Habaneros Modern Taco Bar

I'd seen the "coming soon" signs for Habaneros while visiting its sister restaurant, Cheese Curds, last year, and so, when it came time to grab some lunch while in Halifax for a day, I figured I'd grab some on my way out of town. The restaurant is set-up in much the same way: you order your tacos, then put a variety of toppings, some of them rather original (read: slightly strange). The vibe and decor of the restaurant, especially when compared to Cheese Curds next door, gives you the impression of a wannabe chain restaurant, which is unfortunate. It almost makes it feel like an instant business plan applied to a current trend in food. The first guy who served me was friendly and chatty; I ordered three tacos (since there was a deal on doing that), and asked if I could make them all different. He assured me I could, then passed me on to the next guy. I'm not sure if the next guy couldn't hear me, wasn't listening, or just ignored me, but making them all different didn't work so well, and eventually I gave up saying "one the first one" after he put everything on all of them. This was especially disappointing as I was the only customer in the place.

I did indeed like the food. Both the soft and hard shell tacos were great. I particularly liked the pulled pork- it was flavourful and tender. As far as the different toppings (salsas and sour creams) go, this was the point at which the second employee just put everything on all of them, so I didn't get to test out what each individual one tasted like. I wasn't, however, particularly turned off by any of them. Everything tasted really nicely.

I enjoyed the restaurant, and three tacos for around 8 dollars plus tax was a great deal. The server not listening to me, and the very cookie-cutter set-up don't, however, make me feel like going all the way back out to try it again, but I would probably stop by if in the neighbourhood.