Fast Food Review: Del Taco Santa Fe Chicken Soft Taco

Aside from Philadelphia, Santa Fe might just be the most name-checked city by fast food establishments. It theoretically gave us the best chicken sandwich Carls Jr. ever attempted (wholewheat bun, large green chile, chipotle sauce, cheese...yeppers) and now it presents, in name only, the Del Taco Santa Fe chicken soft taco. They could have been generic and labeled it “southwest,” since anyone who regularly eats this stuff knows that corn + black beans = “southwest,” but no, the Del singled out a city. But that’s okay. As a city, this isn’t a bad connection, more akin to Philly with the cheesesteak than Bangkok to underage male sex slavery.

(Sorry, Thai readers, but you gotta bust that shit.)

I couldn’t find any pictures on Del Taco’s website – or even Google images -- which is odd. Are they ashamed of the Santa Fe shoutout? Worried about my review? They shouldn’t be. I’ve eaten these three times in the last week. Are they the best I ever had? Hell no. But as new items, I salute them. Unlike #1 competitors, the Bell, Del Taco is unafraid to actually introduce new ingredients from time to time.

As frequent customers of the Del must know by now, the chicken comes in lumps that are pre-cooked in some kind of gravy. It feels somewhat more authentic than the Bell’s compressed breast pieces, but not necessarily by a whole lot...and it depends, big-time, on what you surround it with. The spicy jack chicken quesadilla, which may be my favorite fast food item out there, does it right, as it sucks some of the surrounding moisture right outta there.

These? Not quite so much. They remain acceptable, but there is a hint of the cookie-cutter that one might not wish to notice. If you’re new to Del Taco, you won’t. If you’re an acolyte like me, it’s a blazing klaxon.

Standard Del Taco chicken soft taco is chicken, cheese, lettuce, and “secret sauce” (aka salty mayo) in a gummy soft flour tortilla. By gummy, I mean does not disintegrate easily in one’s mouth. Good for the sauce, but possibly bad for your teeth. Just sayin’.

Santa Fe chicken soft taco = the above, minus “secret sauce,” and add new “Santa Fe” sauce plus the black bean/corn/red onion/poblano salsa.

I will note upfront, as one who HATES red onion for the carnage it wreaks upon my inside, that this, at least, is a well-cooked version. Raw red = intestinal death, and I DESPISE that so many “California” items are rendered such via the addition of this noxious vegetable. Every time I hear that my late grandfather Thompson enjoyed such slices with peanut butter, I feel like regurgitating. These are overcooked, as such things should be, and therefore edible amidst the standard “Southwestern” vegetable medley a la takeout.

As for the new sauce...it resembles a mixture of standard barbecue sauce with chipotle mayo (i.e. the Del’s Big Fat Chicken Taco sauce). This is an odd combination, spicy, yet, conflicted in its flavor as to whether to remain tangy or creamy. I’m not sold on this as a perfect match. But is it adequate? Yes, yes it is. More flavoristic than a standard chicken soft taco? For sure.

Get the 2 taco combo with fries, substitute chili cheese fries, and you’ll be stuffed for the afternoon. If I’m wrong about that, you are a giant fat-ass who needs help.

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