It seems I’ve been making regular trips west on University Avenue to Mexican restaurants, from Lupe’s to Lalo’s to now I Love Tacos on Branch Street. If you add Cocina Real to the mix, you have three better options for Mexican cuisine in that area than what’s presented at I Love Tacos.
While I usually dine at a restaurant 2-3 times before recapping the experience, I didn’t need more than one lunch visit to make up my mind about the place. I was surprised that tacos only make up a small percentage of the menu, and you have to ask for an exception to get them individually instead of as a plate.
That taco plate gives you three for $9.99, and fortunately you may mix and match the toppings, and you may choose between corn or flour tortillas. The diced steak was well-seasoned but tough. After a few bites, I had to add salsa to soften it a bit. The pork also was well-seasoned, but as can often happen with pork, it was very dry. On the menu, it’s called “Taco Love,” and it comes with fried onions and bacon, though no bacon came with mine.
According to a waitress, the new menu removed tzatziki sauce from the gyro taco, which was too bad, since the lamb was–guess what–dry as heck. In fact, some pieces snapped in half like a rye chip you would find in a bag of Gardetto’s. At least the portions of steak, pork and lamb were plentiful.
Since I was underwhelmed by what should have been the best items of this restaurant, I had no inclination to try anything else on the menu. But just to let you know, there are fajitas (e.g. fajita chilanga is $16), seafood (crab tostada is $8.50), burritos (burrito cheesesteak is $8.99), chimichangas (chimichanga autenticos is $10) and lunch specials.
I Love Tacos is open every day for lunch, dinner and carryout.
I’ve had some great meals at 106 King St., including at Kushi Bar Muramoto and The Haze. The recently opened 
“Not Ramen” is actually a section of the menu. The chicken wings (six for $8) were thick and moist. The Kimchi Ranch sauce was surprisingly muted in flavor, and it doesn’t stick to the meat, so you will likely do a lot of smearing.
Another build-your-own pizza place opened in the Madison area, a chain restaurant in Fitchburg called 
Nine “classic” pizzas–as in, the toppings are pre-decided, but you can still add more–lead off the menu. The Tristan was relatively light in flavor, even with the generous portion of roasted red peppers and mushrooms (I added spicy sausage). I actually didn’t miss the lack of pizza sauce, thanks to the pesto drizzle.
