Tour
de Taco 2014 Part I
One of my friends from work is a taco
fanatic, a taco connoisseur if you will. He eats, sleeps and breathes tacos, so
a few years back, he began organizing a taco bike ride around the city called
Tour de Taco. This particular Tour de Taco, my first time partaking, was over
twenty miles long, with 10 different stops along the way. We began the day at
Jefferson Square park as a large group, paid up, and prepared ourselves for
some Taco bike riding with some pre ride margaritas.
We began our ride over to 8th and
Watkins to visit arguably the best spot for tacos in the city, South Philly
Barbacoa, a taco cart parked at that corner on the weekends. Benjamin Miller
and his wife are in the cart every weekend selling only two kinds of tacos,
pancita and barbocoa. They keep it simple, but they do it oh so well. I had a
strategy of getting one taco at each place that we were going so I could
partake in each stop, and I ordered one pancita taco. Pancita is sheeps stomach
stuffed with other organ meat cooked in a spicy sauce, and it is outstanding.
They double layered the tacos, so everything held up nicely. They were clearly
extremely fresh, and topping the pancita with cilantro, onion and lime was the
perfect way to season it all.
Our next stop was Los Gallos at 9th and
Watkins. I had been to Los Gallos before, so this time I wanted to try
something different. I thought it would be a good palce to try carnitas, so I
did just that. I loaded it up with tomatillo salsa and cilantro and onion as I
always do. The pork was super tender and the double layer tortillas are always
the key. It holds up well to everything and the flavor really shines through.
The salsa was fantastic. It was a nice flavor combination of the tomatillos,
spices, lime juice and cilantro.
Two down, and then we were on to El
Jarocho on 13th and Ellsworth. It was nice to be able to ride in between taco
spots because it helped to not get over full. When we got to El Jarocho, I was
very excited because I had ordered the chicken stuffed jalapeño taco and I was
super excited to try it because I had never seen it on a menu before. it was
definitely the right choice. It may have been one of the largest jalapeños I've
ever seen and it was packed full of shredded chicken. After the jalapeño was
stuffed, it was then battered and fried. The heat wasn't overpowering, and the
flavor was amazing. The salsa I added to it though was straight fire. Like
liquid lava. It was awesome. The taco was very juicy, definitely worthy of a
few napkins. Double layer tacos are the only way to go. Best news ever is my
new house is three blocks from here. I see a lot of tacos in my future.
Three tacos deep at this point, and I was
in heaven. The next bit wasn’t too bad of a ride. We went over to Taqueria
Veracruzana on 9th and Washington. It is a really small little spot but with
tables outside to sit and enjoy. We also grabbed beers from the next door shop
and drank them with the taco de campechanos I ordered. When it came out, it smelled
fantastic and tasted even better. Again double layer tortillas, perfection. Campechanos is a mixture of chorizo
and beef. The chorizo renders awesomely and then seasons the beef leaving it
juicy and spicy. A little cilantro and onion and some salsa made it awesome. So
totally coming back to this place. Awesome tacos and cheap. Don't miss it.
The next bit of the ride was a bit
rough. I don’t ride a bike all that often, so its not always easy for me, but
while it was a bit of a rough ride, it definitely opened up some room in my
quivckly filling belly. The next stop was Honest Tom's Taco shop in West
Philly. Here I ordered the breakfast taco with bacon. I loved the flavor of the taco. The eggs and potatoes were seasoned really well
and the guacamole was definitely super limey with a great crunch from the
onions. I wish that it was a double layer tortilla and that the bacon was
cooked a bit more. I like my bacon crunchy and this fell pretty flat as it was
a bit rubbery. There was a line out the door, in addition to our whole crew,
which is usually a good sign. It is definitely worth a visit. TO BE CONTINUED...
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