Tacos in a Beer Garden? Que Bueno!

Yup, tacos and cold suds; that will work. It’s a birthright, a fiesta and a chance to pay homage to our Hispanic friends as well as tip our caps to Old Bavaria. I think it would be wise for some authority, such as Merriam-Webster for example, to work on replacing the words “Oasis” or “Utopia” or “Nirvana” with “Taco and Beer Garden”. At the very least, make an addendum to known synonyms. Kiki Dee once sang, “I got the music in me.” In response to that Kiki, all I have to say is, “I have a spiritual taco and beer garden AND the music in me, so eat your heart out girlfriend.”

Note: I would post a youtube link to the Kiki Dee Band classic but you do not want that song stuck in your head.

About three months ago, this taqueria and separate beer bar magically appeared on one of the main thoroughfares within inner SE Portland (12^th & SE Division). Needless to say, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to check it out. As most Portlanders know, when the weather is nice, you have to take advantage of the sun in every possible way (and tacos and beer are no exception).

I’m going to break this down into a split review.

Los Gorditos

http://www.insiderpages.com/b/15250679629/las-gorditas-portland

LGs carries a variety of different meats with a focus on tacos. They also had other items, such as sopes and burritos, but it’s my guess that they mostly move massive amounts of tacos.

A straight up traditional taco with meat, onions and cilantro on a tortilla will run you $2.

They have also a quesa taco (which a naming convention that I think defies the Spanish Language). I thought it could only be queso taco or maybe (longshot of quesa taca). Whatever, my Spanish is muy rusty! A quesa taco ($3) has an additional tortilla with melted cheese and the original taco tortilla has cheese as well on top of the standard taco. The quesa taco wasn’t bad but it just seemed unnecessary to the overall taste of the taco to throw a bunch of cheese and another tortilla at it.

I opted to diversify with three different meat styles/types. I would classify each meat as very solid but not mind blowing.

- Carne Asada Quesa Taco (Steak)

- Carnitas Taco (Pork Shoulder; kinda like pork briscuit)

- Al Pastor Taco (Spicy, Marinated Pork)

All and all, I would say that the taste of the tacos were good. I usually like to load up on the salsa but I was in Apex grabbing beers while tacos were being made. As a result, I utilized minimal salsa/hot sauce due to limited supply at taco deliverance. You can see the hot sauce in the picture; it almost looks phosphorescent with orange/red tones.

Being a big fan of Mexican food, I can tell you of many experiences where a really good, fresh salsa/hot sauce completely changed the complexion and taste of the meal. That’s the one question that remains after my original visit; can the salsa take it higher? Even if it doesn’t, I would eat here again in a heartbeat. There aren’t many places left that you can have a solid meal for $6 plus tip in a nice, casual and friendly environment. As you can see from the pics, there are lots of umbrellas in the event of a really hot day.

Another thing worth pointing out is that you want to have food in the beer garden; they will let you do so. However, the Apex BG does not have any dirty dish receptacles therefore you’ll need to return plates, etc to Los Gorditos for “Here” orders. The “Here” order would be considered the best environmental approach to minimize unnecessary packaging for your order. If you keep things easy, you can get the order to go and dispose of the refuse in the Apex BG.

In summary, I got 3 tacos for $7 and I was satisfied with the portions and the taste. I am not an uber-taco snob with regards to being able to evaluate taquerias but I can safely say that LGs tacos don’t rival Por que No on Upper Hawthorne. That’s not necessarily a bad thing because LG and Apex have their own neat thing going on.

They also carry breakfast burritos. I intend to grab one soon as I’m always looking for the ultimate BB as well as re-visit their salsa/hot sauce options.

Apex

http://apexbar.com/

This place has a very impressive beer collection re draft selections. I would definitely say that they are in the elite of Portland with regards to selection, diversity and numbers of different beers. The tap lines were clean and the finished product was on-point. I believe that the space shared by Apex and LG was formerly a mechanics garage. As a result, the bar itself is pretty small. The beer garden at this bar is going to be very busy when the weather is nice. When the weather turns south, my suspicion is that the place will SLOW down but then again, you always have the taco and beer combo working for you.

I would like to start off by saying that the service was very good and the bartender was pleasant. I’ll tip my hat to personable, service workers who enjoy their gig in the rose city.

The inside of the bar was a little bit sterile. I think of the actual bar as a walk up beer counter. There’s a giant garage door that stays open where folks can come and go with their beers back into the beer garden.

To display the available beer choices, they have cleverly incorporated Digital displays (Flatscreens) to look like schedules at a train station or airport. Next to the name of the beer, they display the brewery, alcohol content and price. I like this.

I had two Engelberg Pils from Upright Brewery that were pretty good. These Pils were straight forward but crisp and a fine partner for my tres tacos.

I bought my friend a Maharaja Imperial IPA that was 10.4% (Avery Brewery); his response was that it was %#@*& AWESOME! I tasted it and concur. It was the smoothest 10% beer that I have ever tasted.

Make sure you bring your ID. A friend of mine was denied access to Apex’s magical beer garden and he certainly appears to be over the age of 21. Don’t feel too bad for my friend, there was plenty of space in Los Gorditos Taco Garden, which is suitable for all ages.

Apex is a beer bar; no hard alcohol served.

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Note: In the beer garden shot, I have obscured the faces of random folks to protect their identities as I don't have consent to post their images online.