NuclearTacos

**Caveat reader: I helped serve up delicious mouth-​pain at this event for a couple years. That being said, I didn’t make any money from it, and I don’t think the organizers do, either. I consider this more of a public service than a business: clearing the sinuses of SXSW Interactive attendees. C’mon, you look a little stuffed up. Have a taco!
So, I know these people, and you won’t find a friendlier group of geeks who share a love of very spicy noms. You get to assemble your own taco (soft or crunchy), starting with ground beef that usually comes in «hot,» «extra hot,» and «vegetarian.» There is no mild. There is no medium. You get spicy tacos or you get spicier tacos. Don’t be so quick to brush off the vegetarian pseudo-​beef as any kind of slouch, either. With no beef fat to soak up the heat, sometimes these end up being the spicier ones on the table.
While I mourn the lack of cilantro and onion for the tacos, the emphasis with the add-​ons table isn’t really flavor so much as, um, «damage control.» Lettuce and tomato might help soak up a little heat, but your best bet is with the cheese and sour cream. I don’t like sour cream, so my tacos usually consist of a bit of beef and a huge pile of cheese.
If your balls are much, much larger than your brain, please enter the eating contest. They’ll serve up the spiciest batch of taco meat they can make.
Usually there’s some kind of worthy cause to donate to via jars on the table. ’11 was tsunami relief for Japan and ’12 was Caritas in memory of Leslie. Stuff a couple bucks in the jar and thank your friendly taco cooks.
The crowd at Nuclear Tacos is always a blast. I met the «Ow, My Balls!» guy here one year. Oh yes, that means that my life is pretty much complete now.
If it comes back next year, drop by and indulge in a little foodie masochism. These tacos RULE.

YeHAW! Nucleartacos hosted a party at SXSW 2009, and it blew the panties off the Austin Hot Sauce Festival. The party was free to the public with all you can eat tacos, 2 complimentary adult beverages, and all you can drink Fuze, Sierra Mist, and Pepsi. Also, there was a truck handing out free ice cream.
These tacos are HOT. In addition to regular spices in the meat, they also added heaping scoops of minced habaneros. The meat came in ²⁄₅ atomic bombs, ⁴⁄₅ atomic bombs, and the veggie came in ²⁄₅ atomic bombs. There were two men cooking the meat up front. One of which commented that I should see what else he could do at home. But them he pointed to his finger and said, «But I’m married.» I replied, «That’s okay. I’m a lesbian.» The two chicks from Philly behind me burst into laughter. I started off with just 2 tacos packed with carne, just a bit of cheese, some tomatoes, lettuce, and sour cream sauce.
I ate with the two girls behind me and some other strangers, and yes, I cried. I had a full cup of the ²⁄₅ mixture straight up. I think if I had a smaller portion of carne, it wouldn’t have been so bad. After I cooled my mouth, I walked down to Speakeasy for their free food and drink party. On my way, I spotted Amber D. and asked her to tag along.
Speakeasy’s was dead. I’ve never seen a SXSW event so dead. And there was no food or drinks that we could see 20 minutes after the advertised time. Amber D. and I made our way back Brush Creek Park for more tacos and drinks. I had another 2 tacos, and I put the sour cream sauce on them so they were barely spicy the second time around. Haberno Joy!
There was also a taco eating contest, but I already had dinner plans in 15 minutes.
5 stars for:
Tacos with a kick
Complimentary Drinks
Complimentary Ice Cream
and the weather happened to be gorgeous