Who doesn’t love tacos?
What other kind of food has a day of the week dedicated to just them? None. And when I thought about the idea of crushing 24 tacos that represent the region in a unique way, I thought it was a brilliantly delicious way to devour one of my favorite foods.
But, what I quickly found out is that in order to highlight so many options, 24 are not truly 24 — it’s more like 34 — or maybe even 40. Even though I had plenty of time to spread out the gluttony, it’s still an awful lot of tacos for one human being to consume. Did I get over my skis a bit? Sure. Did I regret the decision to dive head first into one of the tastiest food adventures around Tahoe? Not. One. Bit.
Now that I’ve woken from my salsa slumber, I’m happy to share what I found out along the way. And while I completely understand everyone has their idea of what makes a good taco for them, I wanted to showcase options that weren’t the everyday variety.
Shadyside Lounge Garlic Ribeye Taco
I couldn’t decide if these were my ultimate favorite out of all the tacos for this story, but they’re up there. Ribeye is such a flavorful cut of beef, so when it gets marinated in plenty of fresh garlic and onion, it soaks up that flavor like a sponge and the result is insanely flavored meat that’s as tender as a baby’s touch.
Served in a flour tortilla, the meat gets even more amplification with the addition of spicy pickled onions, queso fresco, avocado crema, and cilantro. A hint of smokiness with a touch of heat on the back end, they also get a punch of creaminess from the crema. Try them with their local porch pounder and you’ll have a perfect Tahoe summer experience.
Azul Latin Kitchen Thai Curry Taco
Their homemade tortilla is a special blend of both corn and flour. Sitting atop this throne is Malaysian-Thai curry roasted chicken, candied jalapenos, pickled mango, and freshly chopped cilantro. Lime wedges are there to brighten everything up, but even without the limes, this taco packs in so much flavor you’d think it was ready to hike the entire Tahoe Rim Trail.
You get a little bit of heat from the curry, but it’s mellowed out by the sweetness from the mango and the candied jalapeno dances on both sides of the room with the cilantro putting the finishing touches on the freshness.
Front Street Station Pizza Carne Asada Taco
Carne asada basically rides into town on the coattails of its ingredients and let’s them do all of its talking — mainly from the meat. The corn tortilla first gets a warming in their pizza oven before a healthy dose of the shredded marinated beef is added. It gets topped with some sautéed onions and fresh cilantro and that’s your base.
The meat is packed with flavor and fully delivers with a fantastic juiciness. The taco shell holds up amazingly well through the last bite. The most surprising element of the taste comes from the sautéed onions. That slight caramelization packs in just the right amount of sweetness to balance out the savory and when paired with the additional onion from the pico, you have a nice double whammy of flavor and textures.
Sage Leaf Braised Bacon Taco
Starting with the outside and working our way in, flour tortillas are grilled to give them a nice smoky flavor and flaky texture. They are loaded with scrambled eggs, melted cheddar cheese, black beans, shaved purple cabbage, pickled onions, and the star of the show: thick cut bacon, which was slow braised in a bath of water and garlic for about four hours before getting a final griddle on the flat top. They are garnished with fresh cilantro and served with their scratch made salsa verde (roasted tomatillos, onion, garlic, jalapenos, lime juice, and cilantro).
The beans yield an earthiness that plays off the bacon incredibly well. The salsa brightens up the entire dish and there are great pops of acid with the pickled onions. There’s a soft creaminess from the eggs, and to balance out that texture, the cabbage comes in with a pronounced crunch. Everything does it part to bring you the complete essence of bacon and everything you want in a breakfast taco.
The Burrito Window Battered Shrimp Taco
When it comes to tacos, battered shrimp is a fantastic option for protein. Not only do you get that slight sweetness combined with a crunchy exterior, but also they stay in the shell perfectly for each bite. They’re joined here by a crunchy jicama slaw, chipotle sour cream, cilantro and a cumin lime aioli.
The flavors in the aioli and sour cream immediately kick this into overdrive. It’s light and buttery, crispy and creamy, and hits every branch on the way down the taco tree. Adding in either sauce option (red or green) only adds to the tasting experience.
Truckee Brewing Co. Baja Fish Taco
Fish tacos begin and end with the fish. If it’s not done right, there’s almost no way to save the taco. Here, it’s absolutely the star of the show. The huge portion of cod is fried to absolute perfection giving you some of the best outer texture super power I’ve seen in a taco, while also keeping the interior supremely moist and delicious.
The fish rests upon a bed of chipotle slaw and pico de gallo, topped with an avocado salsa, then wrapped in a corn tortilla. The worlds of creamy and crispy collide to give you a near-perfect bite every time. There’s just enough subtle spice to keep everything honest, and the avocado salsa provides the right amount of tanginess to balance out the slaw. Throw in a squeeze of lime to brighten everything up, and it serves as the cherry on top.
Tahoe Tavern & Grill Mushroom Street Taco
Mushrooms do an outstanding job standing in for the protein in these tacos and they really are the stars of the show. They are joined in the double crispy fried corn shell approach by diced onion, cilantro, and cotija cheese and served with their scratch-made salsas.
It’s a savory and rich option, but the salt from the cotija and tang from the cilantro balance out the flavors nicely. And since they give you both salsa options, doubling up is not a crime. Add in some freshly made guac and this gonzo approach to the street taco hits the high notes like Robert Plant in his prime.
Fat Cat Bar & Grill Thai Chili Taco
OK, so these are probably more widely considered a lettuce wrap, but they’re served in full taco presentation. If asked to add jalapeno and avocado, don’t think, just nod your head yes. The lettuce “shells” are filled with grilled beyond meat swimming in Thai chili sauce and then topped with shaved carrots, green onions and sesame seeds.
These are sweet and spicy in the best way possible and the flavor from the beyond meat is enough to blow your hair back. This dish also has textures just spewing from its pores and gives you a perfect balance with each bite. As soon as these were gone, we immediately wanted another order. So if you’re addicted to tacos, you’ve been warned.
Bite Tahoe Jicama Wrap
Jicama slices are cooked ever so slightly to give them pliability to replicate the standard taco shells. If you’re not familiar with this root vegetable, it’s slightly sweet which brings another level of flavor than just an ordinary shell.
The walnut “meat” gets every bit of flavor out of the walnuts as you would out of traditional meat — perhaps even more. Rounding out the rest of the team are peppers, cashew “cheese,” and tomatillo salsa. There are few more ingredients that co-star as a slaw (radishes, cilantro, etc.), but these are the main players, and boy do they come to play.
Frescana Mexican Bistro Taco Surf N Turf
You have your choice of flour or corn tortillas, so pick your favorite, sit back, put your tray table up, and get ready for flavor take off. Their perfectly seasoned beef brisket marries up with super plump shrimp and gets topped with a heaping portion of chile-churri slaw and green crema.
The tender tandem of beef and shrimp is an all-star duo. The slaw not only throws you a nice tanginess, but the carrots, cabbage and peppers provide all the textures you need. The green crema is the cherry on top and simply elevates everything it comes in contact with — including your palette.
COMO Salsa Negra Taco
One of COMO’s most popular tacos, it’s easy to see why. Honestly, I’m not sure what kind of voodoo the ingredients are doing here, but they sure had me at hello. I seriously think I ate the whole taco in two bites. The combination of their slow braised pork, salsa negra, cilantro, and onion strike a superb balance of sweet and spicy and the addition of the slivered crispy topping just sends it over the top.
The depth of flavor is what sets this taco apart. While rich and juicy and just enough heat to tug at the strings, nothing ever feels out of place and when you add a squeeze of lime, it’s like a shooting star on your taste buds.
Lupita’s Mexican Restaurant Chorizo Taco Presidente
As the restaurant’s most popular taco (you have the choice of protein pickery), the chorizo is a no-brainer for me. Loaded with flavor with just the right amount of heat, it’s packed into a lightly fried tortilla along with cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and avocado.
The kicker in this taco (aside from the flavorful meat) is really the light crispy texture they get on the shell. It never falls apart, keeps all the fillings at bay, but still delivers the crunch with each bite — it’s like magic. Beautiful. Tasty. Magic.
Maria’s Mexican Restaurant Tacos Al Vegano
Much like the mention of Lupita’s taco shell being the star, Maria’s might have the best tasting hand made corn tortillas in all of Tahoe. Each vegan taco option on the menu is served with cilantro, onion, house made green salsa, and your choice of protein: plant chik’n, soy chorizo, vegan ground beef, or tofu and vegetables.
Each one of the protein options is a home run — I really couldn’t choose here. You’re really in good hands when it comes to Maria’s; everything feels like the best parts of your family kitchen and they never will fall short in the flavor department.
Tremigo Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar Birria Taco
Marinated beef gets a low and slow cook in their scratch-made adobo before ultimately getting shredded and served in shells with gooey melted cheese and onion, alongside a side of consommé dipping broth and fresh lime wedges.
While there are textures galore coming from inside the taco and out, that dip richness intensifies the taste of everything it touches due to the depth of flavor that is created from the broth cook time. The meat is super flavorful and you can tell it’s spent some time in the pool given the taste layers that attack your palette. The splash of citrus brightens everything up giving you a nice contrast to the other components.
Sonney’s BBQ Shack Smoked Chicken Taco
Yes, Sonney’s BBQ is known for their BBQ. And while you can get their “famous taco’s” with seasoned ground beef, brisket, pulled pork or chicken, surprisingly, I didn’t have a whole lot of representation of chicken on this list so that’s what we’re featuring — although every option is delicious (yes, I tried all three).
The chicken filling comes from their half chickens that get smoked 3-4 hours before getting shredded and topped with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and a light dusting of parmesan. The meat is moist and perfectly smoky and even though this dish shows up on the menu as an appetizer, they’re plenty large enough to fill up the tank.
T’s Mesquite Rotisserie Tri-tip Taco
If you know anything about the Lake Tahoe institution that is T’s, you know the star of the show is going to be their meats. There’s just something magical about what they’re doing. As far as tacos go, this is pretty straightforward and they hang their hat on quality ingredients.
Served on two white corn tortillas and garnished with cilantro, you have your choice of fresh salsa and you can’t go wrong with any option. Go ahead and add in the guacamole — you’ll thank me later. You do have your option of protein, but for the sake of this story, we had to go with the out-of-the-box option for tacos. But, really any option you’ll have a happy belly.
RMU Korean Pork Belly Street Taco
Any chance at grabbing crispy and tender nuggets of pork belly, you need to jump at it — at least that’s what I do. Sure, you can also choose shrimp or mushroom, but that delicate balance that pork belly provides, along with a slight smokiness, is what really sets fire to these tacos. They’re served up as an order of three with Korean coleslaw, scallions and sesame seed.
These tacos carry the triple S factor: sweet, spicy, and sticky — and we’re all better humans for it. I’m very partial to flavors of Korean cuisine, but if you’ve never had them, there’s no better place to start than right here.
Chico’s Burger Pastor Taco
A taco dish from a burger joint? Ab-so-lute-ly. Their pastor is some of the most flavorful pork that I’ve ever had — it has flavor to burn it’s that jam-packed. It gets the double dose of corn tortillas before getting topped with fresh onions, cilantro, house-made sauce, pineapple, and served with a fresh lime wedge for squeezing.
The meat is juicy and the onions add great texture, but the addition of charred pineapple is super unique. That slight caramelization from the sugars in the fruit not only adds another dimension of sweetness, but also a level of freshness.
Steamers Parmesan Crusted Ground Beef Taco
If you’re going to go with the O.G. taco filling, it might as well be with one that comes in a famous parmesan-crusted tortilla. Using an 80/20 blend of chuck, shoulder, and short rib, these might sound pretty traditional, but I assure you they are not. They are cooked in a mirepoix (celery, onion, carrot) with additions of red bell peppers and poblanos and a healthy dose of their scratch-made taco seasoning.
And yes, while the outer shells are what all the tacos getting served up at Steamers is famous for, you can’t discount the love and appreciation they have for all their ingredients. Each taco also gets a topping of their house-made slaw (lettuce, cabbage, carrot, cilantro), fresh tomato, and a dusting of cheese. On a poundable scale out of 10, these are a surefire 10.
Jake’s on the Lake Filet Mignon Aloha Tacos
Whether or not you’d ever thought filet mignon would make its way into a taco (and ultimately in your belly) is beside the point. You just need to roll with this. Those super tender steak tips are first marinated in a Korean bulgogi concoction before getting its ultimate cook. It’s placed in a corn tortilla with shaved cabbage, mango salsa, and sriracha aioli.
These tacos are a perfect accompaniment to a summer day. Bright and fresh with layers upon layers of flavor, the check every box when it comes to the taco checklist — at least every box in my mind. And with Jake’s sitting right on the lake, you have a perfect backdrop for lunch on the lake.
Sam Choy’s Ohana Diner Poke Tacos
Starting with the outside, a flour tortilla is pasted with fresh edamame hummus then a second (corn) tortilla is placed inside giving you a double-decker for the ages. Inside the shells carries shoyu (soy) poke, layered with Asian slaw, lomi tomato, spicy aioli, and cilantro.
Combined with the poke, the level of freshness hits DEFCON 1 (or is it 4?). Let’s just say you’re not going to be searching around for freshness in this dish — it has plenty. The juxtaposed taco shells add a perfect texture component and when you get the edamame hummus jumping in, it adds a slightly buttery sweetness to everything. The spicy aioli naturally lends itself to a creaminess, but the spice level is just enough to let you know its there without aggravating any taste buds.
The Loft Crispy Tamarind Chipotle Duck Tacos
If just saying the name of this dish sounds like a mouthful, wait until you actually taste it. I’m pretty sure these are the only duck tacos around the basin, so if duck is your thing, these should be on your short list. Perfectly crispy duck is combined with a sweet and smoky sauce and served with grilled pineapple slaw and topped with fresh cilantro on lightly grilled tortillas.
Who knew how well of friends tamarind and chipotle were? It’s truly a flavor combination that you have to try to appreciate fully. It serves as a perfect mediator of the rich and rustic duck and the bright and tangy pineapple slaw.
Red Truck Adana Pork Tacos
Traditionally made with lamb, the Adana is a Turkish roasted kebab. Here, the lamb is substituted with ground pork but its still packing huge flavor from the mixture that includes onions, garlic, rosemary, marjoram, and pepper. All of the seasonings combined with the slight char provide deep and rich layers that peel back like an onion after each and every bite.
The pork is served on doubled up corn tortillas, street taco style. It’s topped with a yogurt tahini sauce, fresh cabbage, and fattoush, which contains diced cucumbers, red onion, garlic, parsley, Fresno chili pepper, and lemon juice. Combined with the rest of the fattoush, cabbage, and tahini, it mellows out and leaves you with a crisp and refreshing compliment to the flavor-spiked pork.
Caliente Grilled Fish Taco
Sure, you can get the snapper (or sometimes rockfish depending on the day) battered and fried, but we already gave you one of those options. Instead, go the route of having the fish grilled and you get a beautiful smoky element that balances out the apple-jicama slaw, guacamole, and compliments the chipotle-tomato aioli perfectly.
The portions of the two taco plate are hearty — there’s no skimping on how much fish you’re getting. It’s juicy and flaky and the acid from the slaw cuts through the creamy guacamole and aioli to bring a nice steadiness of flavors. And if you’re hitting up the restaurant on the right day, you can enjoy these tacos on one of the best outdoor patios overlooking Lake Tahoe.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the Summer 2024 edition of Tahoe Magazine.
