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What do you do at 10 o'clock on a drizzly, Tuesday morning, after you've just had a successful - nothing is wrong type - routine annual check-up with your doctor? Consider treating yourself to a late breakfast or early lunch at Rudy's Gourmet Mexican Cuisine in Rocklin! As with all of my reviews, I have no affiliation with the restaurant reviewed, and there is no monetary gain on my part, as I am simply a person who likes to eat, and I love to write-up, and publish my dining experiences.
Photo: Rudy's Gourmet Mexican Cuisine is located in an upscale strip mall, in West Broken, along Stanford Ranch Rd. The location offers plenty of safe, free parking, unlike restaurants located in downtown Sacramento. When the weather is right, Rudy's offers outdoor dining, but the weather on this late Tuesday morning had on-and-off rain showers, so I elected to dine inside.
Photo: The dining room, as you enter the front door. The dining room isn't large, as the photo shows most of it, but it's clean and cozy. The salsa and drink bar are located at the left, rear of the photo. Like the format in most taquerias, you walk up to the counter, and make your selection from the overhead menu board. You pay the cashier for your order, and you receive a number in return. You choose a table, place your number in plain view, and when your order is ready, the server will bring it to your table. As I "opened up" the restaurant today, and I was the only customer, it was quite apparent where the order should be placed! To tip, or not to tip? The only "service" you receive is one of the staff bringing your order to your table. Of course, after you leave, they have to bus the table. Like most taquerias, Rudy's does not expect tips, yet they have a big tip jar on the counter, and you can bet your bottom dollar the staff appreciates tips. My take on the matter is that if a staff member treats me well, and allows me to take their photo, as they bring my food to the table, I tip them at least 15%, as to me, that is the photo that "makes" the whole article. If they don't want their photo taken, then they don't get a tip. But, that's just me...
Photo: It's exactly 10 o'clock in the morning on Tuesday, April 11, 2017, and I've just "opened up" the restaurant, and except for the staff, I have the whole restaurant to myself. My friendly cashier/server, Victoria is counting out change, while the chef is getting the deep fryer going. Victoria apologized that she wasn't quite ready, but I told her no worries, as I wasn't in a hurry. The daily special board is to the right of the photo.
Photo: The salad bar is basic, and offers three varieties of salsa, along with lemons, sliced jalapeno peppers, and pickled vegetables. That said, the chips are WARM and FRESHLY made, and aren't left over from last night. This is truly an example of quality over quantity. Fresh cilantro decorates the salsa. I zeroed in on the avocado/tomatillo green salsa, as it was amazing. The salad bar may be compact, the salsa and chips are FRESH!
Photo: As you pay for your order, the kitchen is in plain sight, so you can watch your order being prepared.
Photo: After placing, and paying for my order, my friendly server, Victoria, brings my order to my table in about 10 minutes. Folks, that's fast service! Such a great person, who didn't have a problem with me snapping her photo. She was rewarded with a 25% tip. I appreciate friendly servers.
Photo: Thanks, Victoria, for snapping my photo, as I'm ready to enjoy three "Street Tacos." Note the chips and avocado/cilantro salsa. The chips and salsa bar is an all-you-can-eat affair, but I'm usually good with one basket of chips, and a couple cups of salsa.
Photo: I ordered three "Street Tacos," which seemed like a good place to begin, since today was my first visit to this wonderful restaurant. In case you wondered, the name "Street Tacos" is the name given to small tacos, built on two corn tortillas; each tortilla is about the size of a DVD, and sold on the streets of every Mexican city or town. That's how the name "Street Taco" came about. Each taco starts with two small, DVD-size corn tortillas, and each taco is garnished with cilantro, diced onion, and hot sauce. As of this writing, all tacos are priced at $2.35 each, and you get to choose the meat. Today, the meat offerings were carne asada, pollo asado, lengua, carnitas, al pastor and shredded beef. Since Rudy's prides themselves on extremely fresh ingredients, sometimes they run out in there is exceptional high demand. As I placed my order, of carne asada, lengua and carnitas, Victoria had to check with the kitchen to see if all the meat was in stock. She told me today was the first day they had lengua since before the previous weekend.
Photo: Close-up photo of an amazingly delicious Taco de Lengua - tongue taco - of the "Street Taco" variety. The two corn tortillas were fresh, moist, and stayed together as I enjoyed my taco. The meat was fresh, juicy and perfectly cooked. The cilantro, onion and hot sauce were fresh, and really balanced out the taco to make it one of the most delicious "Street Tacos" that I've enjoyed in a long time. I can say the same thing about the carnitas and carne asada tacos I enjoyed. Rudy's Gourmet Mexican Cuisine takes pride in that their food is fresh, delicious, the presentation is beautiful, and the service is fast and friendly. The salsa bar is quite basic, but it's well-stocked, and both the chips and salsa are fresh. When you're in the mood for delicious Mexican cuisine, look no further than Rudys... Rudy's Gourmet Mexican Cuisine Copyright(c) 2017 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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