Taco de Paco Hits the Streets of Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge is in the midst of a Food Truck Revolution, and I, for one, am loving it!  The latest venture to join the scene on the streets is Taco de Paco, a large orange movable kitchen dishing out delicious tacos all around town.  They'll soon (as in as I write this) be going under a little logo work on the truck, so now they'll be really recognizable.

Taco de Paco is the Latest Food Truck to Take to the Streets of Baton Rouge

I recently paid a visit to the food truck during "grand opening".  Needless to say they were still working out some kinks, but I thought I'd give the tacos a try anyway!  Taco de Paco set up alongside Ninja Snowballs at a "Stabbed in the Art" show on Perkins near City Park.  A line quickly formed as customers awaited the opening of the service window and a chance to see just how "deLicious" Taco de Paco can be.

Left: Michael Benton Prepares Tacos for Some Customers

Right: Owner Jared Loftus Passes some Tacos to an Eager Eater

Since Taco de Paco still had some logistics to iron out and they knew there would be a crowd for this much anticipated service, they featured a limited menu with three taco options.  Justin and I each ordered two of them, but Jared was kind enough to throw in the third taco so I could get a good sampling of the menu.  The tacos came with traditional Latin-influence names: Juan, Pablo, and Miguel.

Left: Pablo - Steak, Onions, Cilantro, Lettuce, Bell Peppers

Right: Juan - Chicken, Onions, Cilantro, Lettuce

The first two tacos were certainly a notch up from most typical American quick-service tacos.  They had a level of authenticity to them which I really enjoyed.  The flour tortillas weren't freshly made, but they were at least warmed up and tasty.  I'm a big fan of cilantro, so the fact that they had it on both tacos didn't bother me at all and I really feel like it gave them a nice touch.  Pablo beat out Juan if I had to choose between the two.  The steak had a better flavor than the chicken, and the addition of the multi-colored and sautéed peppers kicked it up a bit more.  Both tacos were tasty, but they lacked a certain "messy" quality that I almost expect out of a taco truck or any street food.  There were no juices running down my chin or forearms after eating these two tacos, and that disappointed me a tad, until...

Miguel - Mushrooms, Bell Peppers, Black Beans, Cheese, Pico de Gallo  

... I met Miguel.  This might be a shock to many people including myself, but the vegetarian version of Taco de Paco blew the others away.  The flavorful liquid from the black beans and pico de gallo lit up the other ingredients as the broth drizzled down my hand after the first bite. The mix of ingredients presented some excellent variety to the taco as this one definitely packed a superior punch to Juan and Pablo.  I actually felt like I was eating some messy street food out of a foil wrapper when I consumed Miguel, and that put a big smile on my face.

Taco de Paco is now roaming the streets of Baton Rouge.  Join their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter to see where you can find them on any given day.  I know I'll be looking them up again to see how the progress is going!

Things To Do
Baton Rouge

La Carreta on Government Street

Not too long ago I met Megan for lunch at La Carreta on Government Street.  This local Mexican Restaurant got its start in Hammond, La area before expanding to Baton Rouge and other locations in South Louisiana.  In fact, business has been so good for owner Saúl Rubio that he has recently opened a second location in the Red Stick on Bluebonnet Blvd.  Still, the Mid-City location is easier for me to get to from work, so it was there that I dined!

La Carreta on Government Street

The restaurant recently underwent a renovation that moved the entrance to the patio area that used to be the back of the establishment.  La Carreta actually has one of my favorite outdoor dining spaces in Baton Rouge, so if you are ever in the mood for Mexican food on a nice day, it is a good spot to hit up. 

La Carreta's Salsa

Obviously one of the best things about Mexican dining in the United States is the free chips and salsa that customarily accompanies every feast.  La Carreta's salsa has a few chucks of fresh tomato that are mixed in with an otherwise liquidy base of tomato juice and herbs.  The flavor is fairly ordinary but still tastes fine if you like a classic salsa to go with your salted corn tortilla chips.

La Carreta Special: Beef Burrito, Chicken Tostada, Beef Enchilada

I ordered the La Carreta Special for lunch.  It came with a beef burrito, a chicken tostada, and a beef enchilada.  The tostada got buried under a pile of lettuce, sour cream, and pico de gallo while the burrito and enchilada could be found a little easier on the plate.  Unfortunately the ground beef that stuffed the burrito and enchilada was nothing to brag about.  It was plain and bland and I think I've honestly been happier with burritos at Taco Bell.  This really surprised me as I've had great experiences with La Carreta in the past.  Perhaps the best advice is to stick with chicken or steak and avoid the ground beef.  I'm sure I'll be back at some point to sit on the patio and enjoy some cerveza.  I'll just have to be more careful about what I order!

San Francisco Part I: Taqueria La Cumbre

This past weekend Eusebio and I took to the friendly skies courtesy of our dear friend Amanda who happens to work for Southwest Airlines.  Amanda has graciously flown me all over the country for the past several years and I am very thankful to her.  We headed West to the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival in San Francisco, CA.  Immediately upon arriving in Oakland, Eusebio and I took the BART across the bay to San Fran and walked a couple blocks, past Union Square, to our hotel.  We stayed at the Grand Hyatt which was an interesting place to be for the weekend because all of their housekeeping and food service staff were on strike!  Good old California labor union strikes.  We walked up to a hotel that was being picketed by its own employees right outside of the front door with rhythmic drum beating and constant chanting of "Don't check in, just check out!"  Having already made reservations and paid for the room, and thinking that the fact that we just walked up on a real-life labor strike was hilarious, we proceeded to check in, throw our stuff down, and go grab some lunch before our festival activities started at 5:00 p.m.

Our San Francisco culinary journey got started with a ride on a classic street car trolley and a trip to the Mission district. The Mission neighborhood exists as an incredibly impressive international melting pot of residents and restaurants. From sushi to Salvadoran, pizza to Pakistani, eating well should be easy to do in Mission for everyone who walks its streets. We had heard of Taqueria La Cumbre as the innovator of the authentic overstuffed mission-style Mexican burrito. For those of you who know about Freebird's or Izzo's, that is what I'm talking about... but way better!

Taqueria La Cumbre, Mission District, San Francisco

The Taqueria has a lot more to enjoy than just the burritos.  They offer many different Platos Mexicanos for the frequenters to consume, but it is pretty obvious that their mission-style burritos are what they are famous for.  Meat filling for the burritos comes in the form of carne asada (steak beef), pulled pork, chicken, several flavored versions of beef, pork, and chicken, and beef tongue.  I didn't look over the menu long before ordering my "super" burrito.

Menu Board at Taqueria La Cumbre

I ordered the carne asada super burrito which came with grilled steak meat that was chopped right in front of me, Mexican rice, black beans, fresh guacamole, sour cream, cheese, pico de gallo, and hot sauce which was all stuffed inside a giant flour tortilla.  The meal came with corn tortilla chips and a selection of salsas.  I added a Mexican beer, Negra Modelo, to the feast just to top it off properly and help wash all of the spicy goodness that I was about to consume down.

Super Burrito, Chips, Salsa, and a Negro Modelo at Taqueria La Cumbre

The completely stuffed burrito fillings exploded both figuratively with flavor and literally out of the thinly pressed tortilla. Rice and black beans created the bulk of the subsistence but the seasoned beef and guacamole were still the flavor highlights.  Fresh ingredients all around gave the burrito the taste that made it famous.

The Stuffing of My Super Burrito

While there might be rival burritos out there in other parts of the country and world, I certainly can not get anything this good in Baton Rouge.  I love how the restaurant has maintained its original, classic, casual atmosphere with friendly service.  The Mission district as a whole was an area of San Francisco that I could spend a lot more time in.  There were unique restaurants and shops at every corner, each with its own culture that it contributed to the overall diverse cultural center that is San Francisco.

In San Francisco Part II, I will write about the adventures that we had on Friday night at the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival Street Vendor "Fare"!  Stay tuned!

Things To Do
San Francisco

Eusebio's House for Authentic Mexican Tacos and Assorted Beverages

Last week Eusebio had Brent and I over for an authentic Mexican feast.  We did a little porch sitting, cerveza drinking, and chit chatting while the beef roast slow-cooked in a ceramic dish in the oven.  I started with a Dos Equis Lager.  Famous from the "Most Interesting Man in the World" commercials, Dos Equis was one Hell of a beer before its new-found ad campaign glory.  Dos Equis, or "Twenties" as I've heard them referred (referencing the Roman Numeral represented by XX), is a mexican-style lager beer that is crisp and refreshing and fairly gentle on the palate.  It most certainly is not only one of my favorite Mexican beers, but one of my favorite macro-brewed beers out there.

On a personal note: like all other Mexican beers, I prefer to drink Dos Equis WITHOUT a lime.  I know this is not normal in America, but when I drink Mexican beer, I prefer to drink it like a Mexican instead of like an American that is stereotyping Mexican beer drinkers.  It has nothing to do with being macho and "not fruiting beer", but rather I try to make a cultural statement by drinking my Mexican beers without a lime because that is how Mexicans drink their beers.  Limes were simply a method of using citric acid to disinfect the rim of a beer glass, clean the dusty lip of a beer can, or remove rust from the rim of a beer bottle back in the day, and now look what it turned into!  Oh, and another thing, much like Australians don't drink Fosters, Mexicans don't drink Corona.  Corona is about as American as pumpkin pie.  Maybe not apple pie, but pumpkin pie is about right.

When dinner came around we also drank a little wine.  Eusebio had two Zinfandels that we sipped on as we dined and then continued our consumption during our after-dinner story time.  One was from Gnarly Head and the other was from the Dancing Bull vineyard.  Both are California red wines with a little spice to go with the fantastic fermented fruit.  I realized on this day that I've long had a negative thought towards Zinfandels in my mind due to my dislike of ultra-sweet White Zinfandels, but the real thing, Red Zins, are actually fantastic wines and I need to drink more of them.

Dinner was as delicious as always at Eusebio's house.  The beef was better than fork-tender as it could be torn apart with just a little pressure of the fingers.  It was not ground beef like typical Tex-Mex tacos, but rather a beef roast that simmered in Mexican-spiced juices until it could melt in your mouth.  After being placed on a fresh tortilla, the succulent beef was topped with lettuce, cheese, a little pico de gallo, and some fresh cilantro to create an authentic soft taco that delivered mouth-watering flavor to my mouth.  The beef tacos were accompanied by some refried beans and Mexican rice.  The entire meal was phenomenal.  The spice of the Zins complimented the Mexican seasonings very well as each delightful bite came with a swallow of divine wine.  It was a great evening with some buddies, great food, and, of course, a little booze.  Life is good today.  O, en espanol, mi vida es buena hoy.