Los Cucos Mexican Cafe (Sandy, Utah)

This weeks food journey took our group to Los Cucos Mexican Cafe on State Street and 10600 South in Sandy, Utah. Our group does have a soft spot for Mexican-style food, especially Mexican/American-style food and Los Cucos does not disappoint. We had a server, a woman named Alex, who did an adequate job (nothing to really detract from the overall meal experience) and the food you will now hear about!

Danielle

Allan: Danielle, what kind of food did you get tonight at Los Cucos?

Danielle: I got the chicken and Spinach Quesadilla and then a side of white rice [that] has a Jack Cheese (I'm guessing)--a white cheese with it, which I really like--instead of using a cheddar cheese. It's on a flour tortilla and they fry that. This time it's a little more greasy than it was last time, which I don't like, but that comes with the territory. Then the white rice was really basic white rice, they mix in cooked corn and carrots--which i really like--and then I just put some salt on it and eat that by itself. But yeah it was really good, I like it a lot.

(-Danielle also forgot to add that: "Also! The Chicken and Spinach Quesdilla has mushrooms! Which is perfect and delish, because I love mushrooms."-)

Allan

Danielle: Okay Allan, tell us what you had.

Allan: Well, Danielle, I had the Mixed Burrito today, which was like half and half cheeses. I believe it was pork, or chicken...--Some kind of delicious meat in the middle. I forgot to ask and I didn't look [too closely] at the menu; [basically] it had some meat. One side [of the burrito] had a sharp cheddar cheese, the other side had a jack cheese--the jack cheese side had a Green Verde sauce and the cheddar side had red sauce. It tasted very good, I was a fan of the cheddar side and I dug into a little of the jack cheese/Green chili Verde side--it was pretty good too. I got some [refried] beans with it too, to mix with my rice (I love doing that) and eating it with chips. Definitely a favorite meal I have here. I'm a fan of the contrasts and tastes and I am definitely a cheese fan and it hit all those [food] buttons for me.
(As an addendum, I found the burrito had steak, pork and chicken inside! Quite tastey.)

Colby and Kayrene

Allan: Colby, what was your food called?
Colby: Cheese enchiladas.
Allan: Anything special that came with it? Or what was the setup for it?
Colby: It came with rice, fake lettuce and fake tomatoes (I think).
Allan: Wait, fake?
Colby: I think so; I didn't eat it. Looks more like a decoration (-it was a garnish-). The enchiladas were pretty dry and they did not have much flavor to them. Plus they were corn tortillas, which I'm not a big fan of. Other than that my water helped it go down, so that's how I was able to eat.

Allan: Alright, Kayrene, you had the same thing?
Kayrene: Yes I got the same thing. I didn't eat it all because he (-Colby-) eats way more than I do. But mine actually tasted alright. He said he would like mine better than his, even though it was the same.
Allan:  Now was this a case of, you know, "Everyone else always has it better"? Or...?
Kayrene: I don't know, he just said it looked better and so he just ate half of mine too.
Allan: Now Kayrene, is this something you would take home--like you'd get a box for it and eat it later?
Kayrene: Yeah, I'm gonna.
Allan: But obviously not for Colby--(-looking at Colby-) if you had any left.
Colby: If I had any left there is no way in [censored] I would bring any of this home.

Ashley

Allan: Okay, with us this time is Ashley, she's usually a normal resident of our Taco Tuesday group, but she hasn't been here in a while. So Ashley, I know you usually have dietary [needs]--you have a gluten allergy, right? So it's always interesting to hear--especially for other people who might have the same dietary needs--to be able to know what would be good to get. What did you get today?
Ashley: (-First part here got garbled-). But the enchilada is very good.
Allan: Was this a meal they had? Or did you have to order something special..?
Ashley: It was a normal platter, but they had corn tortillas--which I can eat because they don't have flour. They also made sure that in the kitchen it was done gluten-free--they seem to be gluten-free friendly, which it awesome. So it ended up being good.
Allan: Alright, is there anything that stood out to you? What did your platter encompass here?
Ashley: It had chicken in green sauce; I really like that they used white cheese (I'm not really sure which one), but I really like when restaurants do that. The rice was really good because it has corn in it and I love when rice has corn in it. I'm not normally a chicken person, but I liked the chicken in this.

Kevin

Allan: Kevin, what food, or foods did you procure here tonight?
Kevin: FAjita Stalone.
Allan: Okay, what came with it?
Kevin: Chicken and beef with mozzarella cheese on top of it, with some red peppers and green peppers and some beans and rice and tortillas to put in it. It was really good, really filling, I have tons of left-overs to give to "Ghoulia", but she probably won't eat, so I'll eat 'em. But at least I gave it a thought. Yeah, it was good though, better than I thought it would be.
Allan: What kind of expectations do you usually have about Los Cucos and did they meet those expectations?
Kevin: Having this be my third time here, I had pretty good expectations. I would say it's about--not as good as my previous experiences, but still pretty good.
Allan: Is this some place you would probably come again?
Kevin: Yes.

Kira

Danielle: What did you get and why did you like it?
Kira: I got the Smothered Chimichanga, it was really good but I wish the chimichanga was more deep-fried, like a chimichanga should be. It was more like a burrito-texture, but the flavor was really great and I got some flour tortillas on the side that were really good, and peppers--so, [a] good night.

Josh

Allan: Josh, what kind of food did you get here today?
Josh: It was the burrito--the El Grande.
Allan: The El Grande Burrito, what does that mean? What comes with it?
Josh: It comes with rice and guacamole and tomatoes with beef inside.
Allan: What was your favorite aspect about it?
Josh: The rice. I ate Dallin's rice too.

Emily

Danielle: Emily! What did you get for dinner?
Emily: Cheese Enchiladas with green sauce. I didn't like the green sauce, I got the green sauce instead of [the red sauce]. The green sauce kind of gave me heartburn, but I'm really digging the fried ice cream.

Dallin

Allan:  I am here with Dallin
Dallin: I've been waitin' for you Allan.
Allan: Dallin, what did you get? Describe it--what was good about it?
Dallin: It's called the steak--I can't pronounce it--we'll call it the steak tampenaria (-we found out later it was called the Steak a la Tampiqeuna-).
Allan: What does that include? What comes with it?
Dallin: Oh, everything. It comes with carne asada steak--medium. And then it comes with a chicken enchilada, smothered in green sauce, a cheese enchilada smothered in red sauce, rice, beans and two tortillas.
Allan: Was there anything that stood out? Like "Ooo, this tickles my tastebuds"?
Dallin: I like the grilled onions on the steak and I put them in the tortilla, like a fajita.
Allan:  Anything else that stood out? Anything else you wanted to mention?
Dallin: Oh, I got an appetizer, the big Family Appetizer. It everything on it. It had loaded jalapenos--chicken loaded. Chicken quesadillas, chicken flautas and beef nachos. I like[d] the chicken flautas the most and then the loaded jalapenos were good too.
Allan:  Is this something you would probably get again some time?
Dallin: Yup, this is what I got last time I was here--it's my favorite. Really good.


   So there you have it: Los Cucos has mexican-style food here, but they aren't afraid to experiment with what they have and make interesting menu items. There were couple of problems for some of our group, but it seems that most (if not all) of it was just bad luck this time around. But our opinion of this place was at least high enough to still enable us to come away thinking that we would still love to come back again. On another note, I think that one big indicator for how good the food is, is how well it settles in your stomach after you have finished eating and most of our stomachs were pretty content afterwards. With all thing considered we would have to give Los Cucos Four tacos (out of five) this time around, with the expectation that they can probably get a higher rating next time we come back.