Local Travel: Taco Loco Food Truck

When I think of food trucks one of the first cuisines I think of is Mexican. When we lived in New York, long before food trucks were a trend, we had a taco truck nearby. I often would roll up in the stroller and buy a whole bagful to bring home for dinner. Since then the food truck scene has exploded and tacos remain one of the most popular cuisines in the market! So, you can imagine my excitement, when I discovered the Taco Loco food truck in my neighborhood the other day. It is actually an extension of the Taco Loco restaurant down the street and just hit the streets about a week ago!

This is the first food truck I’ve eaten at that is an extension of an actual restaurant. It seems that so many trucks are up and coming chefs without a brick and mortar shop to call their own. It works well for them, of course, because they can focus on just a few items done really well. However, when an actual restaurant is involved the chef is faced with a different challenge: whittling down the menu. In this case, the Taco Loco truck gets it right. Like any good Tex-Mex spot the menu is filled with a huge selection of burritos, enchiladas, and the like. But the food truck is exclusively tacos, one quesadillas, a salad, and a few sides. Good choice, I think, since it enables the chef to focus on a small and manageable amount of food.

With this small focused menu the chef at Taco Loco gets it all right. I ordered a chicken taco lunch with a side of churros (who can pass up churros?) and everything came out piping hot and made fresh. Since I was taking ours to go it was packed hot and was still in perfect condition when we got home. They’d even included a little side of salsa and sour cream. This delectable taco meal far surpassed anything I had ever eaten at our old taco truck in Manhattan. The chicken was warm and fresh and stewed in a light mole sauce. It was sprinkled with cheese, salsa, and avocado, and served with a little wedge of lime. Even the churros were hot like donuts and served with a drizzle of chocolate sauce! They definitely set me back a workout or two, but they were worth it.

Should you be in the neighborhood, or nowhere near, a visit to the Taco Loco food truck is definitely worth the trip. Since it is so close to our new house I am quite certain I’ll be strolling over there for lunch with the baby quite a bit!

(Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Sargento. The photographs and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that make The Naptime Chef possible.)