Thought by many to mainly be an agua fresca source, La Fruta Feliz also puts out some very fine tacos.
I’ve written about their barbacoa, their cabrito and their carnitas but until recently I’d never sampled their refried beans.
With all the fierce competition amongst Mexican restaurants in Austin, your pintos really need to be on point to stand a fighting chance of maintaining solvency in this fierce marketplace.
The interior of La Fruta Feliz is warm and bustly with a busy staff stirring cauldrons on the stovetop, waitresses taking orders tableside and hungry patrons tacking into big platters of some very delicious looking Mexican food.
I’m on assignment so I limit myself to one bean and cheese taco on a corn tortilla and watch as my cook takes a pre-made, homemade corn tortilla out of a hotwell, slathering it with refrieds and garnishing it with a mix of yellow and white cheeses.
It’s tiny but of good quality with soupy, lardy refrieds and plentiful cheese. Both red and green salsas are divine at La Fruta Feliz. I opt out of going divorceado style and utilizing both on my taco in favor of the singular pleasures of their salsa verde. It’s bright flavor provides a welcome contrast to the musky pintos.
At $1.50 this taco does not provide a very good value but the quality of the core ingredients is high enough to make it commendable.
1*
3124 Manor Rd
512-961-5012
About the Stars:
4 **** Extraordinary, life changing
3 *** Excellent
2 * Very good
1 * Good
0 * Mediocre to Acceptable
Quality, price, service and ambiance are all taken into account when rating