Taco Punk and Tumbleweed Waterfront closing

I stopped going to Tumbleweed's sit down restaurants shortly after moving here when I realized they were serving the exact same food as their mall food court locations for twice the price. It was my favorite place to eat while shopping at the mall, but that's been gone for a while.

I'm really going to miss Taco Punk. I hope they might be able to eventually relocate and reopen.

I liked TP, but didn't love it. The kickstarter campaign turned me off and kept me from returning, especially with the advent of new and better places like Taco Luchador.

If area businesses start falling like dominos, then I'll believe that it's because of the bridges. Otherwise....

I would like to think tumbleweed had fresh food when it was owned by the people who started it but maybe it just tasted better in the 70s when I was a kid !!??

Same here used to be my favorite restaurant when I as a kid. Every saturday my grandmother would take us there, I always looked forward to my burrito. Pretty sure it was still microwaved but I don't know it just seems like the ingredients were better then or something. I swear the salsa had more flavor too. Hard to say though, I certainly have more diverse tastes than i did back then.

When I worked there circa 2000, they still used to fry their chips fresh every day. They no longer do that, so that could be one difference people notice from the way it used to be back in the day.

You can't really compare Tumbleweed in this century to Tumbleweed in the last century. Removing the open face Tex-Mex chiliburger from the menu was as smart as changing the formula for Coke in the '80s. You don't have to do fancy cuisine as long as you have some dishes enough people crave on occasion. We can learn that from White Castle. But after the switch from Tex-Mex to mesquite grill there was nothing left of that sort.
To complain their business declined after the pedestrian bridge opened should make even their accounting drones look away from Excel for a second. I've believed for years the Waterfront Park location depended on the lack of competition nearby (the late, great Relish not withstanding). Enough people will walk half a mile to get more interesting food. Hey, Tumbleweed, last time I checked people can walk both ways across the bridge.

The Taco Punk kickstarter was also the tacky nail in the coffin for my patronage as well. Still, they had a good product at a decent price and I'm sad they are going out.

As for the 'weed (ahem), when you go multi-unit you have to make decisions about where you are willing to allow for inconsistencies and of what kind. Bean counting has a lot to do with it, but consistency does as well. The trick is to stay consistent and keep the quality high. They farmed their food production out to a third party at some point and then failed to hold that third party to a high standard assuming "good enough" was good enough, and it might have been had the service not plummeted due to an overly and unnecessary complicated POS system and what appears to be slackened standards for customer service. I will not miss them as much.

I dont feel sorry for tumbleweed. I am surprised they have lasted this long. I thought their food was terrible 20 years ago when i was in high school. I would imagine they have made more $$$ with a microwave than all the appliance companies combined.

As was mentioned earlier, the taco punk closing is no surprise. Lease/rent issues and a mysterious failed kickstarter were the writing on the wall. They failed to recognize their potential given the success of NuLou. If they offered full food service (servers, bar, etc), i think they would have had a better shot. In my few visits, I would have preferred to have ordered and drank a draft beer while I mulled over a printed menu rather than stare at the wall while waiting in a cattle line.

In my few visits, I would have preferred to have ordered and drank a draft beer while I mulled over a printed menu rather than stare at the wall while waiting in a cattle line.

^ This.

Quite frankly the whole way the operation was being run was really weird.

You ordered in a line like a Qdoba but then depending on the time it took them to cook the meat portion you ended up standing there waiting or having to keep an ear out to get called. The itsy bitsy ramekins made trying to get salsa to dip your chips in an exercise in frustration. And of the 3 times I ever went in there the chips themselves were stale twice.
And quite frankly the quality of the tacos compared to any other place in town, especially nearby lunch competition such as Manny & Merles, just wasnt there.

I respected Gabe's commitment to minimizing his impact on the environment and using locally sourced products, but the food and operation still has to be up to snuff.

My ex worked at the Weed in upper management more than 20 years ago. Hard to believe now that it used to be THE restaurant that everyone talked about experiencing. A great deal of hard work went into that restaurant. Then, they went public with the stock and it immediately started going downhill. Cutting corners to make investors happy instead of making diners happy. It was very sad. Now it's just cr** plain and simple.

As far as El Nopal goes, well, after my last few meals at various locations, they seem to be going down the same path. I really don't get to the new, trendy places that DO offer the more genuine regional dishes so I don't think my taste buds have been that hyper educated. I just think the quality has gone down hill for them as well. (Heavy sigh)

I really don't get to the new, trendy places that DO offer the more genuine regional dishes so I don't think my taste buds have been that hyper educated.

In all seriousness there are some great new trendy Mexican and Bakersfield places in town, but at the same time there are some absolutely cheap hole in the wall places flying under the radar that offer some out of this world Mexican cuisine. Dont be fooled going trendy can be fun but if you want some great Mexican at an amazing price I would hit:

1. Taco trailer that was still parking in the lot of the BP gas station, on the corner of New LaGrange Rd and Harris Place across from Oxmoor Mall. They open late (generally 7pm). They charge a flat $3 per taco with all the fixings. Portions are HUGE and its probably one of the two best taco places in town.

2. El Mocajete at 4th and Heywood near UofL.

Start with those two and have fun!

Thanks! Will do.
(I do like El Mariachi)

While I haven't dined at many Mexican restaurants, I don't know who is the best. The weed is at the bottom of the barrel. Tried it twice. First time their fault. Second visit my fault. I say adios. The race may be on to see who is thenext tenant. Hmm!