Panclog #34: Tacos in Austin
Vicki Vallencourt loves Veracruz!
5/29/17 8:54 AM
This is a long time coming. I hope you will forgive me only due to the fact that summer is for relaxing.
In May I went to my soon to be brother-in-law’s bachelor party weekend. We met at his home in Dallas, TX. We then drove to New Braunfels to have a blast of a time with people that will one day soon be in my family. I was completely honored to be invited to this weekend. Here is a nice picture of Chris with my sisters and I.
During this dude trip, we drank plenty of beers and smiled at a lot of people. I even bowled a 181 in one of the fanciest bowling alleys in New Braunfels. But let’s get to the heart of the matter, during this trip I discovered the wonderful and mysterious place that is Buc-ee’s. Buc-ee’s is an incredible convenience store/ gas station in Texas. They have their own mascot. How many convenience stores do you know that have a mascot!?! Honestly if you know of any, please let me know here. Wanna see a picture of me and a new friend with a statue of sir Buc-ee? Too late you are already looking at it.
I am sure you came here to learn about breakfast and not hear about me having a grand ole’ time with some fun people. So let’s chat about Veracruz All Natural.
Veracruz All Natural started in 2008 as a sno-cone and smoothie trailer. They then transitioned into a food truck shortly after. Veracruz then blossomed into a king in the breakfast taco game. They now have 3 different locations all around Austin. I will tell you all about it now!
Location/Environment: Veracruz All Natural was and is a food truck. At their original location (the one we went to) is on E Cesar Chavez. At that location there is a food truck with a fence around it that creates an outdoor seating area. It was quite quaint with the limited amount of seating that was available. It was a beautiful morning to be dining outside. There were about 7 tables out in this seating area. Each table had a umbrella to shield dining customers from the dangerous rays of the sun.
Service: Veracruz All Natural has the typical food truck ordering system. Stand in line. Order. Wait for food. Stuff that food into your mouth. Savor! This ordering system can sometimes be an annoyance if you are in a long line of hungry, hungry diners. These soon to be diners tend to create a pressure to know your order before you get to the front of the line. But Veracruz makes life easy by having their menu on their website and also at the front of the line.
Wait time for food: 7 Minutes.
Menu/Selection: First things first. Check out this taco menu. I am sadly going to neglect the non-breakfast items on this menu. But if I am ever back in the Austin area, I solemnly swear that I will have more tacos.
The menu was something to be in awe over. It was simple and elegant all while giving you all of the information you may need when making a decision. Veracruz also put nice recommendations with a small blurb like “One of the top 5 tacos in America. – Food Network” and “Called a ‘Minimal Masterpiece’ by Rolling Stone.” These blurbs can easily point you in a direction that you will most definitely find delicious. There are many vegetarian options for those people who don’t deal with meat.
Let’s talk about what I ate!
The delicious taco trio of Migas, La Reyna, and Al Pastor
I am the type of guy that enjoys a great trio of tacos. I went 3 different tacos to sample the menu and also to taste the rainbow. I chose La Reyna, Al Pastor, and Migas. Let’s start with La Reyna.
The La Reyna taco is described as egg whites, spinach, avocado, carrots, mushrooms, red bell pepper, pico de gallo, and Monterey jack cheese. If any of you know me, you may be surprised that I chose this taco. For those of you that are not in the know, I have over and over voted against the use of mushrooms in any dish. But this fine meal was at the end of a heavy beer-drinking weekend, so when I had the chance to get some vegetables that my darling wife begs me to have when I am away, I grab that chance. This was a beautifully seasoned medley of grilled vegetables all on a soft yet firm flour tortilla. There is only one negative aspect about La Reyna is that it is built out of many small ingredients. This creates a bit of a mess. This certainly doesn’t ruin the meal. It only creates the opportunity to use a fork.
Next is Al Pastor:
Let me tell you a little love story: A young man of about 23 years of age was telling a friend about his love for tacos. The friend asked the young man if he actually liked tacos or only taco bell. The young man stated a taco is a taco and that he liked them all. The kind friend promptly took this young man to the most magical taco joint that he has ever been to. That place was Bonito Michoacán.
Tacos are $1 on Tuesdays and Fridays at Bonito Michoacán. So that faithful Friday, that young man ate 7 different tacos from tripe to beef tongue and carne asada to chicken. After all that the young man decided that Al Pastor was best. And that young man grew up to be me, Jared Scot Sova!
Great story, right? Al Pastor is pork that is marinated in pineapple juice and chile guajillo. This stuff is some of the tastiest meat that you can ever have. The pairing with queso fresco and avocado that Veracruz All Natural did was something special. After dining on this taco I wrote one simple note. “Beautifully Done.”
Onto the Migas taco
First I’d like to say sorry about this picture. It was the first taco I had. I ate this taco and then instantly learned how to take a better portrait of a taco. But I first must say how fantastic migas is. Migas is a staple in the tex-mex breakfast game. Migas is made up of eggs, tortilla chips, avocado and pico de gallo. Because the tortilla chips are added to the eggs while they are being cooked, they soak up some of the flavor while also slightly softening. The key to good migas is to have the tortilla chips retain some of their crunchiness. This gives the dish the extra credit of differing textures that many dishes lack.
I would have to say that this taco was my absolute favorite of the three I tried. I do enthrall you to try as many as you can.
La Reyna – $3.50
Al Pastor – $3.00
Migas – $3.50
Overall: If you are anywhere near the Austin, Texas area, Veracruz All Natural is an absolute must. If you do not like the outdoor seating, Veracruz has a traditional restaurant location. The prices are a bit high per taco. But I must say that they are worth it.
Grade: I must give it an A+. I want more. Someone should bring me tacos.
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