“Nada Es Imposible” at Tasty Tacos.

What can be said of Tasty Tacos that hasn't been said before? An American success story, Richard and Antonia Mosqueda came to Des Moines from Fort Madison and with a $500 loan opened up their first restaurant in 1961 on Easton Boulevard. From there they ended up at their now well-known location on E. Grand, and have since blossomed into a successful chain with five locations around the metro.

I first sank my teeth into their comforting fare when they operated a little spot downtown on the corner of Tenth & Grand in the Investment Building, formerly the home of AIB College of Business. For a couple of years in the late 80s I ate there on an almost daily basis.

Moving to the Highland Park neighborhood in the 90s afforded me the luxury of enjoying Tasty Tacos on my home turf from the white-painted house they occupied on the corner E. Euclid & Bowdoin.

Both of these locations and the restaurant at Douglas & 38th have passed into the ether. But the chain has been successful in upgrading their other restaurants in Des Moines, as well as opening a strip mall location off 86th & Hickman, and more recently a new standalone restaurant in Ankeny.

From its humble beginnings, good food, hard work, and reinvestment in capital properties have paid off for the Mosqueda family. The family motto – “Nada Es Imposible” – sums it up. Nothing is impossible.

Tasty Tacos wouldn't be Tasty Tacos if not for their most popular item, the deep fried taco. Essentially a variation of the empanada, a wheat flour dough is folded into a pocket and stuffed with your choice of filling: refried beans, chicken, beef steak, pork, or the 'Original' – seasoned ground beef and beans. The dough is pinched shut, deep-fried until golden and puffy, pried open and finished with shredded cheddar cheese and lettuce. The end product sports a shell that is superbly soft with a little chew, but also exhibits a lightly crisp exterior.

To enjoy one for the very first time is an epiphany. The one thing that takes the taco to another level is Tasty Taco's table salsa: a zippy purée with tomato and jalapeño being most prominent. For me the taco exists as a salsa delivery system. I can nearly consume a entire squeeze bottle of salsa with just two tacos. With taco in my left hand and salsa bottle in the right, it's squirt, bite, squirt, bite, repeat as needed.

Other items of note on the menu include hard corn shell tacos, enchiladas, and burritos, all available with the same array of fillings as the flour taco. Chili burritos are an added feature.

Enchiladas come enrobed in a melted veil of cheddar cheese with a few tortilla chips for garnish. If you like cheese, you will enjoy the enchilada. Burritos come wrapped in foil and are something of an underachiever compared to the tacos and enchiladas.

The chili-topped burrito is another matter. Tasty Tacos takes a burrito filled with cheddar and their 'Original' seasoned ground beef and beans, and tops it with homemade chili and even more melty cheddar. The chili is resplendent with tomato and zesty spices, and comes as close to your mama's chili as I gets.

For sides, two in particular stand out. Some of you may remember Tasty Taco's breaded, deep-fried green bell pepper rings. They were delicious! However in the fullness of time they were replaced on the menu with the ubiquitous and more popular jalapeño and cream cheese popper. My loss.

Decades before the hip oohed-and-aahed over deep-fried tater tots at the High Life Lounge, Tasty Tacos offered this crispy treat – dubbed Tasty Tators – with the added bonus of zesty seasoning. My favorite guilty pleasure is to stuff some Tasty Tators into my puffy taco before proceeding with the ritual mass consumption of salsa.

Thanks for fifty-one years of great food. “Nada Es Imposible.”

Recent eats: Jim's Coney Island, Mr. Filet, Abelardo's.

I've written about the beefburger from Ted's Coney Island on Ingersoll [see blog post], but Jim's Coney Island on S.W. Ninth also makes a decent loose-meat in a hot dog bun. Not as spiced as Ted's, it's still a fine sandwich.

I've enjoyed breakfast at Mr. Filet for years, particularly their Greek omelet [see blog post], but not once had I ever tried a much simpler cheese omelet. Nothing fancy, just slices of American cheese, nestled in a thin sheet of three eggs folded up several times into a tasty thick square. With hash browns, grilled onions, and a surprise smattering of feta cheese, it was a fine meal.

Burritos. I've had more than a few since Abelardo's opened their first metro location on Ingersoll [see blog post]. So on my last visit I changed up things and ordered a torta with chorizo and eggs. The base of the torta is a soft, yielding telera roll. A little too yielding with the moist filling within, picking up broken-off pieces off the waxed paper. The chorizo lacked the usual crisp spots I normally expect with the loose-meat sausage. The taste was also a surprise, touting a flavor more influenced by cinnamon than ground chili.

Good stuff, but next time I'll take my chorizo and eggs in a more manageable form, rolled up in a tortilla.

Paradise lost.

UPDATE: Paradise Italian Grill has since closed.

On my first visit to Paradise Italian Grill since their reboot from the long-standing neighborhood fixture, Paradise Pizza Cafe, first impressions were a little disappointing. Absent was the whimsical mural that graced the upper back wall above the lunch buffet serving area, the fake palm trees, the wooden seats, and the intimate upholstered booths that bisected the dining area. In their place: a large somewhat sterile dining area, with black metal seats and tables, and a granite-top bar area with big screen TVs on the wall behind it. In short, they paved 'Paradise' and put up a generic sports bar and grill.

However the menu retained much of the old Cafe's salads, pastas, calzones, thin-crust brick oven pizzas, and their famous crock pizza.

This evening I ordered the Five Meats Pizza, laden with diced ham, chopped meatballs, pepperoni, bacon, and Graziano's Italian sausage. The crust was thin, crispy, easy to chew. Meats and cheese were abundant enough to pass muster. Tomato sauce was on the light side, but in this instance it was a good thing. Sometimes, overabundance can ruin an otherwise stellar pizza [see blog post].

Regardless of the pizza, Paradise Italian Grill is not the place I had frequented over the last two decades. It's not the place that friends from afar would specifically request for a get-together meal. I have memories there. Some good, one particular instance not so good. Hint: when planning an intimate dinner, never dine at a place where your drinkin' buddies might frequent. The conversation might revolve around whom may or may not be gazing upon your junk in the foreseeable future.

For me, 'Paradise' is lost.

Fried burritos at Bandit Burrito: A chimichanga by any other name.

On Wednesday nights Bandit Burrito on Merle Hay Road in Johnston offers the option of deep-frying your customized made-on-the-spot burrito concoction.

First, a little background on one of Bandit Burrito's most unique ingredients. I just love their vegetarian chorizo, freshly-cooked per order in a small cast iron skillet. The seasoned, crispy-browned bits give proof that meat analogues done right give as much satisfaction, if not more, than the portion of flesh it supplants.

So finally I get an opportunity to sink my teeth into a fried 'Bandit' burrito, and baby, it was everything I hoped for. The crispness of the wrap – Jalapeño Cheddar in this instance – was sublime. The fillings within get a blast of heat from the fryer, coaxing the flavors to seep a little further from their source ingredient. You likely should let your fried burrito rest a bit before you tuck in: it can be quite hot.

Fried burritos come with a side of queso. I passed on smothering my burrito under the white sauce in favor of manhandling it straight into my slaking maw. I had ordered some of Bandit Burrito's tortilla chips – along with some salsas and guacamole – and tried the queso as a dip. I found it lacking in flavor and busied myself sampling the rest. The mild salsa is an accurate description, and a little waterier than I prefer. The hot salsa sported a more appealing texture, but what caught my attention was the guacamole. Thick and creamy but speckled throughout with discernible chunks of avocado and tomato, its distinct flavor and texture would be a far more complimentary topping on a fried burrito than the wan queso.

A ButterBurger from Culver's helps to ease the pain.

UPDATED: March 6, 2013. For popular fast food 'better burger' chains Des Moines is not a mecca. No Five Guys, no In-N-Out, nor Fatburger. However we do have a couple of Smashburger locations in the metro. I visited Smashburger a few years back and found the burgers to be fine but overpriced in comparison to the other national chain found in the area, Culver's.

Some of the burgers I've enjoyed of late include the French Onion ButterBurger, a 'Burger of the Month' (pictured right). With caramelized red onions, mayonnaise, and a most unusual ingredient – a melted disc of Gruyère and Swiss cheeses fortified with beef flavoring. A strange item indeed but the flavor is surprisingly reminiscent of french onion soup.

Another 'Burger of the Month' I've enjoyed is the Three Cheese ButterBurger, below left, featuring American, Swiss and cheddar cheeses, plus your choice of toppings. Although the last time I had eaten this burger, they omitted everything but the meat, cheese and bun. Not even the little pickle on top for garnish was present. It was late and I was tired and hungry, so I gobbled it down and immediately regretted it. It was just too rich.

Lastly an everyday menu favorite and my usual go-to burger, The Culver's Deluxe, below right, tricked out with American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, red onion and mayo.

All of the above feature thin beef burger patties that are seared crisp on one side, and served up on a lightly buttered, toasted bun – hence the burger's name, with a pickle slice atop for garnish. A lone burger patty on your sandwich is fine, but I find two offers just the right amount of crispy meat for the bite.

Whether I've had a rotten day at work or an embarrassing strip-down for an unnecessary EKG with three female healthcare providers looming over my half-naked obese frame on a tiny, uncomfortable examination table, a visit to Culver's afterward helps ease the pain.

A visit to Grinnell

An Italian-Mexican mashup at Chisme.

UPDATE: Chisme has since closed.

I've been going to Chisme for quite some time. I've enjoyed pizzas, calzones, tacos and a plethora of breakfast dishes including the best breakfast pizza I've ever eaten [see blog post]. Hearing good things about the chorizo ravioli I gave it a try on my last visit.

Homemade ravioli filled with homemade chorizo, topped with a cilantro Alfredo sauce, served with a side of toasted garlic telera bread. A pleasure to eat, and yet another fine example of Chef Jesus Ojeda's unique fusion of Italian and Mexican cuisines. Bravo!

Fill your bowl! There's a new chili slinger in these parts: Angelo's on E. 14th.

UPDATE: Angelo's has since closed this location. In November 2013, Angelo's moved from 13th & Grand in West Des Moines to nearby 1238 8th St. and rebranded itself as Angelo's on 8th. which has since closed.

You may recall my visits last fall to Angelo's Pizza in West Des Moines [see blog post]. Recently Angelo's opened a second pizzeria on E. 14th, in the old KC BBQ building.

Having sampled Cincinnati-style chili on its home turf, owner Mark Nicola had the idea of offering the uniquely spiced concoction at the new location. But how does it stand up to the variety of Greek/Midwestern-style of chili so common here?

Very well in fact. Lightly spiced – allspice influenced with a hint of cayenne – this all ground beef chili is thicker in comparison, more like a saucy loose meat sandwich filling. It's quite good served simply in a bowl, with oyster crackers on the side.

As a dog topper the closest thing offered in town is the beefy but mild coney sauce at Captial Pub and Hot Dog [see blog post]. Paired with a mound of finely shredded cheddar and just enough mustard and onion for flavor, Angelo's Cheese Coney is a pleasing sandwich, but I'd opt for a savory coney dog from Ted's [see blog post] if given a choice.

If you really want to make a meal of it, order the chili atop a plate of spaghetti. That's a 2-Way. Throw on mound of cheese and you've got a 3-Way. Further add either onions or beans and you're up to a 4-Way. Desirous of it all I polished off a 5-Way. Despite the carb load I consider this less of an energy food than something more conducive to a lazy afternoon's nap.

On a return trip to Angelo's new digs I finally took the opportunity to try the spicy Razor Blade pizza. It's not the hottest pizza I've ever eaten. That distinction lies with the hot sauce laden pie at La Pizza House [see blog post]. The beauty of the Razor Blade is that the heat doesn't bludgeon the senses, it titillates. The flavors of habanero and jalapeño are omnipresent, but only to complement the other quality toppings: meaty sausage, melty mozzarella, and diced red bell pepper.

For an optimal Cincinnati chili experience short of a road trip east, Angelo's Pizza on E. 14th is the place to go.