Hippo Burgers

This local chain has now opened a location in our neighborhood. We stopped in recently to try out the burgers. Got the Mushroom Burger and Bacon Cheeseburger combos and fountain drinks. One combo had tater tots, the other had fries. Also got a chocolate shake for something sweet.

A couple of things got my attention right away. First, they have a whole lot of options on the menu for most everything. Many ways to make your burger, including custom built. Second, they have aguas frescas as refillable drinks at the fountain (dispensed like the tea). I was able to get my fill of jamaica, and looking forward to that got me off to a great start.

The burgers were first rate. The bacon on my burger was nice and crisp, so it ate neatly. The patty was tender and had good flavor. They were served on sesame seed buns, which I believe were potato buns. They were toasted and held up well. The mushroom burger was pretty drippy, but that's how mushrooms are.

The tater tots were fine, cooked just enough to be crisp and a generous serving. No seasoning on them. The fries were seasoned and were quite good fresh. They have lots of other options for sides, including onion rings, sweet potato fries, and fried pickles. The shake was a good representation, very chocolatey.

The restaurant is pretty spare inside, no real decoration but brightly painted. Several tables but the atmosphere is more take-out. We asked to eat there but still got the meal packed to go, as some places do. If you're eating in you order at the counter then sit down and they bring it to you. We got our shake first, but leading with dessert is OK with me. Service was fine and the place was clean.

They have lots of other fast food type options--hot dogs, wings, chicken sandwiches and salads. The burgers are not cheap but are delicious. We'll definitely be back.

My Yelp Review

La Cocina de Rosita at Dave's Express

There's a relatively new taqueria operating in Dave's Express now, I decided to come in and give it a try. The operation is pretty simple and standard--a variety of meats and sides on the steam table, and they'll make them up as tacos, burritos or tortas. I got a 2 meat plate with pork roja and beef fajitas, with rice, beans, tortillas and salsas.

The pork roja is pork in a red sauce. It looks quite delicious on the steam table. The pork is well cooked and quite tender. The sauce is savory but has no spice. The beef fajitas were good, cut small and quite tender with good flavor. I got orange and green salsas with my tacos--the orange salsa has a major kick, the green a minor one. Both were fairly sharp but were fine with the meats. The flour tortillas that came with the meal might have been store-bought and were a bit overdone.

Overall the food is fine, if you are there and find something appealing it will satisfy you. Service is better if you have some Spanish but I got by OK in English. The store hasn't changed much--it is clean and ready.

My Yelp Review

Nuestro Corazon Mexicano

I've had my eye on this food truck for a while now and just got around to giving it a try. I stopped in on a hot day and got some street tacos, arroz con leche, and a jamaica agua fresca.

The street taco plate comes with five tacos and charro beans. They only let you choose two proteins, so I got fajita and barbacoa with cilantro and onion. The barbacoa was tender and juicy as expected. The fajita meat was exceptionally tender and tasty. The tacos are served on corn tortillas. They advertise homemade tortillas but I think they mean the flour ones, these looked purchased but they were quite good. The charro beans were fine, nothing particularly noteworthy.

The Arroz Con Leche had plenty of leche--nice, not too sweet milk with a hint of cinnamon and vanilla, topped with nuts. It was pretty liquid, one could almost drink it. It was a very generous serving but would be tricky to share, I am sure you could ask for multiple cups and they would do it for you. They had five different dessert items on the menu, most places will just have one or two. The jamaica was very good. It was a large serving (24+ ounces), not too strong but perfect for washing down the meal. I was grateful for the coolness and drank it all.

This is a place that puts aesthetics on par with the food. The dining area is attractive, lots of nice clean tables and a cute patio/dance area decorated with pink umbrellas. If you eat there it will be off a beautiful ceramic plate. My tacos were served on red tortillas and nicely arranged. There are other food trucks that pay attention to atmosphere but this place probably does it the best.

Service was polite and prompt. I've driven by several times and the truck has always been open when they say it will be, which is very important for a standalone, "destination" food truck. There was another food truck I was planning to review today, but it wasn't open when it said it was.  

Overall, I can't find any real fault with Nuestro Corazon Mexicano. Go give them a try.

My Yelp Review

Made in Medellin - Woodlands

Made in Medellin has recently added a food truck at La Plaza de los Food Trucks on Gosling road. I drove through the other night and stopped to try it out. I got the Salchipapa Medellin, which is a loaded fry dish, and this one is seriously loaded--chicken, sausage and bacon with a house sauce on top of french fries, capped with a load of mozarella and cheddar cheese. It's at least two pounds of food and you should easily get three portions out of it. It came with three sauces--a white sauce that reminded me a little of tartar sauce (but not strongly), a pink sauce (the white sauce with ketchup) and a relish/chutney that had a complex, just barely sweet flavor. All went well with the dish. The fries are cooked nice and crisp and hold up to the layered goodness on top. The dish took awhile to make but when I dug in I understood why, it's a complicated concoction. I would say the chicken was just a bit overdone but all the sauce and moisture made it eat just fine. Delicious! While I was waiting I had a Lulo, one of their juices. Also called a naranjilla. The juice is a commercial product with lulo and pear pulp and a lot of artificial treatment (some artificial flavors, and artificial "cloudifier"--ingredients to make the juice cloudy. Never had that before.), but if you can get past that it's pretty tasty. They have a full range of other beverages.

Their menu is quite large, with a variety of appetizers, burgers, and plates. They know how to cook and it's clear why they are successful.

My Yelp Review