How many times have you stopped at a Taco Bell to get (relatively) inexpensive quasi-Mexican food -- especially in the wee hours when you're willing to put up with the indignities of using the drive-through because you're hungry and that's what's available in the wee hours?
   Now, if you live in southwest Little Rock or are willing to drive there, you have an alternative : Taco Bueno, a national chain that recently opened its first Arkansas outlet in the Mabelvale Plaza, Base Line Road and Interstate 30. (Yes, it's the expanding shopping center with the Wal-Mart Supercenter at its center.)
   The chain's slogan -- "More Bueno" -- is enough to make any Spanish speaker blanch, but we did notice some Hispanics among the staff. (Can't honestly say we've ever seen Hispanics working at any Taco Bell this side of San Francisco.)
   Intrepid Companion, a Taco Bueno fan from way back, claims it puts Taco Bell to shame. That is, perhaps, a bit of an exaggeration, but it does offer a slightly wider variety of Tex-Mex menu items, including quesadillas, taquitos, "muchacos" (a sort of pita-bread taco) and "chiladas."
   By and large, most of the ingredients taste fresher than they do at Taco Bell -- the ground beef, for example, is not as greasy -- and you can top off your burritos, tacos, etc., with pico de gallo, onions and two kinds of red salsa from a little salsa bar.
   The B eef Nacho Salad ($2.39), a sort of combination of nachos and taco salad, was tasty enough, though not especially thrilling -- lettuce, the nongreasy ground beef (or grilled chicken), mild chili sauce, queso, shredded cheddar and tomatoes atop triangular yellow-corn tortilla chips. As part of the No. 2 combo ($4.49) you also get a crispy beef taco -- fairly firm shell, ground beef, lettuce, a little grated cheddar -- which benefited from adding a little pico de gallo.
   Intrepid Companion poohpoohed for blandness the Sour Cream Chicken Chilada platter ($4.99), two flour tortillas wrapping grilled chicken and topped with a sour-cream sauce dusted with paprika or powdered red pepper (which didn't particularly affect the taste).
   True, it's kind of bland, but not really bland. Our biggest problem with it was deciding whether the chicken bits were "real" or processed -- judging from the look and texture, we were betting on the latter until we turned up a small bone.
   The platter comes with a good-size lump of tasty, dry refried bean paste, a little good-textured-but-sort-of-bland guacamole, a dollop of sour cream and some surprisingly spicy Mexican rice.
   There appears to be only one way to get Taco Bueno's lively, Velveeta-smooth-textured queso as a dip: The MexiDips & Chips ($2.69), with a small fried-tortilla cup of the cheese dip, another cup of the refried beans (this time as a dip), and some noncupped guac. Only after we left the restaurant did we discover in the small print on the menu that you can "Nacho-Size" your combo by adding chips and queso and upgrading to a large drink "for just 79 cents more," but that would appear to mean you get the queso on the chips.
   The atmosphere is pure fastfood -- seating in hard booths with Formica-like tabletops. The predominant color is red, with a bit of secondary yellow.
   As at most fast-food restaurants, you order at the counter, pay and get a number, which somebody behind the counter yells out when your order is ready. The wait for the food early in the dinner hour wasn't excessive -- about five minutes -- which is a good indicator that most of it is, in fact, made to order.
   

TACO BUENO Address:
10114 Mabelvale Plaza Drive at Base Line Road, Little Rock

Hours:
11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily, drivethrough open until 1 a.m.

Cuisine: Tex-Mex Credit cards:
V, MC

Alcoholic beverages:
No

Reservations:
No

Nonsmoking section: Smoke-free Wheelchair accessible:
Yes

Carryout:
Yes

(501) 562-0390 www.tacobueno.com

This story was published Friday, June 30, 2006