Anyone who goes to a
cafeteria on a regular basis or a restraunt with an
extensive buffet has probably seen a place set up with the
fixin's for
Texican food. There are a number of bases to start your creation from- mostly
hard tacos, but usually they come along with uncooked tortilla shells that one uses to make
soft tacos. There's the
meat product that composes the base material of the taco or
burrito, the
shredded lettuce that goes on top of it, and in another bucket, the
shredded cheese bits that get sprinkled on top. And again, usually, they look like a palatable addition to your meal time.
Don't let them fool you.
Having worked at numerous buffet places, I have a good idea of
what goes on behind the scenes. The tacos have been sitting on shelves for hours- no matter how supple they may look in the tray, they will invariably achive the consistency of stale bread thirty seconds after you take it out of the tray. The meat may look to be steaming fresh, but that's what the
heat lamps are for- that
beef-like substance has been swimming in the grease that it was fried in for the past forty-five minutes. The lettuce? Stolen from the salad bar and run through a grinder. The cheese? Don't get me started. And when they have other additions- onions, melted cheese, refried beans- you'd be better off going to the potato bar and hoping that they still have those precious items in stock.
The
taco bar looks good on paper, but in reality it is a
cesspool of the nastiest stuff management staff can possibly concieve of. Don't let it lure you with the promises of
Texican- you're better off going to a restraunt dedicated to the production of the stuff.
Better still, make it yourself and skip the middleman.