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More taco talk, this time with mezcal.

Because I can’t stop when it comes to tacos, later this month I’m involved in a panel that will discuss the history and future of tacos in Dallas. The panel will be moderated by Lesley Téllez, award-wining food writer, former Dallasite, and author of Eat Mexico: Recipes From Mexico City’s Streets, Markets and Fondas. Tickets are on sale now and include all-you-can-eat tacos. More information is below.

From the cash-only hole-in-the-wall joint to the fancy taqueria, Dallas is obsessed with tacos. But how did they get here? How have they gone from crunchy shell to gourmet fillings? And why? What’s next for the street snack? The panel discussion Dallas Tacography: The Tortilla’s Tale in Big D at El Come Taco on Tuesday, July 14, will tackle those questions and more. With all-you-can-eat tacos.

Moderating Dallas Tacography will be Lesley Téllez, award-winning food writer and former Dallasite, and author of the new cookbook Eat Mexico: Recipes From Mexico City’s Streets, Markets and Fondas, released in June by Kyle Books. The book is a culinary love letter to one of the biggest cities in the world, with more than 100 recipes and beautiful on-location photography.

Joining Lesley in talking Dallas tacos will be a lineup of top-notch area food writers, restaurateurs and bloggers: Continue reading →

From 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 →

Taco locator smartphone applications aren’t new. I have yet to find one that works. TacoQuest might be that one. The new app by Kitchener, Ontario-based DinDin Kitchen Inc., allows taco enthusiasts worldwide contribute their local tacos and taco joints with the TacoQuest community. Taco photos, comments, check-ins and reviews are submitted by users around the globe with Foursqure-powered venue data. Think of it like a cross between Untappd and Foursqure, but, better—obviously.

“Tacos can be good and tacos can be great. With TacoQuest, we’re building a platform to help customers find the most amazing taco experience possible,” says Alex Kinsella, DinDin Kitchen Inc., co-founder, “With TacoQuest, we’re building out a micro-search platform that our community can extend in an infinite number of ways.”

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My family and I found ourselves in one of the oversized, church-comfortable booths at the Cheesecake Factory in the Parks at Arlington shopping mall. It was a choice convenient for my son’s great-grandmother, who was due to be picked up by her son at the adjacent Barnes & Noble after lunch, and aren’t eateries like the Cheesecake Factory about convenience? They’re also about intimidation.

With a menu including more than 200 selections the size of an overgrown First Holy Communion Missal and specialties running the gamut of culinary traditions, I was a bit taken aback by my options. Most menus I order from list less than 20 items. Rarely to they exceed two pages. So, I honed in on something familiar: Tacos. I went with the fish.

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I spend a lot of time among chipped Formica, cracked tile and sticky counters. And do so happily. The joy I find in tacos is the sense of amazement 1977 audiences experienced when the star destroyer filled the screen in the opening scene of Star Wars. There are a lot of woahs, holy cows and what the hells. Whether my time at a taqueria is positive or punishing, though, I always learn something.

During a recent outing to Maple Avenue, I stepped into El Rey Del Grill, a restaurant reeking of cumin and floor cleaner, serving tacos not much more palatable than the mop used to with said floor cleaner.

With only four options on the menu, which included quesadillas, burritos and a carne asada platter, I had my work cut out for me. Continue reading →