When we first saw el Fresh Taco pop up in this shopping center that also houses Starbucks and Subway, we must admit we were excited. We thought it would be a healthier twist on Mexican food, with lots of fresh vegetables and less-greasy meat, given it’s fresh name, and eye-catching sign that was full of veggies. We were so wrong.

When we walked into the restaurant and looked at the menu, we were shocked by how low the prices were. Although we, like most people, love low prices, these were Taco Bell-low prices, which was a bit unnerving for us. How could they serve the fresh, nutritious ingredients that their name and logo seemed to promise at such low prices?

We ordered the quesadilla meal, which came with two quesadillas, rice and beans (I chose charro beans), on the recommendation of the restaurant’s website, which says that they are “made with a twist that will leave your mouth watering for more. This combination for under 5$ seemed like a heck of a deal.

And then the food came.

First, the quesadillas were small, which is ok, given the cheap price, but was still mildly disappointing. At least there were 2 of them. The so-called twist was unnoticeable, unless they think that serving quesadillas with chicken and cheese in them is a new idea. Overall, the quesadillas were good. They were nothing special, just chicken, and cheese in a quesadilla, but good given the price. The rest of the meal, however, was terrible.

The rice was the bright orange color you would expect to see in rice with a side of cocada pudding in the freezer section at Walmart. To make things worse, it smelled like cat food. The charro beans had more bacon than beans in them. And the only vegetables on the plate were a few peppers mixed in with the cat chow. So much for the Fresh Taco image they were trying to give off.

And that wasn’t even the worst part of it. Sour cream cost extra, but when it came, it had a consistency more similar to coffee cream than sour cream. The grossest part was that the sour cream had a hair in it.

Even the fountain drinks had a funny taste to them. We had to go back and dump out our sodas several times to try and find one where the syrup was overpowering enough to mask the odd taste.

We will give them credit for serving Parrot Ice. It reminds us of summers at the pool, and should be a big hit with the kids. The desserts looked delicious, but we could not muster up enough energy to try them after finding a hair in our food.

Overall, we were highly disappointed in this restaurant. It was somewhere between Taco Bell and the Taco stand parked on the corner. At least at Taco Bell, there aren’t hairs in the sour cream. We think their only chance at survival is to try and go with the more pseudo-organic, wholesome vibe that their name implies, even if it means a modest raise in prices.