Tacos Tierra Caliente
Aptly named, the Tacos Tierra Caliente truck has one blazing characteristic: their fiery red salsa. This salsa is the real thing, and is similar to the salsa roja found at Tijuana taco stands (which are the benchmark upon which all taco stands are judged). It’s not just hot, it is delicious. Most of the time, you can judge the heat index of salsa just by looking at it. If it looks like bright, molten lava, well, yep. Their green salsa is excellent as well.
Tacos Tierra Caliente
Tierra Caliente’s lengua tacos are some of my favorite in town. I ordered one lengua (beef tongue) taco, one bistek (brisket) taco, and a mandarin soda.
I recommended the lengua to J.C. Reid from The Houston Press, and these lengua tacos soon became the subject of the historic Do-It-Yourself TacoBurger, which marked July 2, 2009 as one of the greatest moments in Houston taco history. To this day, it brings tears to my eyes.
One lengua taco, one taco al pastor. Two sorry-looking limes.
Did I drift off? Back to the tacos. These looked and tasted fantastic.
Folks, that lime is there for a reason. Put it on your taco. I don’t know much about the physics of citric acid and its effects on meat, but something remarkable happens when you squeeze lime juice on tacos.
A bad lime can almost ruin a taco, that is, unless you smother it in really delicious hot red salsa.
Their tacos al pastor are made differently than some of my favorite places in town, but don’t let that dissuade you. Tierra Caliente makes the Mexico City variety, which is stewy and paprika-red (or achiote-red) with bits of pineapple mixed in. As much as I love a juicy pineapple, I’m just not big on mixing sweet fruit with my tacos. However, Sierra Caliente’s al pastor is one of their specialties, and people come from far away to get it. If you’ve really got an appetite, order one of their tortas, topped off with lettuce, tomatoes and fresh avocado.
Tierra Caliente also offers barbacoa, beef fajita, and “Chicharrones”, or fried pork skin tacos.
Another specialty is Sierra Caliente’s agua fresca, made with fresh cantaloupe juice. They’ll serve you a huge cup for a buck or two.
[…] Why would you pay $12.29 for one fajita taco at El Tiempo when you can get one for $1.75 at the Tierra Caliente truck (the first blog post on G&T) which is in the next door parking lot? You won’t, […]
A friend of ours told us about Tierra Caliente. We found the truck, spoke with Vicente, the owner, and we loved the tacos. We asked if he could move his truck to West Alabama Ice House for an engagement party. The manager said he’d like to have a taco truck there full time. He is now parked there permanently, and everyone loves his tacos. He has now been written up in several articles by Houston foodies. We have been wanting to help him expand his business to catering and maybe another taco truck! Reading this write-up, gave me that extra push to get started. Thanks!
Keri, it’s a great truck. One of my favorites around town.