Salsa’s street tacos are solid | HHJ Eats

4.75/5

I’m on a quest to find the perfect option for lunch that isn’t fast food and thought what better way to try something new than through Warner Robins’ Take Flight Tour.

Recently, I’ve been scoping out Mexican restaurants. I tried El Bronco and Fuego Fresco during our newsroom walk-and-talks, and they each make a good quesadilla, but they’re not on the tour. 

All I knew when considering options was that I wanted something savory. My husband, on the other hand, was very decisive and practically read my mind when we decided to go eat last weekend.

“Let’s get Mexican food,” he said. Great. Salsa’s Mexican Grill it was. 

As part of the Take Flight Tour, Salsa’s is offering a flight of three street tacos. At first, I was debating whether it would be enough for lunch, but I thought, “Hey, it’s only 10 bucks.”

On the tail end of running our Saturday morning errands, we stopped at Salsa’s Russell Parkway location for lunch and took it to go, per my husband’s request. They also have two locations in Dublin.

Immediately, I took in the restaurant’s atmosphere. Everything was bright, colorful and extremely well decorated, from the neon sign greeting patrons up front to piñatas depicting various Mexican beers.

My sour mood from not being able to dine in was immediately reversed. I was at ease as I made my way to the counter. Normally a sit-down restaurant, Salsa’s has a counter up front to place to-go orders.

Reggaeton was playing on the speakers, pretty loudly. I couldn’t hear the woman taking my order at times, but she was very courteous and patient with me. I don’t dock points for service unless they’re being exceptionally rude.

I paid at the counter and began the waiting game. Our order took about 25 minutes, but I didn’t mind. I had Don Omar and Bad Bunny to keep me company.

Our food came rushing out in a nondescript standard plastic bag. It appeared to be a bigger order than I was expecting, so I quickly checked the receipt, verified that it was actually ours, and made my way back home.

As we unpacked our order on the kitchen counter, we were pleasantly surprised by free chips and salsa, hence the bulky bag. 

Finally, it was time to eat. The flight of street tacos came with three meats: grilled chicken, grilled steak and shredded beef. The third was advertised as quesabirria, but did not come with the traditional consommé dipping sauce.

In street taco fashion, it was just meat, chopped raw onion, and cilantro on a corn tortilla.

They came with limes, so I squeezed every bit of juice I could onto my street tacos. I would have preferred to have that lime in a margarita. I couldn’t taste it at all on my tacos.

The portions were generous, though. I had a hard time holding them because they were so packed full of meat. Overall, they smelled savory, which made perfect sense, given the contents, and I could tell they were going to be flavorful.

The meats were tender and charred in spots, which to me is the perfect consistency. It had a bit of seasoning to it, just salt to counterbalance the strength of the cilantro.

I got a few bites where the cilantro was clumped together, so once the initial cilantro flavor died down, the meat and onions danced around and then the meaty flavors finished the bite. 

The corn tortilla was doubled up to prevent the tacos from falling apart, so it was thicker and grainier in some bites, but the meat was always there to save it. I never had any bites that were straight tortilla.

My husband, while not as descriptive as I was, said each taco was solid. To him, the salt wasn’t too overpowering, and each savory flavor combined well with the aromatic cilantro and acidic onions.

Normally, my husband doesn’t like chopped steak, because cheaper cuts will have rubbery and chewy pieces, but the texture was well-done for him. The street tacos didn’t need a bunch of extra flavors and seasoning. Their simplicity was really the shining factor.

Portion sizes were standard for lunch at a sit-down Mexican restaurant, and we were filled up with the chips and salsa.

I think the salsa is a chance to shine, and with a name like Salsa’s, this was a missed opportunity. Despite my Hispanic heritage, I have a lower spice tolerance. I found the salsa pretty spicy for me, but nothing that I wouldn’t eat again. 

I like a thick, chunky salsa. This was more watery and acidic. I’m not complaining too much about free chips and salsa, though.

For two flights, chips, taxes and tips, my husband and I paid about $12.50 per person. Honestly, fast food costs about the same and this was a million times better. Ten dollars for three street tacos is, in my opinion, a great value. At any other sit-down restaurant, I would pay $15 for the same dish.

If anything, the flavor, attention to detail, value and overall experience were something I can’t get at a fast food place. I may consider sit-down restaurants more often and love the chance to support local businesses.