Taco Journalism

San Juanita's

2009-07-06T09:39:00.008-05:00

San Juanita's

If you are not aware of San Juanita's on the Southeast corner of Stassney & S. Congress, let me be the first to introduce you to some of the best breakfast tacos in Austin. Located next to a used tire shop, San Juanita's always reminds me of one of my favorite hole-in-the-wall breakfast taco dealers, the Tamale House. They are a family-owned and run business that take their taco making seriously. Breakfast and lunch are served 7 days a week (they just started serving on Sundays!) from 6am - 2pm. Unlike Tamale House, and you wouldn't know if from the outside,they have plenty of indoor seating available and they take credit cards for orders over $5. Now, on to the tacos...

Machacado & Egg / Papas Rancheras

Unlike some Taquerias and Taco Trucks in Austin, San Jaunita's offers a lot of meat in their breakfast taco offerings, e.g. Carne Guisada & Egg, Machacado & Egg, and Fajita & Egg. I enjoy most of the options, the chorizo is outstanding, the machacado is a little intense/fatty for me, but the fajita is a real standout with grilled onions, peppers and jalapeños. They use store bought flour tortillas, but all of their ingredients taste really fresh. Even with all the delicious meat options these two tacos are what keep me coming back:

1. Papas Rancheras - OMG! This has got to be the best potato-based taco in Austin. Filled with chunky potatoes, jalapeños, melted cheese and a freakin' delicious ranchero sauce. It is by far my favorite breakfast taco in South Austin.

2. The Beans - OMFG! These are right up there with the best beans I have ever eaten. Smoky, bacon-y, tasty goodness. Do your self a kindness and get a bean and cheese taco at San Juanita's stat!

San Juanita's - 4 stars - jarod

5607 S Congress Ave

Austin, TX 78745

(512) 443-9308

Rio Grande

2009-07-02T16:03:00.004-05:00

Rio Grande - 3rd & San Jacinto

I would not say I'm a fan of the recent expensive taco explosion that is currently gripping our fair city. I think there are WAY too many wonderful, reasonably priced tacos in Austin to ever have to dine at one of these establishments, but when fate (a co-worker's birthday lunch) intervenes, dine we shall! Rio Grande sits on the corner of 3rd and San Jancinto in the location of the old 'Real World' house. We went in with low expectations so we were not disappointed!

Really Expensive/Small Taco Plate

The lunch menu was pretty basic, they offered up quesadillas, burritos, tacos, tostadas and fajita plates. All the entrees ranged from $8 - $15 and the plates where a decent size. The chips weren't stale but the salsa was most likely of the bottled variety. It had a certain Pace Picante feel to it, with a nice metallic aftertaste. Per our waiter's suggestion, I got the tenderloin tacos plate ($12.95). It consisted of three small tacos on store bought corn tortillas, topped with grilled onions, beef tenderloin strips, mozzarella cheese, and sliced avocado. It was fine, not great, just fine. I mean what the hell do you expect, they are serving freakin' filet mignon on tacos, they better be edible! So, for approximately $4 per taco (I'll say the rice & beans are worth $.95) you get to eat a really mediocre lunch and they let you leave the restaurant with a lot less cash in your pocket. Double win!

If you find yourself stranded in downtown Austin with a shitload of cash in your pocket and a need for bland tex-mex, Rio Grande should be at the top of your list.

Rio Grande - 1.5 stars - jarod

301 San Jacinto Blvd

Austin, TX 78701

(512) 476-8300

Mi Casita

2009-07-01T14:59:00.004-05:00

Mi Casita is a very unfancy restaurant that lives on a run down stretch of Airport Blvd. just south of 7th street. Jarod has noticed large crowds around the place on his way to work, so today we tried it out for lunch.

I had heard literally nothing about this joint, so I was excited to explore some virgin territory. It's location and modest appearance were both things that could bode well, so I was initially very disappointed to run into stale chips and some so-so salsa. I ordered a trio of tacos and hoped for the best.

I was very pleasantly surprised. My al pastor taco came on a light and flavorful homemade corn tortilla. The pastor had a great texture and was very well spiced. The hotter of the two table salsas was much better on the food than on the stale chips and along with the excellent meat and homemade corn tortilla made for a winning taco experience.

The fajita taco was even better. The store bought flour tortilla was carefully grilled, which is always a good way (short of making your own) to get the party started. The fajitas were fantastically tender and flavorful. Lots of grilled onions added a lovely extra hit of taste to an already excellent taco. This is one of the best fajita tacos I've had in town. It's right up there with the fajita tacos at Habanero.

My carne guisada was a disappointment. There was very little gravy involved, and more fatty chunks of meat than I like (and I'm far from picky in this regard).

Jarod and Mando were similarly stoked on their al pastor and fajita, but underwhelmed with the carne molida and barbacoa tacos they tried. We all shared a side order of rice and beans which were solid, but unremarkable.

Mi Casita does not get high marks across the board, but I think the fajita and al pastor tacos (at $1.75 each) are really something special. I recommend that you stop in and get one of each the next time you're nearby.

Mi Casita - 3 stars - Cornbiter Deluxe
817 Airport Blvd
Austin, TX 78702
(512) 389-2227

Taco Talk: What's your favorite breakfast taco? (TJ on KGSR Thursday morning show with TastyTouring)

2009-07-01T01:41:00.007-05:00

Jodi, foodie extraordinaire & blogger at TastyTouring invited us to join her weekly KGSR food segment this Thursday and of course, we gladly accepted. We'll be discussing breakfast tacos - the good, the bad and the ugly! Check out her post, listen to the KGSR Late Show with Bryan Beck & Andy Langer on Thursday morning and tell us about your favorite breakfast tacos!

What: Taco Talk (breakfast tacos)
When: Thursday, July 2nd, 8:30am
Where: Your Radio: 107.1 KGSR FM
Who: Bryan Beck & Andy Langer from KGSR, Jodi from TastyTouring & El Mundo de Mando
Why: Cuz breakfast tacos are good!

TJ on KEYE TV's We Are Austin

2009-07-01T00:26:00.003-05:00

We've been working the taco circuit! Check out my visit with Jeremy & the guys from We Area Austin and Roberto, owner of TacoDeli. Enjoy!

SFoodie: El Mundo de Mando - A Texas Taco Blogger's Crawl Through the Mission

2009-06-29T11:14:00.008-05:00

Last week I had a great opportunity to do a week long taco hunt in the City by the Bay & was asked to write it up for SF Weekly's food blog, SFoodie. Coolio!! Check it out!

El Mundo de Mando: A Texas Taco Blogger's Crawl Through the Mission

By Mando Rayo in La Vida Taco

Friday, Jun. 26 2009 @ 12:27PM

The holy trinity at Taqueria Pancho Villa.

Austin, Tex., taco blogger Mando Rayo (aka El Mundo de Mando of TacoJournalism) was in Cali this week, getting his first-ever taste of S.F. flavor. How did the Mission stack up to taco culture in Central Texas? Read on, homie.

Ahh, San Francisco: What a great city. You are home to Journey, Rice-A-Roni, trolleys, and most important ... tacos! I was told that tacos would be hard to find in the city by the bay but, alas, I have found you, your moms, your tias y tus cousins right in the heart of a gentri-barrio, the Mission. A place where you can start with a greasy torta de lengua, hacer hambre in an old-school cantina, top it off with a taco todo organico and finish it con un café con los hipsters, hippies, and one Taco Journalist with a sí, se puede attitude!

My goal was to get a good taste of the taco scene in San Francisco, and I think I got a pretty good start with the help of my taco-eating compadres: Lindsey Simon from dishola, Angela, Ruthie, and Ixchel. Not only did we eat tacos, we explored the Mission, its beautiful murals, and good coffee. We even ventured into Central America. Nice!

La Taqueria's off-menu carnitas taco dorado.

We started at La Taqueria (2889 Mission at 25th St.). We actually pounced on the doors 'cuz we were hungry and we heard that they made a mean taco dorado (which isn't on the menu). I ordered the carnitas taco dorado -- it's a taco with a soft corn tortilla on top of a fried corn tortilla with melted cheese in between, stuffed with your favorite carne, frijoles de la hoya/ranchero style, fresh salsa, avocado slices y crema. Just for looks, this taco got a 5 taco rating -- that's tops on the TacoJournalism system! Once I got that sucka into my mouth, I was in heaven. The carnitas were really tasty, reminded me of the times back home when we used to make carnitas fresh off the pig, diqueada style. The combination of the soft and hard tortillas, the messiness of the crema and salsa, the richness of the beans and the goodness of the carnitas took me back in time living between borders, to a place called El Paso/Juarez (don't laugh!). Ay, que rico!

Read full post on SF Weekly...

Preview: My SF Taco Aventura!

2009-06-25T12:33:00.007-05:00

Just wanted to post a quick update on my San Francisco taco adventure! Here's a preview...

SFoodie Hosts Texas Taco Blogger in a Week-Long Crawl Through the Mission and Beyond
Taco-Burrito Smackdown
Coming Soon: Most delicious tacos at La Taqueria, tequila shots at Carlos' Bar (Cantina), murals, cafe & yes burritos!

Check out my posts on SF Weekly this week!

Taco-on!
Mando

TacoJournalism guest spot on San Francisco Weekly: SF Taco Tour!

2009-06-19T17:16:00.005-05:00

I'll be in San Francisco tonight (yay!) and tomorrow, I'm doing a little SF Taco Tour with Lindsey from Dishola & some good amigos. Meanwhile, I've been talking with John Birdsall, online food editor for San Francisco Weekly and guess what? He wants TacoJournalism to do a guest post for his blog SFoodie! Yeah!

We'll be hitting up the Mission and Oakland & might even venture into burritos! I still would like some recommendations. What's your favorite taco joint in the Bay Area?

Wanna come? Check out the details on FB!

@elmundodemando

For a good cause, go to Café del Sol - Southwest Key's Taco Joint!

2009-06-07T12:23:00.008-05:00

So I finally got around to visit Layla and Southwest Key's social enterprise, Café del Sol. I enlisted two work buddies, Iris and Jackie to go on this taco hike in East Austin. I actually enlisted 3 but the third one bailed on us for a dentist appointment - but who am I to stop a Brit from going to the dentist, right?

We met Layla Fry, who's not only the marketing guru at Southwest Key but is in an all female Mariachi group (see photo for proof!)! She does a a great job at getting people to attend Southwest Key's projects and events. I actually find myself at their events pretty frequently. For months, she's been telling me about Café del Sol's tacos and their their homemade tortillas. So I finally made it out there. I had a migas taco and my favorite combo: eggs, beans and bacon. Considering we saw the cooks make everything by hand, we were off to a good start!

Taco Munching (L2R): Iris, Jackie & Layla

The tortillas, well they were really good! There's nothing like freshly made tortillas to start the morning off right. The migas taco was good, fresh ingredients and the tortilla chips were still crunchy - I do like the crunchies! My frijo-huevo-bacon taco was really good too. Well, y'know it's all in the beans and they did them right! The best part of this taco experience is that the money I spent goes back to their programs. Y'know I'm all about the kids!

Migas y Frijo-Huevo-Bacon tacos

Esmeralda making it fresh!

Café del Sol deserves many visits! Eventhough it's East-East Austin, y'all should check it out. I hear they sell their homemade tortillas by the bag! Check out their online menu, go try them out or have tacos delivered to your office.

This taco review and positive message was approved by TacoJournalism.com!

@elmundodemando

Café del Sol - 4 Stars
6002 Jain Lane
Austin, Texas 78721
512-583-2501

Los Catrachos y El Grupo Come-Tacos (Houston Taco Tour)

2009-06-04T22:43:00.007-05:00

About a month ago, mi amiguita y gran photo genius, Penny de los Santos came up with a great idea - doing a Houston Taco Tour! She had already been on some in the ATX con El Mero Mero Taquero (me) so I think she got the taco bug. So what did we do? We started pumping it up and recruited mas food bloggers (Addie, Marshall, Jam, Nelson de Austin y Alison & Katharine de Houston) to go to H-town with us. I of course called on Los Catrachos de Houston, Juan Carlos y Geraldina Reina. By the way, Catrachos = Hondurenos and for a good time, call Juan Carlos y Gera!

Los Catrachos: Juan Carlos y Gera

I started the day crudo and was not feeling so well. Instead of tacos, I was totally craving menudo but I kept it strong since we did make the 2.5 hour trek to Houston. We hit up 6 spots in this tour but only 2 mibbe 3 are worth mentioning; plus we were side tracked by a visit to El Campero which was basically KFC repackaged, taken to Central America and brought back to the States as Latin American fried chicken. Yeah, I wasn't feeling this Campero stop.

The 4th stop on the taco tour was this truck parked in a do-it-yourself car wash. Y'know the kind that takes your quarters and you try to hurry your ass up & wash your car in under 5 bucks! I had a good feeling about this trockita aka El Ultimo Taco; mibbe it was the Tecate that Juan Carlos handed me under the hot sun while I waited for my taco? Si, mibbe! I ended up ordering a fajita taco on a corn tortilla con jalapeños y cebollitas asadas. Sure enough, it was right up my alley. The beef was smokey & tender; the steaming tortilla embraced the carne & green salsa and the jalapeños y grilled onions gave it a great finish. Not only did the taco almost cure my hangover but hanging with good peeps and drinking beer at the car wash just made me feel right at home...ese!

Hanging at the Car Wash!

Addie y Ian posing it up!

Stop #5: This place reminded me of old school joints in MX - the type of places that keep you there for hours and hours just by adding little perks - y'know, free tequila, free taquitos y musicos! That's exactly what El Hidalguense did to us. Well, it really didn't keep us there for hours but we could of spent hours in that place if we weren't on a taco mission that day. I still remember the free tequila shots - who am I to say no to shots in tiny plastic cups! As you can tell, the atmosphere was way more memorable than the tacos. So I'll skip the tacos. Although I am for sure going back to El Hidalguense; by the time I get my 3rd round of tequila and beers, the tacos will probably taste great!

Musicos doin' some Son Jarocho

Final stop was Canino's Food Market but by then we were all tired and our bellies were full of tacos. So we ended up shopping for some good mercado veggies and headed back to Austin.

Okay, so I lied; there was only one place worth mentioning and that was El Ultimo Taco. Next time you're in Houston, go there cuz they good! Just ask Juan Carlos!

Until the next taco tour...Stay hungry, my friends.

elmundodemando

P.S. If you want to check out the "real" Houston Taco Tour reviews, check out Addie's Relish Austin and Marshall's Eat This Lens blogs.

Pachanga Fest: Free tix on TJ!

2009-05-25T12:55:00.010-05:00

I'm making plans to get my Pachanga Fest on; I'm checking out the line up, scouting the taco joints & gettin' ready for a great Latino music fest!

In case you haven't heard, Pachanga Latino Music Fest is this Saturday & TJ has a pair of tix to give away! Wanna go for free? Just leave us a comment & answer this question: What kind of chile is used to make "tacos al pastor?" First one to answer, gets the tix!

Now to get all excited about Pachanga Fest, check out this promo video by mis amigos, A.D. & Rules!

See you on Saturday!
Mando

SNL's Taco Town!

2009-05-20T08:26:00.004-05:00

My friend Tony reminded me today about this funny (grose?) SNL skid on tacos. Just a reminder to stay clear of Taco Hell, I mean Bell. Enjoy!

Thanh Nhi going on break..

2009-05-19T15:14:00.004-05:00

Thanh Nhi

This is just a quick note to let you all know that the family who runs my favorite restaurant in town, Thanh Nhi, is shuttering the place from June 1st to July 4th while they go to Vietnam to visit family and friends.

If you are a lover of the place, you'll want to go and get your fix before they split. If you have still never been, you might want to go ahead and check it out in the next 10 days and see what you've been missing.

I think the fact that they're closing up shop while they're gone says a lot about what makes this restaurant so special. This family prepares their food with so much love and attention that they would never think to put someone else in charge while they're gone. If they aren't there to make sure it's right, they don't want you paying for it.

I just got back from two weeks in Vietnam, and I had some amazing food which I'll be writing about here soon. Thanh Nhi would have been among the best places I ate in Vietnam if it was there. Luckily, it's here.

Cornbiter Deluxe

Izzoz Tacos & Holy Cacao

2009-05-19T15:05:00.002-05:00

After a lot of you recommended we check them out, we decided to stop by Izzoz Tacos today for lunch...and to have cake balls from Holy Cacao for dessert! They are both located in the lot that was formerly inhabited by Torchy's Tacos, just south of El Mercado on the Tex-Mex, Pakistani, package mile (aka S. 1st St) After reading about Mando & Co's taco truck hopscotch we decided a formal review was in order.

Padre & Fried Avocado Tacos

After checking out the rather large menu we went with their suggestions: A Padre Taco and a Fried Avocado. The Padre was a pulled pork taco with chunks of pineapple and mild green sauce. The Fried Avocado taco was in a tempura-like batter and was dressed with tomatoes, field greens and cotija cheese crumbles. They were both fine, nothing spectacular, just good ingredients in store bought tortillas at a premium price ($3 + /each) I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here, but if you are in need of a Torchy's alternative this place should definitely suffice.

Cake Ball on a Stick!

And now for something completely different...introducing Holy Cacao cake balls! These little bastards are pretty damn good and they are on sticks, which makes everything better, right?. They come in a variety of flavors and we felt the need to sample them all. No real favorite, but the dark chocolate and red velvet were both contenders. They are $1.50 /a pop or $17/ dozen.

With their powers combined this little one-two punch of tacos and cake balls might just be one of the better places to eat a meal in Austin on sunny afternoon. Let us know what you think and as always - stay hungry, my friends.

Izzoz Tacos & Holy Cacao - 3.75 Stars - jarod

1207 South First

Austin, Texas 78704

East Austin Taco Bike Tour

2009-05-11T14:25:00.009-05:00

Ready, set, bikes, tacos, go! That's what we're doing on Saturday, May 16th & we want all TJ readers to join us! TacoJournalism is teaming up with the world famous TastyTouring blog to take y'all on the East Austin Taco Bike Tour. So go fix up your banana seats, low-riders, estreet-riders & give your friends jalones (rides) on your cuernos & pegs cuz you won't want to miss this taco eating adventure!

We'll ge things started at 11am with the best bean & egg tacos in town at Porfirio's on Holly Street, head further east to Taqueria Piedras Negras (watch out for the good cop/bad cop taco-maker routine) and from there, we'll go up to my hood ~ Barrio Boggy Creek to Marcelino Pan y Vino (taqueria formerly known as Abarrotes Mexicanos; fyi - them church ladies know how to hook up a good asado de puerco taco!) . On the way, I'll show off my punk rock pink house & chicken coop. To work off those tacos, we'll go up the Pleasant Valley hill & head to Mi Madre's to score my favorito - El Machacado (shredded beef, tomates, jalapenos, cebollas, fresh!) & to cool down from our taco eating workout, we'll end up at El Chilito for some beers & sangrias & say things like, "remember when we ate the tacos at Mi Madre's, yeah, that was good."

East Austin Taco Bike Tour
Saturday, May 16, 2009
11:00am - 4:00pm
Start: Porfirio's
End: El Chilito
BYO - Tacos!
Wanna meet us in between? Text me at 512-785-0447 & I'll tell ya where we're at!

So who's in? Y'all coming or what? Check out the Google map & don't forget to RSVP on Facebook!

View East Austin Taco Bike Tour in a larger map

See ya there!
Mando

Adios, Magic Taco Box!

2009-04-17T12:36:00.008-05:00

I just found out that the world famous Magic Taco Box is closing! Yes, very sad news for Austin but good news for San Antonio! They're opening up a full restaurant & once they do, y'know we'll be doing a road trip.

So get your fill this weekend & early next week cuz they'll be gone as early as Tuesday, April 21st.

Adios, Magic Taco Box. You will not be forgotten!

Stay Hungry My Friends,
Mando

Update: Alayna's employees indicated that a new tenant would be moving into the space/closet. The question is: will they make their tacos with love? We'll let you know as soon as the new guys start slinging tacos.

In the meantime, you can still satisfy your Manor road taco cravings at Mi Madres (who, sadly, just raised their prices), a few doors down. Or that other place whose name I can never remember. They serve up already-overpriced tacos between Mi Madres and Alayna's. El Chiquita?

- The Commish

TacoJournalism on XL cover!

2009-04-09T09:09:00.003-05:00

This has been a taco week! Check out the full story with blogs, videos y mas! All on Austin360.com!

Tacos at Non-Taco Places: Stubb's

2009-04-08T23:59:00.000-05:00

Stubbs (Tadson/Flickr)

I eat at Stubb's all the time. I don't really like it: their meat is mediocre and their prices are high, but it's a short walk from my work and my work pays for lunch on Fridays. So, naturally, we end up there a lot.

Last time I went they had a special: 2 Brisket Tacos with Jalapeno something-or-other for $7. I ordered it, expecting about what I got. Stubb's signature dry brisket wrapped in a tasteless tortilla smothered with yellow cheese. YUM! It does not compare favorably to Matt's El Rancho's Brisket Tacos. They know how to do it.

I don't recommend Stubb's for food (for music, yes). If you *must* go there though (or it is free) smother your BBQ with so much sauce that you can't taste the meat. That's what I do.

Stubb's BBQ - 1 star - The Commish

801 Red River St
Austin, TX 78701

(512) 634-8277

El Sol Y La Luna

2009-04-08T23:58:00.008-05:00

El Sol Y La Luna (credit: Zesmerala/Flickr)

El Sol Y La Luna has been around forever. Its old location, on South Congress in front of the Austin Motel, was a typical Mexican restaurant: nothing fancy and straightforward service. I went there every now and then, but never really cared for the food, or the fact that they charged for chips and salsa.

Free chips and salsa at a sitdown restaurant is a God-given right. If I pay $3 (THREE DOLLARS!) for chips, they better be homemade and warm. They should probably also do my homework. El Sol Y La Luna's chips are of the subpar, cold, crunchy, probably-store-bought variety. I was very disappointed. The salsa, at least, is decent; but it doesn't make up for the chips or the cost.

At the new location, some things have changed, but, unfortunately, not the important stuff. The new locale is definitely more attractive than the old one (and more attractive than "Emo's Lounge" as well.) The new interior is well put together and has a bit of an upscale air about it (think: Manuel's). Unfortunately, they still charge for chips and salsa. Oh ... and the food is of the same quality and taste as always.

I went on two occasions (paying a total of $6 for chips and salsa!) The first time I sampled Nilda's Taco Plate. It was a respectable chicken taco with a pleasant mesquite flavor, topped by some actual leafy green vegetable (as opposed to shredded iceberg lettuce). The refried beans and the rice were undistinguished.

On my second visit I tried the Guisada plate. The corn tortillas were limp and moist, like they'd been steamed. There were also too few of them and I ended up with more meat than tortilla. The meat itself was nice and tender, but was lacking any kick. It reminded me of a pot roast my 50-year-old mother from Indiana would make. That is not what I'm looking for at a Mexican restaurant.

The location is well-placed to serve the downtown lunch crowd that would otherwise have few good walking-distance taco options. If you like to pay too much for tacos, too much for chips, and too much for iced tea ($2), this is your place.

El Sol Y La Luna - 2.5 stars - The Commish

600 E. 6th St
Austin, TX 78701

(512) 440-7770

All Taco Bulletin! TacoJounalism & Tour de Tacos on Statesman/Austin360!

2009-04-08T10:23:00.006-05:00

Last month, Mike Sutter (Austin American Statesman's Food Critic) & I hit the estreets looking for some good tacos! In fact, we were so committed in our search, our bellies took on 40ish tacos & 10 taquerias in our Tour de Tacos aventura! And now it has hit the interweb & tomorrow look for it on the cover of the Statesman's XL. You'll read about all the taco joints we hit up, meet the Taco Mafia (that's us!) & you'll end up craving even more tacos!

Check out the story, blog post y photos!

Barbacoa! Al Pastor! Tacos, tacos! More more more!

Let’s call it Trailer-Vision, the superhuman ability to spot a taco truck from miles away. Read mas!

Tour de Tacos

Armando Rayo has a gift. He can spot a taco trailer from blocks away, before even the barest hint of it is visible to the untrained eye. Read mas!

Tour de Tacos: Photo Gallery

Joey Fulcher, the King of Taco Eating!

2009-04-06T00:35:00.004-05:00

Quien es mas macho? Well, that's Joey Fulcher but everyone brought their macho taco on for Open Door Preschool's Taco Eating Contest this weekend. There was a total of 16 contestants & they all took those tacos down, one by one. In the end, the taco eaters had to eat the most tacos in 15 minutes & Mr. Joey took the prize of King of the Tacos; yeah, he ate 26 of them. Word on the estreet is that he also won a pizza eating contest?!? Joey, you earned that golden taco trophy & free bottle of Pepto Bismol!

In case you missed it. I took some video of the taco eating. So now for your viewing pleasure....a whole 60 seconds of taco eating!

And some taco pics...

Tips for Open Door Preschool's Taco Eating Contest

2009-04-02T22:03:00.006-06:00

Behold the glory! Not only will you have a chance to win this amazing bronze taco sculpture, but you will be crowned King/Queen of the Tacos by TacoJournalism via Open Door Preschool's Jamboree & Taco Eating Contest!

Now before you go into the depths of the massive taco eating, I wanted to prepare some of you less experienced taco eaters with some pointers on eating tacos.

First of all, you must have a passion for tacos - do you eat more than 4 servings of tacos a week? if you do, you got the passion & ganas to win this prize!
Pointer #2: Don't Choke - TJ & Open Door Preschool are not responsible if you try to swallow a whole taco in one gulp (gulp!)
Numero Tres: I know the contest may be early but you might want to take some tequila shots to numb the pain (Ask Mando for a taste)
4th of all, Chew like you've never chewed before - you might want to practice stretching out your mandibles.
Last but not least, 5th step to winning this crazy contest - Let your passion for tacos shine - make love to the tacos, dance with them, caress them & yes, eat them all up!

So good luck to you Kelso, Mark Levy, Avril, Chris Riley, O.G. Fatal, Orlando "Mr. Taco Shack" Arriaga & the rest of the taco eaters! Not only do you have the ganas for this great competition, you have the heart to help a great nonprofit, Open Door Preschool. For that, you are all winners!

What about the rest of us? Well, I'll be cheering on the peeps as the official MC of the event & I hope to see all the TJ readers, friends & family out there!

Open Door's 9th annual Kids' Jamboree
Saturday, April 4, 2009
10:45am - 12:30pm
Threadgill's South - 301 W. Riverside Dr.

Our Little Taco Safari

2009-03-25T18:00:00.006-06:00

A few weeks ago we posted the Taco Safari on Dishola - Reviews by the Dish (which you can still view on their site). We wanted to post it on TJ now for your viewing pleasure (in case you missed it!).

Check it out....

For our first Dishola Food Safari, I wanted to tackle a food that was close to my heart - tacos of course. As a self-proclaimed Taco-Journalist (tacojournalism.com), I pride myself in knowing where to find the best tacos anywhere. So for this taco safari, I wrote down my go-to taquerias & taco trucks list, gathered a few good amigos & off we were to find the best Tacos Al Pastor in Austin, TX.

Dishola Taco Safari from elmundodemando on Vimeo

Tell us what you think? What should we do for our next Taco Safari?

@elmundodemando

SX-Repost: Than Nhi

2009-03-20T11:31:00.002-06:00

Than Nhi is my favorite restaurant in Austin. I eat there at least once a week, and the Pork Paste Spring Roll (number 1B) is the single most delightful food item in the world.

Than Nhi from 03/26/2008:

Thanh Nhi

This is part of our ongoing 'Man Cannot Live on Tacos Alone (MCLOTA)' series -

We decided to take a break from the taco lunches and head over to Thanh Nhi this afternoon. It took a lot of will power not to go to our standby joint, Tan My (formerly Tan Tan), for our Pho cravings, but we had to check this place out after hearing the internet rumblings about the tasty Banh Mi sandwiches. The restaurant is located (hidden) just south of Rundberg on Lamar in a huge strip mall on the west side of the street. When we walked in there were two obvious signs this was going to be an excellent meal 1) The smells were amazing 2) We were one of the only caucasian groups in the joint.

Grilled Pork Banh Mi

We knew we had to try the Banh Mi, so Cornbiter and I each ordered a small for an appetizer. I went for the Grilled Pork and Cornbiter took the waitress's suggestion and got the Pork Paste. They were both excellent. The bread was very fresh and flaky and it was filled with fresh veggies and herbs. The grilled pork was seasoned wonderfully and the bread was smeared with a pork pate that added a nice flavor to the sandwich. The pork paste was phenomenal. It was a mixture of pork and shrimp and was the perfect filling for this sandwich, highly recommended.

Pork Paste Banh Mi

For our main course we both went for the grilled pork and egg roll vermicelli bowl (#61). We both love this dish at Tan My, so we had to see how Thanh Nhi staked up. The answer is, quite well. The vermicelli was fresh and plentiful, loaded with fresh herbs and cucumbers and topped with a mountain of grilled pork and two huge egg rolls that were filled to the brim with meat. This dish is just as good, if not a tad bit better than Tan My, which is very impressive. Add this to the fact that they take credit cards, the service is super attentive and friendly and they have amazing Bahn Mi, and I think we have found our new Vietnamese hangout. Now get you ass over there! But not on Mondays, they're closed.

Thanh Nhi - 4.5 Stars - jarod

9200 N Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78753

(512) 834-1736

UPDATE: Jarod and I were so focused on the Banh Mi that we failed to order any springrolls on our first trip. IMHO the simple shrimp and pork spring roll is a powerful indicator as to how good a Vietnamese restaurant will be.

I returned to Than Nhi today because I couldn't get the thunderously good pork/eggroll vermicelli bowl out of my mind. I also took the opportunity to order some spring rolls. I am pleased to report that they are excellent. They are fresh, pliable, delicious and delightful.

Run, don't walk. - Cornbiter Deluxe

SXSW Tacos & BBQ!

2009-03-16T15:38:00.004-06:00

Today is all about food! We started with tacos for a small, yet meaningful gathering of taco lovers & early birds. Shout out to my new Tweeps [@moralesmanny, @cian, @snax, @abramsley, @lasculturas, @sylviaO, @butterygoodness, @wadehahnchan & Jackie "I'm not on Twitter yet" Rogers!]. By lunchtime, I was ready for the @Dishola BBQ Crash Course. So what did I do? I crashed it! Talk about BBQ galore! In stock was bbq from Artz Rib House, Snow's BBQ, Inman's Ranch Bar-b-que, Louie Mueller Barbeque, Ranch 616 & The County Line. I totally went to town on it. Didn't you see my pic in Addie's blog?

So I wanted you to enjoy it with a cool sideshow from our friends at @Animoto! Good thing I found them at the SXSW Tradeshow. Turn up your volume & check it out!