Torchy’s Tacos opened a location at the newly renovated Foothills Mall. Located right next to SmashBurger, Torchy’s Tacos offers a selection of different, more “Americanized” taco creations.

Their menu includes some more traditional tacos such as beef barbacoa and carnitas, but they also have a variety of tacos that one might consider to be less traditional like “The Tailgater,” their taco of the month. All piled on top of a flour tortilla, this taco comes with its main ingredients of panko-crusted chicken, bacon and potatoes and is topped off with queso, wing sauce, ranch slaw, blue cheese, and honey. Talk about unusual.

In addition, Torchy’s Tacos has a menu of signature breakfast tacos. For all those breakfast lovers out there, these tacos are served from open to close.

Not only is the breakfast served all day, but the alcohol is as well. They offer a selection of beers and other, more traditional alcoholic beverages, but some of the drinks on their signature menu might be something for the daredevils; two of their drinks are made with a spicy, habanero-infused tequila.

Upon first walking into Torchy’s Tacos, something that caught my eye right away was the restaurant layout and indoor architecture all together. The inside was very clean and fresh with a lot of tables and booths all throughout. The outside patio also had a very clean feeling, and there was a lovely ambience created with the lighting and the music.

The staff at Torchy’s Tacos was very friendly and attentive. They made sure that we were enjoying our food regularly and were incredibly good at making sure that the tables were constantly being kept clean before anyone else went to go sit down.

As far as ordering is concerned, it is quite simple and like most other taco shops; you walk in, order your food at the register and then seat yourself at any open table.

To start my meal, I chose to try the chips and house made queso, and I was not disappointed. The homemade tortilla chips were thin and perfectly crunchy with just the right amount of salt. Upon first taste, the queso seemed almost sweet, which I have to say was rather startling at first, but once the sweetness passed, there was a lovely spice that followed.

As for my main meal, the tacos, I chose to go with the #5 Breakfast Taco and the Brushfire Taco.

The breakfast taco was not bad, but it did not meet all my expectations for what I know a good breakfast taco to be. It consisted of a choice of refried black or pinto beans, potatoes and cheese on your choice of a flour or corn tortilla. The beans were just average refried beans, not bad but nothing exceptional, and the cheese was just plain cheese. As for the potatoes, while the flavor was good, they were too undercooked for my preference. So much so that they even had a slight crunch to them still.

The Brushfire Taco came with a choice of corn or flour tortilla topped with Jamaican jerk chicken, grilled jalapenos, sour cream, fresh mango, cilantro and their Diablo hot sauce on the side. This taco was more like what I had expected from my visit at Torchy’s Tacos. The chicken had a slightly sweet flavor, and the mango added another element of sweet to the dish as well. The grilled jalapenos, sour cream and hot sauce though were perfect for offsetting that sweetness.

Overall, I believe that Torchy’s Tacos would not be a bad place to go from time to time, and it is evidently a successful business. Although, there were a few things that did not meet expectations, and the prices were arguably a bit too high for what you were getting. The atmosphere was very nice, and I will likely go back again.

If you are looking for real, authentic tacos, this is not the place for you. However, if you are just looking for some pretty good tacos and a nice environment to enjoy an evening out with friends, I would recommend this restaurant, if not just for the bar that will serve you alcohol at seven in the morning.