The Mother Hips from SXSW 2009

Local Natives
up n comers – catchy songs and amazing singers.
2pm • The Parish (NPR) Listen Live on KUT

Fader Fort – Thursday Lineup Highlights
3:45 Neon indian
4:30 Local Natives
5:15 Bomba Estereo
6:45 the Morning Benders
7:30 Fucked Up

Dam Funk
3:30pm • Carniville Party

The Mother Hips!
5pm • Kayceman Treehouse Party @ Cheers – FREE!
11pm • Encore patio (official sxsw)
the Fathers of Califonia Soul are back in Austin – DON’T MISS THEM

Lissie
8pm • The Parish (official sxsw)
great vocals – great songs and a magnetic presence

Mountain Man (check out my interview w/ them)
9pm • Buffalo Billiards (official sxsw)
trio of girl singers from vermont – spooky and beautiful folk hymns

The Low Anthem
10pm • Palm Door (official sxsw)
Don’t call it Americana – great songs, rootsy, real, raw vocals

jj
10pm • Mohawk Patio (sxsw)
Mysterious electro pop from Sweden w/ sexy female vocals

Holy Fuck
11pm • Mohawk Patio (sxsw)
Amazing instrumental band from Toronto. Thom Yorke digs it.

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

Cable TV’s #1 douchebag Guy Fieri tears himself away from TGI Fridays long enough to check out Maria’s Taco Xpress on South Lamar.  Good to see Maria behind the counter and “cougar-like” as ever…Also, nice to get a peek at her making that amazing Chimichurri Sauce…mmm…enjoy the vid:

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

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}

Despite its legendary status as a benchmark in fine interior Mexican cuisine, Austin American Stateman food critic Mike Sutter was clearly NOT impressed with his recent visit.  He is certainly was aware of over 3 decades of untarnished praise bestowed upon FSM by food writers, much of it from the Stateman itself…but just maybe things have slipped with the newest head chef Alma Alcocer-Thomas.

We weren’t prepared for the room-temperature preparation of the relleno (neither the menu nor the waiter mentioned it). I was disappointed by the chopped tuna filling, which reminded me of canned fish. Even with olives and capers, two Anaheim peppers and a side of heirloom beans, the dish was a washout of soft textures and even softer flavors.

Sutter goes onto to DISS the award winning interior design art collection as “tacky and carnivalesque” and their famous Sunday brunch as “like eating in a storage room”…And don’t get him started on the Angels on Horseback, “a trainwreck of stiff textures and a sour-sea aroma…”

Of course, its not ALL BAD – he does say like 2 nice things, but i think its just to be diplomatic…read for yourself

OK – I will admit that my last visit for Sunday Brunch was not quite as amazing as previous euphoric experiences…and with great new spots like Garrido’s and La Condesa popping up to challenge the throne of Interior Mex – I’d say Fonda better keep their game tight – but that’s as far as i would go – Fonda is still the king to me…until further notice.

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 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?? )

Read the rest of this entry »

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

> NEW South Austin music venue/taco shop opens this Saturday | Its called Villa’s Music Garden – just north of Hill’s Cafe on S. Congress.  Shout out to our boy Shawn Nelson, who’s on this inaugural bill | event page

> Houston Taco Truck Tour by Camera Phone

> Austin Bloggers take the Houston Taco Tour 2009
Long Point Drive is Houston’s version of South 1st Street. taco Mecca.

> “Show Me Your Taco” is going to Iowa July 6th for a Taco Tour good luck Nelson, but if Davenport is any indication – Iowa tacos pretty much blow cabritos.  Sorry, el Boz.

> Stop Laughing at THIS retarded preacher, or you’re going to Hell