Tacoberfest: Trying Local Tacos Across the Treasure Valley

I love October. Halloween is coming, the weather is finally cooling down (sort of) and everything gets a little spooky. It’s easily one of my favorite months of the year.

But I decided October was missing something... Tacos. Lots and lots of tacos. So I’ve decided to declare October Tacoberfest.

a plate of food — Photo by Federico Ramirez on Unsplash

Yes, I made it up. No, I’m not taking suggestions on whether this is a real holiday. It is now.

For the entire month of October, I’m going to try to visit as many locally owned taco places around the Treasure Valley as humanly possible. Taco trucks, little hole-in-the-wall taquerias, neighborhood favorites... they’re all fair game.

The one big rule? Local. No national chains and I’m actually going to these places, ordering the tacos and telling you what I thought.

How many can I get to before Halloween? I have absolutely no idea, but I’m willing to make the sacrifice and eat an unreasonable number of tacos to find out.

Tacoberfest Stop #1: Bronco Tacos in Boise

I couldn’t have picked a better place to start. For the inaugural Tacoberfest stop, I headed to Bronco Tacos on South Broadway Avenue in Boise.

Bronco Tacos is a family-owned operation that says its food represents generations of family recipes and describes what it serves as a little taste of Sinaloa.

They have plenty of interesting things on the menu, including quesabirria, birria burritos, mulitas and even Maruchabirria, birria ramen. But for Tacoberfest, I wanted to start simple.

Two asada tacos. One carnitas taco. Red hot salsa. That’s it.

The street tacos at Bronco Tacos are exactly what I want when I’m craving a traditional taco. Meat, cilantro and onions on corn tortillas.

The asada was fantastic. There was a little bit of char on the meat, but it was still incredibly tender and the flavor was amazing.

Then came the carnitas. Here’s where you need to know something about me, I’m a carnitas snob. I love carnitas, so I’m probably harder on it than I am most taco meats. Bronco Tacos nailed it. Tender. Flavorful. Simple. Exactly what I wanted and the tortillas were nice and soft but, most importantly, they didn’t fall apart.

That’s important because these tacos were absolutely loaded with meat. By the time I finished, I was picking up pieces of meat with my fingers because there was more meat than the little tortillas could contain.

That is not a complaint.

Gallery Credit: Cory Mikhals

The Treasure Valley Tacoberfest Is Officially Underway

I have no master list. I don’t know how many taco places I’m going to make it to and I’m not going to pretend that I can visit every great locally owned taco place in the Treasure Valley in 31 days... But I’m certainly willing to try.

And after Bronco Tacos, the bar has already been set pretty high.

a person holding up a lit up sign that says tacos — Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash

Now I need your help. Where should Tacoberfest go next? I’m looking for the taco truck you swear by, the little place hidden in a strip mall, the family owned taqueria you’ve been going to for years or someplace I’ve somehow never heard about.

Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, Kuna, Eagle... wherever the tacos take me.

October has 31 days.

Let’s see how many tacos I can eat.

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Gallery Credit: Cory Mikhals

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Gallery Credit: Rob Carroll