The Taco Debate

Recently Margarita Station was slammed on a local bulletin board for having over priced tacos.  Since I believe that our prices are fair value for what we serve, I decided to compare our tacos with four other Angeles City businesses that serve tacos.

First let me say I was surprised by some of the results.  Specifically although the quality of the ingredients varied widely, all the tacos sampled were pretty tasty. 

Only Margarita Station and Zapata's used imported cheddar cheese. All others used a much cheaper local Philippine cheese.

That said, the cheapest taco (cost per gram served) was at Zapata's. 

The most expensive taco was not Margarita Station, it was the tacos from Mo's.

Margarita Station's tacos were the second most expensive, but I still believe it is worth the price when you look at the amount of seasoned ground round steak, the quality corn shell, and the amount of imported US cheddar cheese on each taco.

Cost analysis

  Cost Weight Cost per gram
Margarita Station 150 190 grams P 0.79
Zapata's 115 for two 100 grams ea P 0.58
Kokomo's 85 100 grams P 0.85
Fire & Ice 100 for two 80 grams ea P 0.63
Didi's Pizza 71 100 grams P 0.71

 

Individual Review

MARGARITA STATION:  The largest taco of all tested (with almost double the weight of most other businesses).  Served in a large, premium corn shell.  Topped with plenty of imported cheddar cheese which cost 2.5 times as much as the local cheddar used by everyone else except Zapata's.  Meat is 100% ground round steak seasoned with imported cumin.  Served with a thick salsa.  Additionally, these tacos are only P 123 on Mexican Monday's (which makes them almost the same price per gram as the Fire & Ice tacos when they on special).
ZAPATA'S:  I was surprised to see ground beef in this taco as the owner has always told me he only liked tacos with shredded beef and the last time I had a taco there it was made from shredded beef. The ground beef was already seasoned with some salsa.  Their taco is served in a large, premium corn tortilla shell with imported cheddar cheese.  They only had a light topping of lettuce and tomato, but they make up for this with a quality salsa.  Again, this was the cheapest taco tested, but Roger said his prices will be going up soon since they just got hit with a substantial rent increase. 
MO's:  The most expensive taco (per gram) tested.  The tacos are served in a smaller/cheaper corn tortilla than the ones at Margarita Station and Zapata's, but it was still tasty.  The tacos had a good combination of ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes and local cheese.  The salsa was also very tasty.
FIRE & ICE:  Good tacos, and a great value at two for P100.  Tasty tacos despite the smaller/cheaper corn tortilla and the local cheese.  Very light on the amount of ground beef in each taco.  Salsa was not as tasty as the three businesses above.
DIDI'S PIZZA:  This taco was a favorite snack of the GI's when there was a Didi's Pizza on Fields Ave.  Served in a thin flour shell (or maybe a lumpia wrapper), it is still tasty, but doesn't compare to any of the tacos above. Served with a cheap hot sauce instead of salsa.