Taco Tuesday- Lion on Lorain

These next two weeks are just nuts. I looked ahead in the calendar, and I was only home two nights out of two weeks. Some of it is work, some of it is play. But Tuesday was the only night this week that I didn't have something going on in the evening. Instead of heading to the grocery store, "R" and I decided to make a last minute Taco Tuesday excursion. This time...Lion on Lorain in West Park.

Over the summer, a small group of us had breakfast there on a Sunday. It was memorable, and not in a good way. The brunch menu is 4-5 items, but most of us decided on a classic breakfast of eggs, potatoes, bacon, and toast. Our hearts were originally set on an omelet, but our server made a mistake by telling us that we could customize it. In fact, it is only served one way and most of us changed our minds after hearing what was in it that day. Anyhow....the breakfast food was fine, but nothing special. I did think that it was unusual that they serve honey spread right onto the toast without letting the customer know that this is how it is prepared. What if I don't like honey? It was delicious, but unusual, and I think it is worth servers noting. The scary part of the meal? The ketchup bottle! She brought it from the kitchen, and it had clearly sat too close to a heat source. It was so warped and discolored that no one was brave enough to use it. Don't worry folks, we snuck it into the trash can when she wasn't looking. It was repulsive.

Why am I sharing this with you? Well, this experience was very disappointing and I wasn't in a hurry to head back. But, in the quest for Taco Tuesday-- I knew that I had to. I had heard really good things about their tacos.

This week, they were offering 10 different kinds of tacos.

Many sounded great, and we had a hard time selecting. I went with the Black and Bleu taco (ground beef, lettuce, mushrooms, onions topped with homemade bacon bits, crumbled bleu cheese, and Lion BBQ sauce) and the Puerto Rican taco (rice and beans with lettuce, Puerto Rican slow-cooked pulled pork, fresh mozzarella, and Lion hot BBQ sauce).

The Black and Bleu (right) was probably my second favorite of all that we tried. It was a little heavy on the romaine lettuce, but after I pulled a bit out-- it was fine. The bacon bits were super crunchy, and added great texture. Something that would have taken this taco over the top would have been if the crumbled bleu had been warmed a bit to start melting into the taco. I would order this one again.

The Puerto Rican taco (left) was disappointing. The pulled pork had barely been heated up, and cold pork is just tough and lacking flavor. Also, the rice was impossible to keep in the tortilla.

My favorite taco that we tried was probably the Shepard's Pie taco with ground beef, lettuce, baked Shepard's Pie, and topped with mozz-prov cheese and BBQ sauce. It was so unusual, and brought me back to memories of eating my mom's homemade Shepard's Pie. Worth noting-- it was "R's" least favorite taco. To each their own.

The tacos are $2 each, and come with a small side of chips and salsa. The are pretty good sized tacos for the price, and Lion on Lorain is certainly being creative with the toppings. Overall, they were good but not great. A step above your typical cheap tacos, but not quite in the same category as Deagan's or Touch Supper Club yet. From my personal Taco Tuesday adventures, I'd compare them to the tacos at Sachsenheim Hall in terms of quality. However, Lion on Lorain has much better, and more interesting, combinations going on. So far, I'd say that they are the winner in that category. I like how each taco has a name too.

It was a fun Taco Tuesday night out, but it didn't necessarily leave me wanting more from Lion on Lorain. Have you dined there? What did you think? I'd like to go in for dinner sometime. They do a great job of promoting their specials online, and they often sound appealing. I think it's worth one more shot before I make up my mind.

Lion on Lorain
12703 Lorain Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44111