El Paisa: Tacos al-bistec or al-mistake?? Guest Post via Joel Salcido

When my compadre en tacos y photos, El Mero Mero Photgrafero, Joel Salcido texted me a pic of El Paisa taco trailer on William Cannon, my first thought was Neon Sign + tacos + picnic bencheees, sounds like a good mix! Next to neon signs, the taco art isa sign of a good taco truck. Much to his dismay, Joel didn't like the tacos and I asked him to write it up for us. I think this may be his informal induction into the Austin Taco Council, a subsidiary of the Texas Taco Council...patent pending. ;)

El Paisa taco trailer by Joel Salcido

From the car I could see the taco promised land.

The El Paisa neon sign of the food truck parked in South Austin radiated its orange glow onto the faces of the gathering crowd as they all stood there in an apparent and involuntary hunger strike.

My wife and I decisively made a quick U-turn on William Cannon just east of I-35 in our quest to partake of the taco fest.

Once under the aura and radiance of the orange sign I ordered four tacos al bistec.  My anticipation was so great that I could almost taste the Habanero burn of the neon light.

I could see the stress in the woman’s face and in her rapid-fire Spanish voice she informed us of a 30-minute wait.

In a split-second I concluded that a 30-minute wait only meant that these tacos would be, “la bomba!”  I should have figured right there and then that this taco bomba experience was never going to burst my tastebuds.

So several hundred seconds after our 30-minute mark, numero veintiseis (#26) came calling!

In anticipation I catapulted out of the picnic table and dashed for our tacos.

The paper plate could barely hold the excitement of the tacos-al-bistec or more like tacos- al-mistake!

The four, duo-tortilla tacos came with bistec meat that was Chihuahuan desert dry and that leaned towards a stubborn version of a fried beef jerky that vacillated between corkscrew strips of fat an alleged beef.

Thinking I could save the day by spicing and hydrating the desiccated valley of my tacos I looked around for a magic salsa.  I bounced around from table to table until I found a single squeeze bottle with some light orange concoction.

I poured and squeezed and baptized my tacos in salsa but never experienced salvation.

Needless to say this Mexican has never felt so betrayed by a taco.

Sin fin…

Joel Salcido, on location in Jalisco, Mexico

El Paisa Taco Trailer --- 1 Star
1821 E. William Cannon Dr.
Austin, Texas 78744