FUZZY’S TACO SHOP

Address: 111 South River Road, Suite A, West Lafayette, IN 47906

When I read an article over the summer that said the space where Potbelly’s used to be on River Road was soon to be occupied with a new tenant, I got excited. I’m always really curious to see of any new restaurants that open up in the area, and always eager to try them out. The apartment was low on groceries, so me and my two roommates decided to go give Fuzzy’s a shot. I went in really without any expectations, but I was actually pleasantly surprised at what I found.

The restaurant model has you order at a counter beforehand, and then sit down to wait for your number to be called, very similar to Five Guys. The one thing that struck me when I first looked at the menu was the sheer variety that was offered; I struggled to figure out what to order for a good few minutes. With dishes ranging from burritos to enchiladas to soft/crispy tacos, and meats ranging from chicken to pork to ground beef, there was plenty of combinations that I could make. I stuck with a taco plate, which included two tacos and two of their sides. I went with a ground beef and chicken taco, with Mix-Mex fried rice and Latin fried potatoes on the side.

When I went up to pick up my food from the window, I was amazed just how much was on the plate, especially for the $6.41 that I had paid for the meal. I sat back down and tried the food, and I thought that it was pretty good. The tacos were made using corn tortillas (which I definitely prefer over the flour variety), and the meats were moist and had a really nice blend of spices. Both tacos were finished off with shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, fresh cilantro, and cotija cheese, and everything in the tacos really came nicely together for some fresh and satisfying bites. The fried rice was pretty average and slightly on the dry side, but the Latin fried potatoes were really quite something. Take regular fried potatoes, add a little bit more moisture, kick up the heat a little bit, and that’s what you get with those Latin fried potatoes. I am definitely considering getting a double-order of those potatoes next time I’m there.

The atmosphere they are striving for definitely feels like sports lounge-ish; in addition to the food, they offer a variety of beers and margaritas, and their dining area is decked out with several new flat-screen TVs. It could definitely be a place to grab a bite to eat, something to drink, and relax watching some football or basketball. There’s definitely a market for that, especially around a college campus. Like their name says, it’s a taco shop, and it’s definitely worth giving Fuzzy’s a try, especially with their large portions and wide selection.

Here are my rankings for Fuzzy’s Taco Shop:

Food: 4.5 / 5
I was very impressed with how much the portions were, in addition to their attention to all of their ingredients (the cilantro and cotija cheese crumbles were really nice touches to add to the tacos). The number of food combinations are also something to note as well.

Atmosphere: 4 / 5
With the setup of all of the tables, placement of TVs, and brightly-colored decor, Fuzzy’s provides a great atmosphere to relax.

Service: 5 / 5
The employee at the counter was really helpful when we were ordering and answered some questions we had about the food, and when he came around to clean the surrounding tables, he asked us how our food was as well.

Price: 4.5 / 5
What a bargain for those combo plates. I really got a ton of food out of it, and I felt satisfyingly full walking out of the restaurant.

Overall: 18 / 20 (90%)

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June 22, 2012 Post Update:

This past week, I found out that the Fuzzy’s location closed down for good (article located here). It is certainly sad to see them go, especially since I thought that the food was pretty good and they also had some great drink specials. I guess summers at Purdue make for some tough times on some of the local businesses. Triple XXX, however, seemed to take things in stride.

BEEF ENCHILADAS

My arbitrary food inspirations have really been kicking in at odd times recently. This past Sunday, I opened up the pantry, saw a can of refried beans, and decided that I wanted to try to make beef enchiladas. I know, really random, right?

Ingredients
(Makes 8 enchiladas)
~ 1 package of 8 corn tortillas
~ 1 lb. ground beef
~ 1 small onion, minced
~ 2 cloves garlic, minced
~ Salt & pepper to taste
~ Chili powder to taste
~ 3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (I had a full package of mozzarella lying around, so I used that)
~ 8 oz. jar of enchilada sauce (I used the Ortega mild)

Process
Go ahead and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. After that, the next thing that needs to be done is to make the beef mixture that goes into the tortillas, so to prep for that go ahead and cut up the onions and the garlic. After that’s done, fire up the stove on a nice medium-high and warm up a large skillet with some oil in it (a lot of natural oils come out of the beef, so you don’t need a ton of oil on the surface). Start to cook down the beef and be sure to watch it as it is cooking. Add some salt, pepper, and the chili powder to the meat for seasoning. I also threw in some Chipotle Tabasco sauce (that stuff is awesome!) as well to give the meat a little more kick. Please note that it is imperative that you cook it just enough so that the red has disappeared and not too much over that, since we don’t want to dry out the beef. When the beef is finished cooking, put it into another bowl. Now, start cooking the onions and garlic, and mix those together. Once the onions have started to go translucent, throw the beef back into the skillet. Turn the heat down to medium, just mix everything together, and after a few minutes remove it from the heat.

Take a 9″ x 13″ baking dish and pour about 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the dish and spread that around. Take each of the corn tortillas, spread some of the beef mixture into it, top it off with some of the cheese, then tightly roll it up and place it into the baking dish. Repeat this process until you’ve used up all of the beef mixture. I only was able to squeeze out about 7 enchiladas, but if I spread out my beef mixture more during the preparation, then I’m sure that I could have accommodated for 8. When all of your wrapped tortillas are snugly fit into your baking dish, pour the rest of the sauce over the them, and top it off with the rest of the cheese. Throw the dish into the oven for about 15 – 17 minutes, or until you see that the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling. Leave it in there for too long, and the sauce will dry out from the baking.

The ironic thing is, the can of refried beans that gave me the idea to make enchiladas in the first place, I didn’t even use because I thought that having two enchiladas per person would be enough to eat!

CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL

Address: 186 State Route 35, Eatontown, NJ 07724

Oh Chiptole, how you hold a place in my heart.

I remember my first time going to Chipotle was in New York City in 2005, and just absolutely loving every aspect of it. My one friend had initially said that he heard the portions were small, so we decided to each get two burritos during lunchtime. Yep, that was a huge mistake (both literally and figuratively). I was so stuffed after the first burrito that I could barely even look at the second burrito. Since then, I have learned never to underestimate the amount of food that Chipotle gives you. I was really delighted when I found out that there was one right on campus at Purdue, and even more thrilled when during my first winter break back from school, I saw there was another one opening up at the mall by my house.

The thing that I love about Chipotle is that I always know what to expect when I’m there: great tasting food, really fresh ingredients, and expeditious service. Both the Chipotle at school and at home consistently deliver to these expectations and that’s what keeps driving me back for more. After hearing various things from friends about what you can do to customize your meal at Chipotle, I’ve come up with my perfect meal, rich with both flavor and a huge portion. Just follow these steps:

• Order any burrito bowl coupled with any kind of meat. I usually go with the chicken.
• Ask for three soft shell tortillas on the side. They’ll give these to you for free.
• Load up with your salsas and your toppings. I’m a fan of the “mild + hot salsa” combination, added with some sour cream, cheese, and lettuce.
• Ask for some salad dressing on the side. Chipotle’s honey vinaigrette dressing is truly killer, and they’ll throw this in for free as well.
• Pay (obviously).
• Take a bottle of the Chipotle Tabasco sauce over to the table. Shake a bit of it over your burrito bowl. Add in the honey vinaigrette dressing and mix it up. Then, put it onto your soft shell tortillas and enjoy three tacos plus your extra filling in your burrito bowl!

Every time I walk out of that place eating that meal, I am as stuffed as a bear. And it was only $7! That’s crazy!

Here are my rankings for this Chipotle location:

Food: 5 / 5
Ingredients always look and taste fresh. There are just a ton of combinations that you can go for.

Atmosphere: 5 / 5
Clean tables and a really spacious dining space.

Service: 5 / 5
From the time it takes me to order my food to the time it takes me to hand over my money, it’s usually less than a minute and a half. That’s pretty darn fast, and the employees are really nice too.

Price: 4.5 / 5
This past time I went in, I noticed that the prices had gone up by just a bit, but I still am impressed with the amount of food I can get. Great bang for your buck.

Overall: 19.5 / 20 (98%)

QUESO MEXICAN GRILL

Address: 650 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft, NJ 07738

Every time I drove by the intersection at Middletown Lincroft and Newman Springs, I would always see these people standing at the corner holding signs that said, “Queso Mexican Grill now open!” I looked into the back of the plaza and, sure enough, a new place had popped up in there. My friend and I ventured over one day during lunch break from work to check it out.

When we first walked in, it was actually a really nice interior. The tables reminded me of Chipotle, and the wall color schemes reminded me of Qdoba. We started walking over to the one end of the counter where it said, “Start Here,” but were then led back to the cash registers at the other end, where apparently would place our orders there (I think they are planning to order menu signs to have it an ordering style more like Chipotle / Qdoba). The menu offered a large variety of options, from burrito bowls to salads to tacos to quesadillas. I opted to go for a barbacoa burrito bowl and my friend went for three of their tacos. When asked what I wanted to drink, I went with a cup of water (the employee asked me if tap water was okay and I said it was fine). He gave us our receipts and we proceeded to sit down at one of the tables, since the food is delivered out to your table. I examined the receipt and saw that I had been “charged for $1.65 for a small soda.”

Wait, what? I specifically asked for water, to which he gave me tap water and he charged me for the cup that it was in? The last time that happened was at a burger place a while back, but “charging for the cup” is a big no-no in my book. When we got our food, I thought that the presentation of the burrito bowl was pretty nice, but there didn’t seem like a whole lot of food in it. I gave it a try and the flavors were just okay. The rice was definitely overcooked and dry (and the bowl itself had more rice than anything else) and the barbacoa was kind of bland. When I brought up the dry rice issue to the guy who rang me up earlier, he simply asked if I had put it on the comment card they provided me with, no apology or anything. It wasn’t exactly the greatest of experiences that I’ve had, and both Chipotle and Qdoba still rank higher for me to get fast casual Mexican food in the area, especially for a bigger portion and a more flavorful meal.

Here are my rankings for Queso Mexican Grill:

Food: 3.5 / 5
Lots of food options, but from my order, the food’s taste was mediocre at best.

Atmosphere: 4 / 5
I thought that the restaurant was really nicely decorated and had a good layout overall. Dining tables all stayed nice and clean.

Service: 3.5 / 5
The cashier that helped me out was really friendly in explaining the entire menu to us when we first walked in. The fact that I received sub-par food and they didn’t take responsibility for it . . . yeah, that doesn’t fly well.

Price: 3 / 5
Definitely not a fan at all for getting charged for water. The prices for the food are on the higher side for the portion you receive (I feel like I get a lot more food when I go to Chipotle or Qdoba and pay the same price).

Overall: 14 / 20 (70%)

QDOBA MEXICAN GRILL

Address: 1130 Broad Street, Shrewsbury, NJ 07702

I got very excited when I drove by a shopping plaza the other day only to find that Qdoba had set up shop near my house. While I was at school, I frequented Qdoba plenty of times before and had really wished that one would open up near me so that I could still get it while I was back home on breaks. With my wishes answered, I visited the Qdoba to try it as a new addition to the local restaurant community.

Most everything in the location was retained from my impression of the Qdoba brand at school: the food, the decor, the variety of options, it was all there. Normally at Qdoba I rotate between my usuals of the naked burrito, the quesadilla, and the three-cheese nachos. Everyone at the store was very friendly and the dining area was consistently cleaned as the guests left. It was, however, a little quiet, but then again, lunch at 1:30 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon could cause that too.

I’m really hoping that people in the community will hear about Qdoba and come to try it out as an alternative to the Chipotle about 10 minutes away. Don’t get me wrong, I love satisfying my Chipotle cravings just as much my Qdoba cravings, but I would hate to see the Qdoba stumble with not enough people giving it a shot.

Here are my rankings for this Qdoba location:

Food: 5 / 5
As per every Qdoba location, always a great variety of options to choose from and everything tasted really fresh.

Atmosphere: 5 / 5
The restaurant looks great on the inside with the decor and the dining tables are always clean.

Service: 4.5 / 5
The staff behind the counter preparing my food were very courteous and worked pretty quickly.

Price: 4.5 / 5
The prices here were very similar to those of the Qdoba I have back at school, and I think that it’s a fairly good deal for the amount of food that you get.

Overall: 19 / 20 (95%)