Houston Food Blog

Photos by Tony Stamolis

This is just about the safest image from T&T&A that we can show you on the front page.

​There's food porn -- teasing photographs of donuts glistening with a fresh coat of glaze, artfully arranged plates looking like architectural plans, footage of cakes being frosted as the icing is skillfully stroked across each plump layer -- and then there's food porn. Real food porn. With extreme emphasis on the porn.

Although, to be fair, Tony Stamolis' upcoming book -- T&T&A, which will be available in March 2010 -- is more in the food erotica category. This isn't hard-core food porn by any means, nor is it vaguely disturbing soft-core food porn like this Aria Giovanni shoot (warning: that link is extremely NSFW). Instead, Stamolis explores the warm, amber worlds of sunlight-tinted erotica and corn tortilla-tinted tacos -- each world with its own rainbow of ingredients and flavors.

Thumbing through the book, we began to notice a pattern emerging among the dozens of photos of mostly-naked women and tacos splayed open on styrofoam plates. Whether by conscious effort or not, the women and the tacos seem to match -- the reddish-orange tiles behind one model echoing the fiery color of the annatto-hued cochinita pibil on the adjacent page, the tangle of lettuce and shredded cheese on opened tacos mirroring the focus of the slightly spread legs of a young woman -- and a strange sort of joy enveloped us as we watched the two worlds blur satisfyingly together.

Below are a few of our favorite shots from T&T&A, which Stamolis describes as a "mission to document the 'other' California -- not the airbrushed celebs of Beverly Hills or those slick Silicon Valley VCs, but a world that is lo-fi and lustier: a world of scorchingly sexy women and gut-wrenching Mexican street food." We approve.

Warning: The rest of this post is NSFW -- not safe for work (or wives, probably).

​I hardly ever get a fajita taco anymore. I am always looking for something more interesting, like lengua or barbacoa. But at the El Charro across from the Maxwell House plant, all of the tacos come hot off the griddle, rather than out of a steam table. So the fajita meat is actually crispy. I sat down at the window-side counter in the funky dining room decorated with horses and cowboys and ate my taco. ("Charro" means "cowboy" in Mexican Spanish.)

​The Houston Health Department requires that every taco truck must visit a commissary to dump waste, refill the tanks with potable water and sanitize the kitchen every 24 hours. Each truck has to carry receipts for these daily services and display a current Health Department inspection sticker. There are 12 of these taco truck commissaries around the city, and I always wondered what one looked like.

​
The big white bus called Antojitos Hondureños #2 on Fondren just south of Bellaire is pretty impressive. There were three people working in the kitchen and a steady stream of customers. Antojitos Hondureños #1 is located up north off I-45, the guy at the window told me. Yes, they sell tacos, but most of the customers at this taco bus seemed to be more interested in the $7 lunch plates.

​This huevos con chorizo taco was a little a pricey at $1.75 -- it was also a little too salty, but the spice level of the chorizo was excellent. I got a topping of red salsa, onions and cilantro. I also sampled three homemade tamales, one with a spicy pork filling and two with a mild chicken filling. All three tamales were outstanding, though expensive at a buck each.

Photos by Robb Walsh

​I stopped at the Fast Taco truck on Fondren just north of Bellaire to get a pork taco the other day. While I was looking in the window watching the proprietor cook, I noticed a pan on a hot plate full of something that looked interesting. "What's that?" I asked the taquero, pointing at it through the window.

"That's not for sale, that's my breakfast," he said.

Photo by Robb Walsh

The taco truck is a revered and venerable institution in Houston, enjoyed by day laborers and lawyers alike. Whether grabbing breakfast tacos in the morning, a quick lunch while you stand in the shade of the truck or enjoying a weekend picnic-style lunch outside a farmers' market with tacos in one hand and a glass bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola in the other, taco trucks offer the kind of delicious, cheap and egalitarian meal that everyone can enjoy.

But with hundreds of taco trucks across the city, how do you weed out the good from the bad? Look no further: Houston's Top Ten Taco Trucks.

Robb Walsh, longtime connoisseur of taco trucks, has created this handy guide to the ten best taco trucks in Houston. Let it be your guide and jumping off point for exploring the city's vast network of mobile Mexican (and Cuban and Honduran and Venezuelan and Salvadoran...) cuisine. And if we missed your favorite, let us know in the comments section below.

Photos by Robb Walsh

It was the anthropomorphic taco art that made me pull over to check out the taco truck called Industrial Tacos + Snacks at the corner of Crosstimbers and Airline. I mean, look at the smile on that taco. I purchased a half-liter of Mexican Coke and a quesadilla al pastor that the proprietrix gave to me wrapped in aluminum foil without any garnishes. But when I started unwrapping it, she asked me if I wanted a plate and some onion and cilantro. When I said "yes, please," she kindly added some lettuce and tomato as well. The pork chunks were nicely cooked, and there was a good amount of melted cheese (white jack, I think).

It's a little-known fact that if you're good all year, the Cinco de Mayo fairy will come to your house in the afternoon while you're indulging in a siesta and leave behind a present for this most feliz of holidays.  This year, that present is a slideshow of taco porn. 

Photo by Katharine Shilcutt

Monterrey-style tacos al pastor at Tacos del Julio

Faithful readers may recall that we ran a slideshow of taco porn back in 2007, but that year's spread was devoted entirely to tacos found outside of Texas.  This year, we're bringing it back home with tacos found at our favorite trucks and taquerias throughout Houston.

So sit back, relax and enjoy the tacos.  Oh, and grab a napkin: you're already drooling.

The taco truck called "Taqueria Hecho En Mexico 2," is parked beside a vacant lot on Blalock just south of Campbell. When you pull into the dirt parking lot, a carhop in a uniform approaches the driver's window of your car with an order pad at the ready. Taquitos here are 99 cents and are guaranteed to be 100% chilango. (That's slang for a native of Mexico City D.F.)

I tried pastor (pork) suadero (brisket) and campechana (chorizo) tacos. Each had only a couple tablespoons of meat, but the condiments were amazing. Along with the usual chopped onions and cilantro and free red and green salsas in little plastic cups, there were radish slices, a roasted spring onion and a lime wedge. It was a nicely garnished plate, considering the amazingly cheap price.

The egg and chorizo breakfast taco comes with a free roasted jalapeño and your choice of red and green homemade salsas at the taco truck parked behind Bubbles Carwash at Westheimer and Bering. The business is called the "Taco Man" and its run by two brothers from San Luis Potosi.

The truck is one of those elaborate rigs popular in L.A. with the louvered skylight vents above the cooking area. Barbacoa and al pastor tacos were also available at 9 a.m. I went for a cup of black coffee, and was pleasantly surprised by the quality. It was a lot stronger than the average taco truck cup of coffee. One taco and the cup of coffee was three dollars.

A taco truck called “La Guerita” has doing a brisk lunch hour business in the Food Town parking lot at Briar Forest near Wilcrest yesterday. There was a sign advertising “hamburguesas” so I asked how much they were. The lady doing the cooking responded that there weren’t any hamburgers at the moment, only tacos. Carnitas, pastor and fajita meat were the three flavors of tacos available. They looked pretty good. But I was astonished to hear they were selling for the high price of $2 apiece.

This stately white and stainless steel-clad taco truck can be found at the corner of Hillcroft and Jessamine on the same block as Droubi’s Middle Eastern grocery and bakery. The cooking is top-notch and the garnishes are unusually elaborate.

Try the quesadillas al pastor, lovingly topped off with sour cream, avocado, and cilantro. You get two salsas with every order, a fiery red and a tart green, and a little foil pouch full of radishes and marinated onions.

Tacos El Mapache III taco truck on Renwick. -- Robb Walsh

¡Que irónico! The beloved taco truck culture of Los Angeles is under attack from an Hispanic politician.

District 1 County Supervisor Gloria Molina has asked the L.A. Board of Supervisors for new rules that threaten to put the city's taco trucks out of business. Under Supervisor Molina’s regulations, all mobile food operations, including taco trucks, would be required to change locations every hour, or face a misdemeanor charge carrying a $1,000 fine and/or jail. This would end the now common practice of each taco truck parking at the same spot every day.

2007 was a big year for taco-truck journalism here at the Houston Press. We covered Houston’s top taco trucks online with the Taco Truck Gourmet series and in print with “Las Fabulosas Taco Trucks.” Press food critic Robb Walsh also wrote a taco truck article, “As the Taco Turns,” that appeared in the September issue of Gourmet Magazine.

For the Gourmet article, Walsh traveled around the country eating at taco trucks and taking pictures. We’ve already seen photos of the top Houston taco trucks in the Taco Truck Gourmet series, so here’s some pix of out-of-town taco truck fare, in case you were wondering how ours compares to theirs.

MONTERREY, Oct. 27 -- Studying the menu above the counter of the new Taco Bell in the Plaza Bella Mall in Monterrey, Mexico, I am drawing a blank. What the hell’s a tambache? And what’s a tacostada? Then, thanks to the photos, I start to puzzle it out.

A flour tortilla folded around a tostada and a ground beef filling is a called a Crunchwrap Supreme at Taco Bell in the U.S. “Tambache” is the made-up name Taco Bell has given it in Mexico. And since rigid fried tortillas like the ones Taco Bell uses for its tacos are called tostadas in Mexico, Taco Bell changed the name of their signature item from a taco to a tacostada to avoid getting into that whole “what is a taco” debate with the Mexicans. Hmm… so shouldn’t they rename the chain Tacostada Bell in Mexico?

While they are at it, they need to come up with a Spanish word for “spork,” that combination spoon and fork they make you eat with at Taco Bell. Combine cuchara and tenedor and you end up with the cutesy “cuchador.” Is the more macho “tenechara” better?

Go get an Angus sirloin taco at the Jarro taco trailer, slather it with your choice of five awesome salsas, smother it with pickled onions, and tell me whether or not this is the best taco truck in the city. If you're still undecided after the steak taco, try a taco al pastor with a little pineapple, or a cochinta piblil taco with purple onion salsa. The trailer is kept in spotless condition and the salsa bar on the front ledge is restocked constantly so it's always fresh. You'll find the trailer parked in front of Jarro Cafe at 1521 Gessner, a few blocks north of Longpoint. Memo Pi�edo did so well with the trailer that he opened a restaurant. But, to his amazement, his loyal following kept eating at the taco truck instead of coming inside. The trailer still has as many customers as the cafe. "Lots of workers don't want to clean up and sit down in a restaurant, they just want to grab a taco and eat it standing up," he says. The tacos are also 25 cents cheaper outside. "It's my drive-through window," Memo says. This is the Taco Truck Gourmet's final posting. Adios, taco truck fans--it's been fun! -- Robb Walsh

I pulled into the parking lot of Mi Ranchito, a night club at 13502 Almeda, at around 8 pm on a Saturday night to sample the tacos at a brightly lit truck in the parking lot called Tacos Guanajuatenses (tacos by people from Guanajuato). The carne asado taco was made with thin slices of charcoal-grilled beef with plenty of char. They were slightly chewy but otherwise excellent. The marinated pork in the tacos al pastor was particularly tangy. There wasn't much else to choose from, but those two tacos were outstanding. An orange-flavored Jarritos was the perfect complement. While I was standing there, a well-lit patron stumbled out of the front door of Mi Ranchito and ordered a taco. There is a sign by the door that says "Mujeres! Mujeres! Mujeres!" I asked him what went on inside. He offered a particularly succinct summary of a taxi dance bar. "You go in there with $200 in your wallet and you meet all these 23- and 24-year-old girls, and then you come out broke," he said in Spanish. Luckily, he saved enough to buy a taco. — Robb Walsh

Gooey cheese and lots of spicy pork made for an outstanding quesadilla al pastor at Taqueria Torres. It clearly outclassed the one we tried from Jesse's Taqueria, right across the street. We weren't nearly as impressed with the Torres hamburguesa estilo Mexico, even though we liked the fact that it had avocado and a slice of ham on it. The burger patty was just too skinny for our tastes. Extra points for the Mexican cokes and great artwork. Jesse's Taqueria excelled in the chicken taco genre. And they had a copy machine too, in case you needed to duplicate some documents while you ate lunch. We also liked the dancing man air blower advertising and the Virgin Mary painting at Jesse's.

These two taco trucks compete for your business right across the street from each other behind the Mexican Consulate on the 4400 block of Caroline. When a taco war breaks out, the man in the street can't lose. -- Robb Walsh

When I reviewed a school bus selling Monterrey-style roasted chicken on the East Side, a reader named "Jason" recommended I try the blue school buses that sell roasted chicken on Long Point.

El Norte�o is the name of the Long Point roasted chicken dynasty. And "pollo asado estilo Monterrey" is their specialty. I saw one of the blue buses parked at Gessner and Long Point, but I bought my chicken from the blue "El Norte�o" truck out in front of the shopping center at 9893 Long Point.

We ate the roasted chicken on corn tortillas with the caramelized onion and roasted chiles it came with. It was pretty spectacular. But the "costillas al carbon" were an even bigger hit. A whole slab of these grilled spare ribs with onions, chiles and condiments goes for $15. A half slab, which went for $7.50, was more than enough for two. -- Robb Walsh

Only taco truck gourmands are aware of an otherwise little-known phenomenon: taco truck art. In a new series, Robb shares his favorite objects d' (taco) art.

This coke bottle was painted on a pop-out panel under the driver's side window on El Ultimo taco truck which parks in front of the carwash at Long Point and Antoine.

Using a mechanical element of the truck's body in the painting is one of my favorite taco truck art witticisms. The rivets around the bottle kind of remind me of an array of water droplets. -- Robb Walsh

The "Tacos El Amigo" truck is parked at the northwest corner of Renwick and Dashwood in front of the Renwick Washateria. Do�a Maria is the head chef and her food is "todo estilo Mexico" according to her card. The torta is the thing to eat here.

Do�a Maria's special genius shines in the creation she calls the "torta Cubana." A regular Cuban sandwich is slices of roast pork, ham and cheese on a sandwich roll, heated in a sandwich press until the cheese is gooey and the sandwich is quite flat. But the torta Cubana "estilo Mexico" served at the Tacos El Amigo truck transcends the standard version. It is made with fajita meat, ham, a hot dog cut into lengthwise sections, cheese, lettuce tomato, and lots of guacamole with hot sauce on the side. Don't miss it!

The rest of the menu is iffy. The tacos are plain. The gordita is a bad joke. A gordita is a supposed to be a round of masa fried until a pocket forms in the middle. One end of the fried corn dough pillow is then cut off and the interior is stuffed with your choice of delicacies and dressed with lettuce and tomato. At the Tacos El Amigo truck, a gordita is two flat corn tortillas with some filling in between and the lettuce and tomato piled on top. Ridiculous!

Thank goodness for the Mexican Cuban sandwich. As long as you're there, you might as well buy three or four. -- Robb Walsh

Sabor Venezolano is the name of a taco truck at Westheimer and Fondren that specializes in arepas, meat pies and plantain dishes from Venezuela. A Venezuelan family who had gathered there to eat lunch highly recommended that I try the patacon, which looks like a sandwich.

But instead of two slices of bread there's some green plantains that have been fried together into crispy rounds. A pile of shredded beef, a layer of ham, some cheese, and lettuce, tomato and mayo are layered between two of the plantain crusts.

It tastes spectacular and its also very filling. A sauce made of cream with a little feta and basil, is served on the side. Chileheads might consider taking their patacons home and doctoring them up with a little hot sauce.

The corn cakes called arepas are split, gordita-style, and stuffed with your choice of meats. I tried the shredded chicken and loved it--after the addition of a little chile sauce.

The truck opens for business at 7 a.m. with 99 cent breakfast tacos. There's also a Mexican taco menu if you aren't interested in trying la sabor Venezolano. -- Robb Walsh

El Ultimo Breakfast Taco

El Ultimo Taco is the name of a shiny new taco truck parked in front of a carwash at the Southwest corner of Long Point and Antoine. I pulled over one morning because I saw the word "desayuno" painted on the side of the truck. The sanitary standards here are exceptional. Both the man and woman behind the counter were wearing hair nets!

You hardly ever see breakfast tacos in Mexico. Bacon and eggs on a flour tortilla is a Tex-Mex invention. And, in fact, El Ultimo Taco is the only taco truck I've seen in Houston with a wide selection of breakfast tacos. (Please tell me if you know of others!)

You can get scrambled eggs mixed with bacon, ham, potatoes, nopalitos, machacado (shredded beef), chorizo, or roasted peppers on a corn or flour tortilla for a dollar a piece. And the tacos are huge. There's no coffee, but there fresh fruit agua frescas available.

I sampled three egg tacos, one with machacado, one with nopalitos and one with chorizo. The flour tortillas were hand made and all three tacos were generously stuffed. They all tasted great, but the chorizo was truly exceptional. And the thick green salsa served on the side was super hot.

Highly recommended for your proximo desayuno! -- Robb Walsh

I recently received this e-mail from a reader. The allegations he makes are truly unsettling:

Robb -

When you got the cold, greasy taco from the truck at a gas station on Bissonnet a few years ago, did you take a bite and throw it away, as originally reported, or did you throw the greasy paper bag away unopened, as recently reported?

Given the outbreak of fictionalization by NY Times and Washington Post reporters, I have become very cautious in what I accept in print. (By the way, do you think all those adult ads are completely true?)

Jayson Blair couldn't make up anything as good as your taco truck reports . Just think what you could do if you created an idealized composite of all the taco trucks you have ever visited.

Evan Harrel, Houston

Correction:

When I got those nasty tacos several years ago, I did indeed take one bite before throwing the bag away. I did not throw the bag away unopened, as I recently reported.

I apologize to taco lovers everywhere for this egregious error. I wasn't fictionalizing -- it was either a lapse of memory, or else I was trying to put the taste out of my mind.

Anytime in the future that I claim to have thrown food away without even tasting it, you should be suspicious. -- Robb Walsh

Taco trucks are decorated with paintings of characters, landscapes and food still-lifes. This emerging genre of pan-American folk art depicts the people, places and things of Latin America in a jumble of the real and the imagined.

The anthropomorphized spokespig, who we will call Paco, holds a taco aloft on the side of the Paco's Tacos #3 truck currently parked at 7100 Hillcroft. Although he lacks a red bowtie, his blue jacket is an obvious allusion to the most famous of porcine cartoon characters, Porky Pig. Paco resembles some of Porky's earlier incarnations.

Just what kind of taco is he's holding? Does Paco have a cannibalistic streak?

This is a painting of a woman who we have given the affectionate nickname "Mona Lisa de Pollo." Note the enigmatic half smile, the small head and the enormous ta-tas. (Reflecting the painter's own hungers?) She enticingly balances a whole roasted chicken in the air on the side of the El Mapache III truck at the corner of Gulfton and Renwick.

And what places are the painters of the following two landscapes longing for?

We can feel the homesick longing of the artist in this affectionate rendering of La Silla (the saddle), a rock formation on top of a mountain in Monterrey, Mexico. La Silla is an icon of this Northern Mexican city. The artist has painted cute little white homes along the mountain's slope to welcome the viewer with their symbolically open doors.

Note that the yellow reflector on the side of the bus has been incorporated into the image -- is it a cosmic "you are here" indicator?

Meanwhile, this fantasy of the American-Mexican border from El Mapache III features a saguaro cactus straight out of a Peanuts cartoon and a comic reminder of death in the form of the bleached white skull. We expect the Coyote to chase the Road Runner through this scene at any second. In fact, when we stare into the painting for any length of time, we find ourselves mouthing the words, "beep beep." -- Robb Walsh

El Mapache III is the name of the shiny new taco truck at the corner of Renwick and Gulfton in the parking lot of the Bestop gas station and convenience store. El Mapache means "the raccoon." It's also a nickname for a bandit, an allusion to the animal's black mask. (I wonder what happened to El Mapache I and II? )

This truck does some serious business. When I stopped by early in the morning, they were cooking up a mountain of meat. And no wonder they are so popular--the Bestop convenience store attractively decorates their parking lot with potted palms, giving the El Mapache III dining area a festive ambiance.

The two guys eating at the stand-up counter recommended the fajita tacos. So I tried one of those along with a taco al carbon and a barbacoa taco--all with onions and cilantro. The pork in the pastor tacos was orange-colored, but the seasoning was bland. The fajita tacos were okay, if a little skimpy on the meat. The barbacoa taco was by far the best --a huge mound of hot cheek meat nicely shredded and very moist. I was offered my choice of flour or corn tortillas, which is pretty unusual. I went for corn. The salsa was a thick and creamy green concoction and it packed a major kick. The truck also sells roast chickens and the beans are free on the weekend.

The proprietors angrily refused to let me take their photos. In fact, they were pretty upset about me taking snapshots of my tacos. They demanded to know who I was. And as they seemed to be getting ready to kick my ass, I gave them my business card. I prefer to stay anonymous, but I also like to stay out of the hospital. They studied the card, but evidently they'd never heard of the Houston Press, and my name didn't ring a bell either. I think they were relieved when they figured out I wasn't working for the Health Department. -- Robb Walsh

For some reason, roast chicken dinners often come from "taco school buses" rather than taco trucks. I like Pollos Asados La Silla, a school bus parked at the intersection of Lawndale and Highway 225. It's bright yellow with a giant chicken character and the saddle-shaped mountain peak called "la silla" (the saddle) painted on the side. "La silla" is a landmark of Monterrey, Mexico.

For six bucks, these guys give you a half of of a tasty charcoal-grilled pollo, a bowl of frijoles, salsa and a stack of tortillas. A whole chicken is ten bucks. -- Robb Walsh

Tierra Caliente (it means "the hotlands") is a part of Michoacan that's famous for high temperatures, a unique musical style and great marijuana.

In Houston, the hotlands are also getting famous for tacos, thanks to Maria Samano and her flirtatious crew at Tacos Tierra Caliente. Her extremely popular taco trailer is parked in the 1300 block of Montrose Boulevard in the "We Fix Flats" parking lot. (Look for the 99� taco sign.) I tried two barbacoa tacos ($1.50 each) with onions and cilantro on top and they were outstanding. Ask Maria for the "salsita" and she'll hand you a squirt bottle full of her creamy green "hotlands hot sauce." Yow! -- Robb Walsh