Agave & Rye: Now that's what I call a taco!

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This past weekend my wife and I made the two hour drive down to the Toledo area of Ohio to meet up with her sister for lunch. We have been doing this for quite a while now, especially in the long stretches when we aren't able to make it all the way to Columbus to visit or they aren't able to make it up here.

I say we met with her sister, but really it was her sister, brother in law, and their two daughters that I talk about quite a bit in my @bozz.sports account. After lunch we took a walk around the outdoor mall. This post is about what happened before we took that walk though.

As is usually the case, before we actually meet up, we kick around ideas on where we should have lunch. We have a couple places that we know are always good, but we also like to branch out from time to time. That was the case on this particular Saturday.

They narrowed it down to two or three places and left it up to me to decide where we were going to go.

I can't say why for sure, but something was drawing me to Agave & Rye the other options were your run of the mill bar and while I am sure the food would have been good, I didn't think it would be much of a departure from what we could get anywhere else.

This taco joint on the other hand had a lot of "wow" factor to it.

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Agave & Rye is a regional chain that has about sixteen locations in the Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Alabama area. My guess is that the name is a riff on the line from the Harry Chapin song "American Pie". However since it is a taco place they changed the words to Agave and Rye instead of Whiskey and Rye.

The building that this particular Agave & Rye is housed in used to be a Max & Erma's before that chain was unfortunately shut down. Oddly enough, we had met in this location for lunch a long time ago back when it was a Max & Erma's.

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It sits across the parking lot from an Italian restaurant that smelled really good when we walked by. I don't know how the food is there though. Might be worth heading back some time to check it out!

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Despite being a repurposed building, Agave & Rye has a really clean look and they also have some really cool outdoor seating areas for when it isn't 40 degrees out. I would imagine this place is kind of packed in the summer. Especially after trying their food.

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As you can see, the interior of Agave & Rye is opulently decorated with chandeliers, colorful wall paintings, and all kinds of different sculptures here and there. I don't think I could pinpoint any one theme they were trying to go with. Urban industrial maybe, but then the "crystal" chandeliers really through that off.

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Either way, it's a pretty cool vibe and I was kind of digging it.

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As the name would imply, they lean heavily into their tequila and whiskey here. I was looking at their drink menu and the top half was all different kinds of tequilas you could try. The bottom half consisted of whiskey's. I recognized most of the names from the whiskey list and I was happy to see they even had a couple expensive pours ($50 a glass or more) from Bardstown Distillery where @mrsbozz and I visited last Spring.

Unfortunately, since I was driving, I decided not to imbibe, but my oldest niece told us her friend said that the margaritas there were strong and amazing!

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We started with some chips and queso of course. I was happy to see they had a pretty extensive selection of salsas as well. There was one that used ghost peppers in it. Probably a little to spicy for me.

They also had a pretty decent selection of queso's available. Really it was just queso with different mixers, but you get the idea.

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My sister in law decided to go with a Birra style burrito that she said was very good. It came with a dipping sauce kind of like an au jus, but she didn't use any of it. I should have given it a try since she was sitting across from me, but I was too busy eating my own food.

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My younger niece got the Birra style tacos that are really popular right now. It also came with the dipping sauce and some other accompaniments like sour cream and salsa. I have never tried these, but I am not a fan of overly deep fried Mexican food, so I am not sure I would like it.

The rest of us got straight up tacos.

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Okay, more like epic tacos. That's how they bill them anyway. My brother in law got "The Rooster" which is crispy chicken with mac n cheese, nashville hot sauce, and sweet pickles on top. He also got "The Skywalker" which was kung pao fried chicken, lo mein mix, agave bbq, creamy ranch, spicy crispy carrots, and a double decker tortilla.

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My oldest niece also got "The Rooster", but along with it she got the "Swipe Right" which is made up of herbed chicken, sweet & spicy bacon, aged white cheddar, salsa and sour cream.

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@mrsbozz also got "The Swipe Right" but she paired it with a order of their refried pinto beans. I took a couple bites of them and they were really good.

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Finally, that just leaves me. Along with the taco in the opening photo, I also got the one you see above. The one above is called "The Happy Pappy" and it consisted of pork carnitas, mexican rice, sweet & spicy bacon, aged white cheddar, queso, and a guacamole "love cushion". When they put something between the soft outer shell and the hard inner corn tortilla they call it a love cushion.

I like this taco better than the one in the opening, but it was a hot mess to eat. I had it all over the place and ended up finishing it with a fork.

The one in the opening photo is called "The Alderman" and it is made up of carne asada steak, street corn salad, cotija cheese, and spicy chile de arbol salsa. The salsa was indeed hot and it made it hard for me to enjoy the taco.

Looking back, getting two taco was probably a mistake no matter how good or bad they were. They are just that big and unless you are showing up on an empty stomach, it is going to be hard to down both of them.

One interesting thing on the menu was a taco called "The Thumper" which contained kangaroo meat. I'm not naive enough to think people don't eat kangaroo, but I don't think I have ever seen it on a menu before. It was kind of cool.

They also had a couple non meat options if you swing that way.

In addition to the tacos, they also have a large number of appetizers and specials to choose from. If this place was closer, I have a feeling it would be a place we visited quite frequently.

If you get the chance to stop into a Agave & Rye, I highly recommend it. I am going to be thinking about this meal for some time.

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Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports

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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or @mrsbozz unless otherwise sourced