Recently, I was scrolling through Buzzfeed and procrastinating from getting any homework done when I came across an article that was titled something along the lines of “Here are the Best Places for Tacos in Every State According to Yelp”. To my surprise, the supposed best taco spot in Oklahoma, The Mayan, was one that I had never been to before, and it was only five minutes away from campus. I then proceeded to look up reviews for this place, and sure enough, they had 4.5 stars on Yelp and 4.8 stars on Google Reviews. With the overwhelming stress of midterms, I needed something to brighten up my week, so I designated this past Tuesday as Taco Tuesday and decided to check it out.
The Mayan is located in the Paseo, just a block or two away from the center of the district. The exterior of the building is cute, with plenty of chalk drawings on the sidewalk, and the interior is filled with colorful murals. When I went in the middle of the lunch hour, the place was decently busy, yet I was still given a friendly greeting by the staff and seated immediately. The menu was kind of small, and it featured a variety of tacos along with some other options such as burritos and enchiladas. All in all, it was a pretty standard menu for a taqueria. The prices seemed also seemed fair. All of the tacos were around $3, and the other options were around $7-9.
Despite the quick and friendly service, a couple of things made me sad. First of all, there weren’t any complimentary chips. I’ve already mentioned in my Mexican Radio review that not serving complimentary chips is always a minus in my book when it comes to Mexican restaurants. Secondly, there was only one clear vegetarian option. It was their vegetarian taco with cactus, cheese, pico de gallo, and avocado. The cactus really piqued my interest and I ended up ordering it, but I wish that I had at least a couple of other options to choose from. I will note that they had some quesadilla and burrito options that came with “your choice of meat,” and I want to know if they would be willing to make something like that without any meat at all.
The tacos were honestly pretty greasy, and they fell apart quite easily. That’s not necessarily a bad thing in my book because I get into these moods where I just want really greasy food, and this would totally satisfy that craving. But I will warn you that if you’re looking for something lighter and maybe more on the healthy side, this isn’t it. Eating cactus was an interesting experience. It had the texture of sautéed peppers, but it didn’t have any really strong flavors. The cactus itself was somewhat bland, but when it combined with all of the other components, the overall taco turned out really tasty.
I personally would not recommend this place to any vegans or vegetarians since the options are so limited. However, for everybody else, I think this is a nice option for anybody that’s looking for a quick meal that isn’t fast food. The quick service made everything move really fast without making the meal feel rushed at all. The decent prices and the proximity to OCU also added to the overall convenience of this place. I also think this is a nice option for anybody that’s like me and they get those greasy food cravings because these tacos are pretty much the definition of greasy street food.
Even though I’m disappointed at the lack of vegetarian options, I still enjoyed the convenience of this place and the overall flavor of the vegetarian taco. I will definitely consider returning to The Mayan for future taco Tuesdays!
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