Wow, Madison has some amazing taco joints. Recently AJ and I brought home Tex Tubbs Tacos from Tex Tubbs on Atwood Ave. A few days after that I ate lunch at Los Gemelos on State St. I heard they had great tacos so I had to check it out; and I thought I could write a comparison post, so here it is.
Tex Tubbs
I didn't get the tacos -- AJ did and brought them home, so I didn't get to see the inside of this place. However I do know someone that works there and I've heard their decor is pretty fun and I know they have good drink specials.
Their menu is really cool and includes tacos that you probably wouldn't see at a more authentic Mexican joint. We ordered two each of the Carne Asada taco (on the left) and the Derby Bird (on the right).
On the Carne Asada there is: Carne asada, cabbage slaw, jack cheese, pico de gallo, and sour cream
On the Derby Bird you get: Honey-bourbon glazed chicken, fresh corn salsa, lettuce, and sour cream
Both of these tacos were tasty and I thought they used classic and delicious toppings. Each taco was able to stand out on its own because of their different toppings though. The Derby Bird had a sweet factor because of the honey-bourbon glaze and the corn salsa, whereas the carne asada was more classic in taste. I will definitely go back to try more and find my favorite.
Los Gemelos
In contrast to Tex Tubbs, Los Gemelos is definitely more authentic. However, their restaurant could use a little work on the inside. Currently it is a weird mix of sit down and to-go style. I wanted to take a break so I ate there and it felt like I was at Taco Bell or something, but with mariachi music playing and an oddly placed bar.
I also think they would benefit from switching their entrance and exit doors. This sounds silly and trivial, but I expected to walk in and be at the counter to order, but instead the entrance is at the end of the serving counter and I had to backtrack in order to meet the hostess and get a table. Moving the doors around would make for a better grab and go taco joint because you can walk in, order, pay and move down to the end to get your food. (I'm picturing the Starbucks flow in my head). Their location on State St. and their great prices are great for this too. It's my new favorite for lunch.
The service was good, but just felt a little awkward because (like I mentioned) it didn't feel like a sit-down kind of place to begin with. I got chips and salsa which was sweet, and though they do have a more elaborate menu containing the basics like enchiladas and such, I stuck to the tacos. I ordered a pork taco and a chorizo taco.
These were both amazingly delicious. However, I wasn't sure which was which at first as both had the same toppings of cilantro and lime. It only took a bite of each to figure it out and I realized
simple is simply delicious. The cilantro and lime were all that was needed on these tacos. The flavors in the meat exploded in my mouth and the pork was incredibly tender. They give you some hot sauces too; one red, and one green. I usually am a fan of hot sauce, but the tacos really didn't need anything else. I tasted each of the sauces with a small bite of my taco, but didn't use them after that.
I will be going back here for sure, but definitely will get my tacos to-go. The best part, second to the amazing food was the price. Tacos are two dollars a pop bringing my lunch total to only $4.25 with tax.
Both of these taco joints offer delicious options. I will go back to both, but recently I have been considering going a more vegetarian route with my diet. I don’t remember seeing many if any vegetarian options at Los Gemelos. However, Tex Tubbs offers 6 vegetarian options that sound very tasty.
Tex Tubbs also uses a lot of local ingredients which I try to support whenever possible. That, along with a more vegetarian menu will probably persuade me to go there more than Los Gemelos. I only wish there was a Tex Tubbs on State…
