Taco Punk and Tumbleweed Waterfront closing

Both are blaming bridges


http://www.courier-journal.com/story/en ... /16051339/

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/ne ... /16048977/

As far as Taco Punk goes I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one. Tumbleweed? No. Their food has just been awful for far too long.

yeah, the bridges, that's it. Because Tumbleweed's food and service have just been STELLAR in the past decade. (look, ma, it's sarcasm!)

[Robin Garr]

I hate to hear that about Taco Punk.

Naw, I really hate to hear it about any eatery, although I'm thinking the city's deal with Tumbleweed on the riverfront property couldn't have been all that inexpensive.

[Robin Garr]

Here's a direct link to Taco Punk's Facebook post. I hate to see this.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/taco-pun ... 9079138815

(Updated link above ... this one goes direct to Taco Punk's page ... previous link unintentionally added an extra step through the HotBytes page, so this is more direct.)

I used to be a KM for Tumbleweed back in the day.

I would not eat there. No need to. I have a microwave at the house.

UofL will have to find a new place to host their coaches' radio shows.

Story about the Tumbleweed Situation Was Just Posted on Business First: Tumbleweed overpaid rent by $470,000?
Tumbleweed is now claiming they overpaid rent to the tune of $470,000 since 2009? I don't know about you but I don't know of any company that would overpay rent, especially that much. If they truly did it just shows how bad their management really is. Also, any argument about the bridges project hurting them really isn't that valid because there really hasn't been much restrictions and access to their location. In addition, the big four walking bridge right next to their location should have been a big contributor to extra business for them instead of taking it away.

I would not eat there. No need to. I have a microwave at the house.

There is no doubt Tumbleweeds is awful stuff. But doesnt the old microwave thing apply to 80% of the "Mexican" restaurant chains in town such as the El Nopals, etc? I wont eat in any of them.

Gary z was my training manager at tumbleweed and he was the only thing good about the place ( the buffalo burger wasnt bad ) lol but everything there was microwaved and not fresh .

I don't know about that Matt. There were... fringe benefits.

But speaking to the food... Everything is precooked and vacuum packed at the commissary. Upon arrival at the store, bags are thrown into heat wells until (usually) up to temp. Bags are then squeezed into 3rd pans and set in steam table. Product is then ladeled and microwaved to order.

There really is no way the El Nopal type chains could be any less fresh without freezing and rethawing their product. Don't some of them at least press their own tortillas?

[Robin Garr]

There really is no way the El Nopal type chains could be any less fresh without freezing and rethawing their product. Don't some of them at least press their own tortillas?

Yeah, I'm reluctant to hammer on Nopal/Nopalito, Los Aztecas/Sol Aztecas/Ramiros, El Tarasco and the other "local chains," all of which showed real entrepreneurship on the part of the city's Latino community and brought what was then our Tumbleweed level of Mexican food up a significant notch. They got popular and they thrived, and now we're moving into "real" stuff, and that's great. But I can't liken Nopal to the 'weed; that's just unfair.

(For what it's worth, note that Fabian Garcia at the much applauded Ville Taqueria grew up in the El Caporal family and learned his chops there.)

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 !!??

[Robin Garr]

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 !!??

Matt, this question fascinates me. I too LOVED the Weed back in the day, and it sure seemed "Mexican" to me. Has it changed, or have we changed?

I expect their decision to go corporate and build a chain gave the bean counters a greater say in what went on in the kitchen. Sadly, that often seems to be the way, although I admire the efforts of folks like Boombozz and J Gumbo's to fight it.

But I'm pretty sure we've changed, too. Even back in the '70s, I'm pretty sure that I recognized Chico's, for instance, as more "real" than the Weed.

There really is no way the El Nopal type chains could be any less fresh without freezing and rethawing their product. Don't some of them at least press their own tortillas?

Yeah, I'm reluctant to hammer on Nopal/Nopalito, Los Aztecas/Sol Aztecas/Ramiros, El Tarasco and the other "local chains," all of which showed real entrepreneurship on the part of the city's Latino community and brought what was then our Tumbleweed level of Mexican food up a significant notch. They got popular and they thrived, and now we're moving into "real" stuff, and that's great. But I can't liken Nopal to the 'weed; that's just unfair.

(For what it's worth, note that Fabian Garcia at the much applauded Ville Taqueria grew up in the El Caporal family and learned his chops there.)

Eh to me they are all the same. One might be a smidge better than another, but doesnt really make eating at them worth it. And Im not knocking their business sense and successful model, just the quality of the food.