Oaktown Crawl: Oaktown Crawl #18 - Cholita Linda (3/26/14)

Left to right: Mary, Rebecca, Bonnie, Erica, Julie, Joyce, Justine, Susan, Robin, Diane, Lorna, Terri, Heidi

Last night, thirteen crawlers hung out at the newly-opened brick-and-mortar version of the long-popular farmers' market pop-up called Cholita Linda. We had a great time! Below is my quick recap... (and the ratings and comments of the group)

Food: I had two tacos ($3.50/each, with a 2-taco minimum). They are served flat, with double small corn tortillas. They are quite small, but somehow, quite filling, and two was surprisingly enough. I had one fried fish taco (tilapia, I believe) (which is what they're most famous for), and one tofu taco. There was plenty of both protein sources, and then piled high with shredded cabbage, a few thin slices of radishes, some crema, and a lime wedge on the side. They also had carnitas, carne asada, and chicken tacos. I heard good things about most of them, perhaps most decisively, the chicken ones. I have to admit that I wasn't terribly fond of my tofu taco - it was fine, but nothing great (but then again, even though I mostly do the vegetarian thing and do tofu from time-to-time, I've never been a huge tofu fan). On the other hand, I really liked my fish taco (next time, I'd order 2 of these). It was crunchy on the outside and soft on the middle - just the way I like them. And while I thought it was yummy, it didn't totally blow my socks off (perhaps I read too many "their fish tacos will blow your socks off" reviews on yelp). I also had 2 or 3 chips with their housemade guacamole - I'm picky about both, and thought both were superb (if a little pricey for the serving size). They are still in their soft-opening stage, and plan to add additional items as they move forward, but they did have a few other sides (rice, beans, salad, plaintains, etc.), as well as 3 other entrees (2 sandwiches and 1 salad).

Drink: I had a strawberry/lime aqua fresca. Good, but again, didn't blow my socks off (then again, it was a damp and somewhat chilly evening - I might have enjoyed it more on a hot summer's day. It was $3.50. Several in our group had a beer - bottles - 3 or 4 kinds, $4.50/each. They also had some sodas.

Dessert: None offered! Not being a huge dessert person, I actually didn't notice that the menu was completely devoid of desserts until Robin pointed it out to me. And she was telling the truth - not a dessert to be found (but if they had some, I imagine they would have gotten a few more of our hard-earned dollars). I have to guess that they will add this later,

Ambiance: Bright. Light. Casual. Fun. Great colors. Family-friendly. Fun music in the background. Order from the cashier, then they bring your food to you. Line was a tad long at times, but they were doing what they could to keep the line moving. The walls were white with splashes of bright colors, and the tables were dark wood, mostly-communal. I liked the look and the feeling a lot. The only downside was that it was fairly noisy - the place was "normal busy," I'd say, but what with the music and the voices and all the hard surfaces, we found ourselves having to raise our voices to talk, as we unfortunately find at so many of the places we have visited.

Cost: Affordable. I spent a total of $12.50 for my dinner ($7.00 for 2 tacos, $3.50 for an aqua fresca, $1.00 that I threw into the tip jar on the counter, and $1.00 I threw in to help with the cost of the chips/guac). Kind of expensive for lunch, but very affordable for dinner (although I have to admit that my sweet tooth kicked in once I got home, and I indulged in a few dark-chocolate-covered edamame treats from TJs).

Conversation: We had a great time. We weren't sure exactly how many people were coming (we all have busy lives), so instead of spreading out over 2 communal tables, we decided to squeeze around 1 - and in my view, it worked out perfectly. Because of the size of the table and the noise level, there was no way that we could chat as one large group (which I kinda missed), but we were easily able to chat with our "half table" and then we switched it up a bit part-way through, which was fun. I was luckily able to have a conversation with most people, although unfortunately, not quite all (next time!).

Would I go back: Maybe/Probably. It's complicated. If I go back, it would probably be for dinner again. And I would probably order 2 fish tacos, 1 order of chips/guac (for myself - no sharing - I really liked their guac!), and either water or a beer. And even though they easily accommodated our relatively-large group (and could have easily accommodated twice as many!), I might be inclined to go with just 3 or 4 other people next time, for ease of conversation - unless you just wanted a quick and fun dinner with a bunch of friends and were going elsewhere to conversate later - that would work well too. The trouble is, I try not to eat fried foods very often, and at least right now, their friend fish taco is really the only thing that appeals to me (me being one who basically doesn't eat meat except for fish, unless, of course, I really want to!). That said, I will probably go back at least once, to get a second feel for it, and to get another taste of their tacos! I will also monitor their menus to see what else they might add. I am a HUGE fan of tacos, and if I'm dead honest with myself, I think this is a great place, with a great story (read http://edibleeastbay.com/online-magazine/winter-hoildays-2013/cholita-linda), and I'm a sucker for a good story and nice people, with good tacos, but they didn't blow my mind (like my homemade ones can!). But a fun, local, affordable, come-as-you are kind of place.

Ratings:

Food & Drink: 4.2 (out of 5)
Ambiance: 3.8 (out of 5)
Service: 3.8 (out of 5)
Overall: 3.9 (out of 5)
Comments: Good fish tacos, great fish tacos, liked the ambiance and open area for seating, great for groups, great family restaurant, really good food, loved the fish tacos, a little noisy but enjoyable casual setting, would recommend to my kids, dessert???, festive atmosphere, great food, reasonably priced, quick over-the-counter service, great food (fish), fun colors, lively atmosphere, decent food (could do without the crema), too noisy for me, better for small groups, great tacos, cheap!, I'd come back, I really liked this place and will come back, the fish tacos were the best!, al pastor good but not great, wonderful choice!, fun event - can't wait until the next one!, fine for a local little taco place, great fast food, worked out well for our big group!