Greetings Foodies! Welcome to my Taco Fest Recap! As you might have been aware this past weekend was Arizona Taco Festival! That’s right, two days of taco bliss, especially if you are a connoisseur of tacos. Given that I have not missed a Taco Tuesday in about 8 months you can imagine the excitement I felt to spend 2 days enjoying some pretty spectacular tacos. Unlike the Fair Food blog I’m going to recap the whole event and highlight some of the tacos we had. I hope you’ve had a snack because after reading this you will be hungry!
The Event
The event was held at the Salt River Fields near the spring training stadium. This was the first time I’ve been there and I could definitely see the appeal. The area is spacious and parking was relatively painless. Due to the fact that we had our tickets in advance, entering was quick. Those who were purchasing tickets at the event however had a fairly large line. The event staff reacted quickly by suggest that if people had a smart phone they could order their ticket there and have their phone scanned at the gate. For most booths the only form of payment accepted was tokens, fortunately there were several ID check stations paired with token exchangers present.
The Food
Now for what you have been waiting for, the food! Who doesn’t love tacos! For the most part, every taco was epic in its own way. Sure there were some clearly defined winners in my mind and heck there were some that weren’t so great. There were two however that completely stood out for me. They were the Brussels Sprouts and Cotechino Sausage tacos from The Mission (served with some amazing spicy corn nuts) and The Arrogant Taco, an Argentinian Style Beef Taco with a Spicy Chimichurri from Triple Dot Food Truck. It seemed that chicken and pork tacos were the most offered and we noticed that al Pastor was a popular trend. I would have liked to have seen more grilled tacos and more of a variety of sauces. To see who won the judging each day you can go to: http://aztacofestival.com/2014-taco-teams/
Activities
Eating tacos wasn’t the only activity at the Taco Festival. There were bands, Chihuahua costume contests, Tequila barrel painting, cooking demos and more! The Coconauts and The Wiley Ones were the musical hits for me. Both bands were quite amazing and I’m just disappointed that I was unable to get a Wiley Ones cd. Both are on Spotify though if you want to check them out. Another highlight was the cooking demonstration by Cody Vasquez, though he is still very young (he is only 12) he is highly committed to kids eating healthier. He even was chosen to cook at the White House! He shared a recipe for shrimp tacos with a watermelon jicama slaw.
Overall, the Arizona Taco Festival was an amazing albeit warm experience. I definitely can’t wait until next year! Below are some of the photos I took, hopefully you’re not hungry!
Enjoy What You Eat!
DC
