TacoTown had an absolute BLAST at the BACON TAKEDOWN this past Sunday at Emo’s during the 2010 SXSW Interactive conference.

The 22 Bacon-centered entries ranged from ridiculously meaty – Frank Mancuso of Saint Arnold & his Bacon Explosion - to the sinfully sweet – Laura Finger’s Bacon Cups filled with peanut butter chocolate pudding, topped with banana & maple glaze). Not to mention Bacon Booze! Lucky 13 Mixology served up killer Bacon Bloody Mary’s…and it would be an Austin takedown with out some tacos! Absolutely NOT. That’s where we come in…So, what did we make??

Crack taco - Our Winning Entry (credit Nelson Flores onthe last one)

Crack Tacos!
Maple blueberry glazed bacon inside a fresh flour tortilla (made w/ bacon fat),
topped with blueberry-habanero hot sauce – ftw.

And to top it all off- We Won!
TACO TOWN took home 1st place in the Judges category and 2nd place in the people’s choice!

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BIG BIG ShatOut to: Arnold Perez- our partner in crime and official chef of Purple Bee Crew. Arnold was the ever-smiling brown fellow rolling out over 250 fresh tortillas LIVE on-site for the hungry carnivores! We couldn’t have done this without him…really…

Big ShatOut to: Takedown honcho Matt Timms – Let’s do a TACO takedown next year, Matt!!

Big ShatOut to: The esteemed judges- Local food-blog-queen Addie Broyles and Bon Appetit Magazine’s Emily Fleischaker.

Big ShatOut to: Nelson Flores of show me your taco for sharing that last bacon photo with us.. check out his great taco blog

Big ShatOut to: our old pal Hilah Johnson’s and her Caballero Candy: a Chocolate bacon Fantasy – which narrowly beat TacoTown for the People’s Choice 1st place – also be sure to check out Hilah’s badass online cooking show.

Here’s The Official Results:

Judge’s Choice
#1 Tacotown.org – Crack Bacon Tacos
#2 Vanessa & Lisa Blackwell – Bourbon Bacon Pecan Pie
#3 Amanda Joyner – Bacon Jam

People’s Choice:
#1 Hilah Johnson – Bacon Chocolate
#2 Tacotown.org – Crack Bacon Tacos
#3 Josh White - Avocado Bacon Salad on Toast

more coverage:
Takedown Website
Addie Broyles Coverage for Austin360
Hilah’s Awesome Video of the event

TacoTown.org is an official contestant in the 2010 Bacon Takedown – March 14th at Emo’s..  We will be attempting to blow your mind with a secret swine-themed taco.  Bring Lipitor.. and $10 to taste and vote on all the entries.

Taco Town is getting pumped up about tonight’s National Championship football game featuring our Texas Longhorns vs. The Alabama Crimson Tide.  I know Holy Taco has their mind on other aspects of the game, but we just had to chime in, considering the major taco-related developments concerning 2 Alabama players.  Burnt Orange Nation sums it up for us:

Update on Rolando McClain’s and Rod Woodson’s stomach viruses, which apparently came from bad tacos (which of course is an oxymoron, as there is no such thing as a bad taco, only tacos that make you more sick than other tacos). They will both play tomorrow, but both have been held out of practice and may have some trouble with stamina and cramping in the game as they struggle the rehydrate.

and blogger EDSBS smells a conspiracy:

Now: what do Texans pride themselves on? Besides the wanton use of firearms, Vince Young, titties, and the innate supremacy of their good-but-let’s-not-go-overboard-you-hipster-shitbags music scene?* That’s right: Mexican food. Go anywhere and Texans will whinge and bemoan the current unacceptable state of their taco, sometimes even doing this while standing in the middle of a restaurant in Oaxaca, because “Mexican food in Texas is better than Mexican food made in Mexico!”

Can’t really argue with that logic, but hold on – there’s other suspects in this crime: who could defend the state of California and their baja chipotle fish tacos garbage?…Fish and shrimp will always be the most dangerous tacos – and we have plenty of soiled undergarments to prove that/ plus SoCal’s own Poison made a comeback, and lots of people are throwing up from that, so…I’d say the jury’s still out.

Bottom Line here – Tacos are good – bad tacos are better because they destroy the bowels of your enemy.  You call it food poisoning – We’ll call it Destiny! Hook em Horns!!

-cabeza

palindrome

Our buddy Phil gets the ultimate tacotown stamp of approval™ for his costume at Phish’s Festival 8…TACOCAT!!

here’s the original, in case you live in a cave.

cabeza

TacoTown has contributed a silent auction basket of taco-goodness for this Friday’s ‘Hill Country Nights’ event benefiting the Hill Country Conservancy.

Hill Country Conservancy is a nonprofit land trust committed to preserving the natural beauty and open spaces of the Texas Hill Country – forever.

Our basket includes contributions from:

• Republic Tequila – thanks Tom & Ken for the signed bottle & T-shirt!
• Rio Grande – gift cards, margarita glasses, sports bottles, lime sunscreen
• Cabo Bob’s – free taco cards!
• also, we included a jar of the award winning Chappy’s green salsa & some stickers.

Hill Country Conservancy’s 3rd Annual Hill Country Nights
Friday, Oct 30, 7:00pm | An evening of dinner and dancing | entertainment by Marcia Ball {More Info}

Austin’s most popular gringo taco trailer & mobile food pioneers TORCHY’S TACOS turns 3 years old this week. To celebrate, they’re throwing a Birthday Party this Thursday evening at their non-mobile location on the corner of South 1st & El Paso.  FREE KEG BEER will be served from 7-10pm along with fiddle music from teenage prodigy Ruby Jane Smith.

Don’t forget about movie nights up the road at Torchy’s South Austin Trailer Park (1311 s. First). Tonight’s feature film is GroundHog Day

-cabeza

We entered the fest for our 4th year in a row.. put in 2 salsas – The Chappy’s green tomatillo sauce and an expirimental Peach/Habanero/Red Pepper salsa for the Special Variety class… no prize this year, but we had a blast anyway.. The music was good, the lines were manageable, the beer was cold..and the salsas were a-plenty.. I kinda wish they would have the fest late-afternoon into the evening so that the heat would be more managable.. something tells me eating hot sauce in the mid-day sun could lead to cardiac arrest.

Fest judging results after the jump..
(Pace got 3rd place for People’s Choice Red Sauce? WTF?? )

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We have been to the Rio numerous times in the past.. The atmosphere and drinks – always good.. but the food- usually hit and miss.. Well, with the help of new management and an exciting new menu, it looks like they’ve stepped up their game and are ready to challenge the other downtown metro-mexuals like Garrido’s, La Condesa, Maria Maria, Manuels.  In addition to a variety of tasty margaritas, the food blogging elite in attendance were treated to samples of Mahi Mahi tacos, Steak tacos, Grilled 9-pepper Shrimp, and fresh-made guacamole.. Everything we tasted was outstandingly fresh and prepared with an attention to detail and flavor that truly impressed us.  Props to the new management at Rio Grande.. we will be back for a full meal soon.

We are proud to announce that along with HearYa.com, Quinnstorm.com, and Tom Schraeder, Taco Town presents to you – Austin Stimulus Package 2009 Wednesday March 18th from 11am-2am at Paradise cafe’s new upstairs music venue.. (think: a smaller Parish).. A full 15hrs of live music, booze, giveaways, and more (sxsw is all about surprises).. We will be on hand with handouts! Sample jars of our signature green salsa, stickers, free hugs and $2 wet willys..

More Info can be found at HearYa.com and AustinStimulus.com [RSVP HERE]

note: we actually had some very ambitious plans to give out free tacos at this party from some of Austin’s finest taco purveyors, but the plan crashed and burned when we got word that it was not ok to give out free food when a restaurant is trying to stay open for lunch.. who knew? whale..we are happy to be involved with this cool event in any form.. and theres always next year.. so lookout for the 2010 World Taco Forum, where sxsw taco dreams are realized.

Thanks to all who came out and supported Joby’s Hot Sauce Fest. Taco Town took home the first place price for a the third year in a row! Chappy’s green sauce didnt win this year, it was the dark horse, dboz’s pineapple-habanero concoction that won over the crowd in a field of over 20 entries.

His sauce was a fresh, all organic mix of pineapple, guava, lime, cilantro, habanero peppers, and one item that will remain his secret. All adding up to a tropical fiesta for the mouth that earned him 1 year of glory.

the winners:

• 1st Place – DBOZ
• 2nd Place – Joby’s mom
• 3rd Place – Kem Watts
• 4th Place – Angela Hodges

more pics after the jump..
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