It’s the week of Christmas and I’m visiting my family in the Tampa area.  After a morning full of errands with my mom, we stopped at the Tampa Taco Bus (#2) for a quick bite and a bit of respite from holiday madness.  The Taco Bus group has two locations, with another about to open.  The St. Pete locale has outdoor table service and since it was 82 degrees, we basked in the sun while we ate.

There’s no Tex-Mex here, what you get its much closer to authentic Mexican than most places offer.  According to them, “We serve the Mexican street kind of food that the owner Rene Valenzuela has been cooking since he was kid in Mexico making some pesos at taco stands.  We have a northern Mexican approach to food but you will find tacos with recipes that are typical for places such as Yucatan, Mexico City, Sinaloa, and Puebla.”

http://tampatacobus.com/menus

We had beef tongue and cochintita pibil tacos and butternut squash tostada.  Overall the ingredients were very fresh and well made, but they definitely lacked appropriate seasoning.  The red and green hot sauces on the tables kicked it up a notch, though.

Cochinita Pibil – Shredded Pork marinated in Achiote and bitter orange, then wrapped in banana leaves and slow roasted in a smoker (BASED ON A 5,000 YEAR OLD MAYAN RECIPE!)

Lengua – Beef tongue.  Cubed and tender, lengua always reminds me of Granny’s pot roast.  YUM

Butternut Squash Tostada – Prepared Yucatan style with pico de gallo and topped with a sprinkling of queso cotija mexican cheese (optional).  *A bit bland, but great with the green hot sauce.

Tampa Taco Bus is well worth the trek and if you had weather like we did, it’s even better!