The Orange Crunch: My Kind of Food Truck

If I had never met my wife and was left to my own derelict, anti-social ways, I would probably be holed up in log cabin somewhere outside of Nederland, CO: sitting on a rocking chair, spitting into a spittoon and grumbling to myself about society's ills. In fact, that sounds like a pretty appealing prospect to me at least once on any given week. However, my latest foray into this quirky mountain township wasn't to scope out my mountain refuge, but rather to give our toddler boys a little taste (and smell) of our favorite mountain freak-fest: Frozen Dead Guy Days.

Most of the morning we spent meandering through the crowds that had swarmed Nederland largely to celebrate death and drinking with such notable events as a hearse parade, coffin races, frozen turkey bowling and of course, jumping in an ice cold lake. It was only on our way out of the festival, alternately trudging through mud and negotiating icy snow pack, that I spotted a beat-up blue truck that seemed to be selling food, but just as easily could have been mistaken for any work-related utility vehicle from a laundry truck to a handyman.

At first glance, this was my kind of food truck.  The words "The Orange Crunch" were scrawled on the side using the fat part of a piece of chalk. The menu was scotch-taped onto the side. That's it. As I have made it known before, I am very much tired of the all-too-common flashy food trucks that have clearly spent more time on their custom paint jobs and LCD displays then on their actual food. One look at the Orange Crunch food truck and you would know that could not possibly be the case. If they spent less time on the menu than the time it took them to scrawl their name on truck, it would be logistically impossible to actually have made any food at all.

Now this could be a turn off for some people, but not those who have been eating at food trucks since before food trucks were hip and cool. No, it is very well-established that food truck flashiness tends to have an inverse relationship with the taste and quality of the actual food. The Orange Crunch was no exception.

I wasn't able to get any details from the Orange Crunch team that day, as they were slammed, but I am going to assume that it was named for the orange-colored empanadas it slings. These empanadas are often considered a regional specialty from Ilocos, Philippines. They are made from rice flour dyed orange and while they can have many fillings, but almost always feature an egg. That is, they are rolled out fresh, an egg is cracked into the center before it is folded up and deep-fried.

There were two kinds of empanadas that day, and I had the bacon and cheese one. It was fantastic. The eggs were cooked to medium-hard and the gooey cheese was rich but balanced well by the thick-sliced bacon. Hard to go wrong with fried dough, cheese, egg yolk and bacon; and though not always the case, this was yet another example of how bacon does indeed make things better.

Though still full from breakfast, I had to try a lumpia. It was a delicious version of this Filipino classic: crispy thin layers of dough packed with fresh veggies and meat.

They also had a take on Turon, or banana lumpia. These caramelized bananas were folded into little squares--fried-- then coated in powdered sugar. There was a chocolate dipping sauce on the side. A worthy turon by any standards and a welcome replacement to my favorite that went missing many years back (RIP Tropical Grill).

They also had a chicken adobo, which is a must on any Filipino menu, but I didn't get to try it. There were also a couple of other cultural-melding menu items that looked interesting. But there wasn't that much on the menu and that's probably another reason why everything was so great. Just a couple people, cooking food they love and spending the time to make it right.

If you don't know Dead Guy Days or haven't been, I highly encourage you to go at some point in your life-- unique only begins to describe it. And if you can ever track down the Orange Crunch, please eat there. It is one of the rare food truck gems that you don't want to miss--and I'm not just saying that because it serves Filipino.

Out With the New, In With the Old: La Cascada Taco Truck

In the world of breaking taco news, shops and trucks pop-up out of nowhere and then disappear just as quickly. This is one reason that I have made a point to not get caught up in keeping current with any food trends, openings or general hoopla associated with the food world (the other reasons are that no one tells me and I don't get out enough). My news for this post is that a new taco truck that I reported on this summer has since moved, closed or was possibly bought out by a taco-truck corporate giant.

While "taco-truck" and "corporate giant" might be a paradox (though as this food truck boom continues to explode don't be surprised to see a Wack Arnolds truck rolling up to your office building sooner than later), there is one player in the Denver taco truck scene that is omnipresent. As far as I can tell La Cascada started out as a single sparsely decorated truck (and apparently a bad one at that), and somehow has managed to explode into a slickly painted mega-fleet. Over the years I've counted at least four around the city--mostly on the East side-- and it looks like I can add one more to the list.

Yes, the feeble yet decent La Chapina on the corner of 17th and Peoria has been replaced. The scenario I imagine involves some SUV-driving thugs hired by Cascada making La Chapina one of those offers they couldn't refuse. It is, after all, located on a prime piece of late-night taco real estate on the lot of the windowless bar (those are the sketchiest kind) Shepes's (sic) Rincon. And true to the deep pockets that I imagine La Cascada has, they even included lighting under the panels so the nocturnal eaters spilling out of the Rincon can easily put fingers to taco and taco to mouth.

This is all speculation of course. To be fair, even though they all operate under one waterfall logo, I believe the Cascada trucks are individually owned. For all I know La Chapina didn't make it for other reasons and La Cascada just hovered around like a vulture and set up shop after all the remains were swept away. There were signs that La Chapina was operating on a tight budget. Take for example the use of duct tape on the menu, something the efficient La Cascada machine would not allow.

La Casacada is no longer toxic as suggested by this 2005 review (by the true authority on Denver's taco trucks). I ordered an asada and a carnitas. They were generously filled with flavorful meat, topped with a pico de gallo (that is what "con todo" gets you) and served con copia (two tortillas--corn of course). My friend also had some barbacoa. They were good meaty and greasy tacos of generous proportions that would become irresistible when stumbling drunk out of a bar.

The red salsa was a little sweet, I would guess it was made with canned tomatoes. The green tomatillo and the avocado-based green were better, though neither had too much bite. All the salsas were encased behind plexi-glass doors with the rest of the fixin's-- this place is really quite fancy.

If you go outside at all and have ever seen a taco truck in this town then it is likely you have seen a truck from La Cascada. It is good, but a taco truck to me speaks to individuality and a unique experience-- not uniformity-- so there is something about an apparent monopoly of food trucks that is ironic and unappealing. That being said, there was nothing wrong with La Cascada's tacos. In fact they were hearty, greasy and flavorful; and with the amount of tacos I eat in this town it is inevitable that I will be there at some point again. 

Pinche Tacos in Pinche Denver, Hijo e pu!

The Cherry Creek farmer's market has slowly become a showcase for restaurants and other miscellany, with a paucity of actual farmers peddling their home-grown produce. At this point, it really should be considered false advertising to call it a "farmer's market" at all,  but if any good can come from having less local produce to vend, it would be at least having some prepared food worth eating. Among the new vendors this year is Pinche Tacos, one of Denver's newest food truck/cart players that have flooded the market this summer as the upscale portable food scene has taken Denver by storm.

Already steeped in what might go down as the stupidest, most trivial controversy ever, Pinche Tacos is now infamous for having to change its name after some overly-sensitive bureaucrat of the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District became alarmed because "Pinche" is a "bad word". Sure "pinche" can mean the "f-word", but taken in context is much more along the lines of "damn". In other words it is not that big of a deal. But simple logic lost again and from now on, when you see the trademark donkey-logo on 16th street mall it will be with the name, "Tacos Borrachos", or "Drunk tacos." Instead of condoning a harmless, curse word, let us instead expose the impressionable teenage mall rats to the excessive intake of alcohol. Of course, it truly doesn't matter either way, but so is the twisted logic of a bunch of functionaries that have been charged with enforcing meaningless regulations for too long.

Careful little girl! That truck sports a curse word in another language!

Pinche tacos is the most interesting of Denver's new food trucks to me, not because of the naming game, but because it is trying to replicate what is already done very well in Denver - taco trucks, or loncheras. Of course the market of Pinche Tacos is not the typical taco truck patron. No, Pinche Tacos is clearly going after the culinary curious who may be otherwise disinclined to go find a traditional taco truck.

By going after this market, location is the first key. Pinche Tacos has a trailer set up at the Cherry Creek and Stapleton farmer's markets and of course the "drunken" taco cart on 16th street mall. It also plans to set up somewhere around 19th and Market for weekend Rockies games. Maybe because of these prime locations Pinche Tacos also charges a lot pinche dinero for its tacos. Coming in at $2.50 per taco, it is far from a value, but then again, the convenience and accessibility of not needing to leave Central Denver (or the lack of adventurous spirit), has its price.

My wife and I went to Cherry Creek to sample some Pinche Tacos recently and forked over $20 for six tacos and two drinks. I don't mind the price, despite the fact that it would cost me less than half of that to get the same amount of food at a traditional taco truck. No, what is important is the taste.

Pinche Tacos prides itself on serving "Comida de la Calle", and using locally sourced ingredients including their traditional corn tortillas. It has an interesting range of options that go from the straight carnitas to the "daring" lengua (tongue) to creative breakfast tacos with innovations like green chile hollandaise.

The first taco I tried was the one with the hollandaise. It also had carnitas, eggs and a potato-onion hash. It was good, though a little plain, and would be better as a burrito. I also wish they made their salsas readily available so that one could add more salsa if needed. In other words, my taco needed salsa.

The second I tried was the "asada brava", which unlike the citrus-marinated asada, was apparently meant to be spicy ("brava" meaning "fierce" or "brave"). It was well-cooked meat with a nice, smoky tomato salsa, but it was by no means "brava". I have had fruit with more heat.

The "chipolte puerco anaranjada" taco consists of a chipotle and citrus marinated pork with avocado-tomatillo crema (the latter being prententious-talk for an avocado salsa typical of taco stands everywhere--for my recipe, click here). The pork was tender and delicious but again, even with all the different flavors, left me wanting more. More spice to be exact. Any spice.

It started getting better with the "queso a la plancha". A perfectly grilled thick slice of cotija cheese, avocado and a dollup of tasty tomatillo salsa. This was an excellent, creative and sizable taco-- though still lacking spice.

The chicken-chipotle-cream-sauce taco was another star. A mild heat came through, but what I loved was the creative use of what tasted like creamed spinach. Sprinkled with cotija cheese and covered in sour cream, this was by far the most original of the tacos.

The last I tried was the lengua. The lengua was the clear winner of all the tacos. Wonderfully tender and rich with flavor as lengua often is, the tomatillo and smoky red salsas added a complex blend of flavors and even packed a mild heat. It was a great original version of a traditional taco.

These pinches tacos (technically "pinche" should be plural) have the look and feel of a traditional street taco, and although they offer innovative options, they lack some spice and flavor to be really great. In spite of this I like what I see so far and Pinche Tacos will probably be successful. Its marketing is well researched and executed. It is amazing to me how marketing works sometimes, convincing us that we need something we don't, or in this case offering us something new that we already have. The Pinche website promises "real pinche Mexican food in Denver", something we have had for a very, very long time. The food is not un-authentic, but it is certainly dumbed down for the typical American palate. It is also expensive for what it is, though it is good enough that I would readily go back because of its prime locations where a good taco is otherwise pretty hard to find.

La Chapina Taco Truck in Aurora: Take Two and Call Me in the Morning

If you are a fan of sketchy Mexican bars with large pickups parked in the lot and darkened, occasionally boarded-up windows, but always go hungry after leaving the bar and hate having to drive drunk to the nearest taco joint, then you are in luck. Similarly, if you are a patient (or employee, I suppose) of the University of Colorado Hospital, and need a quick lunch before or after your appointment there, you are also in luck. A new taco truck called La Chapina is on the scene and is parked on the corner of 17th and Peoria in the parking lot of a bar called Shepes's Rincon.

Since moving way out into Aurora years ago, the University Hospital left hanging a bar with the best-conceived name ever: the Recovery Room. For years the sweet irony of The Recovery Room bar, across the street from the old hospital on Colorado Ave, gave respite (as well as return visits I'm sure) to many a hospital patients, all the while quietly giving it the finger. It always, always made me smile as I drove past, and now it sits alone, completely un-ironic and naked; like a fish out of water. (Sadly for them but proudly for me, it is even being upstaged by its namesake bar in the Philippines while it wallows in its symbolically outdated My Space page.)

In the vein of unhealthiness wherein lies the Recovery Room is La Chapina. Though the area around the new hospital (Colfax and Peoria in Aurora) is certainly full of other, more worthy trip-to-the-hospital-inducing vices, this taco truck stood out to me as an approachable way to undo some healthy habits while hurrying back into Denver from a doctor's appointment.

Taco trucks are, of course, often great places to eat. This one, like so many others offers a variety of meats (asada, barbacoa, tongue, chicken, etc.) in various vessels (taco, burrito, torta, gordita, etc.). I find that the taco is the best way to test a new taco truck, and I asked the nice señora behind the screen what she would recommend for me.

Chapinas are apparently girls from Guatemala

She recommended the steak (asada) and the barbacoa. I ordered both and sat down on a stool on the counter below to wait. Shepes's Rincon was getting ready for the afternoon traffic, I suppose, as several large and shiny pickups were already parked out front, and a couple of scantily clad, bucksome women (chapinas?) slipped in a side door after being dropped off (by a really big pickup).

The tacos came and I ate them. They were quite good. The asada was tender and the red salsa was flaming hot. The barbacoa was bathed in a chipolte-type sauce, almost like a tinga (pulled chicken) would be, and went well with the more mild green salsa. They came with double tortillas (con copia) but the amount of meat was a little disappointing, more like a 99 cent taco versus the $1.25 these guys charge. This was a little disappointing, given that I had three dollars in my wallet and thus only could have two tacos.

With my very limited sampling of this taco truck, I would say that it is worth trying again and certainly worth your while if you a) render the services of University Hospital, b) work or attend school at said hospital or c) love taco trucks and want to try something new. Or, finally, if you are Lauren Beard, communications consultant, who apparently has, to my great surprise, ventured into Shepes's Rincon, popped quarters into the jukebox, "shook it" and wrote a great little blurb about it on Metromix. According to Lauren, there is free pool on Mondays and Tuesdays along with dollar beer. Go Lauren! You'll be happy to know that you can now soak up those dollar beers with the grease from a dollar-twenty-five taco!

I'll post more as I know it, and at the rate that I am eating for this blog, I might be making more and more visits out there in the near future.





La Chapina is on the Northwest corner of 17th and Peoria in lovely Aurora, CO. If you would like to call ahead to confirm if they are open, dial 720-447-3929.

Sabor de Mexico: Get Your Tongue On

Just like Denver's many other anonymous taco trucks, El Sabor de Mexico sits patiently in a parking lot waiting for you to stumble upon it. There is really no telling if it will be good or bad. Hungry, I stopped in to see for myself while wandering home late on a Friday evening, after a way-too-long day of taking it from the man.

El Sabor de Mexico (The Taste of Mexico) has been around for no more than a few months on the corner of Montview and Clinton in Aurora. It takes the place of the taco void left by Taco Truck Los Dos Hermanos, which used to park across the street, and was a favorite of mine. Sabor de Mexico sits in an old gas station lot under the roof where the pumps once were; complete with a picnic table and chairs for your dining comfort and convenience. Like Los Dos Hermanos, the owners hail from Zacatecas, Mexico. Also like Los Dos Hermanos they make a tongue taco that is worth driving across town for. The main difference is that Sabor also has a full menu of tacos, tortas, sopes, huaraches and weekend specialties like Menudo, carnitas and Barbacoa.

But back to the tongue taco. The tongue here is melt-in-your-mouth soft. The flavor is also wonderfully prominent, not getting lost under the onion, cilantro, salsa and the shredded beef I think they mix in. It is likely that you would push aside your own mother to get at one of these tacos. Or likewise, in the common quandary of this taco and your mother hanging from the side of a cliff and you having only one hand to save one of them--you would certainly choose your mother-- but only because you would know that the taco would survive the fall and you could just climb down the cliff, blow off the dirt and eat it anyway. It is pretty much that good, and though I have been known to exaggerate (see what I said about this chicken liver mousse), if you are a tongue fan like me, I recommend eating here as soon as possible.

Asada, carnitas, pastor, tongue

I've been back now several times and I've found that the barbacoa is just as good. Barbacoa can be many things: cows head, a whole sheep or goat. The idea is that is slow cooked, like its north of the border counterpart, barbecue. At Sabor de Mexico it is lamb. Fatty, juicy pieces of lamb shredded on a taco; tender and richly flavored. The best results will be on the weekends when it is fresh made.

Also fresh most Saturday mornings about 10 am are the carnitas. By Tuesday and all week long they are a little dry--but the good flavor is there, and doused in either the very good red or green salsa, it is still a good taco de carnitas. Fresh made, it is one of the better tacos de carnitas I've had in Denver.

The tostada with tinga (pulled chicken bathed in a chipotle sauce) is also excellent. All the ingredients---beans, cream, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, salsa-- are laid on thick and tasted fresh. The asada is average, and probably not worth getting with all the other great options. The pastor is a joke. Literally, they might have been playing a joke on me: un-marinated and dry pork bits grilled with pineapple and chipotles. But even with this grave misrepresentation of what pastor is, the tongue and barbacoa are so good that this truck still comes highly recommended.

There are quite a few menu items painted on the side of the truck that are not available as the husband and wife team are just beginning to see what sells and what doesn't. Apparently the pata (feet) are no longer an option (much to my wife's dismay) because no one actually ever ordered it (except for my wife). And the pozole is no longer there. They were also out of adobada when I last visited. And my precious lengua (tongue) seems to run out more often than not, but the pattern seems to be that it is fresh and ready to go at the end of the week and into the weekend.

If you are coming from across town give a call first, 720-206-7291, but mostly they seem to be consistent everyday sometime in the afternoon until about 8pm. Tacos are large, come with two tortillas and cost $1.25.

Denver's Best Taco Truck

It's Friday afternoon. I just got done with a long week of work, and I'm hungry and tired. I need tacos. I'm excited that it's Friday of course, and to put an end to this busy, taco-less week, but what has me running out the door down the four flights of stairs out of my weekday confines is returning to La Lonchera Dos Hermanos. 

In my taco truck (AKA La Lonchera) introduction I mentioned that a lot of taco trucks have specialties. Nowhere is that more true and delicious than La Lonchera Dos Hermanos. These two brothers from Zacatecas, Mexico, specialize in two tacos, and make them as good as I've ever had. Memo (short for Guillermo) mans the window and does the talking. He looks tired this afternoon, and he should be. He works all week washing windows and then, either for fun or necessity or both, sets up shop on the weekend selling what is a masterpiece of a taco. His brother Lasaro is off to the side cooking and preparing the tacos. It's a beautiful thing really. These two brothers, part of the faceless and thankless workforce that keeps our city running, are also quietly and faithfully making some of the best food Denver has to offer.

And Memo and Lasaro make a mean taco. The absolute specialty is Tacos al Vapor, a traditional dish from the brothers' home state of Zacatecas. Tacos al vapor literally means "steamed taco". It is steamed beef, shredded and served in a steam-warmed corn tortilla. It is topped with the usual suspects of onion and cilantro, and finished with a light and spicy red salsa. It is soft, tender, virtually grease-free and it is so good it is addicting. The other taco they do to perfection is lengua. Lengua is tongue. Tongue scares off a lot of Americans but is a tender, richly flavored meat. It is worth trying for the first time here, and if you don't like it here, then you just don't like tongue. And while I think it's great, I come for the Vapor, and I recommend a 5:1 Vapor to Lengua ratio. 

From their lonely location in a relatively empty lot on the Northwest corner of Colfax and Xanthia, it is understandable why so many unknowing people pass it by. The parking lot is usually empty. The truck stands alone in a lot belonging to a night club that isn't even open by the time the brothers have to leave at 7 PM. The hand-lettered sign they put out facing Colfax is makeshift at best, and doesn't exactly grab one's attention. To make things worse, there is another taco truck two blocks away with fresh detailing, flashy painted lettering and a prime location on a busy intersection. 


Memo and Lasaro used to have a piece of prime real estate: the bustling corner of Montview and Clinton between two predominantly Mexican strip malls. This year they were kicked out of the Montview location and had to scramble to find this one in front of an empty night club. The politics and the licensing requirements for the "mobile food trucks", as the city refers to them, is complicated, but the first need is a property owner willing to play host. The old owner complained that Memo and Lasaro's truck was crowding the parking lot, but I would venture to say that what really happened was that the brothers' tacos were so much better than the two restaurants in the strip mall that they were threatening business. Because seriously, if you've ever been to Montview and Clinton on a Friday afternoon, you didn't turn around and go home because there wasn't a parking space. 


So that brings us back to the sad and scrumptious corner of Colfax and Xanthia. My wife and I stand at the truck's counter and eat one after another of these incredible tacos. We watch the busy afternoon traffic race by and I think of how many people would like this place if only they would stop. I see in Memo's bloodshot, swollen and fatigued eyes that he is thinking the same thing. He is powerless to change his situation currently, but is hopeful that more business will come soon. And there is hope, because these tacos are so damn good. While we are there chatting a guy walks up and skeptically decides to order two tacos. He takes a bite, his eyes light up and he nods his head while he chews. He quickly finishes them off then flashes two fingers up towards Memo with his mouth still full. Two more. Memo and Lasaro only need the people to come. The tacos will do the rest. 

Los Hermanos Lasaro and Memo only serve tacos Friday and Saturday afternoons until about 7 PM on the Northwest corner of 8700 East Colfax and Xanthia (2 blocks west of Yosemite). The tacos are $1. Call Memo if you want to be sure he is there: 720-621-8686

Denver Taco Truck Intro: La Costera

The taco truck is often home to much of Denver's finest Mexican food. As this blog is in its infancy, I have not had a chance to re-visit and write about my favorite taco trucks, but I know that as I continue to share my Denver favorites, the taco truck, AKA la Lonchera, will become a regular theme.

The taco truck is the equivalent of the street taco stands that line streets all over Mexico. Like the street stands, tacos trucks often set up shop on the same corner or parking lot and have many regular, loyal customers. Likewise, a lot of them have a specialty or two. At a taco truck it's always good to see what other people are eating, order what is being advertised or just ask about a specialty. 

The other day while car-shopping on Havana I came across a new one, called La Costera, a couple blocks south of 6th on the west side of the street. Apparently it has only been there two months. What caught my eye was the good-sized grill next to it that was pouring out smoke. That usually means one thing in the taco world: Pollo Asado.

The sign beckons you--with an alternate spelling:

Basically it is just grilled chicken, but when done right (over open charcoal flame), it is perfectly charred, golden and with just enough spice. I love this stuff. We parked and I almost ran around the truck to see the grill, which was just being opened. It all looked perfectly done and smelled amazing. I wasn't really hungry a few minutes ago, but all of a sudden I was ready to throw down. Usually I like to get a half chicken, some tortillas and salsa.That way I can make a few tacos but also eat it right off the bone. But since we were in a hurry, I just ordered some tacos.

Chicken tacos are often the worst thing on the menu in a taco joint. A lot of places just boil chicken and shred it on the tortilla. They end up with not a lot of flavor, chewy, dry and are not worth ordering. However, if the pollo is asado, then it's a different story.

The tacos here were good. Different, but good. Most of the menu was seafood, so I think that the taco topping was made to compliment the seafood tacos. It was more like a slaw with finely chopped cabbage, cilantro, tomatoes and onion. It was also sweetened--I think with a lot of lime juice. For me it didn't work so much on the chicken, which was also a little disappointing. It was moist and cooked perfectly, but it was under-spiced and got lost a little under the topping and the red salsa (which was excellent).

But not to worry, there was a happy ending, because another item on the menu caught my attention: the Taco Vampiro. Vampire Taco? Never heard of it but that had to be good. It was two open-faced grilled corn tortillas filled sandwich-style with carne asada (grilled steak), melted cheese, cilantro, onions and something spicy like Serrano chiles. The carne asada was soft, tender and flavorful and the tortillas gave it a nice crunch. As you can imagine, with the melting cheese oozing all over and the other fillers, it was a greasy, tasty, good time. 

So if you find yourself shopping for cars on Havana, pull on into La Costera. Try the pollo asado if you haven't before, just know that there is better grilled Mexican-style chicken to be found in Denver. And whatever you do, definitely get into some Tacos Vampiros. For that I will be back.