Henry's Tacos

Nostalgia is one powerful force. Still today, I can smell freshly cut grass in April and be instantly transported to my Little League days, waiting for Dad to load me up in the car and drive me to one of the two fields we played on. So when Bumper told me about Henry's Tacos in North Hollywood, and the rich tradition it has with her and her family, we had to make a pilgrimage.

I did, however, do my due diligence and research Henry's. I wanted to keep an open mind, but unfortunately, the reviews were pretty accurate in their assessment. They have a limited menu, with hard and soft tacos, tostadas, burritos, and taco burgers. I went for a hard taco, a soft taco, and a bean burrito.

Don't get me wrong, all the food was ok, but given that some of the local fast food places (Jack-in-the-Box) sell two hard tacos for $.99, a $2.40 hard taco better knock my socks off. It didn't. The shell was crisp enough, but was thin, and tended to crumble in my hands. While the cheese, lettuce and tomato were all reasonably fresh, the meat was bland at best, and even the hot sauce didn't help much.

An extra $.20 got me a soft taco, with the same ingredients in a slightly bigger portion. Again, nothing horrible, but certainly not outstanding.

The bean burrito was mostly bean and cheese, with something slightly crunchy on the bottom that I couldn't quite identify - it was either cold, undercooked rice or raw onion. Either way, it didn't add flavor, and it certainly didn't help hold the flimsy tortilla together, since I lost structural integrity after only one bite. And at the same $2.40 price as the hard taco, it certainly wasn't a value item either.

Look, I understand completely that there are places in our lives that we esteem purely on sentimental value. And when we hold them up in the soft light of fond memories and remembrance, we can blur away the rough edges that may have always been there. So that's why I can't be overly harsh on Henry's. It's a neighborhood landmark, and if it's a place where memories are made, well, the food doesn't really matter all that much, now does it?