Results tagged “tacos”

Taco truck! El Camion is conveniently parked in front of the Home Depot on Aurora Ave, and we knew that a couple of cheap tacos could tide us over. And when we order two tacos, you should know by now that likely means one tongue and one tripe. (Unless we go for crazy for cabeza—the beef cheeks.) Quick wait at the window, place the order, sit at one of the umbrella-ed tables, pick up upon being called, add salsas (they have a good variety) and some radishes and jalapenos to the plate, and then back to the table to squeeze some lime and enjoy the al fresco dining. Close your eyes, and you’re in Mexico.

Previously we've claimed that Rancho Bravo al pastor tacos are delicious. Still true. They're not "real" al pastor tacos, though, meaning the pork isn't cooked on a vertical spit while basting in pineapple drippings and sliced directly from the spit to your soft, waiting tortilla. It's an approximation of that, but, come on, Rancho Bravo's a 10-sq.-ft. truck. (We can't wait to get to their new Capitol Hill location, but is the old KFC really an upgrade from a spot four feet away from a dumpster in a parking lot in Wallingford?)

Just last week, we were thinking about the former KFC at Pine and 10th and wondering what--if anything--would ever go in to that building. Thursday night, we happened to see some people working inside there, but we couldn't tell what exactly they were doing. Friday night, more activity inside the building and something that looked like a menu up above the counter. And by Saturday afternoon, the establishment's sign was up, and Rancho Bravo Tacos was open for business. Those guys move fast.

Seattlest and The Stranger have had disagreements of opinion concerning the quality or fucking lack of quality at certain Seattle taco trucks. In this week's print Stranger, though, there is a statement of fact regarding the highly-hyped tamales at the Rancho Bravo truck in Wallingford that cannot be disputed, and should be highlighted: They never have tamales at Rancho Bravo. Seattlest has taken to ordering them defensively, hopefully, and as an add-on but never the focal point of a meal. "Oh, and, excuse me, Ms., but have you any...tamales?" In the ordering window the woman's eyes soften and she seems to say, "It's very flattering that you would ask. You obviously hold them in high regard, and they are delicious. How disappointing for you, though. We do not have any tamales." What she actually says is, "Sorry, no." We're this close to calling in and pre-ordering a dozen of them like the sign on the truck invites us to do, eating one of them, and then selling the other eleven for a few bucks each to people waiting in line to order from the truck.

CINCO DE MAYO: We may not have a ton of great tacquerias in town, but our local Mexican joints do a fine job with their margaritas. Our favorite is out in Ballard—La Carta de Oaxaca. Also worthy are Jalisco's various locations and, of course, Mama's Mexican Kitchen in Belltown. Or take it one step further and head to Tacos Guaymas in Greenlake to catch Pedrito Vargas y su Grupo Ashe.

We're pretty sure we've never watched the Kentucky Derby. Often dubbed "the most exciting two minutes in sports," the 134th(!) Run for the Roses takes place tomorrow at Churchill Downs (6:10 p.m. EDT, so 3:10 p.m. here). Not that it really matters, but Florida Derby winner Big Brown is the 3-1 favorite to win.

Now that the weather is finally get warmer, it's time to plan some summertime drinking. Enter The Saint, the new tequila bar/Mexican cantina from Havana owner Quentin Ertel. What was once the ugly (and scary) Wing Dome behemoth is now the soothingly sky blue building at the corner of Olive and Bellevue. Ertel describes his latest social club as:

a tequila bar that would appeal to afficionados of the good life; a place where the grapefruit juice is always squeezed fresh and the pace is a little slower; where the cocktails are built from a library of fine tequilas; where the cocina bustles with cooks making food from scratch. A place where a little bit of extra love goes into everything, an homage to the time-honored process of making one of the finest spirits on earth.

The Taco Bravo Rancho Bravo truck in Wallingford has the second best tacos al pastor that Seattlest has ever had. A trip to Mexico a few weeks ago provided the third best. The absolute best came from a burrito place just outside of Chicago circa 1997, but details of that era are sketchy at best and the experience may have expanded in the remembering. Somehow we still haven't had the "real" al pastor that is said to be roasted on a vertical spit gyro style.

DEMOCRACY: There's a Seattle school levy election today. If you don't know where you are supposed to vote, but know your name and the day you were born, you can look it up online. If you can't get to that place, you can cast a provisional ballot anywhere--just march up to the nice poll-worker ladies at your local school or church and say "I'd like to cast a provisional ballot, please." We did it last election and it worked like a dream.

Seattlest had a few margaritas last night at Tacos Guaymas, a tragedy of a restaurant. Such a tremendous location (across the street from the Green Lake ballfields) but such predictable, safe, boring food. It could just as easily be a restaurant in Lynnwood. (Wait--it is a restaurant in Lynnwood.)