specialty tacos | The Taco Trail

Tag Archives: specialty tacos

by Taco Trail Jose | August 30, 2012 · 1:23 pm

Is Cowboy Chow’s Transformation Into a Taco Concept Too Late?

Photo: Tacos & Avocados/Facebook

By now you’ve probably read that Jason Boso of Twisted Root fame is closing the last of his Cowboy Chow restaurants. Whereas the Dallas location closed in May 2011 and was replaced by Buzzbrews, the second Cowboy Chow, this one in Roanoke, will become Tacos & Avocados, Bosso’s new fast-casual specialty taquería concept.

Menu selections listed in the press release, including a rib-eye steak taco with bacon-onion marmalade, blue cheese crumbles and potato straws as well as a mango-chile pepper paleta and daily fish taco specials, seem appetizing enough, but what separates Boso’s steak taco from any other gussied-up beef option? Continue reading →

My Five Favorite “Specialty” Tacos

I lump specialty and traditional tacos in my Best Of lists because the pesky issue of taco authenticity is something I overcame long ago. The breakfast taco (a Tex-Mex classic) is no less legitimate than a taco al pastor (an iconic Mexico City snack appropriated from the roasting preparation Lebanese immigrants brought with them in the 20th century). The same goes for Velvet Taco’s fare or the Taco Bell-Frito Lay chimera, the Doritos Locos Tacos.

Today, I temporarily separate the categories. The specialty/gourmet/gringo/upmarket/whatever you want to call the tacos that do not adhere strictly to a misplaced perception of the uber-traditional deserve as much praise and scrutiny as the liquid fire of the guisado verde from La Nueva Fresh & Hot or the crackerjack carnitas from El Pueblo Restaurant on Jefferson Avenue. This list, then, gives greater attention to tacos and restaurants who have earned it. And now—with old favorites and double-takes—in no particular order: Continue reading →