Tacos Tamazula, Winton

Tacos Tamazula

Truck Info:

6986 Santa Fe Dr, Winton, CA 95388

In the parking lot of Rancho Market on Santa Fe and Walnut Avenue

209-230-3565

Operating Hours: Monday-Sunday, 9am-10pm or until sold out

Metrics:

Tortilla Type: Flour, very light and pillowy

Garnishes: Lemon, grilled onions, sliced radishes, onions, cilantro

Salsa: Red, but with tomatillo, so closer to an orange style salsa

Meats: Asada, Pastor, Pollo, Cabeza, Lengua, Carnitas,

Spice Level: 3/5, somewhat spicy

Payment types: Cash Only

This stretch of Santa Fe from Atwater to Modesto is a gold mine for great taco trucks in the central valley. I have already discussed Tacos Hidalguense, but this one feels diametrically opposite in many factors, yet none of that is criticism. In fact, its more a celebration. Often times, geographically proximity lends itself to similarity in food, and there is nothing wrong with that. But I do adore the fact that a single hour long drive up Santa Fe can give you access to so many distinct styles of taco, with each one being done very well.

The tacos at Tamazula are served on light, pillowy flour tortillas. They are pretty large in diameter when compared to the standard size for many taco truck tortillas, but that is very much by design. The wide tortilla does a great job soaking up the juices from the very moist meat. Many times flour tortillas can become waterlogged and lost their structural integrity if they are smothered in juices. By providing rather wide tortillas, there is plenty of space on the tortilla around the outside that is not in contact with the meat, and stays dry, perfect for holding onto without the taco collapsing.

The meat, as mentioned, is very moist. The asada is cooked off well to get a solid char on the plancha, then served up with a good amount of fat and smothered in salsa. The carnitas are cooked off very crispy in their own fat, but do not dry out at all. For both meats, the salsa cuts through the rich fat wonderfully. I actually couldn’t get enough of the salsa, and if I had any complaints it’s that I didn’t have a jar of salsa to take home with me after.

If you haven’t yet, make sure to check Tacos Tamazula out. I will definitely be covering more tacos on the Santa Fe drive up from Merced, and I highly recommend you spend a day trip trying a taco from each of them!