As I said in my last post, Esther and I like to try new restaurants, especially when aided and abetted by the fine folks at Groupon. When a place has some healthy options, so much the better. We managed to check off all three with our Friday night visit to the NuLu eatery Taco Punk.
NuLu is an emerging neighborhood between St. Matthews and Downtown, with a good bit of overlap with the latter. Taco Punk is located on Market Street, in a storefront that looks like it might date back to the early 1900's or before. This particular location used to be occupied by Toast, an excellent breakfast spot that has since moved further up Market. Back when it was Toast, I got the impression that the building might have been a horse barn at one point, but that's little more than speculation. Either way, it's a cool area and a cool building.
As mentioned above, Esther and I went in with a Groupon hoping to get a healthy option. Taco Punk specializes in gourmet TexMex made with fresh ingredients. Feel free to check out their awesome menu. Tacos are custom-prepared in front of you, a la Qdoba or Moe's. We knew we were in for a good meal when, upon stepping up to the counter to order, the cook informed us we'd have to wait a few minutes for them to finish a fresh batch of tortillas!
Esther and I opted to split a platter-we each got a bar-beer-coa taco, loaded with shredded cabbage, cilantro, and pickled onions. Platters come with tri-color chips and salsa, and one side. We chose smashed, spiced sweet potatoes, and added a side of chili-spiced kale to use up the whole Groupon. Salsa is laid out on a self-serve bar, and includes mild and hot salsa roja, salsa verde, pineapple habanero, and something called the drain cleaner that we were both too chicken to try.
Everything tasted great; fresh, interesting flavors and good texture from the fresh corn tortillas. We were a bit disappointed by the sweet potatoes; we're both big fans of sweet potatoes, but we couldn't detect what exactly made them "spiced." The prices were a bit steep compared to your Qdoba or Bazo's fare: we split a platter and extra side for about $15 (no drinks) but we were in a mood to eat light (the Groupon made it less, of course). You could easily spend $20-30 here for a serious meal, and it'd be worth it; just don't come in thinking it's just like Moes and expect to pay those prices.
All in all, a quality meal, and highly recommended if you don't mind paying a bit extra for high quality southwestern fare.
Taco Punk
736 E. Market St.; Louisville, KY
Price tag: $$
My rating: 4 stars
Esther's rating: 4 stars
Combined rating: 4 out of 5
