Tacone Grills Up Delicious Flavor

Release date: February 27, 2008  /  Print This

The food comes quick and with a side of flavor. The fast food-style Tacone Flavor Grill offers healthful alternatives at a reasonable price.

The building, located at 605 Mangrove Ave. across from Chipotle, appears larger from the outside. Walking into the restaurant on a Monday evening, only one other couple was eating, but the round bar-style tables crammed together made the room feel crowded and small.

The menu, displayed on a wall above the cashier, offers fresh salads, wraps, grilled sandwiches, soups, smoothies and grilled platters including filet mignon ($8.19) and sauteed shrimp marinated in garlic, chili and lemon ($7.99). Each entree is served with a side of sauce, but the help-yourself flavor bar offers nine other options, from creamy Bangkok peanut sauce to buttermilk ranch.

I ordered the Chick-a-Boom ($7.29), a grilled chicken sandwich with turkey bacon, Caesar salad, tomato, jack cheese and a side of balsamic dipping sauce.

Each entree comes with a choice of potato chips, Thai cucumber salad, Tacone rice, jasmine rice, coleslaw, black beans and jack cheese or homemade tortilla chips and salsa. I decided to upgrade to sweet potato fries for an extra $1.

I was with four other people, three ordered wraps and one ordered a barbecue-chicken quesadilla ($5.99). We were seated for 5 minutes when they called my name. A handful of crispy orange fries and sandwich that looked grilled on a George Foreman grill were served on a plastic, coral-colored plate. The jelly-like balsamic sauce added a sweetness to the sandwich, which complemented the salty flavor of the turkey bacon and Caesar salad.

The Pilgrim wrap ($6.99) of turkey, avocado, tomato, jack cheese, romaine and ranch vinaigrette came with a side of grilled veggies and feta that tasted like the "bottom of a barbecue." But the Malibu Melt ($6.99) with grilled chicken, Swiss cheese, avocado, romaine, tomato and honey mustard was a hit despite the fact my friend asked for the tomatoes to be left out and they weren't.

I ended the meal with a crunchy, chocolate chip cookie ($1.07). The restaurant also offers triple-fudge brownies ($1.49).

As I left I set my empty plate in a tub above the garbage can, happy and full.

Tacone Flavor Grill

605 Mangrove Ave., Suite 180

899-1654

Payment: Visa, MasterCard, debit

High Point: Flavor bar

Low Point: Cramped

Amenities: Flavor bar, food to go, catering

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday