Five Things: Taco Tuesday edition

Favorite Taco Tuesday Places*

America’s – This is my most recent and most frequent Taco Tuesday destination. Getting 2 burritos, 2 tacos and 6 Coronitas for $20-some is a decent deal. Enjoying these on the patio in our great “fall” weather is what really make this. Also, two of the last three time I’ve gone, I’ve run into someone I knew there, which is an event that always binds that place as part of the neighborhood in my mind.

Gallo Blanco – The beef at this place is amazing. Seriously, every bite is amazing. Once, after taking my boss there, he told me that he preferred America’s because he thought Gallo used “too much marinade”. I had to tell him that’s what real meat tastes like. I love the natural & local ingredients here, and the food reflects it. My only gripe is that they seem to always have a lot of staff on hand and yet I still have to wait a long time for help.

Verde – I don’t think I’ve met a more welcoming business owner than the guys at Verde. True story, a couple weeks ago I thought I’d imagined up a new great variation on one of their dishes. I peddled over to Verde and as I started to ask if they could make it, Matt & Joseph pointed to the menu and SURPRISE, it was already the special of the day. It’s like they were Taco Psychics. Seriously, go there, get the Green Chile Tacos. You’ll love it. If only they served beer, though….

Macayo’s – The old standby. Nothing spectacular here. Beers are cold, service feigns interest. Don’t get the burrito, ever. We had to put these guys on the do-not-eat list for about 6-months after a recent complaint.

El Portal – Greasy greasy, rarely a full step up from ‘berto’s. In fact, if it wasn’t in my neighborhood, I’d probably go to ‘berto’s instead.

* for purposes of this list, I’m describing places that you could visit on your lunch hour, and not reflective of a trip to these establishments where you don’t mind the time.

I finally found a downside to living in CenPho

24-hour brightness will obscure and virtually eliminate my ability to check out the on-coming Perseid Meteor Shower.

True, Astronomy is usually not within my spectrum of nerdhood, but laying out in the cool early morning air and watching some fireballs race across the sky sounds pretty awesome.

One of the strongest and most reliable of the major annual meteor showers returns Thursday night and early Friday, when dark skies may reveal 60 to 70 Perseid meteors an hour.

The best time for viewing in Arizona will likely be 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. Friday, said Alan MacRobert, a senior editor at Sky & Telescope magazine. Observers may spot a few early arrivals on Wednesday and some stragglers on Friday night.

The key to viewing: darkness. Light pollution washes out faint meteors, so observers in urban backyards may see just a dozen or so an hour.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/events/articles/2010/08/11/20100811perseid-meteor-shower-returns-phoenix.html#ixzz0wK5bV2ta

If only I knew a really dark place to go to see these.

Image courtesy of azcentral.com. Click here for full story: