Prices: $6 to $9 per person
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays
Information: 342-0212
Say “Cali Taco,” however, and a diverse array of Omahans will know just what you mean: the taco shop near 33rd and California Streets.
It's one of those quirky, tucked-away gems that's as tied to midtown Omaha as owner Brad Bogard, a Creighton Prep alum and University of Nebraska at Omaha business marketing grad. He represents the third generation of his family making a living on that corner.
The family pharmacy that Bogard turned into an order-at-counter taco joint in 1996 was one of the first places my new colleagues took me when I moved to Omaha in 2000. It was as much for the food as for the offbeat mix of diners.
Backpack-toting students and scrubs-wearing medical staff from nearby Creighton University and its medical center are among the regulars at California Tacos. But its fresh, zesty salsas, made-to-order flour and corn tortilla chips and namesake taco trigger regular cravings among families and blue- and white-collar workers from downtown to Dundee.
Until this spring, a World-Herald restaurant critic had visited the eatery just once since its launch - on official reviewing business, anyway. So the spot's recent appearance on the Food Network's “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” gave me a good excuse to return with an empty belly and a sharpened pencil.
The high-ceilinged, sun-filled space was characteristically hopping on two recent lunch and dinner visits.
Regulars know the drill: En route to the counter, you scope out a table. (Sometimes that means sending your companions to claim a not-yet-cleared booth.) You stand in line, order, pay, take a number, get your own beverage, settle into your seat and get your gabbing out of the way. When freshly fried chips and tacos arrive some 10 to 20 minutes later with ketchup-style squeeze bottles of red and green salsa, the gossip gives way to crunching, smacking, mm'ing and, inevitably, tussling over the last chip.
Cali Taco achieves an eclectic diner-meets-drugstore feel with a sloping stamped-tin ceiling and mismatched pink and pale blue booths and a bar in the main dining room. The place radiates congeniality with neon accents, a few mounted TVs and a smiling clay sun with a cigarette dangling from its lips. Behind the register, four small menu boards spell out offerings in movable all-caps letters: chimichangas, enchiladas, burritos, tostadas, hard-shell tacos and more.
I never stray too far beyond the first item on the list: the consistently delicious house specialty, the California Taco.
I'd guess I've had that namesake taco at least three dozen times. It's a puffy golden mitt of freshly fried dough, wedged with mildly spiced shredded chicken (or ground beef, sliced steak, grilled tilapia or beans), cheddar cheese and lettuce.
The shell, if you can call it that, makes it. As Bogard demonstrated for the “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” crew, it starts with something akin to fry-bread dough, cut into equal portions with a 78-year-old bun divider. Staffers flatten each ball to order, fill the uncooked dough with a cooked protein of your choice and fry it in a basket that helps the dough keep its pinched “U” shape.
The result is a terrifically crisp and bubbled exterior, a soft warm center and a taco that doesn't shed its meat, even when tipped on its side in a paper-lined plastic basket.
For all the frying, it's also not too greasy. And it's better still with the two chilled house salsas - a loose red purée that tastes of very simply seasoned sweet tomatoes, and a slushy green number with a jalapeño kick. It's the perfect intersection of flavors, temperatures and textures.
The minimalist guacamole - a pretty green mash unblemished by onion chunks - has some zip, too. It's got a nice amount of citrus and a little delayed heat. And it's perfect with the tomato salsa and a basket of mixed flour and corn tortilla chips - rectangular strips, fried up in small batches throughout the day.
A mango or strawberry margarita or a Dos Equis beer rounds out a meal nicely.
And if you manage to save room for dessert, there are sopaipillas and fried cinnamon crisps, though I can't say I've ever seen anyone order them.
The only quibbles I have are the occasional backlog at the counter and the wait you sometimes face to get your table cleaned. Bogard told me later that he plans a few tweaks to help things along, such as launching a daily special with free chips if the whole table orders the special, and perhaps even a specials-only express lane.
I'm willing to wait as long as the food remains consistently fresh-tasting, the service laid-back and friendly, and the price right (almost every item is less than $6).
It's no exaggeration to say that, compared to the puffed wonder that is the California taco, most other flour tacos simply fall flat.
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