By Ray Stern
The Pink Taco restaurant in Scottsdale made a splash when it opened two years ago because of its spicy name and has been struggling for customers ever since. As restaurant representatives basically admitted last year, the food there was second-rate.
"Year one was about the buzz, year two is about the cuisine," stated a press release from April 2007. The restaurant hired a chef of national renown, Nathan Slattery, to create better food offerings. Still, New Times reviewer Michele Laudig found the new and improved Pink Taco dishes bland at best, and just plain awful at worst.
It looks like year three is going to be about how they didn't get the food right in year one or year two.
According to an article in the Arizona Republic today, the swankily named eatery is still having problems with the fundamentals. Owner Harry Morton considered closing the place earlier this year, and another expert was brought in to redo the menu -- again. Three weeks ago, the chain transplanted one of the managers from its Los Angeles location to try and shore things up.
The headline on today's Repub story is old news, by the way: The paper already covered the latest attempt at a menu change in April. It seems if there's one thing Pink Taco is good at, it's bringing attention to itself.
If only its public relations experts could cook, too...
