Crying Over Tacos (El Guey)
This humble, little family-run food truck makes some of the best tacos my husband and I have ever had the pleasure of eating, and that includes Mexico
“Tacos El Guey is all about bringing good food and good times to people all over the Twin Falls area. How did we get started? When Katrina Escobar's son was sick, she promised him that if he got better, she'd make the food truck a reality. Now that her son is doing better, Katrina is holding up her end of the bargain.” — About Us, Tacos El Guey
Some of the best things happen on the way to something else, I’ve found.
Yesterday, we intended to swing by BlueRock Farm Market — reopened for the spring-early fall season under new ownership — for a particular food truck stationed there. But it wasn’t tacos we were looking for, it was a bagel.
We’d tried I Bagel Your Pardon at Twin Falls, ID’s annual Market on Main last summer, and wanted to try it again, since legit bagels are so hard to find in this tiny town so far from Boise or any major city.
Around 2 p.m., we made a beeline to the red food truck, also under new ownership — its original owners — to place our orders, only slightly disappointed that they didn’t have traditional NY bagel & lox.
That’s when we smelled the intoxicating aroma of onion, long-simmering meat, and Cabo getaways over at Tacos El Guey. More shoppers were waiting for Mexican food than overly toasted bagels, so, on a whim, we decided to order one taco each, hoping it would be good.
It was more than good. It was transcendent.
The young man at the counter happily answered every question from my husband, who can be kind of particular about his food. No spice, what’s in the tomatillo sauce, exactly, and how long have you guys been in business? (A New York Times reporter on a hot lead has nothing on Ed Weber.)
That’s another difference between the two food trucks.
Tacos El Guey’s staff were nicer, effortlessly so, as bright as the yellow of their food truck, while I Bagel Your Pardon was just nice enough.
All of that added to the thrill of diving — heart first — into our Idaho potato (tacos de papa) and pork (carnitas) tacos, with gusto, back home.
As soon as we tucked in, we knew we’d be back for more. So much flavor, cooked through, as if bubbling away all day on the back stove, with fresh onions and cilantro chopped fine by hand. It sounds crazy, but I felt those loving hands with every bite.
I went with the potato taco my first try, because I’d never seen tacos made just with potatoes. Just potatoes these ain’t. They packed so much flavor in these mashed spuds and the shredded filling, it was almost meaty.
Whenever I see “papas” of any kind, I’m a goner anyway… I have a soft spot for Spanish renderings of potatoes.
And the red sauce, OMG, I haven’t had red sauce this fruity and fiery and wonderful since Taco Hut’s food truck parked right outside Leeward Community College, circa the 1980s, with the squeeze bottles lined in a row and the finely shredded milky-orange cheese tossed on top. I instantly imagined pouring this red sauce over my scrambled eggs, and even drinking it straight. (Warning: it’s very spicy, though.)
My husband raved equally over the tomatillo green sauce, milder with not a hint of chiles, but tart as a freshly squeezed lime on a hot summer day.
The next day, true to our word, Ed went back to the Tacos El Guey food truck, but at its regular location — on the Rob Green car lot off busy Blue Lakes Blvd. — and loaded up on almost everything off the menu: asada, carnita, papa, the adobada (meat and pineapples) special, and the mother of all tacos, my blessed Quesabirria.
“[t]hank you yes I had sold out, but I got down to get every piece of meat for you. I really do appreciate you guys coming back. I’m glad you enjoyed them. How was the Quesabirria?” — IG DM
Tacos El Guey is there every day till 6 p.m., or until the food runs out. If you want agua fresca, and who doesn’t?!, get there early, early, early. Agua fresca and quesabirria are two of their most popular menu items.
They were actually out of quesabirria, but the nice lady behind the counter offered to look for any leftover meat at the bottom of the pot to scrape together, and would that be okay? More than okay. She managed to put together three perfect quesabirria tacos and accompanying broth (which you’re supposed to drink up afterward) — compliments of the chef.
The extra sauces, red and green, were also complimentary, and amazing.
I’m not kidding when I say these tacos were some of the best we’ve ever had, and we’ve had many from all over — Seattle and Everett, L.A., Manhattan, Ketchum, Honolulu, Tampa, Puerto Vallarta, a food truck off-the-beaten path in Cabo…
When I heard the story behind their humble, little food truck, I cried a little. Okay, a lot.
One of Katrina’s sons had testicular cancer, already advanced to stage three, when they discovered it around 2022. He told her, if I beat this, you have to open your food truck, and she did, serving grandma’s time-honored recipes. He’s in his early 20s now.
No wonder I also tasted another, special ingredient you can’t find in just any restaurant. I tasted love…real love.
It felt like I was in their home, watching Katrina cook and joke and laugh, and I’m at the table with her family, diving right in.
That’s so rare.
We’ll definitely be back, probably once a week, if not more.
It’s not everyday I cry over tacos…
Should I make them sourdough?
