Not to get into my whole life story before the food but I live in a small town now. A new restaurant opening up in Miller Beach is a big deal. People here have been talking about it for weeks, discussing not only the renovations and theme, but also the new owners. Especially when they have other restaurants. The Brass Idol will be coming soon, but in the meantime we have the opportunity to try the other food this guy has put together. One is a flatbread pizza place and the other is Tacos. One look at the menus and we knew exactly which one we wanted to try first.
Ever since leaving the Chicago suburbs we have been hunting for a new Chips and Queso place. We have tacos in Miller Beach, and from what I understand decent ones, but there's no queso on the menu and the weather hasn't been right to crave a margarita so we just haven't gotten around to going yet.
Ricochet Tacos (we went to the one in Valpo) not only has queso but they also have our favorite coffee shop three blocks over so it was ideal for a late lunch / early dinner. As soon as we inhaled the free smells we knew we made the right choice.
The space was a decent size to host a dinner service with space options available for all party sizes. A couple other people had the same idea we did, to catch the calm before dinner rush when everything is stocked and prepped. I coaxed my dinner companion to sit at the bar so I could “get a better view of the place” because it's “for my blog”. Really I just like looking at other bar set ups and staring at the pretty labels and glass.
We got what we came for put in right away. We were soon delivered a warm creamy bowl of happiness. The banana pepper was one we haven't tried in a queso before, with the usual plus one being jalapeno or chipotle. I enjoyed it a lot. It brought a dash of sweetness to our tradition.
I sipped on a tajin rimmed local lager and inspected the contemporary murals on the wall. This new modern americana includes the hand of Mickey Mouse passing off a taco to Homer Simpson like it's the Creation of Adam. You can see the finishing line as you wait for your meal and watch others go out. There was only a couple screens, the main one being a place for bar patrons to rest their eyes, and they were tuned to the Food Network instead of say ChiveTV. Based on vibes alone we were already looking forward to what this new American diner in our downtown would become.
D got classic steak and cheese tacos.
I tried the Handle Bar.
Our steak was cut in thick cubes that you could still bite apart easily. My loaded choice had a great blend of smooth and crunchy, especially with the fried potato sticks that are now my new favorite thing. The tortillas had an amazing texture just by themselves and will definitely be ordering a stack of them to go with our cheese next time.
And there will be a next time. There's three other tacos I had my eye on and I have yet to try the elotes.
Stay tuned for a follow up Anoninom at The Brass Idol, also produced by whoever made Ricochet happen, whenever it eventually opens.
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Ricochet Tacos
55 Franklin St
Valparaiso, IN 46383
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2024 Update: I took my siblings here. They also loved it. Good tacos.