You may be wondering, what happened to that Summer of Taco experiment? One day, we’re living, breathing taco, the next, nothing. We left you hangin', guys. Life, apparently, is what happened. Namely, big local news, enormous international events, and individual lives occupied by countless people and places. But fear not, hungry reader. After a long hiatus from our summer fling, we’re back to our old judgments, armed with love, fellowship, and flour tortillas.
We revisited Summer of Taco with a trip to Tienda Jalisco on Main and Hawthorne. TJ doubles as a grocery store, but the food doesn’t suffer an ounce from this multi-tasking. We chose to judge tacos with chorizo, and tried both the traditional and all-dress variety. The first comes on a corn tortilla with onions, cilantro and lime; and all-dress is Americanized with Colby cheese and tomatoes.
Notably, TJ features a lot of great specials—two for one Tuesdays, get a gordita Wednesdays—and we had the great pleasure to benefit from the latter. But what do our judges, reunited at long last, have to say about Tienda Jalisco? Read on.
Chattarati Totals: Tienda Jalisco - Chorizo Taco
Average: 3.63
Presentation & Experience: 3.63
Construction: 3.44
Quality of Ingredients: 3.88
Flavor Balance: 3.50
Creativity & Authenticity: 3.69
Veronique Bergeron
Overall: 3.45
Presentation & Experience: 4.00
Construction: 3.00
Quality of Ingredients: 4.00
Flavor Balance: 3.00
Creativity & Authenticity: 3.70
Comment: "Beautiful!"
Stephen Clay
Overall: 3.65
Presentation & Experience: 3.50
Construction: 3.50
Quality of Ingredients: 3.75
Flavor Balance: 4.25
Creativity & Authenticity: 3.25
Comment: "Greater than the sum of its parts"
John Hawbaker
Overall: 3.7
Presentation & Experience: 3.50
Construction: 3.50
Quality of Ingredients: 3.75
Flavor Balance: 4.00
Creativity & Authenticity: 3.75
Comment: "Very tasty"
David Morton
Overall: 3.8
Presentation & Experience: 4.00
Construction: 3.75
Quality of Ingredients: 4.00
Flavor Balance: 3.75
Creativity & Authenticity: 3.50
Comment: "In light of the #summeroftaco experience, I've decided that I'm not a big fan of corn tortillas."
Adrienne Royer
Overall: 2.7
Presentation & Experience: 3.00
Construction: 2.00
Quality of Ingredients: 3.00
Flavor Balance: 2.00
Creativity & Authenticity: 3.50
Comment: "Needs red sauce for flavor"
Casey Tuggle
Overall: 3.75
Presentation & Experience: 3.50
Construction: 4.00
Quality of Ingredients: 4.00
Flavor Balance: 3.25
Creativity & Authenticity: 4.00
Comment: "Good, but not incredible."
Here are the latest standings:
- Petunia’s Silver Jalapeño 4.39
- Taco Mamacita 3.94
- TacoRico 3.79
- La Alteña 3.72
- Los Potros 3.67
- Tienda Jalisco 3.63
- Chili’s 2.83
- Cancun 1.92
Finally, see what Urbanspoon users have to say about Tienda Jalisco: 
Megs on June 26, 2009
Please try Mojo Burrito! It's my favorite on Saturdays for $.99 per taco, but it's an office favorite for during the week.
Donna on June 27, 2009
Agree w Meg, please try Mojo Burrito. The fish tacos at the Red Bank location are awesome, and I see they have new grilled shrimp tacos now.
Justin on June 29, 2009
Mojo Burrito's food is embarrassingly bland and poorly composed. Are we talking about tacos or crappy Chattanooga restaurants? Summer of Taco, keep it coming with Tienda Jalisco and the like.
Allison on July 3, 2009
Robert T, They do not contribute because they are to busy working with tax shelters, oh sorry I meant tax exempt, non proffitts that allow them to convert funds raised from government entities, foundations, and private contributions to $100K CEO jobs at River City, Allied Arts, and jobs for their children and friends at Stand, the Public Land Trust... That way they recieve income and can run political campaigns at the same time. I believe that a mayor canidate is being groomed by them as we speak.
John Hawbaker on July 3, 2009
The "authors" list in our footer is auto-generated based on anyone who has been published on the site, so that a reader could find all of their posts in one place.
Thanks for looking out for us, though.
Little Napoleon on July 3, 2009
Please name names Senator McCarthy. It would be a nice change from your empty threats.
Little Napoleon on July 3, 2009
Ah, a new twist on a very old argument. Not.
mwillingham on July 3, 2009
Hey Allison, do you just recycle the same postings over and over? From now on, just set your computer to do an auto-post with the following:
"All Chattanooga non-profits are actually fronts for political machines with the sole purpose of taking over the city."
Allison on July 3, 2009
Thank you Mike, that is a wonderful solution to allow a consistent post. You are wise.
stevaker on July 4, 2009
Wouldn't it be nice if people actually had something to say about the Summer of Taco experience at Tienda Jalisco and not platform this comment thread into their own personal agendas? I mean, I know that the author list in the footer of this page is probably the reason why North Korea is building nukes but I'm sure the situation could easily be addressed directly to the editor via email. And, while I'm sure someone's love for foundations and private contributors is right out of a romance novel, I doubt any of us wanting to know how good the chorizo is at Tienda Jalisco really cares. There are several threads out there where you can join all of your other crying brothers and sisters who don't understand why THEY aren't getting a piece of the foundational pie.
Speaking of staying on topic, this was a great review of Tienda Jalisco. Their chorizo taco isn't La Alteña's but it's pretty darn good.
Robert T. Nash on July 6, 2009
Hawbaker: You're Welcome...
Little Napolean: Suck my ass it smells...
Bill "Masthead Poseur" Colrus on July 6, 2009
I, for one, am just lazy.
markcooley on July 16, 2009
Big fan of TJalisco! Thanks for covering it!