{"id":3999,"date":"2015-10-15T08:00:59","date_gmt":"2015-10-15T13:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=3999"},"modified":"2015-10-15T08:46:51","modified_gmt":"2015-10-15T13:46:51","slug":"the-sloppy-taco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2015\/10\/15\/the-sloppy-taco\/","title":{"rendered":"THE SLOPPY TACO"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan St. and Pine St., Lake Charles<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ship To Shore lot on Lake St., Lake Charles<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"MARIO3\"<\/a>So several months back I saw that we had a new food truck in town called the Sloppy Taco. I was curious about this. But they didn’t have a set location schedule, so I hadn’t made it out to see them.<\/p>\n

Well, recently the Sloppy Taco has settled into two locations: one at the corner of Ryan and Pine Streets and the other in the parking lot of Ship to Shore on Lake Street. If you follow them on Facebook, they’ll update if there are any changes.<\/p>\n

I read an article not long ago that described the food truck scene; I quote, \u201cThe food truck is the next step in the evolution of our eating habits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, this statement is completely untrue, as the food truck scene has been a mainstay in larger cities for some time. And the concept of mobile food has been around since the 1800s. The larger cities had restaurants that had food trucks so that they could have multiple locations without the headache that comes with a fixed restaurant. The practice allowed them to reach people that they might not usually reach.<\/p>\n

Now, the perception of food trucks has changed over the years, and as more experienced chefs start using the concept on a more permanent basis, these trucks have lost the title of \u201croach coach\u201d and are now just considered food trucks.<\/p>\n

The article I read also described owners Brett and Derek Stutes as the George Washingtons of the food truck scene, which is also not correct. Kristi Wooldridge, who owns Weiniedogs, had a mobile hot dog stand for five years before the Sloppy Taco took up shop here.<\/p>\n

Now that we’ve cleared up a few things, let\u2019s get down to talking about a bad-ass taco truck that I can\u2019t seem to get enough of. I ate there four times in the week before I wrote this column, and I don\u2019t see myself stopping any time soon.<\/p>\n

On my first visit, Garrett swung in on our lunch. Now, as I’d never eaten the food nor had I known anyone who had, I really had no clue as to what the best thing to eat would be. I decided to let the very nice young lady taking my order decide for me.<\/p>\n

She chose the Sloppy Taco that consisted of ribeye, braised pork and shrimp with some jalapenos, red onions and remoulade sauce that brought it all together nicely on a flour tortilla. (Corn is an option.)<\/p>\n

Garrett ordered the pork taco, which had a pico and Monterey jack cheese on top of the braised pork.<\/p>\n

\"MARIO1\"<\/a>One of the options is having your taco in cabbage, which both Garrett and I thought would be a whole cabbage leaf with the ingredients inside. But the cabbage was in with the ingredients.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the presentation, all the components came together nicely.<\/p>\n

Well, as Garrett and I were enjoying our lunch, Brett brought us out an order of his mango and crab nachos. I’d seen this item on the menu, but it hadn\u2019t jumped out at me as something I wanted. Damn, was I ever completely wrong. The wontons were fried so perfectly. The crab and mango mixture was a cold combination, with all the ingredients staying separate and not becoming all mashed together. This menu item is like food crack, and I think I may have a serious addiction to this dish. But I promise my readers I will eat my way through this problem.<\/p>\n

All the guys and girls from Sloppy Taco seem to be really enjoying themselves. Everyone is smiling and banging out some very creative food. They’re giving us more options in a town that’s quickly growing its food selection daily.<\/p>\n

I believe once they truly set up shop in a permanent location, they’ll have more business than they could possibly imagine. They’re not re-creating the wheel \u2014 all they’re doing is bringing restaurant-quality food to the people in a more creative way, and we the people of Lake Charles deserve to have the Stutes brothers’ amazing food.<\/p>\n

Lake Charles, we are starting to see more and more mobile food trucks popping up in this area. We need to embrace these places, as they are bringing us some great food. Some of them are simply more convenient to get to, and the wait isn\u2019t that long most of the time.<\/p>\n

The Sloppy Taco may not be the revolutionaries of the food truck movement in SWLA, but they are by far my favorite, and they stepped the game up for all food trucks to follow. Hell, Chelsea and I drove over to the USS Orleck just to get some tacos because I noticed on the schedule they would be there for an art exhibit of some sort.<\/p>\n

\"MARIO2\"<\/a>I almost forgot to discuss the ribeye rolls. These are filled with the Trinity, and ribeye, black beans, and Monterey jack cheese. They’re fried like an egg-roll. Let me tell you it is the real deal \u2014 #foodporn #cheflife #foodtrucky.<\/p>\n

I love what I do when it comes to going to all these places to eat and to talk about something I\u2019ve done longer than I can remember. I don\u2019t write the big background pieces; nor do I write or speak as well as some of the more professional food reviewers whose work I\u2019ve read. But I hope you understand that I am a chef who started as a dishwasher; who worked his way up through every position there is in the kitchen. So when I talk about these places, I\u2019m giving you the behind-the-scenes view of things. I apologize if it comes across too directly at times.<\/p>\n

Eat local and break the chain.<\/p>\n

I’ll be doing a piece on Weiniedogs in my next article. Kristi said she wanted to have a hot dog contest against Botsky\u2019s for the title of best hot dogs in Lake Charles. Stay tuned. I’m going to see if I can get this contest off the ground.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ryan St. and Pine St., Lake Charles Ship To Shore lot on Lake St., Lake Charles So several months back I saw that we had a new food truck in town called the Sloppy Taco. I was curious about this. 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