El Toro Bravo, 3218 Clark Road, 941-924-0006

A fully loaded taco can include any of the following: seasoned meat, tomato, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, refried beans, avocado, rice, onions, cilantro, salsa, etc. When carefully stacked inside a hard- or soft-shell tortilla, I would argue that a taco is a self-contained meal. If I extrapolate further, then a taco blown up into its constituent parts would essentially be a meat entrée with a side of rice and a salad. Proof of this hypothesis comes from El Toro Bravo in the form of the Guadalajara platter.

From the top, the platter looks like a hearty salad of romaine lettuce and tomatoes with a side of seasoned rice. Little streaks of sour cream, piped through a cornet, and two ice cream scoops of avocado make the platter look like a filling vegetarian meal, with no hint of animal parts in sight. But, digging into the mound of food reveals the rest of the food pyramid. Refried beans, shredded cheese and the diner’s choice of meat (I went with seasoned ground beef) form the foundation of this heap of delicious food. The intrepid eater able to get to the bottom of the mound discovers two hard-shell tortillas soggy with all the flavors of the platter. So, take some tacos and blow them up, reconfigure them onto a plate and dig in.

Oh, and the dinner portion of the platter is not for the faint of stomach.  El Toro Bravo operates 11:00 am to 8:00 pm Monday through Thursday, and 11:00 am to 10:00 pm Friday and Saturday.

El Toro Bravo, 3218 Clark Road, 941-924-0006

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