Fuzzy's Taco Shop

Update: Fuzzy's is closed.

In a word: Tacos + cilantro - water.

The specs: #0631  
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Isthmus, 77 Square, See With Me, Yelp, A.V. Club, Pop Will Eat Me; listing at Eat Drink Madison; opening announcement at Isthmus; chatter at TDPF; official web site, Facebook,

Latest Fuzzy's Taco Shop news and reviews

Chris, JM, Marissa and Nichole ate the nachos and one of each kind of taco.
Nichole had a Negra Modelo and everyone else had a soda.
The bill was about $10/person.
Chris gave Fuzzy's Taco Shop an A; JM, Marissa and Nichole gave Fuzzy's Taco Shop a B+ (see our grading rubric).

Fuzzy's is not first-date material. The food is messy and WYSIWYG, but they seem to be doing just what they set out to do. We liked that you get a discount on fountain drinks if you bring your cup back, and Chris especially loved the idea of breakfast all day.

Like Springers, Fuzzy's has a marlin on the wall. Here the fish draws attention to the winners of Fuzzy's Food Challenge: 15 tacos in 30 minutes. Now that would be a date to remember.

We skipped the challenge and got the nachos:

The plate was huge and piled high. The nachos were topped with a well-mixed pile of shredded chicken, feta, cheddar and onions, topped with diced tomatoes, a good garlic sauce and lots of cilantro. The chips (from what we could see of them) were light and fragile, dusted with salt and reddish powder. A side of queso aggravated the chip shortage, but deliciously defied coagulation even though it took us forever to get to the bottom.

Chris' positive impression of Fuzzy's was reinforced on a second visit:

I also went back to Fuzzy's the next week because I was craving it so much. I got the nachos with the special ground beef (instead of the chicken we had before), and it was just as tasty. I got them to go so they weren't as pretty, but I was impressed that they put the queso in a separate container without me even asking them, so the nachos as a whole were still fairly crisp and fresh when I got them home. A thoughtful touch.

For the second half of our official visit, we got one of each of the nine types of dinner taco filling on offer (plus one breakfast taco) and mix-and-matched the shell styles and hot sauces.

The hard corn shells were reminders of Old El Paso Taco Nite with some of our families of origin. The soft white corn tortillas were a solid middle ground between flour and yellow corn: they held together, but were still supple.

The other commonalities of our assortment:

• Holy cilantro.
• The feta, an intriguing choice, was not very tangy. Marissa had hoped for more flavor from it. Instead it was mostly a drying agent that added salt.
• The habañero sauce was not very hot.
• The regular salsa was a much-needed source of moisture - moisture being the thing these tacos needed most
• Each taco had a generous squeeze of fresh lime juice.
• The garlic queso and regular salsa also helped with the moisture problem.
• The lettuce and tomatoes were quite cold, so loading up on vegetables had a marked cooling effect that might get more pronounced with carryout.

As for the fillings, the grilled veggie taco was least satisfying: the beans were extremely salty. The grilled and grated carrots and zuke were a nice effort, though.

The grilled chicken and shredded pork were both basically unseasoned. The garlic shredded beef had more flavor than either the pork or chicken, as the name implied.

The seafood tacos were better. The grilled fish (tilapia) tasted light and clean, and the grilled shrimp portion was generous. The tempura breading was peppery on both the fish and shrimp taco fillers.

The chorizo breakfast taco was good, but the meat was not as spicy as Chris had hoped. It also would have been improved with its own salsa or cheese sauce.

The special ground beef taco was indeed special, and became JM's favorite. It didn't suffer the same dry problem as the rest.

Our fantasy Fuzzy's Food Challenge lineups differed from person to person, but we agreed that moisture is key. We'd all add mild salsa or garlic queso if that's OK by the rules. As for fillings, Chris and JM would go with the ground beef on hard shells, Marissa the garlic beef, and Nichole the grilled fish on a mix of hard and soft shells. The winner would still pack in over a day's worth of calories, but think of the bragging rights!

Comments

[Eric]

Sure it was feta? I can't tell from the pics but I know a lot of text-mex places use cotija, which is a dry crumbly feta-like cheese, but one that as you mention, lacks tanginess.

Of course it could just be cheap feta too. I have no way of knowing for sure.

[Kyle]

If Fuzzy's menu is to be believed, it's feta.

[catwoman5]

It may depend on the quality - or on the source. Cow's milk feta tends to be a lot less tangy than the goat or sheep milk varieties.....

[Chris]

It's easy to use Feta as a reasonable alternative to Queso Fresco also.

I love Fuzzy's, but wish that they had a decent salsa option. Their "butt burning" sauce tastes loosely like watery Sriracha with seeds in it minus the heat. We've taken to sneaking salsa verde into the restaurant with us.

[catwoman5]

We went over there tonight thanks to a Groupon coupon. We were pleasantly surprised. Keep in mind it's a fast food kind of place - and given that, we thought it fared quite well against its competition.

[Timmy]

This place is great fast-food, significantly better than any chain taco joint in town. I still prefer Los Gemelos, El Pastor, or other taquerias (of course), but I'd recommend Fuzzy's for a breakfast taco feast at 11pm. Their chips are served warm and fried to order, I dug that. Their fish tacos aren't spectacular, but they hit the spot. Affordable, good quality stuff.

[Steve]

I ate here a week ago. Great Tacos.