Drive-thru Dining is a feature that delves into the dining options here in south Utah County. Most restaurant reviews focus on walk-in, sit-down dining experiences, but this column focuses on drive-thru dining experiences. After all, the drive-thru dining experience can be quite different from what you get inside the restaurant, and is, more often than not, the one that most people have.
Our ranking system is unscientific and purely subjective. Based on five categories—drive-thru maneuverability/design, menu board clarity/orderliness, service, packaging, and food accuracy/quality/portions—a total score conveys the dining experience as a whole.
*This month, we focus on one of Springville’s newest eateries that, based on its name, held a lot of promise.
Not-quite-prehistoric origins
Jurassic Street Tacos got its start in 2016 as a food truck and has grown to include five brick-and-mortar restaurants. Known for its generous portions and authentic Mexican food, I looked forward to my drive-thru experience at the Springville store, which happened on a Saturday afternoon.
So did the restaurant live up to the hype? Let’s find out.
Drive-thru maneuverability/design
Having been through this drive-thru before, since the building was the former location of Orange Peel, I thought I knew what to expect from the drive-thru before I got there. The path of the drive-thru lane was the same as before, but the addition of a menu board drastically improved on what the previous tenants offered. More on the menu board later.
Due to being part of a strip mall design, Jurassic Street Tacos’ drive-thru window is at the front of the lane instead of the end, like the majority of drive-thru lanes. I was the only car in line that day, so this didn’t really affect anything. However, had there been as few as a couple more cars, the queue would’ve been awkward and crowded.
Category grade: 3 out of 5 stars
Menu board clarity/orderliness
This was one of the better parts of my drive-thru experience here.The drive-thru menu board had full descriptions for every item offered, and the design of the menu board was attractive, organized, and easy to understand.
Category grade: 5 out of 5
Service
The service rendered through the drive-thru window here was good. The young lady was friendly and professional. It didn’t take long to prepare, package, and deliver my order.
Category grade: 5 out of 5
Packaging
Given our society’s awareness of the importance of eco-friendliness and sustainability, it surprised me that this restaurant packed the food in Styrofoam containers, which brought this category’s score down. That aside, the restaurant staff packaged my order well and I experienced no shifting or tipping of the containers on the drive home.
Category grade: 3 out of 5
Food accuracy/quality/portions
Let’s start with accuracy. My order was accurately taken and prepared. No problem there.
Next, the portions of the items were abundant, more than I could finish, actually. In light of the high prices for the food, this wasn’t a big surprise.
Which brings us to quality. Let me preface this part of the review with the understanding that I always hope for the best when a new eatery opens its doors for business. I did the same here. The guacamole and salsa were topnotch. However, the steak in my order was overcooked and left a strange aftertaste.
The meal came with a side of tortilla chips, which was a nice touch, but the chips proved to be not as fresh as I had hoped.
The portion sizes of the food were impressive, but the quality of those portions during my visit wasn’t as impressive as I had hoped for.
Category grade: 2 out of 5
Overall drive-thru grade: 18 outof 25
Some aspects of my visit to Jurassic Street Tacos in Springville were great, while others were not. I still have high hopes for the eatery that has had proven success over the years.
Submitted by The Drive-thru Diner
