So yeah.... we went to Taco Fest. You wouldn't know it by the lack of acknowledgement, buuuuutt yes. We made it. And it was glorious. Nothing but tacos, beer, and tequila everywhere. Pretty much a taco lover's dream. And while this may be a bit on the late side, I did take plenty of notes and wanted to get a few shout outs to some of the tasty finds that were on hand.
A couple of quick comments about the festival itself. I didn't make it last year, but according to just about everyone else who went, 2017's version was a total cluster. Long lines and vendors running out of food were just a couple of the most mentioned issues. This year was moved to Lawrence Dumont stadium, which provided a ton of room. All the vendors were told to bring enough food and from what we could tell, no one had to close up shop due to running out. So kudos to WTF (ha!) for their improvements there. It'll be interesting to see where they end up next year, with the alleged demo of LD Stadium. The only thing I might recommend if it's in a similar type setting next year is more shade and more misters. We lucked out with the weather this year, but that's not likely if it stays in June.
So on to tacos! First, let me say that we never got a full plate anywhere. We were on a "try as many DIFFERENT tacos as we possibly could" type of mission, so we only got one taco at each place. When it was all said and done, I had sampled a solid dozen tacos. Plus, there's an acknowledgement from me that slinging tacos out in the 90 degree heat, as fast as possible, away from your normal digs isn't exactly an ideal setting. (in that regard the food trucks on hand had a mental edge over the restaurants) So with these two things in mind, I'm just going to give a few shout outs to some of the tasty finds and let the rest be. I ain't got time to write something about 12 tacos. LOL
So let's start with the Taco Fest winners: Hot 2 Trot had one of the more unique tacos there and won the title of Co-Champion (Taco Fest's judges, not my opinion) with their hot dog taco. Travis said he had it the year before and wasn't interested in trying it again. I gave it a go though and thought it was... interesting? Different? The slaw on top was pretty decent, but the taco I had only had a few slivers of hot dog. No one else was in line when I went, so take that for what it's worth. But my guess is, these guys probably serve up a pretty decent dog. The other Co-Champ was Tacos Beto, which was serving up a pretty tasty Al Pastor. All the tacos were a dollar each, which made for some skimpy tacos on occasion. But Beto handed out a nice tasty Al Pastor, with plenty of meat for a buck. We'll need to find them again for sure.
My personal favorite was the Asian taco from Kamayan Food Truck - pulled pork with lemongrass, jalapeno, and lime cabbage. Taste EXPLOSION! A nice mix of spicy and lime that was perfect together. Highly recommended. One of our other faves was the offering from Kolace's, which is the new kolace restaurant at 13th and Tyler - ground beef in a tasty baked dough that reminded me of a taco bierock. BTW, I've been there for their standard breakfast kolaces - do yourself a favor and go get some. We both also enjoyed Mamacita's Golden Taquitos - rolled fried pork taquito with sour cream and green salsa. Yum! And of course we both hit up some of our personal faves from El Dorado Al Carbon and Pollo Express. Still two of the best taco joints in town.
So there you have it. I'm already looking forward to next year's Taco Fest! Tell us if you have any other tasty taco recommendations that you found!
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