Torchy’s Tacos is a Texas-born fast-casual taco chain that developed a huge cult following for oversized, creative tacos with names like “Trailer Park,” “Brushfire,” and “Trailer Trashy.” The company started as a single food trailer in Austin in 2006, founded by chef Mike Rypka, and has since expanded to more than 120 locations across the U.S. while keeping its edgy “Damn Good” branding and quirky vibe. The “Democrat” is one of the signature tacos at Torchy’s Tacos and is probably their most famous traditional-style taco. It’s made with beef barbacoa, avocado, cotija cheese, cilantro, diced onions, lime and tomatillo salsa on a corn tortilla. The barbacoa is tender and flavorful, while the tomatillo salsa adds a fresh, tangy bite that keeps it from feeling too heavy. The avocado makes everything creamy, and the cotija gives it a salty finish. An interesting sauce or unique crunchy addition would have made this a homerun for me. Grade: B

Bodo's Bagels is a classic Charlottesville, Virginia, bakery with three locations across town. "Our bagels are made from scratch "in-house" every day, at each location. Every step, from the mixing of dough to the baking, is done on-premises. We follow a traditional all-natural recipe, with NO fats, preservatives, dairy or soy, and we only use unbleached, unbromated flours. Our bagels are always oven-fresh; we bake from open to close!"



Bodos has several types of bagels including: Plain, Whole Wheat, Sesame, Poppy, Onion, Cinnamon-Raisin, Everything, Everything on Whole Wheat, Garlic and Salt. I enjoyed a garlic bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese. It is missing the classic red onions and capers to round out the flavor profile, but this was still very tasty. That bagel had a nice chew to it ans little bits of crunchy garlic made it fun to eat.



Grade: B