Monthly Archives: September 2012

by | September 7, 2012 · 2:13 pm

Taco Ticker: A Taquero Torrent, Pink Puligists & Estrellas

Friday on the trail means Taco Ticker, a selection of light, taco-related reading from around the web. This week’s pickings include litigation over the color pink and a bite that will have you declaring, “I gar-on-tee!” However, if you’re going to click on any item, make it the first link. The piece covers the booming D.C. taco scene with chef profiles, “Taconomics” and a slideshow filled with pretty pictures of meat.

Tacopocalypse hits the District — Washington Post Going Out Gurus Blog

Three-Michelin-Star Chef Slings Tacos for Tacolicious — Tacolicious

Local food truck in battle over name ‘The Pink Taco’ — KTRK ABC13

5 Ways to Try Alligator — SFoodie

Taco Bell “Taco A Day For A Year” Contest — CBS Philly

Leave a comment

Filed under News, Taco Ticker

Tagged as , ,

by | September 6, 2012 · 4:58 pm

Tortas El Jacalito

The taquerías and Mexican restaurants west of Hampton Road along West Davis Street in Dallas are, at turns, imposing with blacked-out windows, ramshackle in construction or irresistible in the form of a three-dimensional menu. Tortas El Jacalito, which is beyond Cockrell Road, is of the latter stripe.

From the street, potential customers can read of huaraches (doughy sandal-shaped tortilla dishes excellent for clearing the vegetable drawer), sopes (thick corn masa patties usually topped with refried beans, lettuce, tomato, meat and salsa) and, of course, tacos. Inside, is much of the same, brighter, even.  Pop art-style portraits of Golden Age of Mexican Cinema era stars, including leading lady María Félix and clown Cantinflas, best known in the United States for his performance as Passepartout in Around the World in 80 Days, line the eatery’s walls.

As remarkable as El Jacalito’s trappings are, it’s not all that is noteworthy. Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under Dallas, DFW, North Texas, Oak Cliff, Reviews, Texas

Tagged as , , , ,

by | September 5, 2012 · 10:19 am

Tacolab: San Antonio Puffy Tacos

Last weekend, I traveled to San Antonio for some taco research, predominately of the puffy kind. While I was in the Alamo City, I had the opportunity to meet Diana Barrios-Treviño of Los Barrios Mexican Restaurant & La Hacienda de Los Barrios, San Antonio institutions. She was kind enough to show me how puffy tacos are fried at La Hacienda, which I recorded. The video makes for the perfect introduction to a new series on The Taco Trail: Tacolab. Each Tacolab installment will go inside home and restaurant kitchens for demonstrations, hijinks, disasters, etc. There might or might not be lab coats from time to time.

So, without further ado: Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under San Antonio, Tacolab, Tex-Mex, Texas

Tagged as , , , ,

by | September 4, 2012 · 5:56 pm

Vivo Restaurant

My quest for taco knowledge and great tacos is a multifaceted one. There are just so many types of tacos developed during millennia of history to maintain an unwavering focus. Lately, I’ve been fascinated by tacos of the fish and puffy variety, and during a trip to Austin for the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival, a friend and I got to indulge in some of the latter at Vivo.

A restaurant surrounded by a dusty lot along Manor Road—one of two locations—near standard-bearer El Chilito, Vivo is difficult to enter. Don’t go around the front. Turn to the rear of the eatery in a converted bungalow. Then, find a business easy to enjoy your first time.

The interior dining room is dominated by warm burgundy, contemporary art and a labyrinth to the graffiti bombed bathroom. It’s a lounge space for delectable Tex-Mex: cheese enchiladas, fajitas or chile con queso. Outside, where my lunch companion and I sat, was a verdant space filled with mosaic tile-topped cafe tables, wobbly metal chairs, plotted ferns, evergreens, vines and succulents concealed from the street, all the better for us to enjoy our puffy tacos. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under Austin, Reviews, Tex-Mex, Texas

Tagged as , , , ,