How will we judge our tacos?

As we begin this culinary journey in search of the best tacos on the Westside (and in San Antonio), we thought we should lay out a little information about how we will be judging the places we visit.

There are many scoring systems out there in the world.  There are thumbs up/down, stars, chilli peppers, etc.  For our search to find the best tacos, we are introducing the Tortilla Scale.  We believe this is the most appropriate by which we could taco bout tacos.  We identified four categories to evaluate on a scale of 1 to 5 tortillas.  The following describes our scale:

1 Tortilla - "Taco-feo" You wouldn't serve this to your worst frenemy 

2 Tortillas - "Taco-kay" ehh. It does the job.  It's like the Payless Shoes of tacos.

3 Tortillas - "Taco-rale" The kind of taco you can begin to get excited about.

4 Tortillas - "Taco-nazo" Now you're excited. The kind of taco you would serve your family.

5 Tortillas - "Taco-madre" The taco that kills San Antonio's obesity rate. 

Well be judging each place based on these categories:

Ambience -  Looking at the general look and feel of the place.  Aztec paintings, outdated calendars, pictures of the Virgen de Guadalupe, and tables propped up by sweet and low packets all get bonus points.

Service - How friendly is the wait-staff?  Is there a wait-staff?  Does the owner sit at the counter and take your money at the end of your meal?  Is the restaurant's namesake serving your tacos?

Menu options - A large assortment of quality tacos is a must.  Are there other South Texas options?  Does the menu lack huevos?

Food - This is the meat, so to speak, of the analysis.  We're looking for a fine balance of quality and quantity.  Also included here is tortilla quality. We prefer tortillas not so thin they're transparent, nor so thick that you could also serve them as pancakes.  We also are critical of "dusty" tortillas, the kind that  leave extra flour all over your hands.

Overall taconacity - This are the intangibles; anything else that wasn't described above.  It's about the overall expereince of eating at this fine establishment.

There you have it.  It's going to be a fun, tasty journey.  Hope you'll join us for the ride.