Taco Cat began delivering tacos by bike to a limited area in Minneapolis in 2014. It was started by two Jimmy John's delivery dudes who saw an unfilled niche in the food delivery business. On its palindromic name:
"The first thing that came to us was Taco Cat, and we were like, we can do better than that," [partner-owner Tristan] Jimerson recalls. "But then we thought about it for another hour and thought, no, we can't do any better. It's a palindrome. Taco Cat it is."
http://www.citypages.com/restaurants/reviews/taco-cat-knows-the-taco-delivery-business-backward-and-forward-8317277
They still deliver tacos by bike to that same limited area. As their website dryly states: "Call number. Get tacos." (for a $2 delivery charge, plus tip). In late 2015 Taco Cat opened a fixed location in the heart of South Minneapolis inside the Midtown Global Market, an expansive indoor market inside a former Sears warehouse and retail store. Before the fixed location, they rented shared kitchen space inside the market, which is conveniently (for a bike delivery service) located very close by to the Midtown Greenway, a cross-town bike and pedestrian trail.
Midtown Exchange building with Midtown Global Market on the first floor
Taco Cat is located inside the market on its eastern wall towards the south end, next door to the Eastlake Brewery Taproom, where they'll deliver to you by foot if you ask. There is limited neighborhood parking nearby but it's easy enough to park in the Midtown Exchange's parking ramp. They'll validate you with a compliment, and then your parking fee too. The entire market shares one set of bathrooms, which I think are probably undersized for the whole thing, and are often too far away from where you are eating.
Taco menu
Above the order counter is the main menu. Standard tacos are on the left, and their specialty tacos on the right. Any ingredient combination can also be ordered as a burrito or nachos, for the price to the right. Price-wise, these tacos are on the higher end, especially for a counter/takeout kind of place. They also offer a few combinations of chips/beans/guacamole as sides, drinks, and a cookie for dessert. They keep the menu at a good balance of not too limited but not sprawling with choices either.
Beyond bike delivery, what sets Taco Cat apart is their specialty menu. They offer four specialty taco ingredient combos and sometimes offer a weekly special taco, though there wasn't one when I visited. This puts them apart from Mexican-owned taquerias that stick to more traditional Mexican recipes.
The market area has dining tables and chairs spread throughout. Around Taco Cat, seating is somewhat limited and cheap feeling, with a mix of outdoor steel furniture with some round and some square tables. I think each nearby restaurant supplies the seating, and Taco Cat seems to have put it together hodgepodge. There is better seating in other areas of the market, with a lot in the center.
Seating in front of Taco Cat. There's a little bit more to the right. The tables in the foreground belong to the restaurant behind.
Altan
I've been to Taco Cat a few times and every time the person at the counter has been very friendly. This time Altan took my order and has an awesome smile, though I missed it with my camera. I ordered one pork, one Outlaw, one Larry, and chips+salsa.
I was served the chips and salsa immediately. The chips come in a brown bag and are coated with a tasty spice and salt mix. They were maybe a little too crunchy but pretty good. You get a too-small plastic cup of salsa with them.
Chow on chips while you wait.
I didn't time exactly how long it took to get the tacos, but looking at the EXIF data on my pictures the wait time was around 15 minutes, which is an excessively long wait time for just three tacos. This was at about 2:30PM on a Monday, and they seemed adequately staffed. There were several other people ahead of me, but I still don't see how it would take this long for a few orders of tacos. They could use some improvement in speed, as counter-ordered tacos to me are always fast.
Presented as served. Click for bigger.
Tacos are served in a paper tray with a wax paper liner. Each taco has a double corn tortilla and three were served with a single thin lime wedge. I would've liked to have a thicker wedge or more than one thin one. Though I'm sure they would have given me another lime wedge or two if I asked, I like to review as it's served.
They don't offer an al pastor taco so I got a simple pork taco. It comes topped with onion, cilantro, crema (thin Mexican sour cream with added spices), and green salsa. The pork didn't have much flavor to it. It tasted bland compared to the marinated pork and carnitas I love from Mexican restaurants. The texture needs improvement as well. The pork was mushy and probably roasted too long.
The Larry is a chicken-chorizo meat combo with cheese, onion, cilantro, crema, and red salsa. The chicken in the taco is pretty much protein filler. All of the flavor comes from the chorizo. The sausage was very flavorful, with a strong salty cumin-spiced taste and rich butteriness from the fat. There was quite a bit of drippy oil from the chorizo but I didn't mind. The onion, cilantro, and crema all tasted fresh and delicious. The cheese was there but really didn't need to be.
This is a pork taco with Asian-inspired toppings: kim chi, apple slaw, pickled jalapeño, crema, and green salsa. This menu option replaced a banh mi taco. I myself day dreamed about a Vietnamese banh mi style tacos before Taco Cat opened but never got to try theirs before it was changed to the Outlaw.
Like the straight pork taco, the pork lacked flavor and was overroasted to the point of being mushy. I believe they use the same meat for both. Again, the topping need to come in and save it. The combination of apples, kim chi, and crema tasted really sweet and savory. They forgot the pickled jalapeños though, and I didn't notice it until I was done with the taco.
The corn tortillas for all three tacos were grilled, but without any oil it seemed. This left them a bit dry and crispy in spots. I prefer a little oil so they're more soft, plus you get a little of that fried Maillard reaction flavor.
Taco Cat has received a lot of hype since opening two years ago, but it falls flat as a taqueria in my opinion. The meats should be the strongest, but here they need a lot of work. The toppings can't carry them all the way. The people working there have always been very friendly, but it takes too long to get your order.
Value is another consideration, with meat tacos ranging in price from $2.49 to $3.75, the tacos here are the most expensive counter-ordered tacos I've seen in the Twin Cities. I really like the concept of specialty chef-created tacos, and would be more willing to pay a premium if their quality was as good or better than a Mexican taqueria's. But they aren't, so I don't believe I'll be going to Taco Cat much if at all.
The pineapple piggies are on vacation because they didn't have al pastor
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