SANDY — One restaurant trend of the past couple of years that I'm very excited about is the emergence of Mexican restaurants that use more authentic ingredients.
Places like this week's featured eatery, Tacos Nacos, offer food that's fresh, interesting and a cut above the rest.
We visited Tacos Nacos for a recent weeknight dinner, but not until I visited the restaurant's Web site did I find out that "nacos" is a word derived from a Mexican tribe that basically means unique, passionate or authentic, as in "our tacos are nacos!"
There are some gestures toward American expectations of Mexican food, like refried beans and rice on the side of each combination plate. In fact, my 3-year-old son basically ignored his kids' chicken nachos to eat my plate of rice and beans.
That was OK, because it meant I could eat the nachos myself, with their crispy chips, generous ladling of cheese sauce and ample serving of pulled spiced chicken piled on top. It's a portion big enough for most adults, but we all enjoyed it.
My 6-year-old daughter also had the kids' nachos, but hers were topped with juicy pulled pork. My 8-year-old daughter had her usual Mexican choice, the cheese quesadilla, in this case a huge tortilla folded over buttery melted Jack cheese.
My 11-year-old daughter, who has graduated to the adult side of most menus, had the tamale combo plate, tender steamed cornmeal molded around more of that juicy pork. The two tamales plus rice and beans made a big meal for her, but she nearly finished it all.
My husband, a fan of nearly all huge burritos, especially liked the "super burrito" at Tacos Nacos with its huge tortilla folded around tender beef, rice, whole and refried beans, onions, fresh cilantro, hot house-made salsa, cheese and sour cream.
And I enjoyed my made-to-order plate of three tacos. They're that wonderful little kind on tortillas the size of a saucer, so you can get more than one kind and not look like a pig. I had the fish taco with mahi mahi, the veggie taco and the beef, and it's hard to say which I liked best.
Surprisingly, the veggie taco, full of rice, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cilantro, cheese, sour cream, salsa and avocado, was the most rich and filling. But the beef taco with cilantro, onions, tomatoes, salsa and avocado was hearty and satisfying, and the fish taco was full of bright, refreshing flavors to go with the fresh mahi mahi.
There's more I'd like to try at Tacos Nacos, especially the camarones al mojo de ajo, shrimp sauted in butter and garlic with mushrooms and green onions, and the enchiladas suizas with tomatillo sauce. That is, if I can talk myself out of another plate of those "nacos" tacos.
Entrees $1.59-$7.99, combination plates $6.69-$7.79, seafood $7.99-$10.99, kids' meals $3.89-$3.99, sides 50 cents-$3.69.
Rating: ★★★
Where: 33 E. 11400 South, Sandy
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Closed Sunday
Payment: Major credit cards accepted
Phone: 495-0155
Wheelchair access: Easy
Web: www.tacosnacos.com
Stacey Kratz is a freelance writer who reviews restaurants for the Deseret News. e-mail: skratz@desnews.com