A late lunch at Red Pepper Taqueria

We finished errands mid-afternoon around the Briarcliff-La Vista area. I had just read, okay skimmed, a review of Red Pepper Taqueria (eatredpepper.com/) which is a few storefronts down from our favorite falafel place, Pita Palace. So we headed over there for a late lunch.

It was about 3pm when we arrived and there were maybe four or five booths of people. That's pretty good for a 3pm crowd and it stayed at least that busy the whole time we were there.

Josh ordered "the skinny", a margarita with lime and agave nectar. It was well balanced. I got the housemade sangria which was pretty good for housemade. But I'm not too used to drinking sangria anymore.

We started off with an order of guacamole, medium spice. It comes with chips, as one would imagine. The guac is well balanced, with lots of stuff in it to stretch the avocado, but it's still good and doesn't feel thin or tasteless. The spice level, even for me, was light, so I think we could maybe go spicy next time. Overall, I enjoyed it, even if it wasn't chunky.

For our other app, tuna crudo. Seared ahi tuna with avocado (a couple cubes) scallions, red onion, lime juice, tomatoes, and served with crispy plantain strips. You know, the tuna itself was kind of plain, but the marinade was well balanced. The crispy plantain strips balanced the crudo well and the olive oil was good. While not listed in the list of ingredients, I'm sure there were chopped olives in the mixture and it was very good. And it was a really good portion for $8.

Josh ordered a barbacoa taco with a side of poblano slaw. The slaw was clearly fresh but kind of ... not poblano-y. The barbacoa was very juicy and tender. Apparently, they braise it for twelve hours. Our server was quick to check, but she didn't know off the top of her head. You know, if you are one to care about that kind of stuff.

The sauce on the barbacoa was very spicy. Josh liked it a lot though. Our server said it is her favorite taco.

I got the pescado frito. It seemed well prepared but spicy and bland. I have to admit that I prefer the fish taco at Taqueria del Sol better, not that they are really THAT similar except that both have fried fish. This fish was well cooker and crispy, which I liked. Maybe salt would have helped. Certainly it had all the elements for success.

Even when we left, the place still had a good number of tables. For 4pm on a Saturday. They were nice and pretty attentive. I would definitely go back. And try some other tacos. And try some of the other dishes I heard so much about. Because that guac and tuna crudo were way more filling than I expected.