Colima

Or is this truck called Mora's Taco's? Whatever it is called it offers delicious food in just the right location - if you happen to be near the corner of Middleton Road and Caldwell Road in Nampa.


While at Mora's Colima Tacos, you can do some Christmas shopping. Movies, music, clothing and more.

An oft overlooked advantage to eating at taco trucks is that no one ever asks you to step outside to talk on your cell phone.

It seems unlikely, but if you can not pay the entire dollar for your taco at one time, this truck offers financing.

It does not offer financing. This truck is adjacent to a Honda dealership.

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Photographer

at Jalapenos taco truck.

Taqueria

This taqueria, which I believe is called Taqueria, is a rather large fifth wheel - a Holiday Rambler.

I ate two lengua tacos and an adobada. My colleague had a couple carne asada tacos. We agreed that the flavor was great but the asada tacos were a bit on the chewy side. The lengua and adobada were tender and perfect. Also, Taqueria serves on reusable plates.

People have recommended that I include menus whichI think is a great idea. If you have trouble reading this, click on it. I have also been asked to include hours. Unfortunately not all of them have regular hours. I can tell you that this one is open Saturday afternoons. In cases when hours are available I will post them.

Interested in buying a taco motor home? This advertisement was taped to the side of Taqueria.

Taqueria is butted up against Savvy's, a bar in Garden City on Chinden Street.

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Lil Red Cookhouse Visited

The Lil Red Cookhouse is not exactly a taco truck, and not just because it's a trailer,

but also because of the above. A Mormon friend of mine, when I told her about this taco said, "Oh, Mormon Tacos."
The Jolly Rancher is a good touch but I unfortunately threw mine away. Also unfortunate was the sudden and unavoidable need to - um - go to the bathroom. It was so sudden in fact that I can't blame this perfectly passable flour tortilla, chicken and iceberg wrap.

If you are tired of looking for a place to smoke while you eat, the Lil Red Cookhouse could be just the spot. In fact, it looked like there were free cigarette samples - there are a couple of fresh, new Marlboros in that large, ceramic astray.

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Lil Red Cookhouse

In the above photo there are two concessions. The white one is Muley's Mountain Coffee and the Red one is the Lil Red Cookhouse. The Lil Red Cookhouse advertises burritos, tacos, sodas and more. My associate and I had just eaten in Idaho City about ten minutes before stumbling upon these trailers and could not give the cookhouse a try. If you try the Lil Red Cookhouse, let me know what you think. I plan to eat there next time I drive out highway 21.
I am not sure how to make a map to the location. All I know is, if heading north on 21, it will be on the left about ten minutes before you reach Idaho City. No address or cross street.

It needs a grill

Taco Bike?

Inside

Inside a potential taco truck. I could cook in there.

This is not a review

I happened to stumble upon the Chilango's truck while I had black and white film in my camera so I am posting this to show people what blogs looked like back before digital cameras.

This truck is often parked near the Capital in Boise around lunch time. This time it was parked on 6th street between Bannock and Jefferson.

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Just when I give up paper bags

Tiger Shorty comes into my life.

Thank You

Amy for linking Taco Truck on your blog.

Family Friendly

Some associates decided it was high time they took their baby to a taco truck. He is three weeks old after all. Naturally they called me to accompany them.


For baby's first taco truck we chose Jalapeno's on Federal Way next to TK's Bar (coldest beer in Boise). Jalapeno's was chosen for it's delicious food and convenient location.

And because I have been wanting to try the tamales at Jalapeno's for a while. They were good and the young man only charged $1.50 (instead of $2) because he said they were a bit smaller than usual. I like my tamales on the smallish side but I suspect these tamales might not have been as fresh as they could have been. The baby seemed content to stick to an all dairy (is mother's milk a dairy product?) diet for the time being. By the way, I had my tamale with an excellent lengua taco chaser.

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Impact Man

I was just perusing No Impact Man, the blog about a family who attempted a year with zero environmental impact. A movie of the same name is due out momentarily. I know that eating beef is not great for the health the environment, to say nothing of the health of the cow. But carne asada is delicious. Cutting out beef is the first in No Impact Man’s list of guidelines for a low impact life. The second is not buying water, particularly imported water, which is a lot easier than cutting out carne asada. A few days ago I made Boeuf Bourguignon because Julia Child took the time to show me how on her PBS show, The French Chef. Julia makes everything seem ok, even ignoring the environmental impact of one’s eating habits. The Boeuf was pretty good by the way – I think the fact that it was cooked in almost an entire bottle of red wine helped. But I still felt awkward buying such a large hunk of meat. I don’t think I have every done that before. Yet, for some reason it is easy for me to suspend personal concerns about where my food comes from, what its effect on my body is, and it’s environmental impact when I patronize a taco truck. I am not about to stop eating at taco trucks. These are simply thoughts that occur to me and they fit perfectly with the rest of my hypocritical life. I drive more than I should. I almost always forget to bring bags with me to the grocery store. I eat beef.

Starting today, I am not going to accept bags at the grocery store.

Tacos Juanita

This restaurant is right behind Harvey's peach stand on State highway 55 and Riverside Rd. in Caldwell. It's just two roads before you get to Chicken Dinner Road. Or two roads past Chicken Dinner road if you are coming from Marsing.

Juanita's tacos cost a bit more but at $1.59 that's still a bargain.

I ordered carne asada tacos. They were served with cabbage on fried tortillas. Delicious. This time of year you can go next door to Harvey's and get a juicy red globe peach for dessert. Or a cantaloupe, or a two pound bag of green beans. Or all of the above which is what I did.

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Basilio's

On my way to the fair I stumbled upon this taco trailer advertising “Mexican Tacos.” I love Mexican tacos, so I ordered three al pastor tacos. They were good and they cost $1 each, my favorite price.

I went back a day later and ordered a shrimp tostada. The shrimp are medium sized and served cold with pico de gallo and avocado; a great choice for a hot day. The only problem with the tostada is the crispy corn tortilla that broke into pieces when I bit into it. Maybe this is not a problem with the tostada but a problem with the biter? Either way, this biter ended up with the tostada toppings on his shirt and lap. That did not stop him (once I switched from first person to third person I couldn’t switch back) from eating 90% of the shrimp tostada. He ended up eating it like chips and salsa, picking up the broken pieces and dipping them into the pico de gallo. The tostada cost $3.50, the price of a corn dog at the fair.

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Chez Bruno

This is not a taco truck. As expected, taco trucks are very rare indeed in France. This truck serves wood fired pizza, the kind with the the cracker thin crust. You will find Chez Bruno parked in the city center of Sault, which is in Provence near Mont Ventoux. The Pizza my colleague and I tried was called the Provencial and it had fresh tomatoes and olives. Beware, the olives had pits and for the first time in my life I broke and olive pit with my teeth. I am glad it was not the other way around. The pizza was the best pizza from a truck that I've ever had. And there was an actual wood fired oven in the truck. Tre cool.

Travels

I suppose there are two or three people out there hoping for word about another taco truck (or two or three) in or near Idaho. Unfortunately, I am out of Idaho and soon I'll be way out of Idaho in France, Europe. I have been warned that the tacos in France are rather sucky. I will let you know.

Guest Photographer

Beautiful pinhole (Leica pinhole!) photographs of El Torito by T. Apel.

Lily's

Finally hungry enough to eat at Lily's taco truck. I am not sure if the above spitted meat and pineapple is a special product for Cinco de Mayo or if this is something we can get on a regular basis from Lily's. It cost 25 cents more than the other taco choices for a grand total of $1.25. Perhaps the best taco in the treasure valley. They are served on a corn tortilla dredged in flavor (grease). They are also served with a pile of caramelized onions and peppers. These tacos are so good that I am going to have to unpack my adjectives to do them any justice. I usually only use adjectives like, "good," or "delicious," so this is not easy for me. I am a little self-conscious. Here goes: Lily’s al pastor tacos are extremely tender, succulent, mouthwatering, toothsome and expertly spiced. That wasn’t so bad.
According to one of my operatives, Lily's is usually parked at the Walmart in Nampa. I will report back with any further findings.

An Embarrassment of Riches

And I just ate breakfast.
At first I thought there were five (Cinco) taco trucks parked in front of the Student Union at Boise State University, but one (uno) was a Hawaiian Shaved Ice and cotton candy trailor. Cinco made sense to me because today, May 3rd, is Cinco De Mayo here at Boise State University.
But what has me so excited are all the solar panels:

It is nice to know that truck dining is one of the "greener" options in Idaho.
Of the four taco trucks I have only NOT eaten at one of them, Lily's. Lily's is the one on the left that says "Mariscos" on the side. Unfortunately, I really had just eaten breakfast so I have yet to sample a taco from Lily's.

By the way, none of the solar panels are actually solar panels.

King Taco Express, Marsing

This is the truck I recommend when visiting Marsing, Idaho. Freddy's tacos will do in a pinch but if both are open go to King. The great advantage King has over Freddys is variety. I tried lengua, pastor and asada (I think, it's been a few weeks). I do remember that they all tasted good.


If you're not hungry you might want to hike up one of the many canyons in the Owyhees, then go back to Marsing for Lunch.

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Freddy's, Marsing

When a taco vendor greets me with the phrase, "chicken or beef," I become suspicious. Also, ground beef and tacos are two things that should only be together at Taco Bell or Taco Time or on my plate in the 1970s.
Freddy's does not have great variety, but on the bright side they

have a cute trailer and they provide seating for their customers

and parking

and a flag.

If you find yourself in Marsing I would recommend driving a few blocks west of Fredy's to see if the other truck* is open for business. If not, then go back and eat at Freddy's. My colleague and I both ate tortas. One of my favorite parts of a torta is the avocado part. Sadly our tortas were avocado free.

*To be mentioned in a future post.

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Los Portales, Nampa

A colleague from Portland, Oregon snapped this photograph with his iPhone. Thank you. He is a vegetarian and enjoyed a bean, cheese and avocado taco. Moments before we had eaten tacos at Jalapeno taco truck on Federal Way in Boise. He thought both were delicious but preferred the taco at Portales because it contained whole pinto beans. I had a yummy lengua taco. The tacos at Portales are served with limes and radishes. After this we went to Tacos Aguillia in Nampa. I had another lengua taco. Also delicious. The colleague had a third bean taco. He still preferred the Portales taco because of the whole beans. Also, Portales was the only truck that put the requested avocado on his taco.

The truck is on Garrity on the right as you head toward downtown Nampa. I will post more precise directions later.

Benny's Taco Bus Weiser

From the side I wasn't sure if this was a business, a sign, or a former business

but from the front it looks like an actual, viable taco concern. Unfortunately they aren't open at 7:30 in the morning and my associates and colleagues - well, two associates and one colleague - would not wait 4 1/2 hours for the bus to open. But that wont stop me from recommending it. Next time you are looking for Mexican food in Weiser try Benny's.
Let me know if it is good.

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Tacos Aguililla Revisited

Yesterday a colleague and I had an obligation that took us to Nampa and that facilitated another visit to Tacos Aguililla. I've got nothing to add to my previous review except that the tacos are still delicious.


Here is our Nampa obligation being filled. The gentleman above was in need of transportation to Portland, and after a failed, halfhearted, effort in Boise to see if anyone was driving to Portland we settled on dropping him off at the train tracks. Three hours later my colleague and I received a text from our hobo friend with the news that he was safely riding in a grain car.

Tacos Mexicanos

I failed to find a taco truck in Twin Falls but I did find a place called New York Burrito. Experience has taught me to avoid restaurants with names like "New York Burrito," or "Mexico City Bagel." Note: it is OK if the cities are switched.
I did discover a beautiful canyon.


I admit that I did not try too hard to find a taco truck because when I got out of my car it was freezing and I did not relish the idea of outdoor eating or even outdoor ordering.
So I left one Falls for the other Falls. While driving on the Yellowstone Highway in Idaho Falls, I stumbled upon Tacos Mexicanos.



The prices were pretty good - $1.50 for tacos and $2.85 for tortas. But the tacos were either an acquired taste or not very good. I admit I was a bit suspicious when the person who took my order seemed to be an American and not of Mexican descent. Would I offend if I said "Gringo?" Yes and not least because she was a "Gringa." I have my prejudices although I prefer to call them preferences.
Directions:
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La Chiquita

I've been out of the Taco Truck stated area of coverage for many weeks. The above truck is in Arcata, California; a state that does not border Idaho. Some of you, I am sure, are happy that California does not border Idaho, indeed that it borders two of our neighbors is too close as it is. You will also be happy to read that the tacos at La Chiquita are twice as expensive ($2) as our local delicious fare. But if you prefer bigger tacos you might be less happy to read that the tacos are also twice as big as an average Idaho truck taco. I will not bother with directions to this truck. I'll just tell you that it is north of the Plaza off H street - easy to find if you are in Arcata.