Tag Archives: Tex Mex

SOUTH BY SOUTH AUSTIN: Can’t go to Austin without eating Torchy’s Tacos, bro…

Now, back home in Toronto, if you’re getting tacos from a chain, it’s probably Taco Bell or Chipotle or some shit. But here in Austin, even the chain tacos don’t suck! Torchy’s Tacos is a local legend with locations all over town, and they’re serving up some outta bounds tacos with names like Trailer Park and Crossroads… Check out these renegades of funk in Flavourtown:

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The Trailer Park is packing fried chicken, green chiles, lettuce, pico, cheddar jack cheese and poblano sauce on a flour tortilla (although I got mine with a corn tortilla, just because.) Chicken is crunchy and tender, with a nice kick from the green chile and coolness from the tomatoes and cheese.

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Now it’s time for some green chile pork, with carnitas, more green chile, cotija cheese, cilantro and onions. Carnitas melt in your mouth, while that green chile sauce adds a nice little kick.

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The baja shrimp taco has crispy fried shrimp, coleslaw, pickled onions, and cilantro — and they don’t shortchange ya on the shrimp, either! Shrimp and slaw have a nice crunch, and the chipotle sauce is pretty spicy (for a white guy).

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And that brings us to the Crossroads, with shredded brisket, avocado, jalapeños, cilantro, and a whole lotta cheese, bro! Brisket is great by itself, but you’ve got the creamy avocado, a bit of kick from the jalapeños, and more of that green chile sauce — I swear, they put that shit on everything!!!!!

SOUTH BY SOUTH AUSTIN: Pour some queso on me, in the name of Bob!!!

So, we’re hanging out at Matt’s El Rancho, one of the OG Tex-Mex joints in Austin, since 1952. This place has everything from tacos to burritos to fajitas, but the main reason to come here is for the Bob Armstrong Dip:

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OK, let’s break it down. Basically, you’ve got a great big bowl of queso, with ground beef and avocado, which goes great with the big and crunchy house chips. Nothing wrong with that at all!

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But now it’s time for the main event. This place has a whole lotta lunch specials for just $11.95, but this here’s the Mac daddy. This fajita plate comes with enough filling for three fully loaded fajitas, with your choice of beef or chicken — you KNOW we went with beef, bro!!!

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For the last one, I even put some Bob Armstrong Dip on top, which really kicked it up a notch!!!

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And if there’s one beer that screams Austin, it’s gotta be this McConauhaze IPA from local brewer Twisted X. Let’s just say it’s alright, alright, alright…

GRAND REOPENING: Tacos! Tacos! Tacos! @ Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit!

You KNOW this is body by tacos, bro! So when we found this funky new joint serving up Tex-Mex style tacos on King Street called Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit! we totally had to check it out. We’re talking fish tacos, we’re talking brisket…we’re even talking crispy cauliflower. OK, so maybe we might skip that one.

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Now, this wasn’t the biggest or crunchiest fish taco I’ve ever caught, but it was still fairly flavourful, with some pico, cilantro and coleslaw, not to mention the chipotle crema oozing out all over the place… You could put that on a flip-flop, and it would still taste good!

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Chicken tinga also had a nice little crunch from the radish and pickled onions, along with a little cotija cheese on top. This one also had a bit of a kick, but was not too spicy for this gringo… Let’s just say I chased it away with a couple pints of their house Rabbit! Cerveza.

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Now, the smoked brisket tacos were probably the reason I came here. Dude, you definitely don’t see brisket tacos every day in Toronto, bro! They kinda buried the brisket in salsa verde and donkey sauce, but I think I found a way to kick things up a notch…

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You KNOW I’m all about the meat ‘n potatoes, bro! So I ordered a side of tater tots, and then stuck a few of ’em on top. Man, the crunch from the tots reminded me of some of the breakfast tacos I had in Austin… Too bad the brisket was nothing compared to Franklin’s, though!

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But even after slammin’ a fistful of tacos, you KNOW we’ve still got room for dessert. We’re talking tres leches, topped with toasted coconut and candied pineapple, for a little extra kick. Cake was nice ‘n moist, not too sweet, and there was plenty of pineapple to go around — you could put it on a pizza, and it would still taste good!!! 😛

TORONTO’S TOP TAKEOUT: Who needs Migos when you’ve got migas???

Now, the last time I had huevos migas, this Tex Mex take on breakfast nachos, was in Austin — actually, it was at the airport, son! I never expected to find this dish in Toronto…so when I heard that Lady Marmalade, this funky breakfast/brunch joint on Broadview, had migas on the menu, you KNOW I was gonna twist it like it’s stir fry, bro!!!!!

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Basically, you’ve got every part of a balanced breakfast, right here. We’re talking scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese, rice, beans, pico, nachos…plus I paid 4 bucks extra for a buncha bacon, cuz the first rule of Flavourtown is Always Add Bacon! Now, when I had this dish in Texas, the tortilla chips were mixed right in, but in this order, they came served separately in a paper bag — which probably prevents them from getting soggy on the way over, I suppose.

Dude, this was one of the most filling breakfasts I had in a long time…and you KNOW I left no crumb behind, bro!!!!!!!!

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TORONTO’S TOP TAKEOUT: Game day nachos to go, bros!

Now, most people know that Sneaky Dee’s is serving up some of the best nachos in Toronto. The legendary Tex Mex dive on College St has got all kinds of funkiness like Hawaiian, Greek and Kings Crown nachos, and one order is big enough to feed a football team — or at least to feed me on a Sunday.

I went with their Northern Blues nachos, which are topped with salsa, cheese, steak, bacon, peppers, onions, pico, jalapenos and BBQ sauce, and come with sour cream and guac included in the price. But how do they hold up to delivery?

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To say these chips were fully loaded would be a partial understatement. But out of all the toppings, what really cut through the mix was the bacon bits. Thing is, under the weight of all this stuff, some of the chips got pretty soggy, especially near the end. That didn’t stop me from destroying them all though, bro!!!

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Real-deal Tex Mex @ HotMess

Don’t get me wrong–I loves me a super-authentic Mexican taco joint just as much as the next Guy (Fieri). But I can also dig it when a joint says “No, we’re not Mexican, we’re Tex-Mex.” And HotMess, this funky little joint in Little Italy, is definitely not ashamed to say they serve Tex-Mex food. Dude, this place has everything: hard-shell tacos, chimichangas, chili con queso, hotdogueros…and of course, you can’t have Texas food without Frito pie:

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Now, I have had Frito pie in Toronto before. Heck, I’ve even had it in Texas. But this is the closest I’ve come to the real-deal, down-home Frito pie experience, where they open up a bag of Fritos, and pour some chili and cheese in the name of love. OK, so they fancy it up a bit with onions, tomatoes and holla-atcha-penos, and they use shredded cheese instead of queso, but I double-dog dare ya to find me anything closer to a Friday Night Lights Frito pie this far north of the border, hombre!!!

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But you KNOW that’s just a light snack in Flavourtown, Texas, bro! So we’re following it up with a green chile patty melt. You’ve got poblanos, serranos and roasted onions on top of a ground-chuck burger with Monterey Jack and even some bacon jam–and it’s all swimming in a green big glob of greasy, grimy donkey sauce! I’d put that on a flip-flop!!!!

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Now, the one spot where they come up short of the full Texas experience is on the beer list. You won’t be able to slam some Lone Stars or Shiners here–hell, I don’t think you can even buy those brews in Ontario, bro! But they do have a pretty decent selection of local craft beer cans, like this light, crisp, Huron County Lager. One thing’s for sure, this joint doesn’t need too much more cowbell!!!

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