Taco Bell has a new television commercial featuring celebrity chef Loreena Garcia. It shows her happily cooking the chain’s new Cantina Bell menu using all sorts of fresh ingredients.
I’ll admit I’m not a regular diner at Taco Bell, but I was intrigued enough to give it a taste recently. I took along my college-bound football-fit son because I figured he needed the calories.
I ordered a chicken Cantina Bowl and a side order of corn salsa and chips. The kid picked out a steak Cantina Burrito and a side of guacamole and chips.
My first impression of the bowl was that the portion was somewhat small. Digging in through the lettuce, the “citrus-herb marinated chicken” was white meat with grill marks that tasted mostly like lime and salt. The black beans, “cilantro rice” and “creamy cilantro dressing” were stunningly bland. The guacamole may have been made with “real Hass avocados” but the color and consistency told me that it had come processed in a pouch. The roasted corn and pepper salsa mainly tasted sweet and the “freshly prepared pico de gallo” simply wasn’t. The chips were Taco Bell ccorn chips. The whole thing was lukewarm at best.
We initially had hope for the Cantina Burrito because the whole burrito had been griddled which lent it a little more chew. However, the modest amount of steak bits was all in one end of the tortilla and were vastly outnumbered by the same rice, beans, guac, corn, dressing and pico. While giving the burrito a thumbs’-down in part because it was so small, the boy allowed that the burrito was “the best thing I’ve ever eaten at Taco Bell.” We gave the chain credit for at least trying to evolve its offerings.
Cantina Bell clearly mimics the menu at Colorado’s Chipotle Mexican Grill chain so we headed to our local Chipotle in Boulder immediately to compare items and get rid of the non-taste in our mouths. The first thing I noticed was that Chipotle smells like real food has been cooking, which in fact it has.
I ordered a chicken bowl and he grabbed a steak burrito, each happily customized with our choice of ingredients. Each was clearly a bigger portion than at Taco Bell.
I loved the flame-grilled, amply spiced chicken, the rice that actually tasted like cilantro and the corn salsa that had some heat to it.
The burrito was packed with chunks of juicy grilled steak, sauteed fajita veggies and pico de gallo that looked and tasted freshly made. “Eating this after THAT stuff makes me happy” said the kid.
In the end, the meal with two fountain drinks cost $14.93 at Taco Bell and $17.45 at Chipotle. We were happy to pay the difference.
That Taco Bell TV ad ends by asking a musical culinary question:
“Think Taco Bell can’t do a gourmet bowl?”
I don’t THINK Taco Bell can’t do a gormet bowl, I know it.
ON THE MENU
When it comes to cheese culture, Colorado is best known for the spreadable chevre from Haystack and MouCo’s creamy Camembert. But the Windsor Dairy is rapidly gaining fans for its made-on-the farm cheeses. Each artisan batch tastes different depending on the raw milk available the day it’s made. One of my favorites is Windsor Dairy’s McIntyre Jack-style cheese that has been aged more than 60 days. It has a rich, nutty taste but is relatively mild. For information on the dairy and where the cheese are available, visit windsordairy.com.
EATERY UPDATE
Because of the theater shooting tragedy, German Fest 2012 scheduled for July 27-29 at Helga’s German Restaurant has been cancelled. No word yet on when the event will be rescheduled. … Aurora’s Royal Hilltop Tap Room hosts a day-long benefit July 29 for the family of shooting victim Alex Sullivan. The restaurant will donate 10 percent of the day’s sales and the servers will contribute tips. … Thanks go out to the Aurora’s restaurant community which answered the call July 20 to provide meals for police officers and displaced apartment building residents at several sites. … Caribbean Breeze Latin Grill opened recently at 15490 E. Colfax Ave. in Aurora serving Mexican, Puerto Rican and Peruvian cuisine. … Tao Tao Noodle Bar has closed at 10400 E. 6th Ave. in Aurora. We shall miss the first class postickers and xiao long bao, the steamed buns filled with broth. … Pizzeria Di Olinto opened recently at 12023 East Arapahoe Road in Centennial. … One of North Denver’s last great red sauce joints, Pagliacci’s Italian Restaurant, will close August 19 at 1440 W. 33rd Avenue. … Get ready: The winners of the Aurora Sentinel’s inaugural Grade A awards will be announced on Aug. 12. (You won’t believe who won best burger in Aurora.)
COME TO THE TABLE
Read more Nibbles columns, the Colorado Food Blog, and other Colorado Table features at aurorasentinel.com/colorado-table. Send comments and questions to: jlehndorff@aurorasentinel.com. Be sure to visit (and like) the Nibbles Facebook page. Listen to Radio Nibbles, 8:25 a.m. Thursdays on KGNU (88.5 FM, 1390 AM, and kgnu.org).
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
“We are losing the daily ritual of sitting down around the table (without the intrusion of television), of having the opportunity to interact, to share our experiences and concerns, to listen to others. Sitting down and eating together is a binding quality for a family. Eating on the run doesn’t cover all the bases.”
– “Fanny Farmer Cookbook” author Marion Cunningham, 1922-2012
Nice article!! Well put! Also just love love that Fanny Farmer quote.