Adventure 25: Tex Tubbs Taco Palace

Tex Tubbs Taco Palace (website)
2701 University Ave
3 Adjectives: Festive, texan, faux-Mexican
Price: app (3-8) entree (4-13)
Authenticity:
Atmosphere:
Overall:
Other Opinions: yelp, heyheyholymackerel, wisconsinstatejournal, wisonsinstatejournal2...
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Accessible by UW-Madison students through most buses that cross University Ave, I have ventured over to Tex Tubbs Taco Palace three times since it opened. I was pretty excited at the opening of this place since I love Bluephies and Firefly was really getting old.

The restaurant has a fabulous atmosphere, especially compared to its previous duller and pricey occupant, Firefly Cafe (amusingly, I accidentally walked in there once after missing the bus thinking it was actually a cafe). The restaurant is decorated with bold colorful faux-Texas signs and is completely decked out with Christmas lights. All three times, I have had to wait 10-15 minutes to be seated, evidence of the large crowds that seem to flock here on weekends. In addition, the waitstaff is wonderful and attentive. One neat thing to do here is shell out $3 and use the funky phonebooth with your friends.

As for the food at this place, it is clearly a step up from Firefly, but not something worthy of obsessing over. The entire menu at Tex Tubbs is a la carte, and you get charged extra for rice and beans. While it is nice that you won't end up over-ordering, the prices of many of the items are higher than other tastier dining establishments in Madison such as Taqueria Guadalajara and Laredos. One disappointment at Tex Tubbs is that even the very average bowl of chips and salsa is charged. At $3, I hesitated to order what is normally free at any other "Mexican" restaurant. Also, a lot of the food, such as the larger chunks of fish in the some of the fish tacos isn't evenly flavored and most of the dishes taste completely average but have a higher than average price. However, Tex Tubbs does have a few shining stars on their menu: the duck quesadilla is delicious and nowhere else in Madison are you going to find so many fish taco choices. The chimis are also delicious and, despite being a bit overpriced, I always find myself ordering the queso dip.

I would recommend Tex Tubbs for the wonderful festive atmosphere, and it certainly makes for a fun date any night of the week.