Thank God for Tacos, But Thank Mo for Arriba Taqueria
If you're in the restaurant review racket, pretty much the worst 10 words a friend can call up and tell you are "Hey, I've just opened my new place - come on over!" If the place turns out to be bad, it's like being a theater critic at a failed middle-school musical; even if you smile and pretend to sing along and don't say a peep, you're still a walking reminder that the little girl playing Orphan Annie can't sing, and everyone hates you. Meanwhile, if it turns out to be great, you are instantly tipped into a ditch of ethical conflict, at a bare minimum forced to write a goofy intro like this, disclosing your potential bias. Still, it's always better for the place to be good rather than bad, so thank God my good friend Mo Ortiz's new Mexican joint isn't just good but great.
Since I've already just said it's great, let me quickly say something bad about Mo and Arriba Taqueria, which sits under a blazing neon sigh that lights up most of Teréz körút west of Oktogon. And here it is: This thing took forever to get off the ground, in the meantime exposing untold thousands of Budapesters and hapless visitors to the now obviously inferior rápido Mexicano being shoveled out down the boulevard at Speedy Burritos.
Of course, even opening a crappy restaurant takes time in Budapest. And this one posed certain challenges, as Arriba shares some ownership with Iguana, where Mo is the jefe for life. Meanwhile, because he wanted to make sure that it would not be just the newest face in an increasingly large crowd of eat-in and take-out-only Mexican options, Ortiz went to relatively extreme measures to guarantee that the thing would, to steal the name of Iguana's famous chili, whoop-ass. From what I understand, this involved several research trips to back to the "old country" - like all good New York Jews, Mo is half-Mexican - at least if you include the parts stolen by the devil gringos back in the mid-19th century.
Speaking of history, the interior of the new place, while in most ways ultra-modern (wifi!), is blessed by several wonderful murals designed by Mo's better half - the well-known grafikus Andrea Miklósvári - and then painstakingly painted and "distressed" by a team of church-restorers. The centerpiece is a Sistine Chapel-like epic in the gallery (above) with a slogan that roughly translates as Köszönöm, Istenem, hogy megteremtetted a tacot!, or "Thank you, Heavenly Father, for creating the taco!"
Köszi Istenem, indeed, because it's hard to think of something that beats a proper taco, which at Arriba come freshly-"steamed" (above) and stuffed with your choice of endless evil-good fillings, my current favorite being machaca (tasty shredded beef, pictured third from the top). I first tried a few on the house, both soft and crunchy - which Mo teasingly told me are called gringos - and then went back for a couple more on my dime, all of which I ate so fast I forgot to get a proper pic of them in their completed state, or of Mo, for that matter.
And while we're talking dimes, I should add that the place offers what seems to be one of the great values in BP quick eats. Talking with a friend who had popped in by coincidence - you can't miss the place if you are walking by - I said that however much more Arriba cost versus Speedy, it was worth it. He responded by saying that he was one of the unfortunates who had been eating there, and pointed out that, if anything, Arriba had it beat on price. For reference, a big Arriba burrito and a beer will set you back under Ft 1,500 (€5.70), or just a couple hundred Fts more than a combo meal at McDonalds, depending on how many packets of ketchup the Hungarian Ronald McDonald makes you pay for.
The only thing left to add is that even the garbage is pretty "tasty," as both the plastic-like cups you drink out of and the take-away boxes are extra Earth-friendly, being made from corn starch and sugarcane. Which is a good thing, because my guess is that there will be a lot of them getting used.
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Best I've had so far in Budapest. Very reasonable prices. The staff are great, helpful and friendly.
Client mix so far is trendy urbanites with a bizniz edge.
Was popular with everyone in the group, all pleased with their selection.
Thanks for the tip, I gave it 6 out of 7, which is pretty good.
http://kispad.hu/bilagit/200802/arriba-taqueria.html
This is the first restaurant in Hungary to offer exclusively Fair Trade coffee (from Treehugger Dan's)! This is great for the Fair Trade movement in Hungary!
Quesedilla was very good.
Burrito large and filling, it was alright if nothing special.
Tacos were not great; the corn shell I chose was very tasteless.
The rice milk is tasty.
Staff excellent.
This is glorious! The first time in Europe that I've experienced a genuinely credible taco. This place is too good to be true. Even margueritas in plastic cups!
János, fyi the plastic cups at Arriba are made of corn starch, with no chemical additives. Looks & feels like plastic, but completely biodegradable. Cool stuff.
Had a burrito there. A little short on meat as compared to standard in US but not bad. They do allow you to add a wide range of toppings. The problem is they dont add them in by default and the server started looking upset when I picked everything required for a real burrito-meat, rice,beans,cheese,guacamole,salsa,sour cream,hot sauce and cilantro. We see if this remains a western mexican place or tries to take aply the standards in Budapest: in 6 months raise prices and charge xtra for toppings
This is, HANDS DOWN, the best place to get Mexican food in
Budapest, if not all of Hungary. The prices are exceedingly
reasonable (hopefully they'll stay that way), and the burrito I had
was excellent. Maybe it wasn't *quite* up to par with what you'd
get in S.F.'s Mission district, but that's a minor quibble, really. Staff
was very friendly, if maybe still a little unsure of how to roll the
burrito properly. No matter—this place has only been open a week.
They even have horchata!
Let's just say I've eaten there 4 times in the last 5 days...
Hungarian Chipotle....nuff said....nice job though, burrito was
tasty!
seems out little owners of Arriba just raised prices by 20% after being open just two months. A budapest record! I for one do not plan to return. I don't relish the idea that I am giving more hard earned money to people who in all likelihood funnel all profits to a very low taxed (if any) offshore structure. The owners don't even work in the place. Greed should not be rewarded.
seems everthing now is deeply rotten in the state of Hungary. :(
I hear 'SpeedyBurrito' has new owners who apparently have something in the works that'll give us, fans of mexican cooking, something to salivate over...
Kurt: You are full of it - one of the owners of the restaurant (Mo) is there every day, bustin' his ass. I doubt what you say about the prices is true, either. As for Speedy, yes, I've also heard that it's changed ownership, and the new jefe is promising to bring the fight to Arriba. And man, wouldn't that be great; a 10 minute walk (or less) between two fine taco place in BP. Woo hoo.
Erik,
I'll take your word on Mo being there all the time and retract that comment but you know prices are up as well as I do so please stop being an Iguana Holdings kiss ass cheerleader.
Kurt: Man, you gotta just stop and think for a second before writing posts that you have to instantly retract.
If one were to simply go to the "tag" for Iguana at the bottom of this article, click on it, and take a look at what's been written specifically about the restaurant since this site was launched, they would find a single, negative review of a burger eaten there. I'm all for conspiracy theories but saying that publishing a negative write-up of a restaurant - and no positive ones to make up for it - makes one a "kiss ass cheerleader" seems, well, insane. Not that I think you're insane; my guess is that you didn't even bother to look at what we had written before posting your comment.
I will, however, freely confess to being a fan. And a big reason is that, when that above crappy review was published, instead of being angry with us, Mo was clearly angry with himself. Out of restaurateurs in this town, I'd say the ones with this kind of attitude could be neatly fit into a phone booth.
So feel free to gripe - we're all for that - but don't accuse me/us of being bent. Given that we're pretty much the ONLY second-language publication in town that isn't bent it really is irritating.
Erik,
Just to be clear I am not using this as an opportunity to just take the piss. Arriba has the best operation I have seen in Hungary for their type of establishment, hands down. They also have incredibly fresh ingredients and a super clean establishment. It is by far, and I mean far, the safest and best place for a quick bite on the Korut. Unlike most other places they offered a fair product for a fair price without the typical Budapest price fixing and arrogant distain for the customer. But in after less than two months of opening they have increased their prices. I questioned, in a very unsubtle manner, your impartiality on the matter after you questioned my honesty about the price increases. I also retracted a comment about the place being owner run when you said it wasn’t true. Am I a bit upset? Sure. I have been a steady customer since Arriba opened, 3-4 times a week, and have helped in spreading the word to others to check the place out. Now I, like others, as a repeat customer giving a positive word of mouth, am being rewarded with a price jump instead of a free 15th burrito. Arriba is targeting the expat market and enjoying their free word of mouth advertising. The question is should they also be held up to the same market adjustment standards we appreciate back West? Am I too unrealistic? I have noticed one of the shared owners of the operation has just looked me up on a social networking site. I am glad to see this immediate concern for customer satisfactio
Kurt: Okay, I think I get your drift. But if we're going to take a "western" approach to this, let's take it all the way, and always keep in mind that we're talking about *businesses* and not government agencies. This means all they are supposed to do is give you a better value product than the next, er, Mexican. So no need to get so personal about it, or (even worse) to use the language of entitlement. Down that path comes… well, really bad food and service.
Meanwhile, note that even though we just increased the auto-curtailed length of comments to 1500 characters from 500, it seems your comment got cut off. I assume your retraction of your earlier comment about us being unthinking Iguana 'hos was at the end.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing you wade during the inevitable firestorm that breaks out when/if Speedy gets its act together.
Erik,
Let's put that apology on hold for a moment. I called you an Iguana Ho ™ because instead of addressing Arriba’s blatant “bait and switch” maneuver by raising prices 20% and increase profit taking after only two months of operations you chose to attack me and pretty much call me a liar about the increase. You gave a glowing initial review to Arriba, which I think was warranted, but when given a follow up of a dodgy move, even by Budapest standards, of aggressive price inflation you are silent and will not comment. Let me hear your opinion on Arriba’s price raising and the arrogant expectation that sucker expats will be happy to accept it and I will certainly reconsider if you are an Iguana Ho ™ or not. And when do I get my apology for calling me a liar about the price increases?
Kurt: I never called you a liar - I said you were full of it when you said none of the owners were sweating it out on-site, and that I *doubted* they had raised prices across the board as you said. (With you already proven 100% wrong on your first point, it's hard to take you seriously on point #2; remember the whole "boy that cried wolf" thing?)
I could be wrong, however, to doubt you on the price thing. But even if I was, I couln't care less if they did a little hike, because tweaking pricing etc is a normal part of any opening, and it struck me as pretty cheap.
Either way, if you don't like it, don't go! But please, butch up a bit quict acting like they were raising your school tuition. IT'S A FRIGGING TACO STAND.
Erik,
Good comfort food ain't no trivial matter.
You think this is bad? Wait until a porchetta panini stand opens up and decides to jack prices too soon.
Cheers.
Budapest's Southwestern American expats have been waiting for Mo's new place for a loooong time, but the wait has been worth it. First stopped by for a carne asada burrito, which was wonderful, full of meat and spices. And there was even a Tecate cerveza to go with it. Next time was for the breakfast burrito con machaca, which, if possible, was even better!
Thanks, Mo. The New Mexico Expat Contingent (namely, me) gives Arriba a 250,000 on the Scoville Scale!!
Well, I got on here so I could enter some good comments about the newest Mexican fast food restaurant in Budapest. What I find is a couple of shwanz-measuring high school kids sticking their puerile comments about each other on a website obviously meant for comments about a Mexican restaurant. Please, Chew.hu, get these losers off your website and restrict the comments to those about Arriba.
So, having said that. Arriba is to Mexican fast food in Budapest what Iguana is to Tex-Mex. Thanks, Mo - especially love the carne asada burritos. We could use a touch more meat in the wonderfully log-like burritos, but that's nitpicking. Arriba is Highly recommended by us lovers of real Mexican food. I will return often.
Hey all!
I feel this comment must be directed at "Kurt"
Sorry dude but you need to realize that being in the food industry here in Bp, price hikes are a direct reflection from our suppliers, the market trade and exceptional increases in supply and not a free-for-all profit energizer.
If you know this industry, it will still make the most experienced restaurant owner cross-eyed to accept the unstable pricing structure in this country.
For example did you know that in the seasonal months,you may pay as little as ft 400 per kg for California paprika (capsicum) but in the off months it hikes up to as much as ft 1400 ?
this is typical in this market. Not just in veg and fruit but every product available to run our operations.
In short, if MO had any increase in pricing, I personally am sure it was done out of necessity rather than being profit driven. As Erik mentioned
"it's a taco stand" so Kurt, take it easy and appreciate that people like Mo as well as others are looking after the market and introducing all the things we know and miss being in this assbackwards country.
Cheers
Just one more little comment:
dissected here for all who are too lazy or can't be bothered to think about it.
this is unbelievable from our poster "Kurt"
Quote:
"Now I, like others, as a repeat customer giving a positive word of mouth, am being rewarded with a price jump instead of a free 15th burrito. Arriba is targeting the expat market and enjoying their free word of mouth advertising."
Am I seeing the mcD's human training program?
Rebuttal:
If you really liked it, would you keep it a secret? Would you not take your friends or tell anyone about it as to ruin the newest taco stand you found with loads of customers and simple good eats?
Would you just keep it to yourself and not tell anyone because your critique is worth a free burrito? get a fukin life you jackass!!!
I Wonder about people like this
When did mcd or the burger king give your sorry ass a happy meal for telling people to go there? get a life you silly monkey! your the type that gives expats a bad reputation
get a life!!! ........................
you must be an expat from another planet as your comments are some of the best I've seen yet
cheers again from James!
Prices just jumped: was bound to happen.
Hi "James"
If you were looking to put me in my place you should have simply focused on Arriba's pricing. Can the market bear it or not? Not just the shrinking pool of expats but Hungarians as well. Simple shit douchebag.
Your comment "gives expats a bad reputation"? Are you serious? You obviously don't have any idea about how the average Hungarian lives and their spending abilities so what would you know about expats? So sorry, I forgot you are the california capsicum expert. Blow me.
I wish Arriba luck, they have a good product and operation that improves the variety of eating options in Budapest but a bit pricey imho.
Erik - HEY Mister "I am the only unbent English language publication in town!" I think you know what I am getting at.
Hey Matt, just 'cause I am a little gay for Mo doesn't mean I'm bent. Sheesh - even *Jesus* had his weaknesses, and he wasn't mixed up in the Hungarian publishing business.
Meanwhile, just to show how unbent an fair I am, I will say (not for the first time) that the BP Sun seems to be pretty darn straight in the restaurant review area. So there.
Arriba is the Danica Patrick of the Hungarian Taco Scene. Seriously, it's that good. And value? Well how much does Andretti Green Racing pay Danica? That's right - not enough!
I dunno, I feel kinda strange when I go there, a shaking of the knees, if you will. Perplexed - in a good way - by the energy, the goodwill, the overall depth of concept. The taco makes the pain go away. But that's my wife, my life. Just go easy on the jalapenos, cause they hit hard. Margaritas are rock solid, but the gleam in my eye will remain forever the Horchata. With a tad bit more sunshine, those Horchatas will carry over tremendously. But that's just me.
Dear kurt,
Please take your own life...
A few ideas:
1) Jump in front of a train
2) Jump off the szabadsag hid
3) Swim with lead weights on your feet
Thanx,
Budapest
"Budapest" Real cute. To wish my death over an issue of price raising is really pathetic. When you get back on your lithium you will realize you are not doing Arriba any favors but harm with the association to this sort of commentary. For your future nuggets of wisdom I suggest you stick to simply describing how your experience was in their establishment.
Kurt - do you work? You seem to have a lot of free time to rant . . . tell me your secret!
Well Dog Hater I always find time to reply to someone who wishes death on me.
So what's your excuse about wasting precious time on something that actually doesn't even involve you? Or are you still being obsessively bitchy about my critique of Arriba (or are you upset about all the praise I gave as well)?
Disappointment. While I was a proponent of Arriba in the first weeks of its opening, I have recently been disappointed by the rise in prices (which, in all fairness, was probably to be expected), and, more recently and importantly, the size of the portions (e.g. if you order the burrito, without beans or rice (which, as everyone whose been to Mexico knows, is how it should be eaten), expect very little meat), and the new salsa 'recipe' (which makes it tastes like it 'fresh from a can'). Hopefully this is a result of a temporary letdown by staff/management.
What i like in Arriba?
Margarita!!!!
Vegetarian taco...
and just sitting outside in the evening...
GREAT:-)
After a year of putting it off I finally went to Arriba since it was to treat a friend for his birthday and as much as I want to, I have to saw I was pretty disappointed.
I ordered the carne asada quesadilla and came up losing big time. First it took 10+ minutes, really closer to 15 but I wasn't timing them until I realized how long it was taking. I went up to the servers who 'politely' told me sorry and would be ready soon because Quesadillas take a while. Why? that I dont know.
Having asked for guacamole, jalapenos, and sour cream, after eating the first of 3 pieces I wondered where was the heat? Opening it up was even sadder, no jalapenos, no sour cream and my god, there was barely even a trace of actual cheese...I thought I ordered a quesadilla, there should be tons of cheese, WTF??? I've eaten the Iquana quesadilla before and its spot on, so what gives.
So up again I went to ask where the peppers were and again 'politely' got a 'real' sorry, not some half-asses shrug more common in BP, and given a cup with some peppers, I was too disappoint to mention the missing sour cream.
A few minuteds later the server gave me a comp glass of horchata to ease my feelings...had I left Hungary, something comped?
It's now 1 hr later and I still feel like I need to go out to lunch. Service was perfect, aside from slow kitchen and screwing up the extras, but quesadilla it was not, and for 1,400ft I don't think I will be returning anytime soon...sticking with Iquana instead.
Well I absolutely stand by what I wrote about that shitty quesidella I had at Arriba, but now after going back for my 3rd time have settled on the idea that their Burritos ROCK. So much better experience, and it has been the same the last 2 times. Quite filling and tasty; the rice could be a little softer but it didn't take away much. Love the corn salsa and the chipotle salsa. Great!
Hey, how about some paleta's? It's cheap and people like it!