Oh boy, was this place shady. But it was Mother's Day and two other taco trucks and even Taqueria Arandas was closed, I guess that tells me a bit about Latin culture and the love of moms. Located in the lot of Custom Creation, where Sheridan spearheads Reinli, this taco truck is the definition of unassuming, no name anywhere in sight. When eating somewhere that I know nothing about, or in different countries, I survey the flow of clientele for a few minutes first. Many of the customers that night only spoke Spanish and were walking from their nearby apartments, so I figured worst case I wouldn't get sick, though thinking back on it I wish I had looked around for some type of health permit!
I didn't hear any English spoken, but most Spanish food words we all know how to pronounce and what they mean from living in Austin. I assume this is a late night place only. They proudly display that their tortillas are made by hand. They have a bigger menu than most food trucks, but were out of a few meats and some of their specialty items. The meats I did get to try were good, soft, flavorful, fresh. I loved the carne asada. The carnitas and al pastor had no major faults, but weren't memorable. The accompanying green sauce (the only one they have) is firey hot, but delicious. My burning mouth was quickly soothed by the delicious natural agua fresca de sandia (watermelon drink). It was sweet enough and had plenty of tiny chunks of watermelon. The only serious setback were the tortillas and gordita, the flavor was there, but they were so over steamed that they fell apart almost immediately when picked up and had a kind of wet consistency.
If I'm feeling adventurous again, I think I'd like to try a torta, hopefully a more composed version of their food will give me a better idea of the situation. But if you're hankering late at night, and close your eyes, forget you live in Austin for a minute, and can eat a taco in 4 seconds... they'll hit the spot! read more
