Providence has a surprisingly vibrant food scene given its size, but when it comes to good Latin American food,
you generally have to go to the Latino neighborhoods on the West Side. (In addition to the street food, I recommend
Chilangos, on Manton Avenue, and
El Rancho Grande, on Plainfield Street.) Options closer to downtown, such as the wonderfully named but otherwise awful
Tortilla Flats, on Hope Street, and the criminally overpriced (steak fajitas sell for $15) and bizarrely located (on Atwells Avenue in Federal Hill, Providence's Little Italy)
Don José Tequilas are best avoided. (
Taqueria Pacifica, having graduated from the roving Taco Truk to a permanent location on Empire Street, inside the AS220 cafe, has a small, but high quality menu that is best suited for lunch.)
So you can imagine how excited I was to read the other day that
Twist, on Angell Street in Wayland Square, had hired a new chef, a Californian named
Jeff Sesar, who was introducing a "Taco Tuesdays" menu.
The taco
menu is impressively creative, particularly for the price, $4 per taco (or margarita, or bucket of mini Caronas).
Options include spicy ground beef or chorizo sausage; orange chipotle pulled pork; beer battered fish; grilled carne asada; coconut seared tuna; and buttered lobster.
Sides include
salsa verde,
pico de gallo, roasted tomato salsa, guacamole, Spanish rice and black beans and corn. Tacos come topped with chopped cabbage and
queso fresco.
To be honest, they were not the best tacos I'd ever tasted. The salsa is not freshly made. The tortillas, made of flour, also don't appear to be baked on site. The tuna was a bit dry, the chips a bit bland.
But you couldn't beat the price. Or the cheesy but endearing decorations. The margaritas were delicious. Our waitress was enthusiastic, and the chef, a New Jersey native, even stopped by our table to chew the fat about his peregrinations and culinary influences. So for bringing decent tacos to the East Side (and to make use of the pile of $4 coupons we were gifted last night), I congratulate Twist and offer it my biggest compliment: See you next Tuesday.
Providence has a surprisingly vibrant food scene given its size, but when it comes to good Latin American food, you generally have to go to the Latino neighborhoods on the West Side. (In addition to the street food, I recommend Chilangos, on Manton Avenue, and El Rancho Grande, on Plainfield Street.) Options closer to downtown, such as the wonderfully named but otherwise awful Tortilla Flats, on Hope Street, and the criminally overpriced (steak fajitas sell for $15) and bizarrely located (on Atwells Avenue in Federal Hill, Providence's Little Italy) Don José Tequilas are best avoided. (Taqueria Pacifica, having graduated from the roving Taco Truk to a permanent location on Empire Street, inside the AS220 cafe, has a small, but high quality menu that is best suited for lunch.)
