Author Archives: Taco Trail Jose

by | December 30, 2013 · 10:33 am

Stripes/Laredo Taco Company

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I have scads of gripes about long lines. Mainly due to their cultish aspects. The way I see it, if I’m going to wait in a long line hours before a restaurant opens it will be at a place where a specific food was invented, like La Fogoncito, birthplace of the gringa taco (a taco al pastor with cheese in a flour tortilla). However, lines are a rarity at a good taqueria.

Breakfast tacos weren’t invented at Stripes gas stations with Laredo Taco Company outposts and there are long lines, but the lines move quickly. When I visited a Stripes/Laredo Taco Company in the Rio Grande Valley, I waited maybe a couple of minutes between getting in line and receiving my tacos. With large flour tortillas that are fresher than that. Your tortillas are made after you order. And don’t be surprised if the woman taking your order breaks some bad news: they’re out of what you want but will be have another batch in 10 to 15 minutes if you’re willing to wait. This kind of freshness can be difficult to find in quiet hole-in-the-wall taquerias in Dallas. Continue reading →

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Filed under Brownsville, Reviews, Rio Grande Valley, Tex-Mex, Texas

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by | December 27, 2013 · 7:54 am

Taco-Mex

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This is a hole in a wall. Really. Wedged between a laundromat, a hair salon and a convenience store, Taco-Mex is an orange color-framed walk-up taco window. From the menu at the right are available $1.75 vinegar-spiked cactus strips embroiled in scrambled eggs, refried beans speckled with whole pintos and a network of melted cheese, peppy chorizo and egg as well as migas minus the Scoville slap of jalapeños. The $2 barbaoca is a greasy cowhead-lovers dream and would make admirable hangover salve.

The bacon and egg and ham and egg breakfast tacos by comparison are standard fare for the varied clientele of university students, young adults who have pioneered gentrification of surrounding East Austin, locals tapping their feet to the rhythm of the washers and dryers next door, and the fashionable lot who prefer not to shop at in.gredients, the hip grocer across the street. Ratchet up their satisfaction with the creamy salsa verde, a lung-puncher of a condiment. Continue reading →

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Filed under Austin, breakfast tacos, Reviews, Texas

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by | December 21, 2013 · 11:13 am

An Interview With 60 Day Taco Challenge’s Jeff Old

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Tacos can be challenging. There are tacos made with pork stomach lining. There tacos made with cow uterus. There’s the Michoacan dish, rellena, a loose blood pudding with pancita, tripe and heart that goes by the name moronga when encased in intestine. It’s amazing in a handmade tortilla and dressed with salsa chile de árbol.Then there are taco challenges such as the Austin vegan taco cleanse and, in Dallas, the 60 Day Taco Challenge undertaken by Jeff Old and documented on Facebook. He took some time out of his taco itinerary, which is nearing its end, to answer some questions for the Taco Trail.

Taco Trail: What sparked the taco challenge?

Jeff Old: It started from a conversation I had with my wife. I was bragging about how much I loved tacos and that I could eat them every day. From that conversation was the idea that I could eat tacos for 60 days in a row. She thought I was “all talk” and that I wouldn’t actually go through with it. After some thought, I came up with the idea of the 60 Day Taco Challenge. I realized how much fun I could have with this and I wanted to share my taco journey with others through social media.

TT: How do you select which establishments to patronize?

JO: I select the places I will eat at based on my previous experiences, online research and recommendations from friends and through others on social media. Continue reading →

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Filed under Dallas, DFW, interviews, Lengua Sessions

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by | December 10, 2013 · 6:24 am

Chichen Itza

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This is an update of sorts. The first time I visited Chichen Itza, I found the lowest Greenville taqueria/panaderia to be an awful place serving terrible tacos. That was 2011, and Greenville Avenue was just beginning its slow creep to revitalization. Now the neighborhood is on the upswing: Coffee shops, beer bars, restaurants, a bike shop, heck, even a trendy grocery store and food truck park. It was the latter, the Truck Yard, that drew me one weekday afternoon. Unfortunately, the taco truck I had traveled to see was a no-show. Chichen Itza was the only other taco option nearby. So Chichen Itza, it was. Continue reading →

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Filed under Dallas, East Dallas, Reviews, Texas

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by | November 19, 2013 · 7:59 am

Taqueria Laredo

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It’s not difficult to find handmade or housemade tortillas in Dallas-Fort Worth. Tortillerias are plentiful, and any business offering them will make sure you know it. Taqueria Laredo along U.S. Highway 67 in south Oak Cliff is one such establishment. The words are painted large across a retaining wall on one side of a parking lot usually full of cars, pickup trucks mostly. The same wall bears a menu in the form of painted signposts. It’s a fanciful touch that has  Taco Trail written all over it.

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As its name suggests Laredo Restaurant serves Rio Grande Valley-style eats, namely barbacoa and flour tortillas with the radius of the wheel from a child’s bike. Those items, and by the looks of the food on tables, pozole,are the hits of the house, available only on specific days at a taqueria whose days of operations are Friday, Saturdays and Sundays. Laredo is a special place. Continue reading →

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by | November 11, 2013 · 6:31 am

First Bite: El Come Taco

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I got the call a couple hours before opening time. Luis Villalva, who had previously worked at Revolver Taco Lounge in Fort Worth and most recently worked with Taco Party (he was the guy in the soccer jersey manning the trompo at TacoCon), was finally ready to serve tacos at his own place, El Come [Koh-meh] Taco  on Fitzhugh Avenue. “José, it’s Luis. We open El Come Taco at 5 p.m. Come eat some tacos,” was the voicemail message. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it for first service. But I made it for lunch the next day—the day I had waited for since Villalva clued me into his plan at TacoCon. And it was worth it.

El Come Taco translates to He Eats Taco, and, for the time being, tacos are all you can eat when you visit the taqueria. Villalva did tell me huaraches, quesadillas and other antojitos would join the slate eventually. Nevertheless, the tacos are enough. They’re also surprising. Not just because there are off-menu options but because Villalva and staff have brought a little of their former Mexico City operation, Transito, to East Dallas. Continue reading →

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Filed under Dallas, DFW, East Dallas, first bite, Reviews, Texas

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by | October 5, 2013 · 5:26 pm

Taco Internet: National Taco Week Edition

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TacoWeekBannerFrom east to west and points north, tacos were first and foremost on everyone’s minds this week. The New York Times even got a piece of the action with its Taco Issue. One of the articles printed in that section ruffled a few feathers by claiming the Big Apple was just as great a taco capital as Los Angeles. Bill Esparza fired back with a pat on the head: “it’s cute that you keep trying over there.” Gustavo Arellano tempered things with a shoulder squeeze, reminding us that New York’s place in stateside Mexican food history had been secured with Buffalo Bill and Juvencio Maldonado. The latter secured a patent for a tortilla-frying device in 1950 (why is such a significant milestone so easily forgotten?).

We took the opportunity to ramp up activity with interviews, a review, a recipe, a National Taco Day roadmap curated with the help of friends across the United States and Canada. Local publications repackaged old content. For a taste of other Taco Internet goings-on, make the jump. Continue reading →

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by | October 4, 2013 · 8:23 pm

An Interview With L.A. Taco’s Blazedale

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When it comes to taco hot spots in the United States, there is no spot more incandescent than Southern California, with Los Angeles as its bright center where every type of taco is seemingly within reach and where the taco’s boldface proselytizers congregate. Among them is the crew behind L.A. Taco, a website established in 2005 to shine the spotlight on all that is great in LA via the taco and taco lifestyle. The mission has resulted in a vibrant mix of urban photography, interviews with artists, musicians and writers. The latter has included taco scribes Bill Esparza, Gustavo Arellano and Jeffrey M. Pilcher. Along the way there has been plenty of fun, including a mascot, bracket-style competition Taco Madness and the contest’s subsequent taco festival.

That festival took place on April 20—the same day as the Taco Trail co-founded North Texas Taco Festival in Dallas, Texas. In the run up to our shindigs, L.A. Taco’s Blazedale and I struck up a correspondence.

We caught up with Blazedale again this week for a Taco Week interview.

Taco Trail: What was the inspiration for L.A. Taco?

L.A. Taco: L.A. is such a diverse city and while there are thousands of things which unite different communities, there are fewer which bring the city together. By far the tastiest of these is the taco. We wanted to create a place to document our favorite unsung parts of the city such as street art, dive bars, and of course tacos. At that time, these things weren’t nearly as celebrated as they are today.

TT: L.A. Taco supports the taco lifestyle. What is the taco lifestyle?

LAT: To us the taco lifestyle is about getting out of the house and exploring your city. Checking out a new bar, an art show, live music, or hunting for a new taco spot you’ve never tried before. Finishing up a great night out with a taco is really the best thing ever, and an experience that is quintessential Los Angeles.

TT: L.A. is the taco capital of the United States. What are your thoughts on the rise of the taco across the country? Continue reading →

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Filed under California, interviews, Lengua Sessions, Los Angeles, Taco Week

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by | October 3, 2013 · 8:46 pm

Recipe: Driftwood Chef Omar Flores’ Carnitas and Chicharrón Tacos

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TacoWeekBannerIn honor of tomorrow’s big announcement, we give a recipe originally published by our friends at Entree Dallas. It’s a winner of a taco, being the creation that earned Driftwood executive chef Omar Flores first place in the inaugural North Texas Taco Festival Taco Throwdown.

Speaking of which who thinks they can beat Omar in 2014? Continue reading →

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Filed under Bishop Arts District, Dallas, Oak Cliff, Recipes, Taco Week

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by | October 2, 2013 · 2:26 pm

An Interview With Chef Antonio Marquez of Lazaranda Modern Kitchen & Tequila

Chef Antonio Marquez

TacoWeekBannerI love Lazaranda‘s sweet, rice-and-beans layered lobster taco, an homage to the resort town of Rosarito Beach in Baja California. But the Dallas-area restaurant—co-owned by Mario Letayf and chef Antonio Marquez, partners in other restaurants Mexico—offers more than tacos. Its name refers to the restaurant’s specialty—grilling—and the preferred tool—la zaranda (a grilling basket). During a week-long visit from Mexico, Marquez, who ditched economics for culinary school in Paris, took time to answer some of our questions.

Taco Trail: Lazaranda specializes in grilling with a zaranda. Why did you and your business partners decide to go with that concept?

Antonio Marquez: The advantage of that implement is that you can cook in the grill any type of food using it, some food direct to the grill whit the basting, marination’s and sauces, will be difficult to handle in the direct grill, small pieces too are very easy to work with the zaranda.

TT: How did it influence what dishes were put on the menu?

AM: Monterrey is a grill-lovers city, the families and friends every weekend or event, meet in patios or terraces with all the different types of grilling equipment, they share their recepies and secrets. So using the zaranda gives diners that type of taste experience.

TT: When it came to adding tacos to the Lazaranda menu? Were there tacos you insisted be available? How did you decide what tacos to offer?

AM: First of all, grilled tacos, that’s because the grilled corn tortilla get’s a better flavor. They are easier to handle and last longer before getting soaked and the tortilla start to break. We can do all types of tacos. Remember that the tortilla becomes a plate to taste the flavors inside it. And I always try to put flavors and techniques for all the different customer preferences, grilled items, roasted, barbecue, fried, etc. Continue reading →

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