Taqueria la Flor de Michoacan

RestaurantsSpokane

So here we have a strange little Mexican place which actually could be quite good was it not for some... less than awesome teething issues. At least we hope they're teething issues. Otherwise Taqueria la Flor de Michoacan might just sit right on top of Spokane's upper echelon of bad service.

That's not to say the service isn't friendly, because it truly is. The real issue lies in what has have to have been the longest wait we have had to sit through in a good long time. And there is no hyperbole in that statement.

Let's do some simple math:

After sitting down it took about fifteen minutes for someone to take our order. After that we waited forty-five -- 45 -- minutes for the first person to get half of their dish. Five minutes later they got their second half. The last dish arrived an additional five minutes later.

I'm all good with a bit of a wait, but that is beyond acceptable for a simple meal in a near empty restaurant. Which is really too bad, as the food itself was quite good.

The carnitas taco, for example, had just a little char to the meat, and topped with the usual suspects. The salsas on the side were both perfectly spicy. This was a good baseline taco, and that's all we need.

On the other hand, the quesadilla de maiz was a bit of a letdown. It came served in a flour tortilla, one we suspect came from the grocery store. The cheese was good, as was the lengua. Perfectly prepared, just wrapped in the wrong type of tortilla.

Thankfully the huarache fared a lot better. The masa base was definitely homemade, and the chicken had been nicely marinated. Again it had a good char to it too. The tamale held an equally good standard; not dry at all, and again the masa was tasty.

There are enough things that's right about Flor de Michoacan for us to still be excited about it. Yet the wait was beyond acceptable. Eating a simple -- good, but simple -- meal should not cross over an hour.

It probably would be worth giving the place another shot, but we'll also give them a good wait before we head back. Kind of like they did when serving our food.