. Yelp 3 stars
This is not your fathers tacos. As Spanish speakers know, papa is the Spanish word for potato. I was looking forward to this one (although I had gone there once in the past) because I LOVE potatoes. Boiled, fried, mashed, hash browned, scallop, baked, in soup, chipped, Pringled, in almost any way that they are prepared, they are a favorite, so a potato taco sounded just like the right thing for a good early dinner.
A little on why I had a problem last week with this spot. It seems that Papa Tacos is in the midst of rebranding itself. They have knocked down the wall that separated the small taco stand type place with the sports bar next door and have, kind of, combined the two spaces. Papa Tacos is now to be called Krazy J's Express and will offer a quick meal alternative to the sports bar table service.
And, the hours will coincide with those of the sports bar so while it would seem a natural for lunch it now doesn't open until 4:00 pm. However, the closing time on some nights is 10:00 pm while on weekends and other nights it's 4:00 am!! A good alternative for those who have a taco (or potato) craving after a show at the Fox or just the late night munchies. Yelp doesn't have updated hours so it still says that they are open at 11:00 am. Don't expect them to be open then as I found out last week.
In the 1931 Pomona Fox building along Garey Avenue, Papa Tacos is in one of the original historic storefronts that were part of the Fox in its heyday. The space has a walk-up order area with a lot of menu signage and table and counter seating as well as outside seating, although it is also a great take-out option. The menu is a lot more than potato tacos. They have burritos, sopes, quesadillas, loaded nachos (or fries), and a number of specialty chicken dishes. They also serve beer or fountain soft drinks.
Most items you can get with your choice of meat, but unlike most of the taquerias visited on this blog, Papas doesn't have the lenguica, buche, tripa, and other ethnic meats but sticks with asada, pollo, carnitas, and pastor.
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| Note that I forgot to take the photo before I had almost finished one taco and had taken a bite from the sope. |
Since this was to be an early dinner before a 6pm meeting across the street, I decided to make it somewhat light. Of course, I had to order papa, so I ordered two papa tacos ($1.25 each), a carne asada sope, and a diet Coke.
The tacos were crispy shell tacos with mashed potato, lettuce, and cheese and were exactly what I had hoped they would be. The crunch of the taco with the soft, creamy potato had a terrific mouth feel. The sope was loaded with carne asada, lettuce, and a dusting of cheese on a thick corn patty. It was both delicious and filling enough to get me through my two meetings until I got home around 9:00 pm. These particular items were not at all spicy and I believe that the Lovely Mrs C could have eaten them without any trepidation.
A good experience once I could find it open and figure out what was going on.
UP NEXT: Krazy J's Cantina and Grill
Since Krazy J's doesn't open until 4:00 pm, this one will end up being a dinner review, and probably a little later than normal.
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