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!

——————————

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?? )

Restaurant Category

Red Sauce

• 1st Place: Torchy’s Tacos
• 2nd Place: La Condesa
• 3rd Place: El Caribe

Green Sauce

• 1st Place: Los Lomas
• 2nd Place: El Sazon
• 3rd Place: Cuatro’s Restaurant

Special Variety

• 1st Place: Curra’s Grill
• 2nd Place: La Condesa
• 3rd Place: El Sazon

Individual Category

Red Sauce

• 1st Place: Twyla Wick
• 2nd Place: Michael Hutchinson
• 3rd Place: Robert Heady

Green Sauce

• 1st Place: Karen Kessel
• 2nd Place: Gary Peifer
• 3rd Place: Brett Appolito

Special Variety

• 1st Place: Burt Friedman
• 2nd Place: Jim Hoppers
• 3rd Place: Carol Castillo

Commercial Bottlers People’s Choice

Red Sauce

• 1st Place: Kala’s Kuisine – Curry Chipotle Sauce
• 2nd Place: Austin Slow Burn – Salsa Con Habanero
• 3rd Place: Pace – Pico de Gallo

Green Sauce

• 1st Place: Kala’s Kuisine – Mirchi Masala Salsa
• 2nd Place: Big Dawg’s Fire Rescue Jalapeno Hot Sauce
• 3rd Place: Tears of Joy 6th Street Green

Special Variety

• 1st Place: Tears of Joy – Tequila Lime Hot Sauce
• 2nd Place: Pepper Creek Farm – Island Flame
• 3rd Place: Kala’s Kuisine – Mango Chutney

Pepper Sauce

• 1st Place: Big Daddy’s Ass Burn Hot Sauce
• 2nd Place: Sgt. Pepper’s Tropical Tears Mango Hot Sauce
• 3rd Place: Big Dawg’s DNR

Commercial Bottlers – Judged by Celebrity Judges

Red Sauce

• 1st Place: Don’t Panic Hispanic
• 2nd Place: Tears of Joy 6th Red Salsa
• 3rd Place: Kala’s Kuisine Curry Chipotle Salsa

Green Sauce

• 1st Place: Tears of Joy 6th St. Green Sauce
• 2nd Place: Austin Slow Burn Salsa Verde
• 3rd Place: Kala’s Kuisine Mirchi Masala Salsa

Special Variety

• 1st Place: Aztexan Habenero Supreme
• 2nd Place: Tears of Joy August in Austin Hot Sauce
• 3rd Place: Austin Slow Burn Jerk Marinade

Pepper Sauce

• 1st Place: Aztexan Habenero Supreme
• 2nd Place: Tears of Joy August in Austin Hot Sauce
• 3rd Place: Austin Slow Burn Jerk Marinade

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..

Sunday November 11th, 2008 • 2pm
Grego’s Place • Lockhart, TX (map)

This Sunday Afternoon, The Bozarth’s own Chappy’s Green Sauce will go for the three-peat, and there’s sure to be more challengers than ever.  There’ll be some acoustic tunes, grilled meat, and other shenanigans.  Feel free to bring the kiddos and friendly animals.  taco Town encourages everyone to get into the action, create you own salsa, pico, relish, compote, drizzle, etc…make it hot, make it mild, make Neil mad.  Just be there, gringos.

Official Rules: Register between 1pm and 3pm.  Bring at least 1 pint of sauce.  No meat or cheese in the sauces please. You must be present to win.  Secret ballots will be cast by all attendees.  Prizes will be awarded to the top three vote-getters.  Winners will be announced at 5:30pm

- cabeza/

We just blew our savings account (AKA: poker-earnings) on a sick HD Video Projector setup – just in time for the Texas/OU Game this Saturday.  Ah yes- the storied Red River Rivalry – damn near the only thing that can get us outta bed before 11am on a Saturday.  BigUps to Burnt Orange Nation for getting us mentally prepared: here’s some Taco-friendly tips for the game:

traveling to Dallas for the game?
try a pit-stop for beer & tacos at FUEL CITY: their picadillo taco is Numero Uno on Texas Monthly’s list

Where to watch the game in Austin:
CUATRO’S: A great West-Campus bar with excellent Aus-Mex tacos, plenty of plasma’s and those trademark Texas coeds.  Should be rowdy as hell in there.

or if you’re playing at home…

What to Drink:
“OU SUCKS” BEER
the limited edition ale brewed by Austin’s Independence Brewing Co.

What to Eat:
CHILE CON QUESO
Homesick Texan’s Recipe | Bob Armstrong Dip (made famous by Matt’s El Rancho)

How to watch:
Time: 11am Central
TV: ABC (HD: Channel 1511 for TWC-Austin)
Radio: 98.1FM KVET | Listen LiVE
Stats: Gametracker

We braved the heat and made a respectible showing at the 2008 Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival.. Taco Town entered 4 salsas in all.. unfortunately, none of them were able to take home trophies.. but by the end we were too blasted to care.. this was the biggest year ever for the event, with over 600 entries.. basically doubling the last years numbers..

we topped the evening off with a stroll down to Stubb’s for the sold out My Morning Jacket concert, which was f-ing amazing!

winners results after the jump..

Restaurant Category

1st Place: Sazon
2nd Place: Café Serrano’s
3rd Place: Torchy’s Tacos

1st Place: Cuatro’s
2nd Place: Torchy’s Tacos
3rd Place: The Smokin’ Rose of Texas

1st Place: Curra’s
2nd Place: Iguana Grill
3rd Place: Café Serranos

Individual Category

1st Place: Thomas Frist
2nd Place: Kimberly Johnson
3rd Place: John Cunningham

1st Place: Magda Alanis
2nd Place: John Unger
3rd Place: Karen Kessel

1st Place: Jill Lewis
2nd Place: Mattie & Russell Lewis
3rd Place: Robert Mayberry

Commercial Bottler’s People’s Choice

1st Place: Two Hot Mamas Creamy Chipotle
2nd Place: Koki’s Green Garlic Salsa
3rd Place: Two Hot Mamas Salsa Roja

1st Place: Two Hot Mamas Roasted Almond Chimichurri
2nd Place: Two Hot Mamas Chile Verde
3rd Place: Tie: Austin Slow Burn Salsa Verde; Tears of Joy 6th Street Green

1st Place: Koki’s Green Garlic Dip
2nd Place: Two Hot Mamas Creamy Cilantro Salsa Dip
3rd Place: Tears of Joy – Tequila Lime Hot Sauce

1st Place: Aztexan Habanero Supreme
2nd Place: Two Hot Mamas Amaretto Pepper Sauce
3rd Place: Tears of Joy – August in Austin

Commercial Bottler’s – judged by celebrity judges

1st Place: Fredericksburg Farms
2nd Place: Texas-Texas Salsa-Scream
3rd Place: Ana’s Salsa

1st Place: Tacodeli Salsa Verde
2nd Place: Austin Slow Burn Salsa Verde
3rd Place: Two Hot Mamas Chile Verde

1st Place: Tears of Joy – Tequila Lime Hot Sauce
2nd Place: Pepper Creek Farm – Island Flame
3rd Place: Sgt. Pepper’s Roasted Jalapeno Pesto

1st Place: Tacodeli
2nd Place: Tears of Joy – August in Austin
3rd Place: Austin Slow Burn Habanero Jelly w/ Rosemary

source: the austin chronicle

• The Chronicle’s Hot Sauce Festival is this Sunday August 24

Its that time of year again.  The music is better (Heathens, Black Joe Lewis, etc), the judges are qualified (Robb Walsh, Tyson Cole) and the food vendors are tasty (Curra’s, Oaxacan Tamaleo, etc) For those wanting to compete – The rules have changed a bit- possibly because of the pepper scare (see below) – basically, you must have your salsa made in a commerical kitchen if you want the public to have a taste- but its NOT mandatory for the judging portion…that should cut the lines down considerably for the tasting tents.  It should be HOT too, so come prepared/ <More info> <Louis Black’s Diatribe>

• Be Careful…

…where you buy those fresh jalapeno’s for your salsa making projects this weekend- Mexican-grown peppers are the likely cause of the latest salmonella outbreak- and many smaller stores & restaurants are still serving them, according to reports…Cabeza has been eating copious amount of mexican peppers in order to build an immunity… <USA TODAY: Mexican peppers posing salmonella risk still being sold>

• Over-Hyped but Under-Sold?

Our doppelgangers at Taco Journalism recently did a piece on Austin’s most over-hyped tacos.  While I applaud their excellent use of “no mames” (and am aware of the very real dangers of hipster hype), I should also point out that “over-hyped” doesn’t necessarily mean bad food.  Notorious hipster havens  Torchy’s & El Chilito actually DO have some of the best and most adventurous tacos in this town. AND I for one refuse to let hype, price, or hipsters OR Yuppies stand in my way of a good taco.  Alas, i’ve always scratched my head about taco shack’s breakfast taco (especially the chorizo= dogfood)…i guess its the safe, gringo gateway drug into the sleazier (and more rewarding) side of tacos.  yuppy-gringo hype….I DO like their crispy beef tacos, though.

-cabeza

fellow Austin taco bloggers and hot pepper enthusiasts from the Nuclear Tacos crew are throwing their annual SXSW party Monday March 10th, 6pm at Brush Square Park downtown…. this food aint for the meek..true taco explorers should prepare to shed tears of joy, sweat beads of blood, and deal with nuclear fallout that is sure to confuse your bowels in the hours following this event…[info]

[updated - 2008.02.22]
NEW! Here’s Holstein’s Flickr Pics of the event

Thanks to Joby for his hard work and big thanks to everyone who participated in this growing event…we hope to see more of you guys next year.

[updated - 2007.11.11]
THE RESULTS ARE IN!
Winner: Chappy’s Elbo Green Salsa
2nd Place: Meredith Oakes’ ASS PUCKER
3rd Place: Teresa’s fresh red salsa
4th Place: Grego Loboz “Polish Power”
5th Place: Dan’s Delicious Red

what: Joby’s 2nd Annual Hot Sauce Fest
when: Sunday Nov. 11 | 2pm
where: Mary Moore Searight Metro Park
location: 907 Slaughter Lane, ATX [map]

details: Chappy’s Green is the defending champ of this small but exciting gathering of salsa lovers. BYOB and meat for the grill. If you wanna compete: bring 1 quart of sauce in a tupperware container. The winners will receive prizes and be featured on this website. Here’s some of Joby’s notes:

Just to let everyone know, there will be NO entry fee charged this year. This event is free of charge for everyone. The contest will be located by the BBQ pits and covered tables in the back of the park. Just follow the road and it will lead right to the contest site. Feel free to bring chips or drinks. Food will be provided on a first come first serve basis. Taco Town OX will enforce security.

OK, I’m sure some folks are really excited about the Free Taco’s for America promotion during this year’s World Series…

In a truly bizzare twist of cultural irony- the gringo suits at Taco Bell Inc. thought it’d be awesome if they encouraged overpaid minorities to steal, then rewarded degenerate America with another slap-in-the-face to real-Mex-cuisine- a powdered beef shit-taco…talk about Soiling America’s Passtime.

So, what can you do to help? How bout donating the tacos in your name to the burned border-runners in San Diego? sounds like a plan. here’s a website that’ll help-

www.donateyourtaco.com

visit www.donateyourtaco.com today (10/30) before 5pm to donate your taco to the San Diego fire victims…Or be a no-class-butt-chump and treat your asshole like San Diego, compliments of the Smell today (10/30) between 2pm and 5pm.

Cabeza

Tacotown is preparing for a maniacal week, prowling to the depths of the SXSW madness. Lemme tell you how TocoTown rolls: we fly thru town on a magic blanket of coolness, following our sharp wits and keen nose to the elusive, bubbly springs of hipness, from which we proceed to sample the sweet nectar of coolness and bathe in the the never-ending fountain free beer and food. Good music, on the other hand, requires a working bullshit-filter and street smarts that only Austin veterans like Taco Town posess. come fly with us.

Noted Free Taco Parties:

• Nuclear Taco Night [Monday, 6PM, Brush Park]
• BBC America’s BritBus Tour [Friday, 12-2:30PM, Brush Park,North by North Tent]
• Muzak Party [Friday, 5-8PM, Brush Park, North by North Tent]
• The Current Party [Saturday, 11:30-1PM, Brush Park]

our good pal Joby is hosting his 1st annual hot sauce contest at Selma Hughes Park (MAP) on Sunday December 10th…. Tacotown is sponsoring the event and we’ll be there unleashing some of our sauces both old and new.. the park is right on Lake Austin, one of the best parks in the area, perfect for grillin and chillin with your homies.. There will be prizes for the winners, potato sack races, bongits, and a general anarchy and partying of the variety you should expect from a tacotown event..

• BYO everything..
• A FREE EVENT
• you might could pitch in if you eat some of the community tacos and drink our beer…
• 1 sauce entry per person, no meat or cheese in the sauce.. other than that – its open to your imagination
• judging will be conducted by all in attendance
• start time TBA
• Selma Hughes park info page

see you there! you can rsvp at these sites, so we know how much taco fixins to bring..

• Do512.com link
• Upcoming.org Link

Tacotown is very excited to be competing in the 2006 Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival – the largest hot sauce competition in the world! Vote for the tangy green serrano salsa they call “Chappy’s Elbo Green“. Mark your Calendars for next Sunday August 27th!

Musical Lineup:
NewBoy 11:00-11:30am
White Ghost Shivers Noon-1:00pm
Guy Forsyth 1:30-3:00pm
The Texas Sapphires 3:30-5:00pm

If You Wanna Beat the Heat this Summer Then You Gotta Eat the Heat: Join the Austin Chronicle for One of the World’s Largest Hot Sauce Festivals.

DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR TWO CANNED GOODS FOR THE CAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK OF TEXAS TO GAIN ADMITTANCE!!!

The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival, which began in 1990, has become the world’s largest, drawing as many as 15,000 spectators and more than 350 entries every year. This year the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival will take place on Sunday, August 27 at Waterloo Park in Austin, Texas.

In the sixteen years since its inception, what started out as a small contest with a few spectators has turned into one of Austin’s biggest and best-known annual parties. The event is a favorite among hot and spicy food lovers from all over the country. The Hot Sauce Festival serves as a major fundraiser for the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas. Last year’s Festival raised approximately $5,500 and over 17,500 lbs. of food in a six hour period.

The outstanding musical performances and culinary exhibitions are notable attractions, but the biggest draws are the salsas. More than one hundred gallons of hot sauce are consumed at the event every year. Area restaurants show off their hot and spicy foods at booths, and vendors from across the Southwest set up shop to sell hot and spicy cookbooks, fresh peppers, and chili pepper memorabilia.

The hot sauce contest has three levels of competition: individuals (homemade), restaurants, and commercial bottlers. This gives us a good chance to recognize salsas in a class by themselves. It also gives us a chance to consider salsas made fresh daily in restaurants apart from those made for grocery store shelves. The 2006 featured Hot Sauce Festival judges are some of the finest chefs in Texas!

To participate in the contest, download the entry form, fill it out, and check in at Waterloo Park between 10:30-11:30am on Sunday, Aug. 27, with two quarts of your best sauce. We’ll take it from there. Then join the rest of the crowd for plenty of salsa, great food, music, and the results.

For faster check-in the morning of the event, pre-register by sending the entry form & check or money order payable to The Austin Chronicle to: Hot Sauce Contest, Austin Chronicle, P.O. Box 49066, Austin, TX, 78765. Deadline for mail-in entry is Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2006.

If you any questions regarding the Hot Sauce Festival or participating in the event please contact Elizabeth Derczo.

Looking for a “hot” volunteer opportunity? Contact Jillian at hotsaucefest@yahoo.com.

Contact Erin Collier for all media inquiries.