2011: The year in tacos.

The highs and lows of the world of New York tacos in 2011, courtesy of Eater:

http://ny.eater.com/archives/2011/12/tacos_2.php

Long time, no post.

It's been a long time since we posted here, and it's time we remedied that! We have accumulated a storehouse of musings on our recent food experiences, and we'll get to those in good time. For now, enjoy this pic of one of the many extraordinarily strange artifacts to be found at Graceland Too.

La Mexicana #4 (Naples, FL).

While on a recent taco hunt with Taco Bob, we found a promising Mexican market and stopped in with the hope of finding some tacos.

As we entered this well-stocked store full of every dried pepper and dried spice you could think of, the smell of tacos grabbed us and we headed to the back of the store. We indeed found tacos, but the nice girl behind the counter had a very confused look: it turns out she didn't speak English, and our Spanish is lacking. Then a guy named Dan came over to help us order two beef and two pork tacos. We were very surprised by the generous amount of filling, consisting of very nicely-spiced pieces of tender pork and large pieces of a lightly seasoned beef.

What makes this place special is the topping bar that allows you to make your tacos just the way you like them. The bar provided house-made pico de gallo, guacamole, salsa verde, cilantro, onions, jalapenos, and shredded lettuce.

You can tell by the look on Taco Bob's face that he was pleased. Doesn't it look like he's wearing a tiny Mexican hat? This place has a very laid-back atmosphere and would turn some people off, but a taco lover would think it's just great and worth a visit.

We're not sure what this sign means, but we think it offers bus service to Mexico. Or maybe it's a way to send money. Loyal Tacobloggo readers, use the comments to tell us what this sign means!

This place is easy to find, at 2795 Davis Boulevard in Naples, Florida. The Greyhound bus station is on the left and the Islamic Center is on the right. Yeah, it's that kind of neighborhood: lots of characters roaming around.

Tacos in the Naples Daily News.

Here at Tacobloggo, we're always happy to see writeups of our favorite taquerias in the media, and Jonathan Foerster of the Naples Daily News has long been a staunch advocate of the local taco scene. Here's a link to his Daily News article on The Taco Trail (by which he means U.S. 41 East, better known around these parts as East Trail).

El Paisano Mexican Restaurant (Bonita Springs, FL).

Bonita Springs has more taquerias per square mile than any place I've been, and for the most part they are all good--and some are great. Mrs. Tacobloggo and I ventured out to one we haven't been to, but have been meaning to try, called El Paisano Restaurant, located at 10401 West Terry Street in Bonita Springs, Florida. Even though called a "restaurant," it was a very modest, clean and typical taqueria on the inside. Our server Estella greeted us with a big smile and took our order.

First she brought us some homemade chips with a salsa that tasted like an assortment of dried peppers with a creamy, almost nappe consistency and it was very flavorful, but not very hot. When I asked what peppers were in the salsa, she looked confused (we had somewhat of a language issue) and brought out a salsa verde that tasted bottled. On the table was a kind of bottled hot sauce I have never heard of called Picamas, which came in green and red; both were sweet, but yet again, without much heat.

I ordered carnitas and Al Pastor and Mrs. Tacobloggo ordered chorizo and her favorite, Al Pastor. I don't know if they had a shawarma wheel in the back but the Al Pastor was very moist, with a hint of pineapple. One thing I really liked is that they heated up the tortillas on the griddle just enough to get them soft with a little crunch on the ends.

The menu is varied and offered some great-looking sopas, which we will have to try on our next visit.

Taqueria San Julian revisited.

When we had a friend visiting from the Pacific Northwest recently, Tacobloggo and Mrs. Tacobloggo felt we had to take him to the winner of the 2010 Tacobloggo Taqueria of the Year award. So off to Taqueria San Julian we went once again. This was only a snack to tide us over until we had lunch! Even though we have dined here many times, it never gets old, because the tacos are consistently excellent.

Taco Al Pastor.

Lingua and carnitas tacos.

Bistek and pollo tacos.

I know the Pacific Northwest has its share of good taquerias, but my friend Mark was very pleased with what he had, and the homemade salsas are some of the best around. They shall receive their reward soon and I hope they display it on their wall, because it is truly an honor to receive a Tacobloggo©.

First Annual Tacobloggos©.

Yeah, they're finally here: the first annual Tacobloggos©!

Taqueria of the Year: After much debating and a few hundred tacos later, I Tacobloggo, Mrs. Tacobloggo and Taco Bob have decided to award the Tacobloggo© for Taqueria of the Year to Taqueria San Julian at 3575 Bayshore Drive in Naples, FL.

What makes this place special is that the tacos are consistently good, which I can't say for the other San Julians. The standalone building gives this place a very funky look and the inside is very modest with seating for maybe 20 people, but the service is great, the homemade salsas are superb, and of course the tacos are top notch.

Mexican Restaurant of the Year: The second Tacobloggo© goes to the Mexican Restaurant of the Year, and we are awarding it to La Fogata, located at 3300 Bonita Beach Road #33 in Bonita Springs, FL. What differentiates the Mexican Restaurant category from the Taqueria category is that in the former, the menu is quite extensive, and offers more to choose from in a very clean and relaxing environment but still in keeping with authentic Mexican cuisine.

Hey, isn't that Taco Bob there?

Best Place to Bring A Lot of Friends: The Tacobloggo© for best place to bring a lot of friends for tacos goes to Salsa Brava, located at 10265 Tamiami Trail North in Naples, Florida.

This place is great to bring your own party to, the tacos are outstanding, and the owner, Jose, is very generous with the cerveza.

Hey--is that Taco Bob again?

Best Shrimp Cocktail: The Tacobloggo© for Best Shrimp Cocktail goes to a little out-of-the-way place called El Bajio on East Trail In Naples

This is nothing short of a masterpiece but be forewarned that the atmosphere is a little, um, off, with a small TV mounted on the wall blasting Telemundo and every now and than the juke box just randomly starts playing assorted music. And you might not want to notice that the wallpaper is falling off and the service is very laid back even for a taqueria.

Taqueria Queen of the Year: The final Tacobloggo© goes to the Taqueria Queen of the Year--to Viviana, who works at El Rincon de Mexico at 2248 E. Tamiami Trail in Naples.

We at Tacobloggo want to thank Viviana for her excellent service and for supporting the taco cause.

We also want to thank our roving reporters for their hard work in getting reviews of great taco spots from around the country. We are pleased that every state in the U.S and over 40 countries have checked out our site and we hope to get the whole world. So from the Tacobloggo family, thanks for being a fan. Now go eat a taco and tell us about it.