Fuzzy's Taco Shop

Since moving to Texas, I have looked forward to trying Fuzzy's Taco Shop.  It was recommended by an old friend.  It was recommended by the guy from Verizon who installed our internet.  When I did a Google Maps search for Wahoo's Fish Tacos in Dallas, I discovered that there is sadly not a location here, but there were several reviews comparing Fuzzy's to Wahoo's as a suitable replacement.  Finally, there is a Fuzzy's about a mile from my house so I had every reason to be excited for good, inexpensive, close, baja-style Mexican food.

High expectations can be dangerous, but good food is good food so I don't believe my universal disappointment of Fuzzy's has anything to do with expectations.  I have eaten at Fuzzy's twice now.  I felt like after the first time I needed to give it a second chance.  I thought that maybe I had ordered the wrong menu item or something, but both times I have been underwhelmed.  I would first like to start with the chips and salsa.  I have a hypothesis about chips and salsa.  I believe that the overall quality of a Mexican food restaurant can be judged by its chips and salsa.  Fuzzy's has some of the worst chips and salsa I have ever eaten at a Mexican food restaurant.  I saw the chips which were sprinkled with what looked like chili powder and seasoning salt, and I judged that to be a good thing.  I dipped my chip in the deep red salsa, and to my surprise, the salsa was hot.  I don't mean spicy; it was as if it had just come off of the stove.  It had virtually no spiciness, and the only thing I could taste was over-reduced, verging on burnt to the bottom of the pan tomato sauce (I believe that's why they call it fire-roasted) and cumin.  The chips tasted like Tostitos, and I couldn't taste the chili powder/seasoning salt mixture whatsoever.

So the chips and salsa weren't any good.  Because of the salsa they were almost inedible as a matter of fact, but what about the tacos?  When a Mexican food restaurant has a particular item in its title, I expect that to be their signature food.  For example, back in San Tan Valley there was a little place called Jim's Burros.  I tried their burros first, and they were pretty decent.  I especially liked their chorizo and egg breakfast burro, and yes, their chips and salsa were quite good.  Once I ordered a taco, and I realized that they weren't called Jim's Tacos for a reason.  Naturally, I tried the tacos at Fuzzy's on both visits. On my first visit, I went with a grilled shrimp soft taco and a grilled fish soft taco.  Once again as with the chili powder/seasoning salt on the chips, the presentation of the tacos got my hopes up because of the feta cheese and freshly chopped cilantro sprinkled across the top.  It's a little different, but it is a touch I thought would elevate an otherwise simple food.  The fish was mushy and overly fishy, and the shrimp was overcooked and almost nonexistent.  I think there were two pieces of shrimp in the whole taco.  To top it off, neither seemed grilled at all.  If it had ever been grilled, it spent too much time under a heat lamp and was not prepared fresh for my order.

The second time, I decided to go with their tempura fish crunchy taco and a shredded beef crunchy taco.  Back in Arizona, when I ordered a crunchy taco, apart from at Taco Bell, I got a greasy, freshly deep fried corn tortilla that was unhealthy and extremely delicious.  At Fuzzy's, I got a Taco Bell crunchy taco shell.  The fried fish was better than the "grilled" fish, but to call it tempura was nothing more than trying to use a fancy name for fried fish.  There was a nice sour cream sauce on the taco which went well with the fish, and it was surprisingly okay.  The shredded beef seemed to be the most flavorful thing I had eaten at a place that bases all of their slogans around their fish tacos until I really got a good taste of the meat.  I noticed the distinct flavor of McCormick Taco Seasoning which ruined the rest of the taco.  On a side note, since the fire roasted salsa was basically inedible, I tried adding some of the butt burnin' hot sauce to spice things up, and it was nothing but vinegary Louisiana style hot sauce with a Fuzzy's label.  I honestly don't know how Fuzzy's is a growing chain in the DFW area because it just isn't that good.  The several people on Google who compared it to Wahoo's Fish Tacos must not remember how good Wahoo's is because the comparison is completely inexplicable.  Hopefully, since Wahoo's has expanded into other cities in Texas it will find its way to Dallas, and otherwise I need to check to see if Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill has restaurants here because their fish and shrimp tacos are far superior to Fuzzy's.  I suppose I can also just make my own fish and shrimp tacos which are better than both.  That may just have to be a post for another day.