Columbus, OH

Everyone loves tacos, right? I definitely do. Although, honestly, I love anything that is relatively healthy and comes with some form of avocado... Well in the past week I somehow managed to eat at three different Mexican restaurants in Columbus and so, with some other past experiences thrown in, I decided to do a blog post dedicated to some of CBus' Mexican offerings.

Los Gauchos 

Some would argue that this is the most best & authentic Mexican in Columbus... and they're probably not far off. It genuinely tastes just like everything I ate in Mexico and it's awesome. Basically, it's cheap, flavourful food and you'd be amiss to not go here - even if both of their stops are a little out of the way. I got the Asada Tacos and added avocado (because it's me) and drenched it in the green salsa they have on the tables. That salsa is so good, make sure you use it. They also have bowls of onions and hot peppers on the tables for people to use - but be careful, the heat will get ya!

Condado 

This place is a GF person's heaven & also Vegan heaven too. This is build your own tacos at it's best, and the menu makes it so easy (with it's 'GF' symbols) to know what to eat and what to avoid.

I've only been here a couple of times and I've enjoyed it both times - although it does have a "process of elimination" type feel, that tends to happen when you can choose a ton of your own fillings, so it takes a couple of visits to get things right. I went this past week with my friend Ashley who is obsessed with it, and I ordered two tacos (more than enough at this place), with jack fruit and a bunch of toppings including cabbage and chimichurri. The jack fruit didn't blow my mind, it was just OK, but I tried a piece of Ashley's chili Tofu and it was AMAZING - so next time I'll definitely be ordering that as my protein.  Their guac is also great, but maybe a bit too garlicky for me (can't believe I'm saying that!)

They do sometimes tend to get something wrong, so try & remember what you ordered on your form. They sometimes get their sauces mixed up, so don't be upset if your order is slightly different from what it was meant to be (although this seems to only happen to me, so I'm sure yours would be fine!)

PS. Small Tip: They don't have soft corn tacos on the menu as an option, but they DO have them, so if you're like me & prefer those to hard corn shells, make sure to write it on the top of your order form!

Yabo's Tacos 

I'm the worst and didn't get any photos of my lunch on Sunday, I was just too hungry. I got home and inhaled it. But lemme tell you about Yabo's. I only discovered them in the past six months, which is annoying because they're about 5 mins from my house - and great to grab on the way home. Anyway, on Sunday I ordered Steak Baja Tacos got home & added avocado to them (can you see a theme here?) and they were really bloody good. They have an array of sauces that you can put in pots to take away and I always take a bunch of "Lip Smacking Chipotle" with me and drench my food in it. It's like a spicy bbq style chipotle sauce and I love it. This time I also ordered Fried Jalapeños because I wanted to try something else and I really enjoyed them. They were charred jalapeños with lime juice filled with queso fresco cheese in them. I'd recommend trying those. Yabo's is also a place that places the GF symbol on their menu for ease, so there's plenty of options for you to choose from. Enjoy!

Cosecha 

Now this is one of Columbus' newest Mexican joints and I randomly ended up here with work on Monday. We visited one of those "get out of the room you're locked in" puzzle places beforehand & this was right next door, so we gave it a try.



Lemme tell you, that green salsa was SO limey it was glorious, we all fell madly in love with it. The tomato salsa was sweet, subtle and just as good as the green one (in my opinion). I wanted to smother them both over everything in my life. I ended up eating a lot of both of them. The guac was also just as good - it tasted like they were letting the avocados do all the talking and it was delicious. I love it when somewhere doesn't go wild on their guac, so this was perfect.

I ordered two tacos (they recommend two or three) - the chorizo (roasted pecans, pickled vegetables, sweet potato, corn tortilla) and the steak one (marinated steak, roasted peppers and onions, queso fresco, chipotle aioli, corn tortilla). I added avocado to both (obvs). They were really, really, really good. I thoroughly enjoyed my food. I probably could've eaten another one, but it was just lunch, so I'm happy I stopped myself. The service was terrible though. We waited SO long for our food & then even longer for the check, which put a bit of a downer on things. If they upped their game in the server department, this place could be dynamite! If you don't mind the possibility of a long wait, go here! I definitely recommend it. 

There are plenty more places to eat Mexican in Columbus. It would be wrong of me to not mention Bakersfield because everyone loves it so much (especially my friend Gabby who tells me it's the best in Columbus constantly), but they just don't cater well to GF people. The last time I went they didn't have a clue what I could eat & what I couldn't and our waitress fumbled her way through telling me about the allergens. If I hear that they've upped their game in that department, I'll definitely go back there.

There's also Las Margs & Nada! If you want burritos the size of babies and some of the best guac you can have, head to Las Margs. They now offer a "gluten friendly" menu, which has been a wonderful addition. Caleb's family absolutely love this place and I do too, but we kind of overdid it (visiting every weekend), and it doesn't seem as special anymore, but still very much worthy of a visit.

Nada is a bit more upscale. It's expensive for Mexican and since having other Mexican food around columbus, it's gone down in my ratings, but their Queso is glorious and they fry their GF chips in a separate fryer, so they definitely cater to us annoying people! It's a good place to stop by - mostly for their cocktails. Ha!
















And that's about it for now! There's plenty more places for me to try, so I'm sure there will be another post about Mexican restaurants in CBus again at some point. Let me know if I haven't mentioned your favourite place and tell me where I need to try!