good friends and tacos

My friend, Justin, really loves tacos. Ever since I started this blog he has been waiting for a chance to get some delicious trailer tacos with me, so we made plans to accomplish this on Tuesday. We chose Izzoz Tacos for their convenient location and BYOB setting.

We met at the trailer and scanned the menu to decide what to eat. I was famished and already knew I was ordering two tacos. Luckily, I had looked at the menu online and read a few Yelp! reviews so I knew I wanted to order The Shroom taco. I was also in the mood for chicken and since the menu only offered one chicken-based taco (The Bowman) the decision was practically made on my behalf. I asked the man working the window, Adam (part owner), if those were good choices and he confidently stated that there were no bad choices at Izzoz. I trusted him. After Justin ordered (The Padre and Escobar), we stood at the window and chatted with Adam for a bit. He told us about the business and how it's a family enterprise and all about the feature they got on the new Cooking Channel show called Eat St. This made me wish I had cable at home so I could watch it!

About this time Justin called my attention to a sign saying there was a prize for the individual that could hula-hoop for 5 minutes. 5 MINUTES. Folks, that is a looooong time to continuously hula-hoop, but I was up for the challenge. I took the hoop for a test run to feel it out, then set about winning that prize (a free Old School taco). I felt like I looked like an idiot, but I was focused. About a minute and a half into the ordeal, I doubted I could finish but I pressed onward. This was a very interesting work out, but I was earning my tacos. A few times I momentarily lost my rhythm but quickly recovered and finished the entire 5 minutes! My stomach was numb where the hoop had been circling my body and my legs were fatigued from holding the same position, but that taco was mine! I sat for a much-deserved break and waited for our food to arrive.

 

 

The generously-portioned tacos each came with their own award-winning salsa and looked great. I started with The Shroom and was surprised at how fantastic it was. This was the most delicious vegetarian taco I've ever tried. I loved the homemade flour tortilla and the tomato chipotle aioli the most. I ate about half of that one before even attempting The Bowman and when I did take a bite, I just wanted more of The Shroom instead! Not to downplay The Bowman, it had a ton of chicken and the salsa fresca was delightful. I found the chicken to seem a bit dry, but I think it's only because I was comparing it to the texture of the mushrooms in my other taco and the very moist meats in Justin's choices (yeah, he let me take a bite of each and they were sooooo good). I was very happy with my choices and I didn't get order's remorse even in the slightest.

 

My free taco prize arrived a few minutes later and it was just what an old school taco should be. Crispy, freshly-fried shell with ground beef, tomatoes, lettuce (it was actually spinach I think), and shredded cheese. It was like your best childhood memory of a taco, only the grown-up, tastier version of it. Justin and I split that and even after finishing my two tacos and half of another, I didn't feel that gross, heavy fullness that you can get from some taco joints.

Both of the family members working that evening came out to chat with us and made sure we had everything we needed. The chef that evening even brought me some of the carmalized pineapple that Justin had 86ed from his Padre just so I could taste what it was really like. I enjoyed the relaxed atmoshpere at this trailer the most out of any of them. The beverages that we brought for ourselves probably didn't hurt. ;)

Izzoz gets a whopping 5 out of 5 trailers, and that's hard for me to give since I just gave out a 5... but they totally deserved it. I'm already craving that Shroom taco again and I desperately want to try those tortas with a side of garlic fries! I loved this trailer for their food, fun atmosphere (where else do you get to hula-hoop for prizes?), and all their friendly family members. I will be a repeat customer.

Guest Review:

I love tacos and would gladly eat them daily, and Izzoz has some of the best in Austin. After browsing their menu featuring quite a wide variety of options, I decided to order the Padre (pork, avocado, tomatillo sauce, and grilled pineapple) and the Escobar (carne guisada, pico de gallo, and cilantro). The Escobar was a fantastic choice, and the spices they used for their carne guisada were just right, going great with the other two simple ingredients. The meat was tender, the pico was very fresh, and the homemade tortilla finished off what was a delicious taco. Next up was the Padre. Not being a huge fan of pineapple, they were kind enough to put them on the side for me and unfortunately I think this was a mistake on my part. The taco just felt... incomplete, as if it was missing some sort of flavor. I couldn't be bothered to dwell on it for too long however, as Shalyn's hula hooping prowess paid off and a fresh Old School taco was served up for us to share. Now, as far as tacos go, this is as simple as it gets; crunchy shell, seasoned beef, spinach, tomatoes and cheese. And that's exactly why I thought this taco was the best of the three. It seems like no one wants to make a good old fashioned greasy crispy taco anymore, and Izzoz proved to me that they do still exist. The great traditional taco flavors, perfect meat to lettuce to cheese ratio, and a freshly fried-to-a-crisp tortilla made this a taco I will be coming back for when all those fancy options all over town are just not cutting it. 

Oh, and did I mention it is BYOB? Seriously, you just can't go wrong in giving this place a try.

Green

pork revival

Our skeeball team won a trophy!!! And, after a quick photo, Justin and I walked down West 6th Street to grab some tacos to celebrate. Ian, being the all-star that he is, was still playing in a championship round. But don't worry, Justin brought him back some grub.

After my previous experience with that pork(ish) taco last week, I thought it would be a while before I attempted another trailer-taco built around the meat, but I simply couldn't resist. I've heard (read) about The Peached Tortilla's bahn mi taco (on twitter) and everyone had excellent things to say about it. When I asked Gary (operations manager) which was the most popular taco, the bahn mi was on the list so I felt personally responsible to mend my relationship with the other white meat tacos right then. Great. Choice. We also split an order of the fresh cut Belgian fries with the sauces they gave us (wish I had asked what they were).

I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS TRAILER. The food was fantastic, the location is convenient (behind Star Bar) and updated on their website/twitter, and the people were so friendly! The flavors in my taco were so delicious that I tried to eat as slowly as possible so it would last longer. It didn't even matter that I didn't totally understand the ingredients (pickled daikon?). Trust me, this thing was yummy. I bet the sriracha mayo had a big role to play in that. I also managed to snag a bite of Justin's Pad Thai burrito and it was equally spectacular. The fries seemed like no big deal by the looks of them, but wow! They were packed with flavors and were a softer consistency that I just loved. That one orangey-colored sauce (peach bbq? bacon ranch?) was so delicious that I used my second corn tortilla to scoop up the remnants from the bottom of the container. YUM.

 

Let me just say, as amazing as the food was, the service was even better. I chatted with Gary about how he got into the food-trailer line of work and about my blog. He also introduced us to the chef. This is probably my favorite part about food-trailering: getting to chat with the awesome people that work their tails off to serve unique sustenance in a crazy-cramped environment. Later I also met Ben, the marketing director for Hey Cupcake! which was really fun.

We took our food to eat at the tables inside the Star Bar patio area and were pleasantly surprised that Gary came over to ask us how things were - like they do at restaurants. He definitely didn't have to go that far, but he did. He also shared with us that the chef had masterminded a new possible menu item an hour before and offered us some of the first batch to try on-the-house. Those Pad Thai-stuffed mushrooms were reeeeeeeally great. I think the mushroom flavor overpowered the Pad Thai a bit, but it was extremely tasty and maybe that's the point when you stuff something: to bring the flavors together while still giving the stuffee the spotlight. In any case, this was fabulous. Thank you so much for sharing with us!

 

Oh man, I am having trouble putting into words just how great of an experience we had at The Peached Tortilla. This place gets an outstanding 5 out of 5 trailers for just being badass overall. I can't wait until I get to go eat there again. I'm hoping I can catch them at one of their locations at lunch time so I can try more menu items!

Guest Review:

I have a general rule of thumb when I am out to eat, and that is "When a fried egg can be added to the item, you ALWAYS order it." When I saw that they had a burrito filled with Pad Thai, and noticed that they would throw in a fried egg, it was a no brainer. One of their chefs also created a fried mushroom filled with pad thai, and was kind enough to let us try his first ever batch of them for free!

The pad thai in my burrito was very good, although a little on the dry side. The fried egg helped with that, but it was cooked all the way through with no delicious runny yolk (I should note that I didn't ask for it to be fried a specific way, a problem that I will make sure to remedy on my next visit). However, the guy working the truck gave me a cup of sriracha, and using it like a salsa took the burrito up a notch and added just the right amount of juiciness. Just another example of how sriracha makes everything better. The fried mushrooms stuffed with pad thai were up next, and they were excellent. I really hope they are permanently added to the menu, as everything just worked perfectly together inside that little ball of fried goodness. A dab of sriracha again to spice things up, and we have a winner.

With a very friendly and helpful staff, convenient location, and a delicious variety of food, I will most definitely be coming back for more. I recommend you do the same.

Green

stomachache

What are the odds that two things I really like would be combined? Well when they are movie sets (with Danny working on them) and trailer park eateries, the odds aren't great. What are the odds that two things I really do not like would be combined? When they are pork rinds and anything else edible, one is too many. Both happened Friday night.

 

Twitter, again, came to my aid in planning an exciting evening. Once I confirmed that the movie set wasn't closed to the public, I sent the email out to my faithful followers (you can be one too! just shoot an email to trailertrashandtreasures@gmail.com) with the details of the evening and BAM! We had a plan for a fantastic Friday night at the East Side Drive In.

 

 

Walking up to the lot of trailers can be intimidating under normal circumstances, but when there is expensive-looking movie equipment and people rushing around watching other people in brightly-colored leotards dance, it's crazy nerve-wracking. Glad not to be alone, I met up with Sheena and Alisha and we made a loop around the perimeter to check out the offerings. We saw Eat, The Vegan Yacht, Heros Frozen Treats (but they were closed), Pig Vicious, Pueblo Viejo, Bits and Druthers, Love Balls, and The Local Yolk. On our trip around the park, we stopped in front of Pig Vicious where we scoped out what the guys at the near table were munching. The guys were really nice and talked to us (instead of shooing us away) and turns out that one of them is my Twitter hero, Tony (@FoodTrailersATX)! I embarrassed myself by getting too excited/nervous, but luckily my calm, supportive friend Sheena stepped in and acted casual (normal). She told him about the blog since I was incapable of rational thought (due to both nervousness and extreme hunger at this point) and he seemed interested! Maybe my proudest moment as a blogger thus far. Followed closely by the @mention shout out from him later that night to ask what I ended up eating. Oh boy, was I excited!

Enough about that, we still needed to eat. Tony said the fish and chips from Bits and Druthers were some of the best he'd ever had, so Sheena and Alisha quickly settled on that. Around that time my new roommate, Rikki, and her friend, Weston, joined our party. They walked around and chose to order at Pueblo Viejo. I still could not make up my mind. I circled the trailers like a hunting predator, but could not for the life of me commit to anything. This is not my finest quality. I even walked up to order an egg sandwich from The Local Yolk, but at the last second reconsidered (fatal mistake). Finally, after at least 20 minutes of hesitating, I walked up to the menu of Pueblo Viejo. I wanted a tamale and a taco, but which of each? An interesting character walked past me and overheard my struggle to choose and lavished praise on the chicharron taco. Grateful for any advice at this point, I pounced on it. I asked the lady working the window if it was good and she nodded. She asked if I liked pork with a look of concern on her face which I didn't understand, and I quickly said yes. I also ordered a tamale, but the only ones they had left were the cheese and jalapeno. Sure! I'll take one of those. Throw in a Dr. Pepper, why don't ya. That was my meal, and I was excitedly hopeful it would be as delicious as the friendly service suggested.

After I got my food (since I was last...), we found a table out of the movie shot and sat down for a nice meal. My first bite tasted alright, but there was a strange texture that I was completely not expecting. It was crunchy like something fried, but then also strangely chewy. I couldn't identify what was going on in my taco. Weston coincidentally asked what taco I had gotten at that exact moment, so I informed him it was the chicharron taco. He asked, "Isn't that pig's ears?" And I initially panicked, but then I thought, "well, that's what I get for trusting the advice of an old crazy-looking hippie man." We Googled it, it's actually pork rinds. Both Sheena and Alisha wanted to try a bite and I did not feel the least bit sad to see those bites vanishing from my plate (because it meant I didn't have to eat those parts). I took one more bite myself, before relinquishing the remainder to Alisha who really enjoyed it. Guys, I can't tell you enough how much I hated that taco. I feel the burden of most of the responsibility for ordering it without knowing what it was, but it was gross. I wasn't a huge fan of the corn tortilla to begin with. It wasn't very tasty and was too dry. The flavors in the taco were okaaaay, but not memorable. And the texture.... ugh. I seriously hated it, but at least I had my tamale... right? The cheese part of the tamale was more like a cheese stick that was stuck in the middle with an inch of cornmeal surrounding it, and the jalapeno part was more like a quarter of a pepper in a long slice sitting next to that cheese stick. I'm a fan of cheese so I liked it, but it was pretty spicy still. I ate it, but I've definitely had better tamales (like at the Barton Creek Farmer's Market). Plus, for the $3 I paid, I want more than what I got. And what I got was a stomachache. Probably because of the combination of my taco's strange texture, the hunk of cornmeal with cheese, the fish and chips I sampled from Sheena's plate (DELICIOUS btw), my entire can of Dr. Pepper, and the anxiety of the conversation we were having about the potential of this blog. Blah.

It breaks my heart to say anything bad about these great establishments, but I trust that you understand this is only my opinion and is not shared by everyone. Heck, Alisha finished my taco for me! She obviously didn't have the same problem with the pork rinds as I did. So, with that in mind, I give Pueblo Viejo 1.5 out of 5 trailers because they still had lovely, although slightly misleading, service and they are located in an excellent environment, but I probably won't eat there again with so many other trailers offering better things so close. Guess this makes it the first "trash" for this blog.

Guest Reviews (in the order that I received them):

Here's my review of the night of fame, tamales, tacos, cameras and pigskin.

The tacos al pastor were pretty tasty.  Deliciously seasoned pork with pineapple is always a good combination in my world (almost anything with pineapple is a good combo in my world.)  And, always a plus, tacos served with two tortillas for the taco splitters- thank you for your generosity tacoartists.  (pound it on the tacos)

Jalapeno and cheese tamale... interesting combination.  I would never say that I think tamales are something you should think outside the box on, they are too authentic and wonderful to need to be changed.  I can't say it was more than average... and it is a little wierd to run into a clump of cheese in your tamale.  I shouldn't compare because its not quite fair, but these could never rival the ones that my soccer teams parents make me.  (wouldn't quite pound it on the tamale, I might give a little head nod or something)

Rik

East Side Drive-In: Bits and Druthers

I always enjoy when something I eat evokes memories from my past, especially when it’s a memory that places me in a difference place at a different time. Bits and Druthers at the East Side Drive, reminded me of my summer abroad at Oxford, eating fish and chips and enjoying a nice cold Pimm’s cocktail. Even so, I think Bits and Druthers have done it a little bit better. I got the Fish Supper, which included large fish-in-chip, coleslaw, tartar sauce, lemon wedge and a cornichon, pickle. The fish was served piping hot with a crunchy crust sprinkled with malt vinegar. Trust me, this fish needed no additional condiments. It was seasoned to perfection. It literally melted in your mouth, that’s how well it was cooked.  Furthermore, I paired my fish with Druthers’ coleslaw. It was so light and so fresh. Their menu says that it’s made with celery root, cabbage, and caraway seeds, and you can tell that it’s made fresh.  It wasn’t soggy, it wasn’t too creamy, and it was just a nice accompaniment with the fish.  This dish truly recaptured my summer abroad adventures some five years ago when I was hanging out with friends, discussing British Literature, and enjoying some delicious fish-in-chips. Funny how food can trigger such fond memories...

Shee

Bits and Druthers (Thumbs Up):

Wrapped in a paper bouquet, the fish ‘n chips at Bits and Druthers were hot, crispy and delicious. The fish was light, fluffy and served with a homemade, creamy tartar sauce. If you’re in the mood for coleslaw, I recommend you try this one. It was pleasantly different and the fresh, cool ingredients are the perfect pairing with your fish and chips.

Pueblo Viejo (Thumbs in the middle):

After spending a summer in Mexico, I am a picky about my tacos. Pueblo Viejo was good, but forgettable.  The menu was a little vague and didn’t really spike my interest. If Shalyn had not purchased the tacos, I wouldn’t have thought twice about this place. The Chicharrón taco was juicy and crispy, but I’ve had better.  I say this place if you’re really craving tacos, if not, I suggest trying something else. 

Alisha

Pueblo Viejo Review:

I love me some Tex-Mex. For a guy that lacks many taste buds, this food actually makes my mouth pop. I got the tacos al pastor and cheese/jalapeno tamale at PV. At first glance I was a little disappointed in the size of the comida. I am a big guy and can put down some Tex-Mex. 

For such a poquito plate, the flavor hit the spot. There is just something about Al Pastor that makes me feel alive. The combo of seasoned meats and mango whisks me away to the islands....and I never want to leave. And I will say that the cheese jalapeno tamales had the slight kick with a punch of cheese that made my night golden.

If you are looking for something not to heavy, but bursting with some sabor.....check PV out!

Weston

it's hot.

It has been hotter than Hades this last week in this capitol city and I'm sure everyone is trying to find a way to stay cool. Coolhaus is a relatively new (less than a year old) and awesome ice cream sandwich trailer that boasts some fantastically interesting flavor combination possibilities that will satisfy your sweet tooth while simultaneously chilling you out.

If you know me, you know I'm a nerd. My nerdiness has only been recently multiplied by my fascination with Twitter. I have had an account for some time now, but only in the last few weeks has it become an obsession... and that is all to blame on this blog. I have discovered that even food trailers tweet! And it's glorious for someone who wants to fully embrace the culture such as myself. So, Coolhaus has a very active twitter account and I really enjoy and apprecaite their updates. I have seen them tweet about their location for the day, and this past Sunday I was determined to pay them a visit. Danny, my trusty companion on this mission, had faith in my judgement and twitter-sense and allowed me to drag him to the Mueller Lake Park to get a tasty treat.

We located the tiniest, most adorable food trailer I have even seen and immediately started sampling their ice cream flavors. The sign says to start by choosing your cookie preference, followed by your ice cream but we like to be independents so we opted to go the other direction in the process. Honestly, we just got distracted by the insanely awesome ice cream names/ingredients. Bacon in ice cream?! Real mint leaves?! Red wine reduction?! The guy working the truck (Chance) was so patient with us! He even let me take his picture (multiple times) and got excited when I told him about this blog and my newfound hobby of eating. I could have stood there all day and continued to marvel at the tiny spoonfuls of cool surprises, but we had to get down to business. Danny made his mind up before I did (this is exactly how it always goes... I can never make up my mind about what I want to eat!) and went with the ginger cookies and the brown butter and candied bacon ice cream. He kindly let me have a bite and it was fantastic, but I'll let his review tell you more about it. 

I finally settled on my favorite flavor of ice cream: Lambrusco (the red wine reduction one that has a tricky name), but choosing a cookie was too much for me. Since the ice cream description said something about cinnamon, I just went with the snickerdoodle cookies. Chance hand-scooped the ice cream and sandwiched it nicely between the cookies and boy! was it a handful! I couldn't fit my mouth around it to take a bite, so I resorted to the childlike licking-and-biting-around-the-edge method.  It worked perfectly while also helping me to feel slightly nostalgic, as melty ice cream treats eaten at a park on a hot summer day can do.

I absolutely loved the ice cream part of this sandwich. The variety of flavor options and the incredible quality of each of the flavors will keep me coming back for more all summer. I am, however, very spoiled when it comes to the cookie part of the sandwich and I was kinda disappointed. The snickerdoodles and the ginger cookies were more on the crunchy side than I would have preferred. It made it hard to get a solid bite because of the contrast of hard cookie to soft ice cream. The ice cream just moves out of the way (and out of the embrace of the cookies onto your hands). I licked up every bit of the ice cream, but ended up not finishing a few bits of cookie due to a combination of fullness and unexcitement about the cookies themselves. This is obviously only my opinion on texture, they still tasted great and the experience was overall very positive. I'm excited to go back and try other combinations and see what new wacky flavor of ice cream they can create next!

 

This trailer gets 4.5 trailers out of 5 because of thier mobility and use of Twitter to update customers on their location, their exrtra friendly staff (Chance chatted with me for the longest time about the company), and their outstanding innovative and delicious ice cream falvors!

Guest Review:

Coolhaus Shmoolhaus

Kidding. I just really wanted to say that. Coolhaus totally lived up to it's name...wait a second...no it didn't. Sure it was cool, but no way was that thing a house...haus*.

Woah, woah...we're gettin' way off track here. Let's get away from the name for a minute and get to the "meat" of the subject. If you don't see how that pun is relevant in a review of a trailer that sells Ice Cream sandwiches, then by golly, you haven't been to Coolhaus, the best damn ice cream sandwich trailer, nay, the best damn ice cream SANDwich in town. (Sorry Tiff's Treats). Man, this place has some killer options for you. All homemade, they can pair up any ice cream with any cookie. That's a whole lotta options: they've got your chocolate chip cookie with a lump o' red velvet; a couple o' snickerdoodles squishin' a scoop o' dirty mint chip (made with real, fresh mint leaves!); Always dreamed of having your Mascarpone & Balsamic Fig leaf ice cream slammed between two soft oatmeal cookies? Fine. Good. No sweat bucko'. This place will turn the dirty insane into the insane tasty like nobody's business, and they'll do it with a smile.

Our particular dessert barista, Chance, was a delight. He gave us free tasters of all the crazy flavors and sold me on my sandwich choice; 2 ginger cookies became the floor and ceiling to my cool Haus treat. and what furnished the inside you ask? A heaping scoop of Brown butter w/ Candied Bacon ice cream. What? That's crazy! You can't put bacon in ice cream!! You better bet your bacony buns you can. And they did. Mmmmmm...I'm still salivating over that delicious treat. Sweet, savory, creamy, chewy, a bit o' crunch from the cookie. Ugh, you guys nailed it Coolhaus.

If it's cold and creamy you're looking for this summer, Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches has got you covered. Check 'em out online to find the whole menu and truck locations each day: http://eatcoolhaus.com/

Till the next trailer, this is Danny. out.