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Lunch at a Taco Truck in the Barrio
Sep. 21st, 2025 07:31 amPhoenix Getaway travelog #3
South Phoenix Barrio · Sat, 20 Sep 2025. 1pm
After Hawk and I landed in Phoenix just before noon today one of our first orders of business was to get some lunch. We looked at restaurants near our hotel for the night in Scottsdale, thinking maybe we'd try to check in first to drop our bags and then go back out. But the restaurants near the hotel were mostly pricey, as Scottsdale is a tony part of town. Plus Hawk wanted to do some rock shopping at places closer to the airport. So we searched instead for good eats near the airport.
"I've found a Mexican place with 4.5 stars on Yelp," Hawk announced. "People rave about the homemade tortillas."
It sounded good to me. There was just one problem: It's a taco truck. I don't feel like eating food while sitting on the curb in a parking lot when it's literally 100° (38° C) out!
"The reviews say it's got indoor dining," Hawk noted. And since I was skeptical of what "indoor" meant in the context of a food truck— like, would it just be picnic tables under an aluminum shade?— she added, "Reviews say it's credible indoor dining.
I was willing to give it a shot.
I almost called back that shot, though, when we turned onto the street where the food truck is. It's a ratty street in a low-grade industrial part of town. The businesses were cheap cinder-block walled boxes standing in gravel lots separated by steel fences. The vibe of the area was, "Here's a cheap place to get your car's oil changed by people who don't speak English." I mean, it's not the no-English thing that bothered me; I can 100% handle dining out in Spanish. But I didn't want to order food at a grease shop.
My misgivings were eased when we parked in the gravel lot and were welcomed into a finished, air conditioned building by pleasant staff, seated at a table in a clean dining room— that actually looked like a repurposed community center— and offered menus by a waitress. Yes, this taco truck had table service. 😯
What followed was one of the most delicious Mexican taqueria-style meals we've had. We split an appetizer of guacamole— which was freshly mixed just for us— and then each had a steak quesadilla. The steak was incredibly tender and flavorful. We complimented the owner when he stopped by our table to check up on us, and he explained that the cook insists on only using filet for their steak dishes. Yes, a taco truck is out there buying the most expensive cut of meat from the butcher shop!
South Phoenix Barrio · Sat, 20 Sep 2025. 1pm
After Hawk and I landed in Phoenix just before noon today one of our first orders of business was to get some lunch. We looked at restaurants near our hotel for the night in Scottsdale, thinking maybe we'd try to check in first to drop our bags and then go back out. But the restaurants near the hotel were mostly pricey, as Scottsdale is a tony part of town. Plus Hawk wanted to do some rock shopping at places closer to the airport. So we searched instead for good eats near the airport.
"I've found a Mexican place with 4.5 stars on Yelp," Hawk announced. "People rave about the homemade tortillas."
It sounded good to me. There was just one problem: It's a taco truck. I don't feel like eating food while sitting on the curb in a parking lot when it's literally 100° (38° C) out!
"The reviews say it's got indoor dining," Hawk noted. And since I was skeptical of what "indoor" meant in the context of a food truck— like, would it just be picnic tables under an aluminum shade?— she added, "Reviews say it's credible indoor dining.
I was willing to give it a shot.
I almost called back that shot, though, when we turned onto the street where the food truck is. It's a ratty street in a low-grade industrial part of town. The businesses were cheap cinder-block walled boxes standing in gravel lots separated by steel fences. The vibe of the area was, "Here's a cheap place to get your car's oil changed by people who don't speak English." I mean, it's not the no-English thing that bothered me; I can 100% handle dining out in Spanish. But I didn't want to order food at a grease shop.
My misgivings were eased when we parked in the gravel lot and were welcomed into a finished, air conditioned building by pleasant staff, seated at a table in a clean dining room— that actually looked like a repurposed community center— and offered menus by a waitress. Yes, this taco truck had table service. 😯
What followed was one of the most delicious Mexican taqueria-style meals we've had. We split an appetizer of guacamole— which was freshly mixed just for us— and then each had a steak quesadilla. The steak was incredibly tender and flavorful. We complimented the owner when he stopped by our table to check up on us, and he explained that the cook insists on only using filet for their steak dishes. Yes, a taco truck is out there buying the most expensive cut of meat from the butcher shop!
