Review: Mexican Food Factory

Mexican Food Factory (MFF) is one of the long standing Coeur d'Alene eateries that is not well know outside of town. For one thing, they don't advertise much. They don't need to. The place is always packed at lunch and dinner, and even though they aren't open weekends, they have no problem staying in business.

Ok. Maybe the place is always packed because they only have six tables. Regulars know that once you see an open table, you have to grab it fast. Since orders are placed at the counter, it's handy to having a dining partner so one can order while the other stakes out a table.

Even though I tend to forget about MFF, since it's "way" downtown on Fourth Street near the old Safeway, the food is anything but forgettable. This go-around, I was craving one of MFF's shredded beef tacos. Their beef is mild, tender shredded pot roast meat. For their crisp tacos, they take a corn tortilla, fill it with beef, then deep fry it. A generous amount of cheese, lettuce and tomatoes are added. It's not like any other taco I've had any where else, and I've had my share. The soft tacos are huge flour tortillas, charred and filled with huge amounts of shredded beef, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. For those of you who like to kick it up, MFF provides squeeze bottles of their homemade spicy salsa with each meal.

This visit to MFF was typical of any other. We hit it up after the lunch rush, so there wasn't a line to order. The food was prepared fast and delivered to the table. Fresh is the only word I can think of to describe it. Each bite reminds you of the quality ingredients used. I couldn't help but think it had been a long time since I had eaten restaurant food that tasted so homemade and just outright good.