Ok, it’s a chain, but it’s in Ironworks (there are some
other central Indiana locations as well), and I had to try it because that’s
super close to my house. A friend and I headed over for a weeknight meal. I was
surprised it wasn’t busier than it was—usually new places seemed to be packed
in this town no matter what they are. But It was probably only about half full.
Anyhow, we settled in and ordered a couple of the barrel
select margaritas ($16)—which is their top shelf margarita. It has fancier liquors
in it and it also has a fair amount of orange in it. It was a good margarita
but maybe just a little too orange for me. I think I would try the house
margarita next time. They also brought the obligatory chips and salsa. The salsa
was fine—had a mild, fresh taste. The chips were not good. They were like the cheapest grocery store tortilla
chips. And not warm. You can make chips so good (just look at Nada) or go with
quality non-homemade chips, but these were disappointing. I guess on the bright
side, I was not tempted to eat more than a couple.
It’s also a really big menu (as it seems that most Mexican
places are). There is a fair amount of tasty sounding items (I would like to try
the ceviches, which I love when done well, but it was just too damn cold out).
We settled on sharing the empanada trio ($12). There were three—one with
chicken, one with steak, and one with cheese and corn. They served them with a
special salsa and pico de gallo. They were all pretty good. The cheese one was
nice and rich and I really enjoyed the slightly pickly topping on the steak. I
also liked adding some freshness from the pico de gallo. I sort of wished for a
light crema or guac but I enjoyed them all. The crust was nice and crisp. Mind
blowing? No. Quite tasty? Yes.
We then ordered their street tacos—you can get them in sets
of three or order three different ones, which is what we did ($15). I had the
tinga chicken, fish, and shrimp (the fish was one of the signature flavors). I
will say the fish was probably my favorite—I liked that the fish was in smaller
hunks rather than one big piece. This made it much easier to eat. The fish had
a slightly spicy chipotle flavor and was topped with red cabbage and a slice of
avocado. While I love avocado, this big slice was a little hard to eat (sorta
like when the fish is one big piece). Maybe chop it up or use some guac for
extra flavor? Same goes for the shrimp taco which was basically the same
seasonings and toppings. However, these were whole shrimp and kept spilling out
when I was eating it. Again, would love it if they chopped them into smaller
pieces to make it less messy. The chicken taco was a bit easier to handle—it was
seasoned shredded chicken topped with queso fresco. The menu said crema too,
but I wasn’t seeing any. I got some extra pico de gallo and used the lime and
salsa with the tacos and they were decent. Most interesting tacos I have had?
No. But not bad. I liked the empanadas better and next time I would try
something other than tacos. The elote corn on the side was mushy and sort of
lukewarm.
Service was decent, but maybe a little slow at the end
considering it wasn’t that busy. It took a fair amount of time to get the check.
I am sure we will be back at some point considering the proximity to our house…so
please send me your favorite items.
Verde (multiple locations)
2727 East 86th Street
Indy 46240
317/280-7410
