Paloma Taco & Tequila Has Both in Abundance

Paloma Taco & Tequila. Photo by Cari Taylor-Carlson.

Paloma Taco & Tequila was hopping both times I came for a weekday lunch. It’s a colorful restaurant where orange walls with blue accents and bright multicolored chairs set the mood for a south-of-the-border lunch that mainly featured lots of tacos, plus a variety of starters, entrees, brunch entrees and desserts. There are two locations; we went to the one in Bay View. The other is in the Washington Heights neighborhood.

Before my companion and I ordered lunch, we turned the menu over to study the multifaceted drink menu. We found, for example, a list of 35 kinds of tequila — appropriate when tequila is part of the name of the restaurant. The most familiar tequila, at least for us, was Don Julio, and there were five varieties that ranged in price from $10 to $30 for a single shot. Noon seemed too early for a shot, so instead we ordered a garden bloody Mary made with a house-made bloody mix and an Aperol margarita. Both drinks were just right. The margarita had the perfect balance of sweet from Grand Marnier, plus a squeeze of tart from a lime, a hint of bitters and a salty rim. It was a lovely burnt orange color, like a summer sunset.

The Mexican street corn and avocado quesadilla, the most popular entrée according to our server, lived up to its description. A flour tortilla stuffed with Chihuahua cheese along with sliced avocado and seasoned corn oozed with flavor and proved to be a satisfying pre-theater lunch. A small side salad topped with crema finished the dish. We shared an order of beans, a cupful of pinto beans that were somewhere in between refried and charro. We ate them with our spoons. We ordered them a la carte along with an order of chips and salsa, also a la carte.

It wasn’t easy to choose a taco or two from the list of a dozen. I settled on carne asada in a special crunchy pink shell that wasn’t actually pink, but it crunched, and a Cajun shrimp taco. Both were delicious. There was a lot of rib-eye in the carne asada, which also included more Chihuahua cheese and a drizzle of crema to blend the flavors.

The shrimp taco had an impossible number of juicy Cajun-flavored shrimp along with pickled red onion, cabbage, queso fresco and cilantro. This was a taco that will bring me back to this little restaurant.

When I came again with another companion, he chose the basic gringo, with seasoned ground beef, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and crema. It was a tasty gringo, but there are more interesting tacos on the menu, such as spicy chicken, chorizo, tuna poke, Brussels sprouts, chicken or beef birria, and a Cajun fish taco.

My enchilada, stuffed with Chihuahua cheese and onions, had a mild sauce. It was fine, but some accompanying rice and beans would have added more interest to this entrée.

Dogs are welcome here, and the menu offers three pup treats: a flour tortilla with banana and peanut butter, bone broth with peanut butter, and, for a sweet puppy treat, whipped cream topped with a doggie treat.

You can add Taco & Tequila to your list of local Mexican restaurants if you’re looking for an extensive drink menu, but as we discovered, it’s all good here whether you eat or drink or both.

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• Location: 2154 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
• Hours: 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Mon-Wed, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thu, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fri-Sat, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sun
• Neighborhood: Bay View
• Website: https://palomatacoandtequila.com

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