2 Treasure Valley Taco Favorites You Need to Try

I decided at the beginning of October that one day just wasn’t enough for tacos.

So I declared my own little celebration: Tacoberfest.

The plan is pretty simple. Throughout October, I’m stopping at local taco shops and Mexican restaurants around the Treasure Valley, ordering some tacos and sharing the places I think deserve a visit.

As it turns out, my timing couldn’t have been better, because today, October 6, is National Taco Day. A couple of years ago, National Taco Day moved from its old October 4 date to the first Tuesday in October. So now National Taco Day and Taco Tuesday are officially the same thing.

For National Taco Day, I wanted to hit a few places. I only made it to two, but they’re both places I’ve been going to for years, so I’m perfectly okay with that.

California Mexican Food: Tacos At Any Hour in Boise

California Mexican Food isn’t a new discovery for me. We’ve been going there for years and I love that they’re open 24 hours.

When your workday starts at an hour when most sane people are sleeping, that’s important. I’ve been known to stop there around 4 in the morning on my way to the radio station and grab a burrito or tacos for “breakfast.”

And I’m not alone, because no matter what time I’ve stopped, there always seems to be somebody else in that drive-thru.

They’ve even added a separate street-taco operation in the parking lot with its own covered seating area.

This time I went inside and ordered the carne asada taco. It’s considerably bigger than a typical street taco and absolutely loaded with meat. Their carne asada has always been one of my favorites. Tender, flavorful and even better after a trip through their salsa bar.

My combination? Habanero salsa and the spicy pickled onions. That’s a taco.

El Gallo Giro: New Location, Same Great Tacos

My other National Taco Day stop was El Gallo Giro Mexican Restaurant and Locos Cantina in Meridian.

Sara and I have been going to the Meridian location since it opened. We like it enough that when friends or family come to town and ask me where they should go for Mexican food, El Gallo Giro is usually one of the first places I recommend.

It’s where Sara and I went for dinner after we got married. After the ceremony, a group of our family and wedding guests headed to El Gallo Giro with us for dinner. Nearly six years later, we’re still going back.

The Meridian restaurant has since moved into a much larger location near Eagle and Overland, and the new place is huge. There’s a full bar, TVs everywhere and a lot more room, but thankfully the food I loved didn’t change.

This time Sara, my father-in-law Dennis and I each went a different direction. Dennis ordered the shrimp tacos. I didn’t steal a bite of those, but he loved them.

Sarah had the carne asada tacos, and yes, I did steal a couple bites of hers. They’re done traditionally with cilantro and white onion, but El Gallo Giro adds a tomatillo salsa that gives them another layer of flavor.

I went with the birria and... Oh, man. The meat was ridiculously tender and packed with flavor, and that consommé for dipping took them over the top.

National Taco Day Ends. My Idaho Tacoberfest Doesn’t.

So that’s two more stops down, but we’re nowhere near finished.

National Taco Day only lasts until midnight, but Tacoberfest has the entire month and I know there are still a whole lot of tacos around the Treasure Valley that need my attention.