CLOSED: Blue Pablano will make all your taqueria dreams come true
An al pastor taco, front-right, and a carnitas taco, front-left, served with mexican rice and pinto beans at Blue Pablano in Provo on Monday, May 13, 2013. SPENSER HEAPS/Daily Herald
A carnitas taco, left, and an al pastor taco, right, at Blue Pablano in Provo on Monday, May 13, 2013. SPENSER HEAPS/Daily Herald
A chicken burrito, served enchilada style, at Blue Pablano in Provo on Monday, May 13, 2013. SPENSER HEAPS/Daily Herald
Sometimes life kills the dream you dreamed, like what happened to bald, sad Anne Hathaway in that one movie about how Hugh Jackman has to save his semi-adoptive daughter’s borderline stalker boyfriend from the French Revolution. And sometimes life opposite of kills the dream you dreamed, like what happened to me last week when I tasted the food at Blue Pablano in Provo.
Blue Pablano — which has been slinging its delicious tacos and burritos since March but will hold its formal grand opening on Saturday — is a dream I didn’t even know I had. It’s a sister restaurant to nearby Black Sheep Cafe, and if I’d known before now that Black Sheep had any siblings, then I’d have immediately hired that TV guy who finds people’s relatives to track them down for me, because holy food awesomeness, Batman.
Blue Pablano is essentially Black Sheep doing tacos and burritos, and even bald, sad Anne Hathaway might have perked up if she’d heard about that. It’s such a fantastic idea that I’m not even sure I want you to know about it — more tacos and burritos for me. Frankly, if I had unlimited dining reserves, then I’d probably have lunch at Blue Pablano six days a week (they’re closed on Sunday).
The restaurant itself is tiny. It’s so small, actually, and so surrounded by pawn shops, that I drove past it at first, even knowing essentially right where to look for it (it’s almost directly across Center Street from Provo’s Covey Center for the Arts). There is limited seating both inside and out, but you should probably plan on taking your order to go if you drop in during peak business hours, as we apparently did early Saturday evening.
The tacos might seem a little pricey — the cheapest is $3.25 — but would you rather have 50-cent tacos with a side of self-loathing at Del Taco, or eat a little less and taste a whole lot more? We tried all four varieties of taco: chicken, carnitas, al pastor and steak, and if I had to pick my favorite, then I would need to try them all again, because I crave more data, or possibly just more of the Blue Pablano’s tender meats and impossibly savory seasonings.
The garnishes are fresh, like the pineapple in the al pastor taco, and you can add avocado (do it) or pico crema (same advice) to any entree. The corn tortillas are possibly the best I’ve had anywhere — between this and the frybread and nanniskadii at Black Sheep, it’s clear that the Black Sheep and Blue Pablano restaurant family has some sort of magical breadmaking ingredient. Not a family secret, or a special recipe: It’s something magical.
Between our group of four adults, we only tried four of the burrito offerings — the mystical sounding steak-plus-steak burrito will have to wait for our next visit. The burritos are large, so if you insist on the highest possible ounce-to-dollar value when eating out, then have a burrito. The available meat varieties are the same as on the taco menu, and the result is every bit as phenomenally tasty. Between four fairly diverse palates, there was nothing but moans of satisfaction.
Speaking of which, I wish I knew what Blue Pablano puts in its rice, because then I would never cook rice any other way again. The beans — whole, not refried — are good but the rice is like something out of Shangri-La or El Dorado.
There’s a kids quesadilla or bean burrito for small children, as well as a more grownup three-cheese quesadilla that you can also order with carnitas, steak, or chicken. If there’s nowhere to sit when you get your food, then Pioneer Park, with lots of tables and benches as well as an enclosed playground for kids, is just a stone’s throw away.
I don’t know whether Black Sheep and Blue Pablano are just two shades in an eventual rainbow of culinary colors. There’s no need to get greedy, however — I’d be happy to eat myself black-and-blue indefinitely.
Blue Pablano
Where: 434 W. Center St., Provo
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, closed Sunday
Cost: Tacos and burritos $3.25 to $12
Info: (801) 607-5951