Alison’s Taco ROTDC!!!

Excellent tacos, excellent company.
My «special friend» Brian and I had a blast celebrating Alison’s Review of the the Day (ROTD) for Veracruz All Natural. It takes a lot of effort to organize ourselves to make it from Upper Breedistan to downtown on a Friday night for an 8pm event, but I’m so glad that we did!
After a prelude/​lube at Glass Half Full, a train ride, and another drink at Violet Crown, we were ready for Alison’s taco (party). He had the beef and chicken, I had the fish and veggie. All were tasty, but that beef was a revelation. So tasty, so tender, no weird bits of crunchy knuckle in there. The veggie was exceptionally flavorful even before I added some of that spicy salsa and guac. Yummmmmm.
Who knew that this place was BYOB? Next time, I’ll be sure to stuff my purse with refreshments before hopping on the Metrorail.
Let’s do it again soon!

I came. I saw. I taco’d.
Okay, that sounded better in my head.
Shout out to Joe C. for clarifying that the Unilocal location for Veracruz All Natural is wrong (it’s on E 6^th, not E Caesar Chavez) although, apparently, the people who accidentally went to the wrong location were the only smarty pantses who ended up with booze! (Amy… amy is the smarty pantses, lol)
I adore Alison and this was a great event, and here’s why:
Barbacoa and Al Pastor tacos on corn tortillas with avacado (heh, heh… just kidding) and burn-​your-​face-​off salsa.
All the lovies were there. And Ron, too.
My daughter had lots of dirt to play in.
They accept cards.
We peed at Buenos Aires.
There is an ice cream truck directly across from Veracruz. Which provided the perfect pre-​dinner-​dessert while we waited.
Breakfast taco options all day — winning.
Mihir dressing über extra severely hipster — winning.
Errol.
I missed out on the after-​taco-​bar-​hopping… but there are only so many times I can take by baby to a bar on the East Side before it’s just not cute anymore, LOL.
Great turn out, Alison! Congrats on your ROTD and I’ll definitely be back to Veracruz, so well done getting the word out on them.
Now, give me your dress.

are you REALLY into tacos?
are you REALLY into dolphin penises?
have you ever had a taco massage?
are you REALLY into alison L?
yes
yes
it’s not what you think
SO TOTALLY.

Who wouldn’t want to partake in Alison’s taco. ROTDC? My first Unilocal outing from a summer away made me realize me much I miss Austin and the Unilocal peeps.
I didnt get a taste of Alison’s taco, but Errol gave me a taste of his. It was hot and a little fishy, but nevertheless yummy.
Great to see Mihir and his new tat, Beth and her adorable mini me, Shannon and Brian the golden couple, Amy and Jesse for letting me be the third wheel, Joe and his always lovely wife, and Errol who is all knowing of Unilocal.
I so glad to see Amanda back and to finally meet the Mexi-​can.

After Jesse D., Alicia K. and I took a detour through E. Cesar Chavez seeking out the trailer we text Errol M. and were all like where the hell is this place?! He kindly guided us to the Veracruz truck located in the Waller Food Trailer Park.
I ordered a veggie taco and Jesse had an al pastor and upon ordering were told it would be about 10 minutes, not bad. The tacos were piping hot and I loved the corn tortillas and fresh veggies especially the generous slice of avocado.
Thanks to the lady of the hour Alison L. for introducing us to this delicious food truck.
Oh and that’s right, I totally BYOWd!

Alison L. is da bomb
I ate those tacos like nom nom
not really, just one
but it was really fun
It was such a good idea
I got the fish with flour tort-​ea
it was really good
if you haven’t tried it you should
I can’t really rhyme
but I don’t care because it was such a fun time!

Some like to cruise the seedier parts of E. Cesar Chavez searching for the right taco, until a friend tells them where the hot, all natural ones on East 6^th hang out.
Some like a taco filled with meat, or one that’s extra spicy.
Some prefer to eat a morning taco: Oppan migas style.
Some don’t want meat in their taco at all, but are happy with one that has only had vegetables in it, or is a little fishy.
Others aren’t quite ready for a taco, but will go to third base with a cup of guacamole.
All can enjoy a watermelon aguas frescas after they’ve worked up a bit of a sweat.
I don’t judge. I just like tacos. And it doesn’t take much coaxing from the lovely Alison L. to end up with a bunch of cool Unilocalers having a fun Friday night together at Veracruz All Natural taco truck.
And just how DOES Amy D. arrive with a glass of wine already in hand?
Errol.
#bethd #babyinabar #again

Well, if you want to throw a cool ROTDC:
1. You go to the Veracruz All Natural Taco truck, and push two picnic tables together.
2. You respond immediately to texts asking where the heck this place is, since the Unilocal address says East 1^st but we’re actually at the East 6^th & Waller food trailer court.
3. You meet and greet Mihir & Sarah & Jen & Tiana & Shannon & Amy & Jessie & Alicia & Ron. And when she arrives, you jump up and down and exclaim «Amanda! Amanda! Amanda!» And when no one is looking, you quietly whisper «Beth.»
4. Your group orders a bunch of chips, dips, and tacos. You then learn breakfast tacos are available all day too, so you get one of those. And then your crowd starts attracting other crowds to the Veracruz trailer, and they wind up making a whole bunch of chips, dips, and tacos.
5. Half the group then goes across the street to Violet Crown, and the other half heads up the street to The Liberty, because Dej & Lorena are there. On the way to The Liberty, everyone waves at Mr. Qui.
6. You then hang with Dej & Lorena, and start wondering why the ESK there is taking forever to do tongue buns. Okay, it is Friday night, and they’re seriously backed up. Hey, we’re down with it.
7. You then head back down to the Brixton, where Alison, Mihir, and Sarah are holding court. Everyone is curious if Mihir is now wearing tank tops to show off his new tattoo. And then out of the blue, the delightful Ashley S. makes an appearance.
8. And after hanging for a while, you head back up the street to Whisler’s, because you’ve never been there but have heard a lot about it. And when you walk in, you exclaim, «Wow!»
9. John, who was your favorite bartender at Peche and is now working Whisler’s, recognizes you, makes two French 77’s in his special way, and Alison and Sarah exclaim «Yummy!»

10. You then head back to The Eastern to meet up with Dej and Lorena again. But when you can’t find them and text Dej, she replies, «The Empire, not The Eastern.» And when you walk into The Empire for the first time, you exclaim, «Wow!»
11. The first person you see at The Empire is Mike L, the bartenders do heavy pours, and nobody is watching you, because they’re all watching Dej & Lorena do some serious Salsa. You think it was Salsa. The Empire is the new Rave.
12. And when you get home at 3:02am, you wonder briefly if you’re getting too old for this shit. But then you realize you’ve been hanging out with some pretty cool people, and you only live once. Yep, it’s all good stuff, and these are the good old days.