707 Taco Truck Review

[Carolyn Tillie]

No, that's a different one in front of Central Valley. This is one is exactly outside of the Wal-Mart parking lot.

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Mea culpa -- just feeling left out of the fun...

[rancho_gordo]

Mea culpa -- just feeling left out of the fun... 

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Aren't you the one who can't tolerate any heat at all, has a complete disdain for cilantro and gets sores in her mouth when she eats raw tomatoes? It would be like taking me to a fashion show! It just never dawned on me. Sorry.

These jaunts are last minute whims, not organized eGullet events. I did try and organize this once and no one seemed particularly interested. I completely understand but I don't have it in me to keep rallying the troops for a simple taco.

But the documentation continues....

Today, being hot and hungry and coming home from the Ferry Plaza market, I found myself near Melkorville and cell=phoned to see if we could eat off the love wagons 2 days in a row. they agreed! We went to Guadalajara No. 1 on Sonoma at Ohio in Vallejo.

There is another, sadder Guadalajara in town but we skipped it. As I heard the meat sizzling past this busy truck, I knew the right decion had been made.

MsMelk had her usual cabeza burrito, MrMelk had a chicken taco and I had a pastor burrito. All burrito tortillas were grilled rather than steamed. The salsa was a chipotle. Onions were not grilled!

All agreed this wagon is very good, indeed!

It tasted like from a mix, but they did have horchata, but it's not on the menu.

All in all, great if you're downtown Vallejo. I still prefer Dos Hermanos but this is still better than anything in Napa- yet! The quest continues.

[MsMelkor]

I really liked the grilled tortilla - much tastier than steamed.

[melkor]

"Tacos el Coronel" - Geyserville, CA:

This truck obviously has a better view than the previous bunch did.

A little more expensive than yesterday, a bit cheaper than Friday.

carnitas, al pastor on the first plate, chicken on the next, cabeza next, and carne asada on the last.

All the tacos came with sauteed onions, which is a nice addition to the plate. It's hard to say if this was better than Guadalajara 1 yesterday, but it certainly was better than Michoacan on Friday.

[Julia'sChild]

Edited September 13, 2004 by Julia'sChild (log)

[marlena spieler]

any meetings of the taco truck appreciation society during the time period of latish october through november?

might i partake of guest membership?

marlena

[Marina Chang]

Melkor, I was just about to crow about my great taco truck find at the Geyserville exit off of Hwy 101, and lo and behold you had pictures of it! A couple of weeks ago, I had some of their really, really, really, tasty sopes with a very healthy variety of ingredients piled on top. Good pictures.

[melkor]

Yea

I guess the rest of us 707er's will have to wait to join

The Melkors and Rancho Gordo"s

Private Taco Truck Club

Well, maybe we can't afford the

membership fees anyway

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Since when is it a private taco truck club? As rancho_gordo has said, we've tried inviting other folks along and no one is ever interested. If ya know of a good truck, go visit, take pictures, post about it.

[melkor]

On second thought, we could even have a ancillary taco truck club for people who don't like mexican food but want to take part. They could gather at taco trucks and ask people if they like what they are eating, take pictures, and post reports - that way everyone could participate!

[pim]

Thanks for the invite... 

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Yea

I guess the rest of us 707er's will have to wait to join

The Melkors and Rancho Gordo"s

Private Taco Truck Club

Well, so the taco truck visit yesterday went like this.

Four friends in a spunky Audi racing down to buy some wine at Ridge.

One friend spotted a taco truck..."Hey taco truck!"

Three friends in unison..."Yay taco truck!!!"

about two split seconds there to invite other people.

enough time to gather a soccer team, yeah, so sorry we didn't do it.

Edited September 13, 2004 by pim (log)

[marie-louise]

Well, so the taco truck visit yesterday went like this.

Four friends in a spunky Audi racing down to buy some wine at Ridge.

One friend spotted a taco truck..."Hey taco truck!"

Three friends in unison..."Yay taco truck!!!"

about two split seconds there to invite other people.

enough time to gather a soccer team, yeah, so sorry we didn't do it.

 

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Well... IF there is a time when y'all know a day or so in advance that you are heading to a particular locale, would you mind posting the time & place in advance? I've been known to do stranger things than drive an hour to eat a great taco sitting on the curb w/ people I've never met.

Every time you post one of these reports I HAVE to go get Mexican food.

[melkor]

Well... IF there is a time when y'all know a day or so in advance that you are heading to a particular locale, would you mind posting the time & place in advance? I've been known to do stranger things than drive an hour to eat a great taco sitting on the curb w/ people I've never met.

Every time you post one of these reports I HAVE to go get Mexican food. 

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Sure, but honestly I don't think any of these have been planned more than an hour in advance.

Given that there are dozens of these trucks all over the area and we're here most of the time, we'll schedule it around you - when do ya want to come up this way?

[rancho_gordo]

Marie Lousie sayz:

Well... IF there is a time when y'all know a day or so in advance that you are heading to a particular locale, would you mind posting the time & place in advance?

If anything, I think we should be coming down to 510 for Mexican food! I'd love to have you up but showing off Napa's Mexican kitchens wouldn't be my shining hour. But come on up! I understand the wine is pretty good here and there are a couple of good restaurtants.

I have to say that Geyserville truck looked good. Especially if they have nice, greasy tacos dorado! For me, that's living! We're any of those tacos fried??? They look good but imagine the addition of cheap corn oil!

Today a pal and I went to what must be Carrie's friend's favorite. It's across the street from Central Valley lumber but it's not the same one that was there around this time last year. Anyway, it turns out it's Guadalajara No. 3, from Vallejo! Like the other truck in this memorable series, the al pastor is juicy and the tortillas are grilled rather than just steamed. We took them to my place to eat in an actual chair.

Would you look at the glorious grease! Makes me swoon just thinking about it. I'm sure it's all the same but I thought these were even better than the ones from Saturday. But it must be the same kitchen that makes them.

They didn't offer any sauce and none was in the bags when we got home so I pulled out my bottled. I LOVE Huichol and think it's better than Tapatio, which is good but a little too vinergary for me.

And look at this amazing trick- Look ma! No hands!

If you look closely, I believe you can see the face of Shelly Berman on the actual tortilla. Talk about miracles!

A little heavy- but heavy with goodness!!!!

Edited September 15, 2004 by rancho_gordo (log)

[tanabutler]

Does anyone here use the divinely dark Buffalo chipotle sauce? Oh, it's good. It's stuck with the Mother Mary and Jesus candles in my nearby Safeway's special Mexican section. There's a main Mexican section, and then there's the real one, all the way in the back of the store near the water fountains.

Whoever's hands are holding that burrito, yes, YOU in the yellow Izod...your skin looks about twelve years old. You can't be old enough to be a forum host or anything like that. Or maybe the carnitas are keeping you hydrated.

[rancho_gordo]

That's my friend who helps me weed and sometimes at the markets. I think you met him at the ferry building. He's older than me, so that makes him.....older.

[marie-louise]

Marie Lousie sayz:

If anything, I think we should be coming down to 510 for Mexican food! I'd love to have you up but showing off Napa's Mexican kitchens wouldn't be my shining hour. But come on up! I understand the wine is pretty good here and there are a couple of good restaurtants.

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It won't be until at least next week. Meanwhile, guess what I had for lunch today Yep- a "no-meat burrito" from Happy Burrito (on Webster.)

PS I'm a spiral unwrapper, too.

[marlena spieler]

Does anyone here use the divinely dark Buffalo chipotle sauce? Oh, it's good. It's stuck with the Mother Mary and Jesus candles in my nearby Safeway's special Mexican section. There's a main Mexican section, and then there's the real one, all the way in the back of the store near the water fountains.

Tana, I am a total Bufala devotee! I have been known to fill an entire backpack with the stuff so that i have enough to shake and shake and shake during the dark months before i return to california for next dose. i actually wrote a column kinda focused on it but the chronicla hasn't run it, i think its too product focused for their remit. so i'll rewrite it a little.......but it is one of the best of the chipotle concoctions, and you can just unscrew that cap whenever you want a nice smoky hit o flavour........

Marlena

[MsMelkor]

Next taco truck adventure: Friday, September 17 around 6pm, somewhere in the Napa area.

If you're interested, PM me by 5pm and we should know by then where we are going!

[MsMelkor]

Rancho Gordo, Melkor, and I ended up meeting at La Luna - not a truck (it's a Mexican market) but still quite good. The wait for our food was waaaaay too long (20 minutes including a very long line at the cash register to pay), and I think some of the truck food in the 707 area code, especially Dos Hermanos in Vallejo and el Coronel in Geyserville, is better. Rancho Gordo did say he really enjoyed his carnitas.

I think it's worth a stop if you are in the area and don't mind a potentially long wait, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there.

A few people did PM me but weren't able to make it, but perhaps we can try again this Friday. Let me know if you want to join us.