Happy National Taco Day!

Wow, two food posts back to back?! What can I say, I LOVE eating new foods so much! Today’s blog post is perfect because it’s National Taco Day. What better way to celebrate National Taco Day than with the latest craze that has swept O’ahu, tacos de birria. Birria is a stew that originates from Jalisco, Mexico and is traditionally cooked with lamb or goat. The stew is a blend of stocks, mexican chiles, spices, onion, garlic, diced tomatoes, and of course the meat. As the stew cooks, the meat soaks in all the flavors of the spices and also adds flavor to the stew. At the end of the long stewing process, the meat is tender and falls apart. I personally haven’t made birria myself, but I’ve heard it’s a long process. I can imagine that finding the authentic spices may be costly here in Hawai’i as well.

When the Birria Taco craze first hit our island, everyone went crazy for it. I’ve seen lines of 20+ people waiting for hours to get their fix of tacos, and smaller businesses doing pre-orders over Instagram that fill up quickly. The craziness all started in July, and the momentum has not died down since. The Birria Tacos are typically made with the birria stewed meat (beef), then added to a corn tortilla that is not only dipped in the broth/consommé stew, but fried on a griddle to crispy perfection with melted cheese. The best is when the cheese oozes out and gets the crispy golden brown edge. Are you drooling yet?? I definitely am. The taco is then folded in half, and garnished with onions and cilantro with lime on the side. To eat the taco, you can add on the fix-ins (onions and lime) and dip the taco in the consommé that has all the deliciously savory flavors in every bite.

Today I went to Griddled for the first time. Located in Ohana Hale Marketplace in the Ward area of Honolulu, this place is seriously no joke. I tried to get tacos from Griddled two times before today and wasn’t successful. The first time, I had just missed their operating hours because they sold out for the day and closed early. Then the second time, I waited for about 45 minutes and had to leave because they sold out again. Today, I was not about to go home empty handed! I went 10 minutes after they opened (11:00am), and was still 8th in line. They only take two orders at once, so the line moved very slowly. However, I was determined to get my hands on their birria tacos. Their menu consisted of a variety of lemonades, Quesataco Dorado (their birria taco), Quesadilla, and consommé broth. I ordered four Quesataco Dorado and a consommé, and it came out to $23. A bit pricey in my opinion, but I really wanted to try this place out.

Finally after 40 minutes in line and 10 minutes of waiting, I had my tacos and consommé. I went straight to my car and had to have one while it was hot. Let me tell you, that was such a good decision on my behalf! The tortilla was crunchy, the birria beef was flavorful and soft, the onions were crisp and refreshing, the cheese still had the gooey pull to it, and the consommé tied it all together *chef’s kiss*. I went home and shared my victorious plate of tacos with my family.

At the end of this experience, I don’t think I would wait 50 minutes for tacos again. I think I can wait until my next birria taco craving to head to Griddled for more. However, those tacos were delicious… We’ll see if I can gather my patience to wait in that long line again, or wait until the hype dies down. From what I saw today, the hype is definitely not dying down any time soon. Maybe I’ll even try to recreate it myself – we’ll see. Have you tried birria tacos yet? Until next time!