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 is starting a new weekly taco lunch excursion – Taco Turrsdays! make sure you are our fan on facebook then be on the lookout for invites to meet us around town for some Thursday taco tastings..

for the inaugural run, we hit up the trailer scene on south congress near stassney.. site of the recent taco trailer murder..

First up was Chilango’s.. we had been here before and this visit was on par with last time .. the al pastor taco ($1.75) was good – flavorful and meaty, and the carne guisada was decent – the flavor was a little bland but he meat was tender – no dryness.. stay away from the fajita beef!.. no bueno. Chappy had a $1 cup of mexican coffee that was surprisingly good with a nice cinnamon flavor.

Next up was Tacos Linda, which was only 50ft. away and the site of the aforementioned murder.. the trailer was the same (it still had the ” La Surena” sign written on the side), but it was under new ownership. When asked, the owner said they weren’t really bothered by what had happened .. fair enough.. besides, it all makes sense to me now – their tacos really are to die for.. (too soon? sorry  :-/ )

Tacos Linda served up $1.75 tacos on handmade tortillas.. they were the highlight of our Turrstay.. as was the al pastor that edged out Chilango’s on flavor..
the owner and cook were friendly and attentive.. they even made us some free tacos before we left.. some tacos Campechanos – bistek and chorizo mixed and served on a freshly-made corn tortilla.. they were awesome! .. they serve their salsas wrapped in little sandwich baggies.. funny. We heard that the weekends are the best time to go to Tacos Linda because they have special goat barbacoa and fresh tamales.. The assortment of tortas on the menu also looked promising.. We will definitely have to return for a followup..

Lastly, we decided to swing by Antojito’s Mexicanos on south first near Clifford Dr. ..  Cabeza went for the Chicharron taco.. total fail.. I tried the al pastor.. moderate fail.. shoulda quit while we were ahead.
til next Tursday!!

Murder Scene: La Sureña Taco Trailer (credit AAS)

Austin Police are still searching for the gunman who shot and killed a 43 year-old employee Sunday afternoon at the La Sureña Taco Trailer (translation: “The Southern”) on South Congress near Stassney. {google street view}.

Hispanic male in his mid-20s to early 30s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, with a thin build, wearing a yellow shirt under a dark jacket and dark baseball cap, walked up to the taco stand about 3 p.m. and shot the man working inside, police said. The employee was pronounced dead at the scene. statesman article >

TacoTown has never tried La Sureña, but it’s about 100 feet away from Chilango’s, which is easily one of the best taco trailers in Austin.  We assume its a newer operation, cuz it seems to be in the same spot that used to be Taqueria “Angel”…

The suspect is still “on the runs“, and motive for the shooting is still unclear, though we highly suspect the chorizo.

WELL……on 2nd thought:  While TacoTown has never claimed to be a “classy” outfit, we DO apologize for the light-hearted comments on this subject.  Our hearts REALLY DO go out to the family of the victim and to all other mobile vendors in Austin.  Stay safe you guys.

-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

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 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.

Blackened Chicken and Cream Cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla, then deep fried and covered with queso

I recently had the pleasure of making it back to my hometown of Orlando, FL for the July 4th weekend and was able to hit up an old school Mexican joint that we used to frequent in high school. The place is called PR’s Taco Palace and it definitely was, and still is, a nice little hole in the wall restaurant. All the original wood and smells therein still remain embedded.

Now PR’s as far as I can recall, was always thought of for its “train track tequila” deals. To explain… PR’s was built about 50 feet from the tracks that run through Winter Park. Back in the day when the train used to come screeching by, they would come around with a cart of tequila shots for FREE. Of course it was, and still is, Jose Cuervo… which I refuse to touch any more, period. Except now, they’re not free any more, just discounted. So this time when the train came by while we were there, I just opted for Patron just to keep with the tradition of at least shooting some kind of agave booze.

As for the food at PR’s, not amazing, but traditionally tasty none the less. I always roll with their favored gut bomb called the “Fundido”. The Fundido is simply blackened chicken and cream cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla, then deep-fried and topped with queso. So as you can imagine this thing is amazing for the sole reason that it contains the words “cream cheese, queso, and fried”. I followed suit of my good buddy and only got the mini-Fundido as the regular sized one is something that would have created leftovers that woulda sat in my buddies car for the entire rest of the evening while we were at the bars. Not to mention I was with good friends that I hadn’t seen in a while and the dinner turned more into a tequila-thon than a food event.

I would write more about what everyone else at the table had but they didn’t speak to highly of their dishes so Im going to just tell you to get the damn Fundido and like it.

Bernout~

Amaya’s Taco Village is a mainstay of the i-35 taco scene.. Not much has changed in years… expect to find the place packed at lunch time.  The highlight of the (otherwise lackluster) menu are the Village Tacos.. Served in thick yellow corn fried shells that are a combination of chewy, crunchy, and greasy..   with processed yellow cheese, lettuce and tomato.. then your choice of ground beef, shredded chicken, or beef fajita.  Though you can get as many as 3 tacos to a plate, with rice and beans, 2 is more than enough to keep your belly full for the rest of the day.

For me, its the combination of the greasy, chewy shell  and the half-melted yellow cheese that make these tacos taste so damn good.. sometimes you just have wipe that  ’south austin – holier than thou – organic – whole food ‘ look off your face and enjoy the beauty of processed cheese… at least i do.  The ground beef is ok, but i would reccommend the fajita beef at a small extra charge.. it adds to the amazing texture of these tacos.. Amaya’s tacos have a weight/mass to them that is unrivaled.. a true gut-bomb if there ever was one.

Amaya’s Taco Village
www.amayastacovillage.com
5405 N Ih 35
Austin, TX 78723-2429
(512) 458-2531
Get directions

Al Pastor taco $0.99

I found this GREAT little taco stand just a couple minutes South-East of Austin, off Hwy 183 and DG Collins Rd.  I was the only gringo there, and the girl inside spoke ZERO engles…which is always a good sign in my book.

Chorizo/egg taco (.99) was and great, especially with the chunky, vinagery house salsa piled on top..reminded me of Maria’s w/ the chimichurri (though not quite THAT good).

Bomb Taco Alert: the Al Pastor Taco (.99), was more like a BBQ pulled pork smothered in red sauce – but it was AMAZING…highly recommended.

Las Flores – try to remember that name – and go there next time you head out near the airport or traveling towards Lockhart – its right off 183 about 5 min south of hwy 71…It may be a little off the beaten path, but there’s also a Pollo Regio stand across the street- if you feel like u wanna double up.

will post more pics later.

-cabeza

So, I just tried the brisket tacos for lunch today at the Vaquero Cocina – one of the the new trailers on South Congress- and part of the recent food truck explosion in Austin…

Brisket Taco $5.25

I gotta admit – the Mighty Cone was calling my name from only 50ft away.  But alas, i stuck to my taco exploring guns, stepped up to the Airstream counter, ordered a cold Topo Chico and TWO brisket tacos – the lone taco on the menu (also serving assorted smoked meats, corn, sweet potato fries and mexican drinks).

My meal total was about $12…not exactly cheap eats, but at least they’re big tacos.

Each Brisket taco starts with a big, fresh homemade flour tortilla, a generous pile of hot, lean and moist beef brisket (smoked on site), some cabbage slaw, a mild red salsa, and finished with a sprinkling of cojito cheese.

Oddly enough, the cheese and mild salsa combo reminded me of Italian marinara & parmesan at first – with no spice to speak of…

SO I immediately reached for Vaquero’s small selection of bottled sauces to add a kick …They had some Louisiana Hot Sauce, some Valentina, and my pick – Tex-Mex Rapper Chingo Bling’s Habanero salsa:

just a couple drops por la spicy pop, on my taco chop…i did the pop n lock, then i killed a cop…sheeet…Chingo got me rhymin’ bout taco timin.  just a lil clowin bout taco townin….

anyways…

Let’s get one thing straight: the real star here was the brisket – cooked beautifully – with plenty of pit smoke flavor and not dry at all…the beef really carried this one…moisty, hearty, tasty.

Still, this taco was one topping short from being truly outstanding – maybe a spicy cream sauce or a tangy green salsa would’ve kicked it over the top.

And, not to keep doggin on it, but the red sauce was so watery – it destroyed the tortilla and dripped all over the place…bummer.

All that said – this is a GOOD taco – at least worthy of a try…but not great (for GREAT, see Matt’s El Rancho – Pecan Smoked brisket tacos -da bomb).

cabeza