Tequilla Jacks in Long Beach California

Before we were married, Capsaicin Head had visited Tequilla Jack's quite a few times. She said the place was good and had some great salsa, but had never been there for Taco Tuesday. Since we were going to be in the area anyway, we chose TJ's for this weeks Taco Tuesday. Unfortunately, we didn't check their schedule and showed up at 2:00pm, exactly one hour prior to when their Taco Tuesday starts. No problem, we thought, as we weren't in any hurry and decided to order up some chips, salsa and the guacamole that was made tableside. This part of our adventure turned out to be a good choice.

The Establishment
Tequilla Jack's is along the coast of Long Beach down in Shoreline Village. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, Shoreline Village is down where they hold the annual Long Beach Grand Prix. If you're unfamiliar with that, Tequilla Jack's is across the bay from where the Queen Mary rests. If you're unfamiliar with that, it's time to break out your mapbook and look it up! Moving on...there is plenty of parking, but if you want close parking you need to pull into a 'pay' parking lot. Don't fret that, though, as Tequilla Jack's validates the parking for up to 2 hours. Capsaicin Head and I missed the cut off time when we left (we walked around a bit after eating), but it only cost us $1; so it was like buying another taco.

Chips, Salsa and the Coveted Guacamole
The chips at Tequilla Jack's were fresh, warm and thin. On the one hand this is good because they're easy to eat, on the down side they suck at picking up guacamole. Thankfully, the hot sauce was a bit watery so there were no issues there. Well, I say no issues but let me just mention that the hot sauce at Tequilla Jack's is appropriately named. Man, this stuff had quite a kick to it that I was regulated to small dips into it. After a few minutes the tableside guacamole arrived in the form of 4 avocados (already cut in half and de-pitted) and a couple small cups containing onions, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapenos and a few lime wedges. The waitress puts all of this into a small bowl and starts the mashing process (you can choose what items you want in the guac...it's not set in stone). The fresh-as-fresh-can-be guac was then placed on our table and it was time to dig in...scoop, break, scoop, break, scoop, break. Ya, thin chips. There is definitely a technique to getting the guac from the bowl to you mouth with these chips. The guacamole turned out to be ok, but seemed a bit flat. Maybe some salt? More lime? I'm not sure, but when Capsaicin Head poured some of that blistering salsa onto it, it became magical. NOW we're talking some yummy guacamole! I hope Tequilla Jack's doesn't rip that recipe off from us...

The Main Course - TACOS!
If you recall, I mentioned we got there about an hour early for Taco Tuesday. We were going to just hang out and wait the 60 minutes but 40 minutes into it found ourselves getting full from chips, salsa and the guac. So, we decided to go ahead and order our tacos now and just pay the full price ($4.00 each). I chose to go with the Baja Fish and Vegetable Taco; it just sounded good. The Vegetable Taco was chock full of bell peppers, tomatoes, onions and a big ol' piece of avocado (avocado available only on tacos BEFORE the 3PM Taco Tuesday). It was surprisingly good, and I thank Tequilla Jack's for doubling up the tortilla! Trying to wrap this baby up and get it in my hole was quite a challenge. The Baja Fish Taco, however...ummm, not so much. The taco as a whole is ok, but the fish tasted like, well, a fish stick. It really should be called the Baja Fish Stick Taco. Not impressed with this one at all. 'Nuff said.

Final Thoughts
The view and surrounding area is worth the visit even if the tacos aren't the best. I suggest the Vegetable and maybe the Carne, but stay away from Baja Fish unless you're a lover of frozen fish sticks. You should also give the tableside guac a go; other than being a little flat, it does taste extremely fresh. Oh, and don't forget to get your parking validated!

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