taco time

photo via freep

you've probably heard a little something about

the growing gourmet lunch truck scene, yes?

perhaps you've seen the great truck race on food network.

i fell in love with the idea shooting gads of 

tv commercials on the west coast. 

my very favorite truck was called "off the shelf."

absolutely incredible.

their french toast sticks are deep fried in funnel cake batter 

for crying out loud.
amazing traveling food? sold.

needless to say, i'd been waiting for this phenomenon

to make it's way to my neck of the woods.

so, last week when i saw a big shiny truck

{all i could make out in passing was the word tacos

and the twitter logo} in my neighborhood

i crossed my fingers and toes.

later found out it was jacques tacos.

LUCKILY they had my neighborhood

on their schedule for the next day.

YES.

aaaand scene.

here's the gritty.

i was too excited to let the long ass line dampen my taco spirits.

good thing it moved pretty quickly.

i followed my original game plan to try one of each.

 one braised beef short rib.

one grilled chicken.

one slow roasted pork.

one marinated avocado.

all dressed in black bean & corn salsa, queso fresco, and sauce vert.

{some crazy force took over my brain for a moment

and made me think i'd be able to save half of each

for my husband. that didn't happen. sorry, love.}

they were all super delicious.

tortillas were warm and their texture perfect.

the marinated avocado was creamy and dreamy. flavor was fresh. 

maybe even a hint of lime. mmm.

generally speaking, i usually pass on grilled chicken. 

it's boring. most times dry. in the case of tacos,

it's usually dripping with mysterious orange overkill.

THIS chicken was the exception.

perfectly tender and juicy. spiced just right.

the slow roasted pork was out of this world.

again, flavors and smoky goodness shining through with 

being drowned and sloppy.

the short rib? also a hit

for similar reasons.

nothing too heavy or rich.

you can actually taste the beef.

i polished it all off with the tiniest can of coke zero

{seriously, it's small enough to fit in your palm.

i'm a sucker for tiny things.}

and gathered my thoughts.

so far, what i really like about these:

you can taste what you're eating.

everything doesn't just taste like generic mexican flavoring.

 suppose i'll go back again

{maybe even today}

just to be sure.

favorites?
hard to say.
my next order will probably be
two avocado. one pork. one chicken.
all amazing. but, when i finished the avocado
i felt like i wasn't quite ready to be done with it.

oh.

one last thing.

it doesn't hurt that the owners

named the whole operation after

their darling english bullie.

behold jacques.

photo via freep.