You can find the truck by following their twitter. (Oh and by the way you should be following All The Tacos. Are you already?). Yesterday, I caught them at 4th St. and 6th Ave during the afternoon.

I wasn’t sure from the menu if I could mix and match but the tacos were so cheap that I figured I’d try two (meaning 4 tacos total). But I was happy to find that you can get two different tacos in one order.

I went for the fish and steak, grabbed a tamarind jarritos for my drink and paid my $1.69.

The tacos were small, about the size of my lady palm. But that’s pretty much what I expected for the price. The steak was surprisingly tender but there were more pickled onions than meat which drowned out the flavor. The striped bass ended up being really good. It was warm and flakey and not dried out. All the toppings are in little trays so your filling isn’t fresh when you order but the tacos move fast so nothing is sitting out long either. I was surprised that the fish was able to fair well as a result.
After my meal I was still hungry so I decided to get back in line to try the chicken and tofu. Maybe it’s because I came back for a second round but this time I won the golden ticket which equals a free pair a jeans at the Gap. They hand out about three a day. They’re good for a pair equal or less than $90. I had no idea Gap jeans got that pricey!

In the interest of this blog, I felt compelled to try all 4 taco offerings but I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what I got. I’m not a fan of chicken and tofu is rarely good unless it’s from a place specializing in vegetarian options.

The corn, cotija cheese and sour cream really made the chicken for me. The meat itself was eh, but if you like chicken than you will like this option. The tofu was pretty terrible. It wasn’t the tofu itself, which was just grilled and flavorless, it was the vegetable topping they added. The cucumber was soggy and ruined the taste of anything else that might have been on there. If I went back, I would stick with the fish and take some of the pickled onions off the steak.

For $1.69 I was surprised, the Pico de Gap truck really pulled it off. The tacos are tiny so don’t go thinking you’re going to get a meal but if you see the truck I would definitely stop by.

Pico de Gap Truck
various locations in New York

If you are a member of Gilt City, they have a great deal today for Mexicue – an excellent taco place with locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The dinner for 2 deal is already sold out but you can still get a taco and slider party for up to 10 friends for $89 bucks! The deal includes 20 tacos with sides and drinks. I would suggest bringing less people to up your taco ratio. Or if you’re for real, have that baby all to yourself.

This moves smacks to me of trying to fill the void being left by the failing American Apparel. Could they pull it off? I have so many issues with AA’s founder, Dov Charney, that I’m not opposed to being won over by a couple of tacos. So long as those tacos aren’t nude and sexually harassed.

via LA Times and CBS news

All I’ve been hearing about this year are the Walk-A-Tacos at from El Burrito Mercado at Target Field. I mean, the Twins are terrible, so I guess I’ve been assuming that everyone is headed to the games specifically for the sweet, sweet stadium food. All the food at the State Fair is unbelievably delicious, so I assumed that everyone in Minneapolis knew how to feed the fat and sweaty. All year my “friends” have been asking me if I’ve had the Walk-A-Taco, and every time I’ve replied that no, I haven’t made it to Target Field yet, I am met with demands that I go get one immediately.

In all that time, full of expectation and joy at the thought of enjoying a baseball game (no matter how bad), holding a taco with one hand, while my other enjoyed life encased in a foam finger, no one – not one person – told me that the Walk-A-Taco was fucking disgusting.

It costs something like $7.50 and comes in beef or chicken. I chose beef (if you need to know why, then you should go back and read the blog to find out how mean Mary is to me when I get chicken because it’s “boring”). It was 110000˚F out that day, and directly after I ordered my beef Walk-A-Taco, the lady at the register handed me a conical trough of slop that was approximately the temperature of a dying man’s hand. How is that even possible?

The cone wasn’t even made of tortilla? It was made of…I don’t know…corn meal and oil? It was more like a corn chip. It was actually pretty tasty, I guess, if I have to give credit where it’s due.

Inside the cone was what you would find inside of a Taco Bell Taco Supreme, which is fine if you’re going to Taco Bell, because then you know to expect something terrible, but at least it’s cheap, and at least you’re probably drunk or angry with yourself and looking for punishment. I was neither of those things (unless you count being dehydrated, drinking two $5.50 Grain Belt beers in the sun, getting woozy and dying a little inside).

You’re probably saying to yourself “Man, I wish I could ask her if she ate the whole thing.”

The answer is yes. I ate the whole fucking thing, but I wasn’t happy about it. Later, I saw a large woman fall over and start puking all over the ground and I was really unhappy about it, but I patted my belly and was all “I hear you, girl.”

After all of this, I’m glad to learn that the Walk-A-Taco isn’t a severe butchering of The Taco, but rather a terrible take on the Walking Taco, which I haven’t seen at the State Fair, but I hope that someday I do.

Enter Rockaway Taco.

Rockaway is the closest you’ll get to the west coast experience. It’s got a big surf scene and it’s easily accessible by public transportation.

I was already sold after the ride down. The A train travels on narrow tracks across Jamaica Bay. It gives the impression that you’re riding right on the water. I can’t describe how great it feels to be able to take a train to the beach. Maybe it’s being stuck in the city all day that you forget you’re right next to the water. So when you finally get out there on public transportation it feels like you’ve crossed over into another world.

The atmosphere couldn’t have been more perfect. This taco stand is quite literally a shack. And the outdoor seating feels like a private backyard party. I was just hoping the food would be any good because I knew I would be coming back regardless.

I ordered the fish, carne deluxe (with guacamole) and the chorizo. Holy god, the fish taco was amazing. Best I’ve ever had on the east coast easily. I mean, this was the thing that they were not allowed to fail at. If there’s anything you would want more at the beach, it’s a fish taco and they really pulled through. The carne and the chorizo were entirely capable but they paled in comparison to the glory of the fish taco. The carne had a marinade that was too sweet for my tastes. It almost tasted like bbq sauce. But the meat was tender and the toppings were excellent. The chorizo didn’t have enough of a char. I like it to be really crispy. But again, delicious. I got a watermelon agua to wash it all down. They were supposed to have a watermelon limeade which I would have liked more but they were all out by the time I got there.

The icing on the cake was the adorable take home menus.

After my meal I grabbed what was left of my watermelon agua and headed to the beach. I’ll tell you, the thing that’s been missing from every taco experience I’ve had in New York is the opportunity to check out the ocean afterward. Sun, sand and tacos really do go together perfectly.

Rockaway Taco
95-19 Rockaway Beach Boulevard
New York, NY 11693

“Having already tried the normal fare at Rusty Taco and having liked it (while sharing some of the same criticism’s as Courtney) I still had a desire to try their breakfast tacos. I had been seeing their sides on the side of Randolph Avenue ever day on my way to work. Always running late, I was never able to start off my day with a taco. Finally, one day, I made it a point to leave the house early enough to have a breakfast taco.

The breakfast tacos come in four varieties, all determined by meat: chorizo, jalapeno sausage, bacon, and plain sausage. I went for the horizon and jalapeno. The tacos arrived quickly, which was good, because someone, somewhere in that place had some terrible b.o. that seemed to linger in the air directly above the tables despite the twenty foot ceilings.

The tacos were loaded with eggs, the meat, and cheese -possibly too much cheese and too much egg. There was a generous helping of chorizo, but it seemed like too little jalapeno sausage. In some ways, these tacos were in contrast to the normal tacos they serve up, as I distinctly remember the portion size of the regular taco as just a little smaller than I wanted, where as these seemed too big. I was disappointed that they differed from the other tacos in another key way: no onion and no cilantro. You know that picture Courtney put up where the tacos were loaded with cilantro and onion? I wanted that. But, this was new, maybe it didn’t need to live up to my expectations.

Jalapeno sausage was up first. The first bite of actual jalapeno sausage was surprising. Because it was so breakfast sausage-esque. In a very good “your grandma is frying up Jimmy Dean sausages while you stay at her lake home” sort of way. Then I noticed two things: compared to the mountain of cheese and egg, the bites of sausage were too few and far between and there wasn’t even a hint jalapeno. Maybe I’d received a normal sausage taco by mistake. No matter what, the scrambled eggs were nice and fluffy and that this in no way tasted like any sort of fast-food, crappy breakfast burrito. It was way better than that, but not at all I what I wanted from it.

That sort of thought continued through the chorizo taco – the greasy, greasy  delicious chorizo. It was good. A little strong on cumin in the seasoning (at least I think that’s what it was where that normal slight burnt taste in chorizo had gone too far), but given the lowered expectations after the jalapeno sausage, it fit the bill and was exactly what I wanted.

Still, I’m left with the idea that cilantro and onion would’ve helped both of them and made them stand out so much more. Maybe it’s available as an option, I’ll have to check, as I will try them again. No matter what, when you order the tacos, they should ask “Would you like cilantro and onions on that?” Maybe I’m wrong and they will add nothing, but I want to try.

Overall, very filling for a good price and certainly a great go-to option for a quick breakfast taco. And I recommend the chorizo.

Like Courtney, I love a good huevos rancheros, and Sunny Side Up in Minneapolis has my favorite (I order cactus paddles and chorizo on the side, dump them on top and mix up the whole damn thing, eating it out of the tortilla’s like a taco – I do turn it into a hand held breakfast). Pizza Luce’s breakfast burrito is also a favorite, as is the new pulled pork breakfast burrito at The Highland Grill in St. Paul (I just realized they have a trio of breakfast tacos on their new menu and I haven’t tried them yet). And if you’ve never had the chilaquiles on the side when it’s offered on the Muddy Pig’s brunch menu, I highly suggest you try it. So good that it caused me to learn how to make them on my own. They’re another in a long line of Mexican food made to utilize the left over stale tortillas from the previous night’s meal.

And maybe that’s where a good breakfast taco should be taking it’s inspiration from: the idea of a Sunday morning breakfast where the family has to put together a meal with last night’s leftovers. Someone please try that and put it on a menu somewhere? Please?”

Boo and Ya!

But, really, who doesn’t? No one. Everybody loves tacos. Er’body loves to talk tacos.

Which is why people are always suggesting new taco restaurants to me. Most recently, a friend suggested a new taco place over in St. Paul – The Rusty Taco, which just opened in April.

It’s a terrible name that conjures visions of (in sillier moments) disgusting sex acts  – or, at the very least, a mouthful of  Tetanus.

However, once focused on the menu rather than the name, all grotesque visions disappear and are replaced with sweet imaginings of a heaven where they serve things like breakfast tacos, and fried chicken tacos, beer (Fulton in the house!) and, I think on their specials board they even had a drink called the Rusty Rita, a margarita made with wine. Sigh.

I know, I know – I’ve said time and time again that I’m really into authentic, Mexican tacos, piled high with nothing but spicy meat, onions, and cilantro. But, hey, is there anything America hasn’t improved?

All joking aside, I knew before I went that I wasn’t going to be able to get the standard, delicious, authentic tacos of El Taco Riendo, or La Hacienda. Sure, Rusty Taco has some traditional-sounding goods like Beef Fajita tacos, and Chicken Ranchero tacos (two items that although deemed to be Mexican food, are not really tacos, but here have been taco-ized). But, I wasn’t there for those items. Hell no. I wanted some Fried Chicken Tacos, or FCTs.

*On a side note, I would have definitely gotten the Breakfast Tacos if they were available in the afternoon. However, a friend of mine got them and said they were good, but had too much cheese. This leads me to believe that the breakfast burrito, in all it’s glory, might be as good as it can ever get for a mexican hand-held breakfast. I say it that way because huevos rancheros is a fucking delicious Mexican breakfast, and does not come in a hand-held fashion.*

So, I lived my week-long dream of getting Fried Chicken tacos, and you know what? They were pretty darn good. They even had coleslaw all up in there. But, here’s the thing, they were good, but I don’t know if they had any real merit as tacos. I mean, they could have been anything stuffed with fried chicken and coleslaw and they would have been tasty. So, what’s the point other than to say,  ”I had some FCTs”?

In addition to those taco-not-tacos, I tried the Picadillo tacos. Picadillo is a type of beef-hash that is served in all kinds of Latin American countries, and also in the Philippines.  From what I understand (read on Wikipedia) the beef and potato combination that Rusty Taco chose for their tacos is mainly the sort of picadillo served in the Philippines. Anyway, those were super delicious.

Finally, I had to choose the Rusty Taco’s own Rusty Taco – a pork taco with pineapple. Honestly, I was a little disappointed in this taco. The pork was dry, and it seemed like the pineapple pieces were just chunks of canned pineapple, which didn’t leave me wanting more.

On the whole, Rusty Taco has the right kind of prices, and the right kind of novel, ironic appeal that is going to make it a popular place, but I wouldn’t consider it a “great place for tacos in the Twin Cities.” It’s definitely one of a kind, and I will definitely be back to try their other offerings, and drink up all of their Fulton. Who knows, maybe if they get a taco truck for the summer, and shop their taco wares around the Whittier neighborhood, I’ll get all fat from their cheap, tasty taco-not-tacos, and change my tune.

All tacos: $2.50

Rusty Taco, 508 Lexington Parkway South, Saint Paul, MN 55105