First look at Bad Dog Taqueria
The Emory Village newbie needs more heat
- www.facebook.com/BadDogTaqueria
- Bad Dog's Korean taco
We visited Bad Dog Taqueria (1579 N. Decatur Road, 404-370-8822), the latest newbie in Emory Village, Wednesday night. Let me give you a warning. The intersection there is undergoing transformation to a traffic circle and it's kind of a nightmare. Look for parking behind the Village, off North Decatur.
The new taqueria, opened by Tracy Mitchell and Bardo Arroyave, follows the current trend to turn tacos made with flour tortillas into international cuisine. The best known of this type is Korean tacos typically featuring barbecued meat and kimchee.
Bad Dog has a Korean taco, "We've Got Seoul," that is made with pork belly and "kimchee slaw" drizzled with salsa verde. I found it tasty but I've gotta say it was way too mild for me. In fact, this seems generally true of tacos here. They're all made with first rate, interesting ingredients — many locally sourced — but most need some heat or stronger spices to bump up the flavors. Of course, that's just me. For all I know, Emory students — the taqueria's main customers, I presume — may be among the legions of Atlantans who plead to know, "Is it real spicy? Cuz I can't deal with real spicy."