Tacos!

Let's taco 'bout 'em!

In Chicago I lived in a neighborhood with a lot of great Mexican spots with very good cuisine, and it became a lifelong comfort food for me. There are some good tacos here in HCMC, although some are attuned to more Asian/Vietnamese palettes, so let me show you my favorites.

There are still a couple places around town worth checking out, in my humble opinion as a lover of tacos and weird fusion mashups, both. Let’s check in with the creatives in the kitchen and see what weirdo concoctions they’re dreaming up!

Sadly, two of the more interesting places I wanted to write about seem to have closed down recently - Hoa Tacos did Korean/Mexican fusion, including killer bulgogi tacos and a truly insane kimchi quesadilla, and Smoked Tacos did seriously authentic and excellent street-style tacos. RIP, we hardly knew ye.

Gringo Tacos

Hours: 11am-10pm

Address: 28 Mê Linh, Thạnh Mỹ Tây

https://maps.app.goo.gl/doks1dkd5AXP6bG17

It’s probably no surprise that some of the best tacos in Southern Vietnam are fish tacos given the sheer quantity of fresh fish, and Gringo does my favorites. They’re probably also the most authentically Mexican restaurant on the list today.

In addition to great fish tacos they have a couple vegan options, which are also pretty excellent! I’ve tried the jackfruit one, the calabacitas one, and the Baja fish one. But when I’m craving tacos, I have to put the fried white fish variety at the top of the list, and these are advertised as local award-winning ones. I believe it.

Simple Place

Hours: 10am-10pm

Address: 215B4 Nguyễn Văn Hưởng, An Khánh

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ziy8r6rgjhPy9iBM6

For sheer gutsiness, Simple Place comes out on top. While nothing here is authentically Mexican or even TexMex, it’s a local favorite for a good reason. Portions are huge, and prices are reasonable.

The reason it’s making this list about tacos? DUCK, BABY. Duck tacos are a little unusual to see and quite tasty, with lots of juicy, fresh duck on pretty good tortillas (but perhaps too much fresh diced onion for my taste). That’s as good a reason as any to visit, although lots of their dishes are very comforting.

There are now two outposts over in Thao Dien and quality seems to be equally high at both of them.

Delicioso - Tacos Fusion

Hours: 9am-9pm

Address: 43/75a, Đ. Thành Thái, Diên Hồng

https://maps.app.goo.gl/P3wiCEit4fKNfQfR7

These are straight up weirdo tacos - ‘fusion’ is certainly the key term here. This is mainly a takeaway or delivery joint, and you really can’t go wrong with any of their tacos, in my humble opinion.

I’ve tried the pulled pork and pineapple, the crispy Japanese fried chicken, and the fruit tacos (!!) and found them all to be very delicioso, indeed, and delivered fast and fresh. Their in-house seating is a bit sparse and they’ve moved to a location deep in a tiny alley, so be aware of that if you physically visit their store.

Vietnamese cuisine has a grand tradition of wrapping foods up and eating with your hands, and so in a lot of ways tacos just make sense in their appeal to young people looking for something new. It’s just that in this case you’re wrapping it up in carbs instead of rice paper or lettuce. Still delicious!

I’m always on the lookout for my favorite comfort food, so if you’ve got a great taco joint you OWE it to us to drop it in the comments!

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