Category Archives: festivals

by | March 31, 2019 · 12:43 pm

Taco Festival Best Practices

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Get the most out of your taco festival experience.

Festival season is here and with it fiestas of every sort. That includes taco festivals, such as the one I curate, Taco Libre in Dallas, Saturday, April 27, 2019. You should go. It’ll be fun. Tickets are available here.

To increase your chances of a great taco festival experience, I have put together a list of best practices.

Consider the crowd. Taco festivals draw large crowds. Lines are given. If you’re going to a taco festival, go early. The lines will be shorter and you’ll be happier.

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Again, lines are given. Go early. Go with friends. While you’re waiting in one line, have a friend in another taco line. Order enough tacos for the group. A third friend should be in the bar line. First get water. Next come the silly drinks. Then get more water. Continue reading →

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by | October 2, 2014 · 8:57 am

Big Announcement: TACO NIGHT With Taco Trail & Four Corners Brewing

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TACO NIGHT!

After seven days of North Texas Beer Week, you’re gonna need some tacos. Your amigos at Four Corners Brewing Co. and the Taco Trail got you covered during everyone’s favorite night of the week, TACO NIGHT, Thursday, Nov. 6.

Dallas’ best taquerias will serve el verdadero sabor (the true taste) of Mexico with tacos de trompo. In their Dallas debut, Dos Primos Tacos will present their northern Mexico style of trompo; featuring pork seasoned with a paprika-based marinade. Mexico, DF-style tacos will be well represented with three top Dallas taquerias including El Tizoncito, El Come Taco and Urban Taco. We’re excited to bring them all together.

You need tacos and tacos need beer! Four Corners will have a plenty of variety on hand. Seasonals, special TACO NIGHT release and year-round offerings as well.

General admission, $25, gets you a taco from each vendor, sides and garnish and four 12-ounce pours to wash it all down. Tacos-only passes cost $15. Hot dog truck Eat Jo Dawgs will sell franks for the kiddies. Nos vemos pronto!

Photo: Markus Pineyro

Photo: Markus Pineyro

The Details
When: Thursday, Nov. 6, 6 p.m.
Where: Four Corners Brewing Co., 423 Singleton Blvd., in Trinity Groves
Tickets: $25, $15, available at Prekindle.
 

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by | June 18, 2014 · 7:54 am

Where to Eat Tacos During Oak Cliff Film Festival 2014

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Everything is better with a taco, especially the young but formidable Oak Cliff Film Festival, which calls the Texas Theatre home. Within tortilla-flinging distance (and all over the neighborhood) of the historic movie house are scads of notable taquerias and restaurants. Once again, we offer our recommendations.

Los Torres Taqueria, 1322 W. Clarendon Dr., 214-946-3770
This mom-and-pop shop is something special. It’s the only Dallas restaurant specializing in Sinaloan-style meat preparations, and where you go when you want excellent tacos. The Torres family has never failed when it comes to serving northern Mexican dishes like cinnamon-spiked birria de chivo, luscious cabeza (a mix of beef cheek and tongue) and barbacoa roja estilo Sinaloa, which has pork and beef in every exquisite bite. True to the state of origin, order your tacos in handmade flour tortillas. But if you insist, at least request the handmade corn tortillas.

La Tacoqueta, 2324 W. Clarendon Dr., Ste. 100, 214-943-9991
On a strip of Clarendon dominated by auto shops and faded concrete, cheekily named La Tacoqueta is a sepia, wood and tile haven offering hit-the-spot tacos of carne asada, chicken and al pastor.Alas, there is no spit. The breakfast tacos come with handmade tortillas but others don’t. The service is always on point and the salsa is always fiery.

Fito’s Tacos de Trompo #2, 3113 W. Davis St.
This joint is hard to miss. Just look for the painting of Monterrey’s geographic landmark, the Serro de la Silla mountain, and the restaurant’s name is big red letters. Order the signature menu item, tacos de trompo—the northern Mexican cousin of tacos al pastor seasoned with paprika, not a chile, achiote and citrus adobo, and roasted on the vertical spit called, you guessed it, a trompo. But bring cash. Fito’s doesn’t accept plastic.

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by | September 13, 2013 · 8:22 am

Taco Internet: Discovery Biergarten, Breakfast Tacos & Walqueria

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While we recovered from the smash hit that was TacoCon (Cerveza) at Four Corners Brewing Co., Taco Trail visited Taco Wagon‘s new incarnation. We also began planning TacoCon Fort Worth. Entree Dallas has news that our friends at the aforementioned brewery will be the exclusive beer provider at the Texas Discovery Gardens during the State Fair of Texas. City of Ate ran a post about Taqueria Conin, the joint that took over the original Tacos La Banqueta space on Carroll Street, when the latter operation was evicted. Fans of the longtime Dallas favorite shouldn’t have to wait long (depending on your level of patience) to once more relish excellent suadero and slurpy, fatty cabeza. There are whispers East Dallas will soon have a new taco spot and, yes, TacoCon is rolling into Cowtown.

Elsewhere, Julia Child’s favorite taco spot has long lines, Chicago Tacos goes for tinga, steamy DF has its place in Santa Barbara and more.

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by | September 5, 2013 · 8:40 am

TacoCon (Cerveza) is Friday

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And you’re coming. There isn’t an admission fee, for crying out loud.

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by | July 16, 2013 · 6:22 am

Announcing the TacoCon (Cerveza) Loteria Cards

TacoCon (Cerveza) Loteria Card #1 El TacoAs recognizable as the calaveras of Dia de los Muertos, loteria cards bearing archetypal figures drawn by Don Clemente Gallo in a Tarot-esque fashion are fixtures of Mexican popular culture. The cards, employed in a bingo-like game of chance, have inspired countless designers and artists. La Luna (the moon) adorns a switchplate. The wall concealing the bathrooms in Fito’s Tacos de Trompo #2 on West Davis Street is painted with a loteria card mural. Four Corners Brewing Company in West Dallas models its beer labels after the cards. And since we’re partnering with them to present TacoCon (Cerveza), we’d thought we have a little fun with them too.

In the run up to the festival, we’re releasing our own loteria cards, created by Alexander Flores. Print them. Collect them. Bring them to TacoCon (Cerveza) and use them to vote for your favorite taco truck. The first one, El Taco, is being released here. The rest will be available only on the North Texas Taco Festival Facebook page. ¡Buena suerte!

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by | July 12, 2013 · 7:22 pm

The North Texas Taco Festival and Four Corners Brewing Present TacoCon (Cerveza)

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Because one taco festival a year isn’t enough, the North Texas Taco Festival and Four Corners Brewing Company are hosting Dallas-Fort Worth TacoCon (Cerveza), the area’s first celebration of the lonchera, or taco truck. The Friday, September 6, event will be held on the grounds of Four Corners Brewing Company at the foot of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, from 6 p.m.–10 p.m.

And it will truly be regional, with five trucks and trailers from Dallas and Fort Worth. They are: Chile Pepper Grill, Holy Frijole, Ssahm BBQ, Taco Heads, and Taco Party. Each lonchera will be selling their unique take on your favorite food. Four Corners will have its bar space open for beer by the pint, including a one-off special brewed for TacoCon (Cerveza). Of course, there will be live musical entertainment.

There will be plenty of free parking and no admission charge. All you have to do is show up hungry for tacos with beer.

RSVP at www.tacoconcerveza.eventbrite.com, and check out TacoCon (Cerveza)’s Facebook event page.

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by | June 4, 2013 · 8:18 am

Where to Eat During the Second Annual Oak Cliff Film Festival

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The second annual Oak Cliff Film Festival kicks off Thursday, June 6, and it promises to outdo the inaugural edition. Not only will there be events hosted at  the Texas Theatre, the Kessler Theather, Bishop Arts Theater and the Belmont Hotel, there will be myriad events of all shenanigan levels. Croquet will go down on the Turner House lawn and Oak Cliff’s Small Brew housemates will take one step closer to opening their Small Brew Pub with a pop-up at Jefferson Tower. The Capture the Flag Bike Ride rolls out from the Texas on Saturday evening. And like the film festival, the neighborhood’s taco options have changed and evolved. Here are my picks for those looking to get a taco fix in the Cliff.

Cool & Hot, 930A E. 8th St., 214-944-5330
This converted gas station and car wash makes their corn tortillas in house and serves the best breakfast tacos south of the Trinity.  The mouth-puckering barbacoa on a diminutive flour tortilla alone is the ideal first stop on your daily film festival itinerary. The chorizo and egg taco packs a delightful soft slap of heat.

Taquería Tiquicheo, 110 S. Marsalis Ave., Ste. A, 214-941-4300
This small, cash-only joint serves fierce pollo deshebrada, chicken stewed and shredded. Tiquicheo’s version is prepared with tomatoes and chilies and nestled in house-made tortillas. Temper the heat with a Mexican Coke.

El Pueblo Restaurant, 525 E. Jefferson Blvd., 214-946-3070
This corner joint serves the best carnitas in Oak Cliff with a side of unhurried service.

El Tizoncito Taqueria, 3404 W. Illinois Ave., Ste. 100, 214-330-0839
This small Dallas chain’s original location sits at the corner of Westmoreland and Illinois, serving classic Mexico City tacos al pastor from a trompo, mischievously sloppy choriqueso that marries cheese and chorizo on a bed of three flour tortillas as well as a full menu of Mexican fare.

Los Torres Taqueria, 1322 W. Clarendon Dr., 214-946-3770
This mom-and-pop shop is something special. It’s the only Sinaloan restaurant in Dallas—so far—and it has never failed when it comes to incredible northern Mexican dishes like gamey goat birria de chivo, luscious cabeza (a mix of beef cheek and tongue) and barbacoa roja estilo Sinaloa, which has pork and beef in every exquisite bite. True to the state of origin, order your tacos in handmade flour tortillas. But if you insist, at least request the handmade corn tortillas. Continue reading →

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by | April 23, 2013 · 8:33 am

The First North Texas Taco Festival (Photos)

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Wow. Wow again. You made the first North Texas Taco Festival a success beyond our wildest expectations. Thank you, and thank you for the feedback on our inaugural taco celebration. A special thanks to the vendors, special guests and all who made the NTTF a fantastic event. The producing team promises to make the second annual NTTF even better, with more vendors and shorter lines. Before then, though, take a look-see at some photos from Taco Trail’s design honcho, Alex Flores.

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by | October 4, 2012 · 7:53 am

The North Texas Taco Festival Is Coming to Dallas

Happy National Taco Day. Great news: Dallas is finally getting a proper taco festival. The North Texas Taco Festival will be a celebration of our area’s taco diversity held in conjunction with the Deep Ellum Outdoor Market and presented by the Taco Trail and Entrée Dallas.

The event will host more than 10 taquerías, restaurants and food trucks, serving some of Dallas-Fort Worth’s favorite tacos. Among the vendors offering classic and unique tacos will be Cafeteria y Loncheria El Padrino, Rusty Taco, Rock and Roll Tacos and So-Cal Tacos. Those curious about Filipino tacos will amble into Zen Bistro & Dessert Bar.

During an Iron Chef-style competition, Dallas chefs, including Brian C. Luscher (The Grape Restaurant), will go tortilla to tortilla for the honor of best taco, as judged by a panel of local writers and discerning taco enthusiasts.

And that’s only the beginning. More exciting announcements will be made leading up to the festival.

The North Texas Taco Festival will be held Saturday, April 20, 2013, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., on the 2800 block of Main Street between Malcolm X Boulevard and Crowdus Street, alongside the Deep Ellum Outdoor Market and its 40 vendors.

For questions and sponsorship or vendor inquiries, please contact José Ralat-Maldonado at 917-854-2917 or ralatMaldonado AT Gmail dot Com or Brandon Castillo at 972-898-9227 or Brandon AT DeepEllumMarket dot com. Visit www.northtexastacofestival.com for up-to-date information.

Now, go eat some tacos.

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