Summer is a good time for road trips and, to give a road trip a purpose, more people are looking for good eats while they're out. Alton Brown and Paula Deen's sons have shows about road tripping, last week we saw a Washington burger tour and we already love the pair behind Roadfood. This week, the New York Times shares a California taco hunt with us and with a car, a map and the motto "even a bad taco is better than no taco," the 380-mile trip began.
It started in Los Angeles, which yielded some deliciously authentic tacos (King Taco, El Taurino, El Parián) as well as tasty fish tacos (Tacos Baja Ensenada). Santa Barbara turned up Julia Child's favorite restaurant (La Super Rica Taqueria) and tacos made with cow eyes (Lilly's Taqueria). Further up the coast, stops are made in Morro Bay (Chapala), for oyster tacos at Cayucos Beach (Ruddell's Smokehouse), in Watsonville (Fiesta Tepa-Sahuayo), at a late-night hotspot in Santa Cruz (Taqueria Vallarta) and at a taqueria in a gas station in Pescadero (Taqueria y Mercado de Amigos) that turned out two perfect tacos. After taking in the fantastically beautiful California coast, the trip ended in San Francisco's Mission District, which is well-known for both tacos and burritos, where five restaurants managed to make it onto the tour (La Taqueria, Taqueria San José, El Taco Loco, an El Tonayense taco truck and La Palma Mexicatessen). .
And in the end? 5 days, 49 tacos and one excellent trip for a taco-lover.
Be sure to check out the full article for a detailed account of all the individual tacos.











