That's right fools...De Leon's on 27th just opened, and I stopped there for an early dinner today. They were still scrambling a bit, and you can tell that counter service is something new to them (the original De Leon's is drive through only). But hell, you dont actually go to fast food for service, or atmosphere for that matter. You go for the food at low prices, and De Leon's is renown for good Mexican fast food at reasonable fast food prices.
I got a combo plate of 2 fish tacos with beans and rice at $5.49. It was pretty damn good, deep fried fish fillet chunks with pico on corn tortillas. The pico de gallo was definitely fresh, which I like (not the pale, sicky looking buckets of pico they have at amigos). The fish was fried to a deep brown and also hot, indicating it just came out of the fryer. The beans were good (for beans) and the rice was light and fluffy. All in all, a solid experience and definitely better than any of the other chains in Lincoln.
Few notes:
1) They do not have a salsa bar, which is something I believe they should consider. Intead, they just give you little cups of hot tomato salsa.
2) The service is still a bit clumsy...although expected seeing it just opened. Within a few weeks they will hopefully iron out how much labor is needed. When I was there there was only one attendant out front and she was clearly dealing with both sit in customers and drive through ones.
3) They lack other extras which would make it a nicer place. The salsa bar is one missing component. I would recommend that they also throw in a small plate of chips with their combo meals and/or a little cup of hot pickled vegetables. All their combo plates cost at least $5.29 or so, and at those prices, you should get at least either or both chips and vegetables in addition to the rice, beans, and main entree to make it similar to what you can find in southern california. All you can drin
k, serve yourself soda would be another plus.
In anycase, I can't complain. I will definitely be headed back their tomorrow and also over the weekend to try their other meal sets, and I cant see myself going back to my old mainstay of Taco Inn anytime soon now that De Leon's has opened.
I should also mention, they have a breakfast burrito menu, which includes a "Lincoln Burrito" and a "Nebraska Burrito." I asked the lady what they were and she informed me that the former is eggs, bacon, cheese and potatoes and the latter is eggs, steak, cheese and potatoes.
I am guessing that this new De Leon's will be a huge success. They already have a very loyal base of customers, its an ideal location, and the place is spacious and looks nice (for a fast food place) from both the inside and outside. With dine-in, De Leon's will definitely succeed.
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I happened to drive by DeLeon’s tonight after a trip out to North 27th. Had I known it was open I might have stopped in. Oh well, maybe next time. I think I probably should experience the original location first, though.
Why? I am very excited about this new de leons b/c they have a dine in area. At the original, first of all you have to wait like 20 minutes in the car queue, and then you have to take the food back home and by then it has cooled off. Weirdo.
You could just eat it in the car, saving you the taking it home problem.
In many cases the quirks and character of the original are what provide a context for later expansions. For example, the new Zesto on Pine Lake Road is nothing without the context provided by the quirky original on South Street. The “new and improved” Lee’s on North 70th died a quick and dirty death precisely because it did not (or could not) replicate the features that made the original famous. I could go on and on, but here’s my point: subsequent versions of Lincoln classics must be evaluated, at some level, in the context of their original form.
That’s not to say that new versions of old classics are inherently inferior. 1990’s Runza restaurants were much better than the original. (Don’t get me started on today’s Runzas, though.) In fact, Runza may be an excellent analogy for De Leon’s. Runza started as a hard-to-reach hole-in-the-wall and evolved into a chain of cozy fast food restaurants. The original De Leon’s is both hard-to-reach and a hole-in-the-wall. It’ll be fun to see if it is able to follow a similar path.
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