Taco Rio occupies one side of a small, neighborhood market in Winter Park’s Olympia Heights. Despite first, and, OK, second impressions, it is kempt, and the people operating the counter-service eatery are friendly and welcoming.

Taka-Taka’s Cafe is actually half Venezuelan and half Cuban, but the Venezuelan part of the menu was what my friends and I were focused on (and they both know the cuisine and speak fluent Spanish, so it was terrific to have them as guides).

We started with a sampling of empanadas. The Venezuelan version of empanadas is made with a corn flour and deep fried. We tried the shredded beef and chicken varieties, but I think I preferred the white cheese and potato one the best, especially with the creamy garlic sauce.

I loved the cachapas con queso, a pancake-like corn cake with corn kernels and goozing cheese.

We also had a couple of arepas, including the reina pepiada, or chicken salad with avocados. The flavors of the shredded chicken and mild avocado inside the tasty corn cake, which looked sort of like a fat pita pocket, were wonderful. The arepa asado negro featured roasted round steak in a black sauce that had a prominent clove note. The two couldn’t have been more different, but both were delicious.

Even better was the patacon, which one of my friends aptly described as a banana sandwich. Well, sort of. The “bread” for the sandwich was fashioned out of plantains, mashed, fried and flattened. The pork was stuffed into the sandwich with shredded lettuce and a drizzle of sauce. I could sit and eat tostones all day, so to have two big ones as part of a sandwich with other good stuff was wonderful.

Tako Cheena is the new concept from Pom Moongauklang, owner of of the popular Pom Pom’s sandwicherie. The name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the type of food featured, tacos, and Moongauklang’s Asian heritage (she was born in Thailand). She combines Latin and Asian into true fusion cuisine.
It’s also pretty darned tasty. Moongauklang has a talent for making complex foods look simple, and for taking simple flavor combinations and giving them layers and textures that make them seem complex. It isn’t surprising that she worked at New York’s famed Nobu restaurant.
The menu is short. It offers a featured empanada and a roster of takos. I sampled an array of takos, and I liked every one of them. My favorite was the panko crusted cod, which had bite-sized nuggets of fish in the soft flour tortilla garnished with scallions and mixed cabbage. What really brought out the flavors, though, was the lusciously thick sweet and sour sauce that not only gave it a great taste but also made it look so pretty.
My second favorite was the Chinese barbecue char shu pork belly, with mixed cabbage, fresh cilantro and ginger oil, all topped with a crisp ribbon of crackling. I also liked the Thai peanut chicken, with its velvety peanut sauce, topped off with crunchy crushed peanuts.

Long anticipated brick and mortar operation for a favorite food truck. Get the tamales — it’s not called Taco Co.

It’s been just over a year since my trip to Mexico City and I believe I’ve just had the most authentic Mexican food since then. It was at a little place called Taqueria Ameca.

This is a small, barebones operation in a cramped strip mall south of downtown. (It’s in the same location as the recently reviewed Flavors Nigerian.) On my recent visit the restaurant was doing a brisk lunch business, and I was encouraged to realize that I was the only non-Hispanic among them.

There is no printed menu, as far as I can tell. The selections are inartistically written on a white board near the ordering counter. There aren’t even headings — the tacos are listed with the various filling options with enchiladas, sopes and other items mixed in.

From the couple who brought you the wonderful Chef’s Table at the Edgewater, this space – just in the next room – offers a more tapas-like menu with a New Orleans glint. Grilled pork belly, fried chicken livers, boudain balls are all good choices. Service is first-rate.

A quick serve eatery inside the Lotte Market.

Small, grungy (in a good way), and very youthful but unfortunately without adult supervision.

Nothing fancy at this relocation of a longtime purveyor of gyros and fried chicken (stick to the gyros). It’s counter service, but the space is bright and tidy. The sandwiches are fully stuffed, and you will be, too.
 

Pleasantly grungy recent entry to the popular craft taco field. Some creative offerings, mostly good, but don’t expect much in the way of helpful service.