February 1st, 2010 in Tacos! by Jay | 10 responses
Pasadena, Texas is a city of industry. Everyone you meet is an operator of something. Growing up in LaPorte, TX, you were expected to work in a plant somewhere. Many of the guys I grew up with ended up with the same job as their dad, and got a house and kids in the same neighborhood. If you are driving down 225, remarkably, the stale pollution smell hits you at the exact same time as you see the “Pasadena City Limits” sign. If you are driving through Pasadena at night, you will see more police cars than civilian cars, and they will pull you over just for not driving a truck.
I don’t have a problem with police, but I do have a problem with Pasadena police. As a teenager, I was pulled over once with three Hispanic friends in the car with me. Why? Because my car was blue. And blue is also a gang color, I guess. We were photographed and added to a “suspected gang member” watchlist, although none of us were breaking any laws at the time. After that, I was pulled over regularly. You know, for being a suspected gang member. That was just the start of my troubles in Pasadena (some of which actually were my direct responsibility), and I pledged never to return.
Ever.
As you can see on the taco map at the top right of the page, there aren’t many spots in the Southeast area. It’s not because there are no tacos there, because oh boy, there are plenty. It’s because I hate Pasadena with the fury of a thousand sun gods.
However, due to the astounding number of taco eateries in this area I had to buckle on this commitment and understand that Pasadena could no longer be ignored. I called up my old friend Mando the Pitbull, who lives in the area. We call him that because he injures people.
We cruised down Edgebrook, right off of 45, in Pitbull’s gleaming F150. I hadn’t been on this street in years, and I liked what I saw. Scores of taco trucks extended down both sides of the street. I grinned from ear to ear as Mando adjusted the settings on the Rockford-Fosgate Power T500 amplifier with his cell phone, pushing 2200 watts to each of the three T215D2 Powerstage 2 15-inch subwoofers. A hairline crack in the asphault spidered across the street, as a flight of pigeons went into a collective seizure. You know how armies sometimes play drums while they march into battle? It’s the same concept, I think. Rather than surprise his enemies, he prefers to announce his wrath from afar.
I spotted Taqueria Taconmadre on the left, which looks like a small restaurant with three army-green school bus-sized taco trucks in the parking lot, two of which were closed. Neon signs advertised some of their non-typical cuisine, such as enchiladas poblanas and elotes. I couldn’t really figure out the restaurant- the door was unlocked, but it just went into a small room with another door. Whatever.
I ordered at the truck: one suadero, one al pastor (they call it “trompo”), one fajita, and one barbacoa. I opened up my foil, and they looked and smelled great. I frowned at the odd pre-packaged, seemingly factory-sealed salsa pouch. After dousing with lime and a touch of salt, I applied the brownish-red salsa and chowed down. The salsa had a bold, surprising and complex taste that I was instantly enamored with. I put it on everything. The al pastor stood out with a very unique, rich and delicious taste. On a street where taco trucks reign, Taconmadre makes its mark with unique seasonings and some of my favorite red salsa around. It’s also open 24/7. As we enjoyed our tacos, a police cruiser pulled a Taurus over in the parking lot, brought the guy to the back of the vehicle and started patting him down. Probably one of those non-truck driving gang member types.
"Pitbull" Armando is smiling. Mando never smiles.
January 25th, 2010 in Insanity! by Jay | 9 responses
I’m assuming you’ve seen The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. If you haven’t, you don’t know Tuco.
Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez is a greedy bandit, a real piece of work.
He’s been found guilty of murder, armed robbery of citizens, state banks, and post offices; the theft of sacred objects, arson in a state prison, perjury, bigamy, deserting his wife and children, inciting prostitution, kidnapping, extortion, receiving stolen goods, selling stolen goods, passing counterfeit money, and using marked cards and loaded dice.
He’s also a precision sharpshooter. In fact, he killed more guys in the movie than Clint Eastwood did. His gunsmithing skills are unparalleled as well. In one scene, he went into a gun shop and instead of just stealing a pistol, he disassembled three different pistols and built his own in about a minute.
Most people who watch the movie see Clint Eastwood’s character, “Blondie” as the hero. Me, I’m a Tuco fan.
I sometimes wonder how a man like Tuco, who refers to himself in third person, would get by in today’s world. He’s not a simple drug dealer or thug- he is a tactician. But how would he operate in a world of freeway cameras, electronically scanned drivers licenses and Nancy Grace?
For someone as resourceful as Tuco, you’ve got to wonder- if he had an IPhone, which applications would he use?
Read the rest…
January 12th, 2010 in Insanity! by Jay | 6 responses
Thanks to Twitter and the amazing Houston foodie scene, I’ve been nominated for the Shorty Awards.
If you’re not familiar with The Shorty Awards, you’re not alone. I just found out about it a week or two ago. Basically, it’s a big award ceremony in NYC for the best Twitter users in certain categories.
“Hollywood has the Oscars. Broadway has the Tonys. Now Twitter has the…Shorty Awards” – New York Times
The image below shows the top 6 in the running for the Food category. (Yes, I know David Archuleta is on the list. Don’t ask.)
Read the rest…
January 4th, 2010 in Tacos! by Jay | 10 responses
I visited Baytown, TX with J.C. Reid a month or two ago, and he found a hidden gem, Taqueria Sahuayo.
On a cold and overcast Sunday in January, I drove to Baytown to pick up my brother and continue the taco expedition in this oft-forgotten city.
“What an ugly day”, I noted.
“Not really”, he responded brightly. “It’s always overcast in Baytown”.
This didn’t make any sense to me at the time, but as I tore down the road that went through the Exxon refinery, it occurred to me that he was right. Every time I go to Baytown I get lost, and every time I go to Baytown it is overcast. Go figure. Read the rest…
January 3rd, 2010 in Tacos! by oberata | 3 responses
Here’s a guest post from taco hunter Jeff Timpanaro. You can see more of Jeff on his personal blog. Enjoy! G&T
TAMALES ATASCOCITA 5105 Fm 1960 Rd E, Humble, TX 77346
Most Houstonians agree: for all its commuting connectivity, F.M. 1960 is one Ugly Betty stretch of road.
Despite being a haven for local businesses – many of which are great independent restaurants – we suspect that city planners from Dayton all the way to Cypress just haven’t given a damn about aesthetics.
“Screw zoning and trees. Let’s just keep putting up stuff,” they say.
4,203,338 strip centers later, they have just now taken notice of the 14% occupancy rate, and are taking a well-deserved kolache break. When they return, they’re going to put up more of those intersection cameras that generate you a customized $75.00 ticket for going 1 mph through a right turn at a red light. Picture included. Read the rest…
December 30th, 2009 in Insanity! by Jay | 30 responses
When I was a rotten kid in the cassette era, I found this amazing album in my dad’s old record collection. I’d never heard of the guy, but wow, he was playing a really cool looking guitar. And that’s important.
Read the rest…
December 17th, 2009 in Insanity! by Jay | no responses
Earlier this month, I posted about a quest I’ve championed over the last few months- an effort to get Chamillionaire, the successful Houston rap artist, to follow me on Twitter.
Many people have given me some great suggestions on how to pull it off, some of which I am comfortable employing, and some of which are outright insane. Since Chamillionaire is very tech-savvy, he has a web forum dedicated to his fan base, also known as “The Chamillitary”.
I thought I would dig into this web forum and see if I would have any luck garnering enough support to get Chamillionaire himself to notice. Read the rest…
December 13th, 2009 in Tacos! by Jay | 5 responses
Me, searching for a week to find a taco truck right by my house.
Monday
I met up with some colorful characters at the infamous Big Star Bar on a Monday night in the Houston Heights. Naturally, our mutual conversation turned to tacos, so I suggested the nearby Tacos Three Amigos truck on 20th street one block away.
As we all know, every crew you run across involves at least one slinky vegetarian girl that tries to change up the food game for everyone. I can play this game all day long on my side of town, because I’ve got tacos for anyone, even these “I’m-Audrey-Hepburn- except-I-don’t-wear-fur” types.
For instance, Tacos Three Amigos has excellent cactus tacos (nopales). Vegetarian problem solved.
“Hurry, they close early on slow nights”, I noted.
They headed to the truck around the block, but the leader of the pack, Martinez, called me back to tell me that Tacos Three Amigos was closed. Bummer. But then he told me something that blew my mind. Read the rest…
December 10th, 2009 in Tacos! by Jay | one response
This article was contributed by fellow tacoman Ziggy Smogdust. You can read more about his ethnic food adventures on his ethnic food blog
which covers the Southwest side of Houston. Enjoy! -GunsandTacos
I had just sent GunsandTacos a message asking if he knew of any good trucks by my school. I work at the south end of the energy corridor, so cheap ethnic eats are hard to come by. I set out to explore the area on Highway Six at Eldridge, heading south on Highway Six. No luck. Logans, Chili’s, & Timmy Chan’s was it. There was a new Ostioneria Arandas that I may have to check out.
I headed east on Westheimer back towards my part of town. I had promised to install a new router and wireless card for my mother. My dad had been meaning to get around to it, but he passed away a few weeks ago, so the job was up to me. Read the rest…
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