JOHNS CREEK DIGEST

Armando’s Taqueria

“A delicious, fast and fresh take on Mexican street cuisine”

Three Chariot staff members took on the tasty new “Armando’s Taqueria,” located in Duluth.

RATING: 9/10

Armando’s Taqueria 4190 Abbotts Bridge Road Duluth, GA 30096 (470) 403 - 4738

JEFFERY SHEN, news editor L ocated on Abbotts Bridge Road, Armando’s Taqueria is a newly opened Mexican street foodstyle restaurant in Duluth. The Chariot brought along three members to see if the Taqueria really lives up to the hype surrounding this new restaurant. While the Taqueria’s building pays homage to the Sonic it used to be, the environment certainly did not have the same style as a fast-food establishment. The only indication of the building’s past use were the newly painted, bright yellow drive-in spots repurposed as parking spaces. The building has been completely reworked from the inside out: on the outside, bright strings of lights and colorful bar-style seating is available; inside, murals and paintings line the walls beside four-top seating. Food-wise, this restaurant has a wide variety of Mexican street-food all for low, but fair prices. Street tacos are offered for $2.69 with over 9 choices of meat, drinks like horchata and Jarritos (a bottled soda) and other fare such as burritos and elote all have costs compared to chains such as Chipotle, but with more of a home-made vibe. The Chariot sampled from a range of small plates. First, the elote: this was a cob of corn on a stick, perfectly flame-charred, topped with mayonnaise, parmesan cheese and a dash of chili powder. Anyone who is a fan of corn-on-the-cob would love this dish. With our food, we ordered a Jarritos Pineapple, a soda-like bottled drink in a glass container. Finally, the main items - street tacos. We ordered five tacos with barbacoa (similar to barbeque beef), chorizo, chicken, pastor (marinated pork) and a sausage and beef combination. All tacos came on two soft corn tortilla shells fresh off the stovetop, a sizable portion of cilantro, a few radish slices and sauteed onions. Just from the presentation, it is clear that these tacos wouldn’t be anything like the traditional Americanized tacos of fast-food chains - each corn tortilla was piled high with homemade sauces and fresh greens. The meat in each taco was flavorful and seasoned well, especially the chorizo. For the short wait time of only a few minutes, the quality of all of our food certainly exceeded any previous expectations. Overall, Armando’s Taqueria is a well priced fast-casual restaurant perfect for picking up authentic Mexican street food. The decor, along with the high quality food, make the Taqueria a must try location. Especially in the cold Winter months, Armando’s offers hearty food that will fill you up without breaking the bank.