Tried TNT today, here is my review.
Background for you to get a perspective into my "likes" when it comes to Mexican food. I am a big fan of southern California / baja style mexican food. Fresh ingredients and more authentic toppings (onion, pickled onions, cilantro, cojita cheese, queso fresco etc). Some of my favorite places in Omaha for Mexican food in west Omaha include Maximos Cantina (favorite restaurant), R Taco (fast casual), and Hectors to name a few. I am not a huge fan of La Mesa or Fuzzy Taco and really hate Tacoville. I will always enjoy Qdoba or Chipolte, but this is kept separate simply because they are chains.
TNT Walking Taco review:
My meal: Pork Burrito and a drink, total price just over $9
Environment: B
I will say that the environment is nice, it's not overly bright, but not dark either, the staff was friendly and pleasant to talk to while preparing my food without being annoying. I give it a B instead of an A for seating reasons, The space is small, and they did a good job of maximizing seating, but if you are by yourself, you seem to only have the choice of taking up a 4 person table, or sit at one of the bar seats. This isnt a huge problem, but the bar tops are narrow and you are just staring at the wall (you can tell my view from the photo above, my burrito took up the entire counter depth).
Price/portions: B
Price's are very competitive with the market, Burritos are between $7-9 depending on the protein, Tacos are $2-4 again depending on protein, I think this is fair. The only reason I give a B instead of an A is I would really like to see portion sizes reduced to bring prices down. This would help a lot overall. You Absolutely get your money's worth, my burrito was massive and priced fairly (larger than Qdoba or Chipolte)
Menu: B+
I give a solid grade with regards to the menu, TNT is clearly trying to get in on the Qdoba and Chipolte market, by offering burritos, tacos (regular and puffy tacos) with similar topping options as their competitors. However, they do throw the walking taco into the mix. I give the B+ instead of an A being the menu is ever so slightly confusing. There are multiple panels on the wall of menus, that are meant to be used as you go down the line, but it's mixed up slightly. The first panel is their "Walking Tacos" then the second is the types of meats and other options like a burrito. Then next to this panel is another panel saying they have regular tacos too. The menu can use a little help organization wise, but it is clean not overly littered with options.
Food: C+
There was nothing overly bad about the food. I had a pork burrito, I had them add cheese, lettuce, some onion, TNT Verde Salsa, TNT Pobalano sauce and a little sour cream. Where the pork was actually very good, not dry or under seasoned, I give the food a C+ simply because it wasnt anything overly special. There are lots of topping options from red cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, jalapenos, onions and more. The thing that always kills me with Mexican restaurants is their choice in cheese. TNT opted to use what I believe to be thick shredded colby jack cheese. I think to really compete in the "modern" mexican chain market, at least in Omaha right now, with Voodoo, R Taco, Chipolte, Qdoba and all around, offering a basic cheese like this is a let down. I would expect something slightly more authentic like Cojita or Queso Fresco (or at least the option of these). The food overall to me was just solid/ok, it definitely wasn't bad (bad to me is Tacoville on 84th).
Overall: C+
Environment, Menu etc don't mean overly much to me, I am generally the kind of person who finds one thing they like, and sticks to it at a restaurant. If the food is good, I will always go back. TNT Walking Taco, at least to me, will be the place I go to at times when I cant think of anything else that sounds better, or more convenient. Being that I live in Elkhorn, convenience is key to this restaurant. Where I really liked the pork, the rest of the meal was not anything that would drive me to eating there every week or give me the "need to have" mindset. I will go back and try the puffy tacos as that is the only fair thing for me to do as I've had one item, but so far I am not amazed, only slightly disappointed.