"I had assumed that Taco Republic was a national chain concept, after all it has a sleek and hip design with trendy upscale tacos. I recently discovered that it is owned by the same folks that own Louie 's Wine Dive and BRGR, with plans to open a 2nd TR in Prairie Village soon. So it is a chain concept but at least it 's locally owned. Right from the start I was less than dazzled. I was told to sit anywhere in the vacant restaurant, yet it took several minutes to receive a basket of cold chips and salsa, then a few more minutes to receive a water, then a few more minutes to finally receive a menu. I 'm still the only person here! I ordered the Papi Taco marinated steak, chimichurri, corn, caramelized onions... and the Jorge Taco grilled shrimp and pork belly, avocado, chipotle aoili...and a side of Elotes. The Jorge was excellent! Wonderfully grilled and seasoned shrimps and nice chunks of crispy/fatty pork belly. The Papi was a mess more along the lines of a deadbeat daddy rather than a Hispanic father figure. It immediately fell apart upon lifting, and it was the 1st taco I tried. A soggy dissolving tortilla with room temperature chewy steak Bad Papi! The Elotes were very disappointing also. The menu states they are made with roasted corn, but I didn 't see or taste any signs of roasting. It was just a bowl of tough corn in a puddle of lukewarm mayo/cream... Sad Elotes! I never once had a return check in from my waitress that had zero other customers at the time. I would have loved to had a salsa refill or even just a Hey, how ya doing lone customer? . Taco Republic you really need to up your game on the front end and the back end if you want to run with the big dogs such as Mission and Torchy 's."
Elotes
