Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

It’s Taco Tuesday again and time for a Lucky Taco.

It’s a Mexican Fortune Cookie and today my fortune reads — Get your sunglasses on, your world is about to get a lot brighter.  Sounds good to me!  And I also learned the Spanish word for shark: tiburon.  Important stuff, but where are the lottery numbers?

Lucky Taco’s taste good too — Red is Strawberry flavor.  Check out their website to learn more about the different shapes and flavors they offer. 🙂

Just reported on Examiner is a collection of places to go for Taco Tuesdays.

Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill currently serves more than (12) different Tacos.  We’ve tried most, but feature only (4) here.  They’re not necessarily our favorites, but what’s photographed thus far.  We’ll be adding to this post, as we sample others.  Pictured above is the Grilled Portobello & Poblano Taco — It’s pretty messy, but is one of our favorites

This day we also tried the Grilled Mesquite Shrimp Taco, the Carnitas Rajas Taco and the All American Taco (R.I.P.), no longer on Rubio’s menu.  The Carnitas was good and the Shrimp was okay (a little tasteless).

And we love the idea of the All American Taco, a Cheeseburger in a Taco, but the meat served in it was way too tough.  It appears this Taco didn’t sell well, since it’s no longer on the menu.  With a few improvements, we wouldn’t mind having it again.

At most locations, Rubio’s “World Famous Fish Tacos“ are $1.25 every Tuesday from 2:30PM to close.  We also like the price of Rubios Street Tacos, but they’re sure tiny.  View their full menu here and be sure to check back for a sampling of Rubio’s other Tacos.

Have you been to the Tap Shack yet?  It’s in Newport Beach where The Arches once occupied and has only been open a couple months.  I miss The Arches, but appreciate many aspects of the Tap Shack.  Starting off, any spot with an outdoor patio is a winner to me.  Crab Cake?

The Tap Shack NB takes advantage of the large patio and cues from the Tap House HB.

The MENU impressed me secondly.  It’s sophisticated and extensive — I wanted everything.

We tried (top down) the Golden Crab Cakes, Grilled Artichoke and Hot Spinach & Artichoke Dip.

Dispense Beer from 1 (or more) of 8 self-pouring taps — It’s one of the coolest things.

You’re given a Beer key which activates the tap and charges per ounce.

You don’t have to wait for a Beer here — We like that, unless there’s a long line. 😉

The Tap Shack Newport Beach joins in on the Taco Tuesday offerings with $1.50 Tacos.

And during Happy Hour all appetizers are 50% off — It’s the best time to try a lot.

All appetizers (as listed) appeal to me — The Taphouse Prime Sliders are pictured above.  They were my friend’s favorite and I liked the Grilled Artichoke best, though it could’ve been cooked a little longer.  We highly value the portion sizes, but the unclaimed favorites seemed bland.

And I don’t care what some people say about it, I like the Lobster Zone Game.

Catch a Lobster and they’ll cook it for you — $2.00 to play.  Different to see and amusing.

Self-pouring Beer taps are inside and out — Where’s our server?  Wait… Ta daaa!  Awesome.

The Tap Shack NB is a fine sports and entertainment option in the neighborhood.  Just overlook the typos on the menu (or laugh at them) and commend the otherwise refined, lengthy selection.  There’s much more that sounds good to try.  We’ll go back to the shack.

Another excuse for Mexican — Why not celebrate Tostada Thursday?  Is Taco Tuesday played?  Is there room for both in one week?  The pictured Tostada is from Café Rose Express.

OMGosh, I’ve missed the LBC.  I lived in Belmont Shore and Belmont Heights in Long Beach for several years before relocating to Huntington Beach, then Costa Mesa.  I have a lot of great food and fun memories there.  It’s a cool city with vast food finds.  We skated the Long Beach Bike Path beginning to end, from Ocean/54th Place to Shoreline Village, like I have hundreds of times before — It’s nicely paved for skating.  

We had Shrimp, Chicken and Beef Fajitas, Side Salads, Chips & Salsa, Coronas and Margaritas on the Tequila Jack’s patio in Shoreline Village, which offers a few good restaurants to choose from.  This visit we attempted to eat at The Yard House, next door to Tequila Jack’s — BUT instead had an incident.  Since we skated, two were in socks and one in shoes.  Nevertheless we received an electronic transponder after reserving a table at The Yard House.

We secured 3 chairs at the bar to wait for a table to be available, then the YH Manager came over to tell us he couldn’t serve us due to the socks and we had to leave.  Real cool huh!?  I know there are rules, but was it necessary that we essentially be kicked out?  We weren’t walking around, we were going to be sitting outside, and looked and acted respectable otherwise.  He wouldn’t even allow us to wait outside until our patio table was ready.

I think the Manager’s non-flexibility was ridiculous — Our socks were gorgeous and would ultimately be under the table.  His fear of litigation and lack of case by case discretion lost our business.  THUS we had a lovely lunch at Tequila Jack’s, where they plainly saw our same state yet sat us without question.  Aside from this experience I like The Yard House and its food, but today we liked Tequila Jack’s much better.  The service was terrific.

More INFO: http://www.shorelinevillage.com/tequilajacks.html

Taco Tuesdays at Tequila Jack’s:
http://theguide.latimes.com/long-beach/restaurants/taco-tuesdays-event

Much work went into the preparation of this list — The Birthday (Food) Freebies List.  It’s a notable compilation, though we have not verified all.  Do you know the restaurants?  We’re familiar with most of them.  How many stops can you schedule on your birthday?  It might be fun to make an entire day of it.  We’ll surely document it when it happens.  I know a few birthdays coming up.  Anyone game?  More birthday freebies are listed here, here and here.

Happy Birthday to you, whenever it may be…