Throughout the past few months, there have been several restaurants people have been insisting I try. Among the ranks of these eateries is Yabo’s Tacos, a Mexican restaurant off State Street, just north of Kroger and Meijer in north Westerville.
Upon entering, I was immediately engrossed with a moderately festive atmosphere. The restaurant was wonderfully spacious and provided enough seating that it did not feel cramped or claustrophobic, as some small restaurants can.
Yabo’s Tacos’ ordering process was interesting and at first threw me off. I was confronted with a large menu and ordered at the counter. I took a seat and waited as long as I would at a normal restaurant for my food. I tried my little brother’s chicken taco, and I ordered the Big Sloppy Yabo.
The Big Sloppy Yabo was one of the featured items under the specialty tacos list, and it was pretty good. It was a large, flour tortilla filled with grilled veggies, shredded beef and nacho cheese and then topped with more melted cheese. Other than a lack of texture, as some crunch would have been wonderful, it was a very flavorful dish.
Yabo’s Tacos features some unique tacos, because instead of queso fresco, they use feta cheese. The chicken in the tacos was cooked well and juicy, and the feta cheese added a salty creaminess that complimented the fresh lettuce and spicy chicken.
But what really made Yabo’s Tacos worth it were the sauces. The restaurant features three signature sauces: the Sissy Sauce, a mildly spicy sauce with great flavor; Lip Smackin’ Chipotle, a smoky-spicy-barbecue-tasting sauce; and Serrano-Lime, a spicy citrus sauce. Each sauce worked well with the dishes I tried, and I found they also worked well combined together. My favorite combination, and the one I recommend, was the Sissy Sauce in conjunction with the Lip Smackin’ Chipotle. It was spicy, smoky and a little sweet, and the hot sauce cut out some of the barbecue flavor.
The prices were competitive, and for the amount of food I received, I definitely got my money’s worth. I left the restaurant full and happy. With chips and salsa, the total cost per person was about $7.
One negative thought is that normally at Mexican restaurants, house-made tortilla chips and homemade salsa is provided as an appetizer. At Yabo’s Tacos, an order of chips and salsa cost $2. The salsa, though, was pretty tasty, and it was comparable in quality to many good Mexican restaurants. The chips, on the other hand, were subpar, as they were cold and did not pack the light crispiness I enjoy from freshly made tortilla chips.
The tacos did taste quite fresh, and with the power of the sauces, provided an interesting flavor and texture combination that I would gladly eat again. It provided a fast, clean lunch dining experience, and I would return to Yabo’s Tacos for the tacos and the wonderful sauces.
