Stars: 3.9 out of 5
Pros: Friendly, Fun Choices, Taste
Cons: Long Wait, Doesn't Travel Well
JT, Brandon and I found ourselves at the Grow RVA (Grow RVA) farmers market at Hardywood (Hardywood), as we do many Wednesdays. We were there to get our fresh produce from Da Farm (Da Farm) and I needed to find some dinner before going to work. Thankfully, the Cielito Lindo (Cielito Lindo Truck) truck was there serving up fresh-made tacos to fill my belly. Now, to make it to work on time...
The staff at Cielito Lindo was extremely friendly from the moment we walked up. The woman taking orders engaged us and took the time to answer our questions. She also provided suggestions. Even when the wait for food was long due to the volume of the orders (and my ticket getting skipped) she maintained excellent communication. She offered apologies for the delays and aided in every way possible to move us through quickly. I appreciate that because it made me feel like she was actually concerned about me as a customer which is something you don't always see from companies anymore.
The menu is heavy on tacos and quesadillas, but the variety they provide make that ok. They have different kinds of meat including several varieties of seafood. They also had a vegetarian taco made with roasted red peppers which sounded excellent. But, my meat eating roots would have none of that this day. I like that they marinate the meat for their Carnita Heat taco in Hardywoods Chcolate Heat Double Chcolate Milk Stout. I had to get one just to see if it captured the beers flavor well. I also went with the Barbacoa taco as the avocado jalapeno salsa intrigued me. I love both those things and I was wondering how they worked together. I got both of mine to go as time was of the essence.
Like I said, the wait to get our food was long. I'm not sure what caused the back-up in the kitchen. I will assume, because it's a happy assumption, that the cook was taking his time personally crafting each dish to ensure the freshest flavors possible. Or, they just were busy. Either way, it was no bueno for me being in a hurry (which is all my fault really). Like I said above, the staff did a great job of keeping in touch with us to let us know what was happening. And a minor set-back like this would certainly not dissuade me from going back.
As I got mine to go the woman did a very efficient job of wrapping my tacos. I don't think the truck is used to people getting their food to go as they had no real containers. She wrapped both tacos in several layers of foil, which effectively contained them. Unfortunately, it also allowed them to steam for my entire trip to work. Now, I can't really blame Cielito Lindo here as they expect the furthest people "to go" is the 15 feet to a table. But, maybe as a thought for the future, they can keep one or two to go containers on hand for the unique situation where someone needs it to actually go.
Once I got to work I finally got a chance to enjoy my food. Both tacos were delicious, if not a little sweated. My picture does them no justice. The flavor was well developed and the marinating helped to make the meat nice and tender. I'm always a fan of condiments that accent and the avocado jalapeno salsa certainly did that. It was flavorful with the creamy coolness of the avocado mellowing the bite of the peppers. All in all, a great group of flavors in each taco.
Cielito Lindo provided me with another great Thursday night meal. They are a friendly group of people that put out a quality product. Next time I order from them I'll make sure to eat it right away and not make it travel long distances in foil. I also want to give the actual restaurant a shot in hopes it matches the quality of the food truck.
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