Del Taco - a Lake Forest-Based Franchise, with Numerous Area Locations

[DonRocks]

9 hours ago, dpamlin said:

I am a big fan of quick service restaurants when done right.  Quickway might be the worst QSR this side of Del Taco.  Borderline inedible. 

Wat's wrong wit Del Taco? 😠

A Green Burrito is 69 cents (or was), and completely vegan, save for the cheese - this thing is de-lish.

I lived off these in college, and had them as recently as two-years ago - they're my best friends.

[dpamlin]

7 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Wat's wrong wit Del Taco? 😠

A Green Burrito is 69 cents (or was), and completely vegan, save for the cheese - this thing is de-lish.

I lived off these in college, and had them as recently as two-years ago - they're my best friends.

At least the Del Taco's in Missouri in the late 1990s/early 2000s were complete garbage.  Made Taco Bell look like elBulli.

[DonRocks]

15 hours ago, dpamlin said:

At least the Del Taco's in Missouri in the late 1990s/early 2000s were complete garbage.  Made Taco Bell look like elBulli.

Never trust a college kid's food palate, no matter what he turned into. 😉

Seriously, I had a Del Taco Green Burrito within the past couple of years - it's a scoop of refried beans (mostly mush), green chili sauce (mild), a little sour cream, and a small handful of cheddar thrown into a flour burrito, then tightly wrapped - they're teeny-tiny, and have a flavor that you either like or don't. I *love* the combination of green chili sauce (completely canned) and mushy refried beans, and with a little sour cream and cheddar, it works for me as guilty-pleasure food, preferably if I'm hungover as hell - do note that it's vegan. Not one single component of this burrito can be called "high-quality"; if you like the flavor of the combination, good for you - you have a dirt-cheap meal on your hands; if not, you're like the other 99% of the world.

Never underestimate the power of the Bell - I never got hooked on it; there are people who absolutely love it as their guilty-pleasure food. I know there's probably lard in the tortillas, possibly the beans (blowing up the vegan notion), but the combo works for me, just like Taco Bell's works for Willie Nelson et al. 

But my goodness, please don't ever put my reputation (or, what's left of it) on the line when it comes to judging this industrial burrito.

[dracisk]

On 3/23/2019 at 1:50 AM, DonRocks said:

I *love* the combination of green chili sauce (completely canned) and mushy refried beans, and with a little sour cream and cheddar, it works for me as guilty-pleasure food, preferably if I'm hungover as hell - do note that it's vegan.

Wait, it's not vegan if it has sour cream and cheddar in it. Am I missing something?

[DonRocks]

1 hour ago, dracisk said:

Wait, it's not vegan if it has sour cream and cheddar in it. Am I missing something?

I should never assume people know what's going on inside my head.  I meant "the components that could be vegan or not, are - the tortillas and the beans have no lard." You can make it vegan by holding the cheese, and sour cream is an optional add-on - now that I'm thinking about it, I like the green-sauce burritos better without sour cream, with just the salsa verde (but for some reason, I like sour cream with the red sauce - they mix together, sort of like a beef stroganoff gravy). Sorry, that was pretty lame on my part.

Please note: I'm no more recommending Del Taco than I am Burger King - the bean burrito with salsa verde is a weird, guilty pleasure / secret shame of mine which is inconsistent with the rest of my life. 😁

[Ericandblueboy]

Does Del Taco still have the salsa bar?  I haven’t had Del Taco in 30 years but I seem to remember liking them in high school in Atlanta.

ETA:  The closest Del Taco is in Detroit. according to their website.

[dracisk]

1 hour ago, DonRocks said:

I meant "the components that could be vegan or not, are - the tortillas and the beans have no lard." You can make it vegan by holding the cheese, and sour cream is an optional add-on - now that I'm thinking about it, I like the green-sauce burritos better without sour cream, with just the salsa verde (but for some reason, I like sour cream with the red sauce - they mix together, sort of like a beef stroganoff gravy). Sorry, that was pretty lame on my part.

No need to apologize! I vaguely thought that might be what you meant, especially when you mentioned Taco Bell and lard in the next paragraph. 🙂

[Sundae in the Park]

I've been to Del Taco exactly once in Barstow, CA, recounted it in the Intrepid Traveler forum, and am re-posting as an FYI for Del Taco fans:

On 6/19/2015 at 12:41 PM, Sundae in the Park said:

Barstow

If you ask around town, you'll get the same puzzling recommendation over and over - go to Del Taco. The three locations in town are the original stores #1, 2, and 3 of the chain, so are pretty much a local legend. Apparently the owners still live in town and oversee operations, and I witnessed the lunch crush myself, so I will say that there is a good chance that the food is fresher than normal at other locations because of the high turnover. But their main claim to fame - that the fillings are inordinately generous at all three in-town stores - just means that you'll get more Del Taco. Which, while filling and fast, I simply don't get the appeal.