My brother-in-law came up for the day on Saturday and we always like to try new places, so when I heard that Condado was opening up in Broad Ripple, I texted him right away and suggested we eat there.
It wasn’t too crowded when we got there, so we didn’t have to wait for a seat – surprising since the place had only been open a few days. A lot of the seating is shared seating at open tables with bar stools but there are a few more private tables which seemed to be seating larger parties.
The menu has a great variety, especially for vegetarians and ordering process is pretty fun. Remember scantron tests back in grade school? The menu is like that – you fill in the little bubbles next to what you want, then the wait staff scans it with a machine and it sends your order to the kitchen.
We split an order of chips, queso and salsa verde. The chips, in my opinion, were lacking – they were more like Taco Bell chips than authentic, homemade from tortillas. The queso and salsa verde were very good though, however I think Bakersfield downtown beats them on both. (Condado is opening another location on Mass Ave next year, so we’ll see how they fare with Bakersfield as competition)
It took a little while for the tacos to get there, so I took a few photos of the fun decor inside. It seems like they tried to give it a local vibe and painted the murals inside to reflect the Broad Ripple neighborhood influence.
On to the main event: the tacos! I had read other bloggers experiences were not great on opening day. Some of their entrees were skimpy on portions but I did not have that experience. Perhaps the bugs got worked out a little by the time I got there?
My first taco was chicken, cheese, salsa verde and chimichurri on a flour tortilla. Pretty basic but I think I liked it the best! The second taco I got was the ju-ju shell, which was a combination of hard and soft with chorizo and queso. I added more chorizo as a protein, along with cheddar, salsa roja and cilantro-lime aioli. I also added on beans and rice, which I threw on top of the tacos and ate altogether. Yum!
So in conclusion, my experience at Condado was great. I will be going back. They aren’t the best tacos ever (Torchy’s takes that prize) or even in Indy (I still love Bakersfield) but they do have their own vibe that I really liked.
