By A.J. Voelpel
It turns out a 15-minute beach ride isn’t the only thing that has Hofstra students skipping class this semester. The new Pride sensation, Maui Tacos, is hitting Hofstra harder than a fastball off the bat of A-Rod.
After years of planning (all right, a few months, but it certainly felt like years), finalizing, removing and rebuilding, the highly anticipated Maui Tacos has finally made its debut on campus.
I received the epic text message from my brother who, like every other student, was eagerly awaiting the grand opening. But if you want to experience taco fever, you’ll have to wear your waiting shoes as the line resembles that of a New York City club scene.
However, if you do possess the patience (it took me 10 minutes to place my order and then another 10 minutes to wait for my food) then your stomach will be thanking you later. It was everything I thought it would be and more (just be ready to give your teacher an explanation on why you’re 20 minutes late to class).
The menu Maui Tacos offers is an extensive collection of “surf” burritos, tacos, soups and salads. They even extend a helping hand to the herbivores with a vegetarian menu, which is not bad for a chain who has large shoes to fill (the late, great Sbarro’s certainly isn’t easy to top).
Everything at Maui Tacos is extremely fresh and made to order. They take pride in using zero trans-fats and creating healthier alternatives, such as their chicken mango salad.
I proceeded with the following for my inaugural visit: a fish taco, a barbecue pork/beef beach taco and a chicken beach taco. I was favorable to the beach tacos due to the absence of black beans which could make for a good burrito, but aren’t going to be missed in a taco.
The fish taco surpassed the stroke-ability scale with flying colors. A ton of perfectly grilled white-fish, an ultra-crispy Maui slaw and a tangy white sauce right over the top-bellisimo!
The barbecue pork taco was also a favorite, with just the right amount of meat-this time with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream. It was like eating Taco Bell, but 50 times better.
Aside from an extra doughy soft taco shell (was it me, or were there no hard shells to be found?), the pork was overflowing with barbecue flavor.
I was jubilant to get to the chicken taco because I could finally add what I had been told was the best salsa Maui Tacos offers; and that was the pineapple passion salsa. It didn’t taste much like pineapple but was very sweet and mixed very well with the Hula Heat salsa, Maui Tacos’ spicy sauce offering. Now, I’m not sure who had enough courage to call them “salsas” as they had no chunks of any vegetable ever seen the food pyramid, but they do mix well with tacos.
The chips, which were deep-fried to perfection with no excess oil dripping from the pores, were delicious. However, what they excelled in taste, they lacked in number. I should never be able to count the amount of chips (I quite literally got six while my brother had an unprecedented five on his plate).
Maui Tacos offers combos, but since I was trying to get a taste of the different meat and fish options, I didn’t go down that road. Adjacent to Maui Tacos is Pizza Exchange, which I’ve yet to conquer although the aromas can be smelled all the way from Hofstra USA.
Next on my “to dominate” list; the steak “La Perouse” burrito and definitely one of their quesadillas (rumor has it they’re top notch). If the service quickens and lines shorten, there’s really no reason to snack anywhere else on campus.