Taco Mamacita by Mia Chaveco

Guest Blog By: Mia Chaveco

Mia is a fellow Jivamukti Yogi and vegan.  She went vegan 2 1/2 years after reading the book Skinny Bitch. 

She actually quit cold turkey after discovering the truth of the meat and dairy industries!

She is married and has an 8 year old daughter, Autumn.  She grew up in New Jersey and lived there her whole life.  They have been in Mt. Pleasant for the past 5 years.  Mia is a RN.

Mia and her husband


Taco Mamacita by:  Mia Chaveco


After yoga class Thursday night, 13 of us met at Taco Mamacita (on beautiful Sullivan's Island) to try out their famous Vegan menu. It was a full house, and since we had a large group, we did have to wait for about 1 hr. But it was worth the wait.

This restaurant supplies a totally seperate menu for Vegans. This was definatly refreshing, since usually Vegans have to ask the kitchen to make modifications on existing dishes. The Vegan Menu featured 10 main dishes, and 4 side dishes.

Everything looked so delicious! At our table we ordered some appitizers: the "Salsa Sampler" features corn tortilla chips with mango jalepeno salsa( my favorite), Salsa verde, and roasted tomato salsa, and we also asked for the "Fresh Guacamole Now" with corn chips. Both were very tasty and fresh. The guac was as good as homemade, just the right flavor. 

After enjoying those, we had some choices to make. We enlisted the help of Ali (our server). She was so excited to serve us, and said that we were the first table of Vegans she had served since they opened, and it was nice because she is a Vegetarian. She suggested the Vegan Tortilla Soup. It was my favorite dish   of the night. A white bowl came out with fresh tomato, avocado, lime and cliantro in it. Next to it was a metal pitcher with the most delicious house made roasted tomato veggie based broth in it. Ali brought it out to our table, and poured the broth over the fresh ingredients. The presentation made my mouth water. On top she sprinkled corn tortilla strips. When I tasted the soup, I was in heaven. The flavors went so well together,especially the tangyness of the lime in the broth. I would come to this restaurant for this soup alone, I enjoyed it so much.

Next we ordered 3 Tacos and The Enchiladas. My daughter loved the "Freakin Vegan Taco". This delicious taco had cilantro spinich rice, petite red beans, crispy lettuce, pico de gallo, fresh escabeche ( a sort of slaw) , and guacamole in a flour tortilla. My husband and I also shared one and I thought it was delish too.  Next was the "Avocado Taco". This had fresh avocado, lettuce, pico de gallo, salsa verde and fresh escabeche wrapped in a flour tortilla.  This was tasty as well, but I mostly tasted the avocado, and not much of the other ingredients. My favorite taco was the "Vegan Jerk Taco". It has shreaded cabbage, mango salsa(so tasty), sauteed plantains tossed in homemade jerk sauce and petite red beans, wrapped in a flour tortilla. The jerk was very savory and flavorful, and I enjoyed the different textures, and tastes of the plaintains,salsa, cabbage and beans. It was like a smorgasborg of flavor. My absolute favorite besides the soup! The Enchiladas come 2 to a plate with a side dish of your choosing. This is the largest entree, since the tacos come ala carte style. The "Vegan Enchiladas" were corn tortillas filled with cilantro spinich rice, sweet roasted yellow corn, diced tomato, black beans, cilantro, and topped with homemade salsa verde. They were savory, but I couldn't help thinking that they would be even better with some Daiya Cheese melted on top. (I'll get back to that in a minute). These enchiladas tasted similar to the "Freakin Vegan Taco", I wouldn't order both the next time I go, since they had almost the same sort of flavors.  The sides that were available with the Enchiladas were : Cilantro-Spinich Rice, Sweet Potato Fries, or Black Bean and Corn Salad (made with white balsamic vinagrette dressing) We tried all three and they were all yummy. You can also order them ala carte.

The manager came out to speak to our table after we mentioned Daiya cheese to our server Ali. He said at the moment they don't have any vegan cheese option, but he asked us many questions about the cheese. All of us at the table liked Daiya the best so we explained how well it melts and how delicious it would be smothering the Vegan Enchiladas. He said that there could be a possibility in the future that they could order the Daiya cheese if there was enough of a market for it. (So get in there and ask them to get the cheese!!!) He also told us he would have no problem using it in a dish if we wanted to bring it with us. We could send it back to the kitchen and they would add it to whatever dish we wanted it on. This made me happy! They were very willing to please the Vegans!!

I am already planning a trip back to bring all my friends and family there. I am happy to patronize a restaurant that recognizes Vegan's needs! ENJOY!!

Thanks Mary for letting me describe my food experience in your blog!!!