Torchy’s Tacos

The KKK took my Torchy’s away
They took her away
Away from me
Now I don’t know
Where my Torchy’s can be
They took her from me
They took her from me
I don’t know
Where my Torchy’s can be
They took her from me
They took her from me
Ringy, ringy, ringy
Up the President
And find out
Where my Torchy’s went
Ringy, ringy, ringy
Up the FBI
And find out if
My Torchy’s is alive
Yeah, yeah, yeah
oh oh oh oh oh oh
oh oh oh oh oh oh
She went away for the holidays
Said she’s going to South 1^st Street.
But she never got there
She never got there
She never got there, they say
(because it’s closing today…)

On my Torchy’s quest, I went to this location for a quick lunch. Unfortunately, it was not quick. The line was huge, and I waited a good 30 minutes in line. The sun beat down so hard that I could literally feel the tops of my feet burning. Owww…
I finally get to the front of the line and I order a brushfire, fried avacado, and an orange Jarritos. I was planning on a democrat and some queso, but they were out of both. Deep down inside, I cried a little.
After about 10 minutes, my tacos arrive. Thee fries avocado was good, but not life changing like yesterday’s green chili pork taco. The brushfire looked yummy, so I rolled and took a bite. It was pretty tasty. Yum-​me! I took another bite, and it hit me. 5 000 000 scoville’s attacked me. My mouth was burning. My eyes were watering. I was having a flashback of being at Asian Market with my friend Bobby. I looked inside my taco, and it was filled will jalapenos. Thank goodness I bought a Jarrito’s. I started chugging. Please let the pain go away. Please let me live to attend the Unilocal party tonight. A woman sat next to me, so I asked her if the crying made my mascara run. I had been playing with Diorshow’s Unlimited at Sephora just before I went to lunch. She said, «Don’t worry about it. It just gives you a more dramatic look.»
Finally, the scovilles ceased attack. I started packing up my things so I could start working again. Just then a breeze picked up blowing my trash all over the floor and down the street. I chased it, cuz you know I don’t mess with Texas. As I’m scrambling to pick up the paper and foil, another gust of wind blows my skirt up as I’m bending down. One of the employees inside the Torchy’s trailer sees me, and he laughs. Another customer commented, «The bad thing is that your skirt went up. The good thing is that a breeze came along.» It was sizzling hot.
I’m not sure why, but every time I’ve been to Torchy’s, something awkward or slightly embarrassing happens. I really like these tacos, but I’m not a huge fan being in those awkward situations. Torchy’s, I’ll give you one more try. I will arrive wearing clothes that cannot be blown away by acts of God (s) or shirts that invite stares.

This more of a tip than a review. They are shutting down the 6^th street location on Aug 23 and moving to a trailer park somewhere. They’ll be making hamburgers next to the other Torchie’s supposedly.
What can I say — great tacos. I like both the beef and pork.

Torchy’s tacos. I’ve heard a lot about you. After Don’s explosive sadness, I thought I’d hit it up finally.
I heard so much about the fried avocado and also about the pork taco via El B., I thought, I’ll get those. The Fried Avocado did not impress me, :-(. It made me sad because I reallyl wanted it to be good. It actually seemed bland to me sans the sauce. The friedness of the avocado was not much of a crisp. It tasted, to me, like a piece of warm avocado.
However, the Green Chile Pork taco? oh man. I took a bite and I suddenly had this burst of flavor, due to its juiciness, and a revelation. It was almost an out-​of-​world experience, like I stepped out of my body to stare at my mortal coil, tasting that taco… and my out-​of-​world self saying, «yes.»
I do like their trailer. It makes me want to start my own taco trailer and sell tacos. They give free refills btw. That’s awesome.
The only beef I had was that it was a bit expensive for tacos. $ 3 to $ 4 a pop. I’m not a big guy, but I have a big appetite. I could probably eat like 10 of those tacos. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t really small, just I’m a pig.

THEY ARE TAKING MY TORCHY’S AWAY! I walk into Little Woodrow’s Friday night, and no one will look me in the eye. «D» the manager who usually says hi, just walks by and says, «I don’t want to be the one to tell you.» WTF?
My friend, «C» the manager at Torchy’s won’t even look at me. They had already told me the week before that «B» the gorgeous taco giving young lady, and also my friend was leaving.
Now «D» finally tells me Torchy’s is gone by the end of the month. NO MORE TORCHY’s at Little Woodrow’s.
OMG OMG OMG OMFG!
1. Wait, this can’t be happening, they are probably lying Torchy’s makes good money here, they are just messing with me. Why would they leave just before the students come back? They are just screwing with me. It is all a big joke to them, making fun of Don. There must be a mistake.
2. There is no way this could be happening, Torchy’s has to be here, what would I do without Torchy’s? This isn’t happening.
3. It is ok, even if this happening, I can talk to them. They have to listen to me I’m their best customer, I can deal with this. I’ll just call em up and we can make a deal. I’ll just work the stand, leave «C» here — they can have all the money. They will have to leave it here if it doesn’t cost them anything.
4. It is my fault, I guess I didn’t eat enough Taco’s I didn’t tell enough people, I stayed home some nights and didn’t get tacos, plus I probably didn’t tip enough, it is all my fault. I KILLED THE TORCHY’S!
5. WTF? Why are they taking my Torchy’s from me? I told everyone I know about Torchy’s, I wrote Unilocal reviews, I brought my whole family, all my friends, my company, random freaking people on the street all down here to eat Torchy’s. F$*cking bastards, I’m going give the owner a «head or gut» or better yet I’ll just kick him right in the balls when I see him. Take the gaddam Torchy’s away sonafa
6. I don’t know why I thought it was permanent, I mean it was just a damn trailer. I don’t know what I will eat anymore. Nothing tastes as good.
I hadn’t even mentally dealt with losing «B» yet, I was thinking about asking her to move in with me and my wife, just so we could still you know «hang out.»
Now I lose it all, I lose «B», I lose my best-​est friend «C», I lose my taco «The Don», I lose the queso, oh the sweet sweet queso, no more monthly specials, no more brush-​fires, no more trailer park’s «B» style, no more ordering breakfast for the next morning the night before and storing it in the Little Woodrow’s fridge until I finish drinking.
It is all over, the dream is dead, the queso dried up, OH THE TACOMANITY OF IT ALL!
7. Well, one of the owners wants to take the trailer and make some sort of Trailer Mecca at the original location. This trailer is going to be a hamburger stand. Apparently, it was his dream. Who am I to stand in the away of a dude’s dream? «C» is going with them, I’ll get to go visit her, and she says she will stop by Little Woodrow’s. Maybe «B» can get a job with the New Little Woodrow’s on the drag and I’ll see her soon. That is just down the street from the Torchy’s on the drag, maybe they will tell them how to make a «Don» taco. I guess I will be ok, football is back soon, I’ll learn how to eat something else, I hope. Just so sad though. So sad.
NO MORE CHANGES TO ANYTHING IN 2008! ENOUGH!

I had the Baja Shrimp taco for $ 4.33 (including tax). It was overpriced, but typical for Austin food prices. The taco was the normal size – not huge like the ones at Ken’s Tacos. It was delicious, though – like what you’d expect a gourmet taco to be, except with a casual atmosphere of sitting outdoors on plastic patio chairs eating on metal wire patio tables. I wished the unique taste lasted in my mouth longer after the meal. I also wished I wasn’t a pescatarian to try some of the other tasty-​sounding tacos.
The girl who took orders at the window and brought the order out was really nice.
They’re open quite late – check the website for hours.
This location of Torchy’s Tacos is a little shack on the west side of Little Woodrow’s. It’s right at the intersection. I just drove in and parallel-​parked along 7^th Street near Nueces.

I’m on the Queso Diet. Here’s how it works. 6 days a week I eat nothing but super healthy food. You know salads, fruit, broccoli, the fun stuff your grandmother used to force you to eat that I now pretend I like. After endless amounts of green, leafy, low fat meals I get one day a week to go all out.
I’ve spent it on an endless search for the best/​worst food for you. Torchy’s Tacos definitely meets that criteria. Melted cheese & fried avocado tacos is what I tried 1^st. Yep, I can’t wait for the second trip too. Oh ya — every dieters wet dream. There is this magical gooey pot of golden goodness these kids from Austin call Queso. Melted spicy cheese that you can dip your hearts content into. Some of you might think «oh that sounds a lot like nacho cheese.» In theory, yes. In practice queso is so much more. This stuff you can get a Torchy’s is awesome. The queso there is spicy, the chips are salty and deep fried in the oil you’ve learned to hate to love. oh ya, and the fried avocado tacos are good too :)

Whoaaaaaa… we need these in Minneapolis. Really need these.
Torchy’s is this little trailer plopped next to a cool bar with «misters» that whips up a mean taco for no more than $ 3.50. My bean, cheese, chorizo, and green chili taco was 2 bucks… can you believe it? I would have paid 5. And I should have ordered 2. They were out of eggs, which was a disappointment to some, but at midnight, I just wanted some good olé grease, so it didn’t bug me none.
They also have this Fried Avocado thing that I didn’t try (I was a little put off by the idea of a cooked avocado), but a table mate raved about it. I’ll give it a go next time.
Torchy’s, you are my new BFF.

Super, super yummylicious! I just wish I could have also tried lunch tacos and not just the breakfast taco.
I also wish that the next Torchy’s location be in…
SAN FRANCISCO!!!
Think that can be arranged???
We so need to be part of the breakfast taco phenomena!

This cute little trailer s tucked back, but when you find it, be ready for some great breakfast tacos. I am talking eat too fast to even enjoy breakfast tacos!
When we got ours, they were do hot, we had to wait for them to cool down which is never a bad thing. My mouth was drooling waiting! Two did me in!
We had about 10 folks with us, so the service was pretty slow.
If I could change on thing, they would have fountain drinks. If they did, you would have a hard time prying me away from this joint.

I don’t think God could have created a better taco. Granted I was a bit inebriated when I went to this fine trailer, but I’m pretty sure they’d be awesome when I’m stone cold sober as well.
Fried Avocado Taco = Genius. Squishy, refried genius.
Queso = BEST VALUE IN TOWN. I might just stop by exclusively for the queso sometime. It was that good. Chips were a tad too greasy for my taste, but I’m not too critical of foods that come from a trailer.
I have a couple of things that would put Torchy’s at the pinnacle of taco perfection would be:
– Serve drinks. (Disclosure: They might have, but the girl told me they didn’t have water and I needed to go to the bar. That’s more effort than I was ready to make. Trekking to Torchy’s from Key Bar after 4 pitchers of beer was a task in itself. The extra 12 steps to the bar would have been just too much. I know you agree. Obviously. Duh.)
–Deliver to the other bars. (I would have paid $ 10 for someone to bring me a taco, chips and queso across the street and down the road. Again, this has to do with my lazy ass not wanting to move. I’m GenME, so I figure that’s an inherited part of today’s culture that I harbor.)

I finally made it over to Torchy’s for lunch today. While I don’t think it was the Holy Grail of tacos, it was worth the short walk over and I am sure I will be heading that way again soon.
I had the Baja Shrimp taco and an order of chips and queso… The taco was one of the top two shrimp tacos I have ever had (Chuy’s shrimp tacos are up there as well) with lightly fried shrimp and a vinegar slaw.
The queso was pretty good… I loved that it packed a bit of a punch, plus they added a scoop of guac and cilantro (I believe). Chips were thin, perfectly salted and crispy. I had gotten the queso to share with my mother, but it was much too hot for her to eat… just something to think about if you have lunch companions who can’t handle the hot stuff… you will have to eat all of the queso yourself!
I went at 11:30 specifically to avoid a crowd… during peak hours I can’t see how they can get the tacos out in a timely manner…

For weeks now, I’ve been tormented by reviews of Torchy’s, which is a bit out of the way for me, from my home base on Braker Lane, but I finally decided that today was the day, and I was going to get down there.
To be honest, I was worried that I’d be over-​hyped. I mean, the reviews guest-​starred Jesus!
Folks are *not* over-​selling Torchy’s. I had but one taco, because I wanted to sample and it was just a lunch, but the taco I chose was the Green Chile Pork Taco on flour, and it is just as good as everybody is saying. I’m already planning how to make an excuse to drive downtown again to get some more.
Kind of a bummer that they stop selling drinks when the bar next door opens, as I had my five-​year-​old daughter with me so I couldn’t just hop into the bar and grab a drink, but that’s a minor complaint.
Now I just hope they’re so über-​successful that they open one on North Lamar somewhere.

Today, friends, was a breakthrough in culinary happiness
We’re not just talking, like, «That was some fine cuisine» good. No… no…that’s just way to little. We’re talking, «Oh my dear sweet god… there has never been, and there never will be, similar foodstuffs that could come anywhere close to the goodness of what I just put into my belly.»
That is what I experienced today at Torchy’s Tacos… pure culinary genius. Little (but big for tacos) bundles of pure heaven served within shining sheaths of aluminum foil.
I truly believe that if I all of a sudden died right after eating these tacos, I would have died one of the happiest individuals on the planet. I would have died thinking, «I have experienced Taco Nirvana.»
If heroin is the true drug connoisseur’s «Drug of Choice», then I would have to say that these tacos are one above that.
If I could direct inject them into a vein, I would happily tap a vein or five and start pumping away.
I hope my point is made.
Torchy’s is located on West 6^th street in the parking lot of a restaurant called ‘Woodrow’s’. Note that I said in a parking lot; these glorious little bastards are served from a trailer. A new friend at work told me about it, and I was excited. These are TACOS we’re talking about… and who can’t get excited about tacos in Austin… especially when you’ve been taco-​deprived for most of the years of your life.
But I had no idea that I’d basically be falling in love.
I ordered a breakfast taco with potatoes, egg and cheese and a Green Chili Pork Taco, flour tortilla (instead of corn) hold the cilantro, please. Upon getting back to the office and sitting at my desk, I promptly unwrapped the breakfast taco. I was surprised at the fact that it wasn’t completely soggy and gross as I had just walked about 5 blocks to get back. I also got waylaid for about 10 minutes at CVS because they didn’t have enough cashiers. But that’s a different story…
I noticed they put some green chili salsa and what I think was green chili queso in with the bag. I threw the salsa on but decided to save the queso for the other taco.
Within my first bite, I recall seeing Jesus. In person. Dressed in a nicely cut wool suit. With really pimp looking sunglasses. He was pointing at me saying, «Son, that is the best taco you’ve ever had, right?»
Right.
It was the kind of experience where you feel like every bite is magical, like you want to savour it as if it were going to be the last bite of something you ever take. Everything was in its place and as it should be… a beautiful greasy mix of eggs, potatoes and cheese all glommed together in one of the tastiest (most likely 100% lard based) tortillas ever.
After finishing the first, I quickly moved to the second… the Green Chili Pork Taco. This one was something special because I am a green chili fiend. And even though we live in Texas, green chili just isn’t as prevalent as I thought it would be. But here we had it ready and available in a taco, ready to be consumed with much vigor.
After dumping some of the green chili queso AND the remainder of the green chili salsa, I took a bite. Again, Jesus, standing there in the wool suit, pointing at me with a smile and saying, «Son, I sinned. I lied to you. But that’s OK because I’m Jesus. That first taco was child’s play. This one you’re eating now… THIS one is the best taco you’ve ever had, right?»
Right.
I’m not even going to try and explain how good this thing was because, honestly, I don’t think there are any words to describe it. Let’s just say that my life has changed. I now know that not all tacos are anywhere NEAR created equal.
If you haven’t been and you live in Austin, I need for you to stop what you’re doing right now and go there. NOW. Go there and eat a taco as if your life depended on it.
If you haven’t been and you don’t live in Austin, do yourself a favor and buy a plane ticket to come down and have lunch there.
You will be happy.
I’ve been told that The Trailer Park, extra trashy (read «take the lettuce off and smother the thing in lots of queso) and the Ranch Hand are unbelievable. If they are better than the two that I had, then I’m note quite sure that my taste buds would be able to take it without my head spontaneously combusting.
Why are you still reading this? Go now.

When you are being a rock star pretend emo sxsw chick, and find yourself walking all over downtown for four days straight to see music you have never heard of… then torchy’s might just be for you.
I had the ranch hand and beef fajita, and it quite possibly was the best taco I have ever had in my life.
People were friendly, service was quick enough, I got to SIT DOWN, and I enjoyed my messy taco in all its glory.
Yes, Dear torchys taco’s, you are a god send to the half tipsy sxsw folk in the middle of the day, and I’m sure you are equally good the rest of the year too.
I hereby proclaim torchy’s tacos as my new hangover/​sober up quick food.
the end.

What can be said that hasn’t been said before? It’s freakin’ good.
A-​M-​A-​Z-​I-​N-​G.
If I lived anywhere near this place it would become a problem.
So why not give it 5 stars? It was a little (I mean a little) pricey for street tacos… for two of us to eat was about 12 or 15 bucks. Not bad, but more then your average street taco.
Also, they don’t have anything to drink. You can go to Woodrows next door but then you have to grab the bartenders attention and tip them. Seems like a lot of work for some soda… but if you are a beer drinker and taco eater this would be perfect.

I love that I can get Torchy’s tacos downtown for lunch. I especially love the baja shrimp tacos.
What I don’t like is that they aren’t there every day, and I never know when they’re going to be open! It’s always disappointing to find out they’re closed after I’ve walked down there.
Some friends and I sometimes play a game we call «What Man Among You,» which is based a Bible quote – Matthew 7:9−10, specifically. It reads, «What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?» The point of the game is to come up with ridiculous comparisons and replace the objects in the quote with them. With that in mind, let me ask you this:
What man among you, if his son asks him for a Torchy’s Taco, will give him a closed trailer on a cold day that mocks you with the reminder of delicious shrimp tacos that you will not get to taste today?

Need to get together with many people in one location for a fun taco-​and-​beer filled evening? Then Torchy’s Tacos at Little Woodrow’s is your place.
Enjoy the best of both worlds as you chow down on authentic «south austin”-esque tacos (word on the street the fried avocado one is to die for) and sit on wooden benches out in the warm Austin air. If you find the party dieing down outside, you can always head in and get a peek out what Little Woodrow’s has to offer, which is a nice plus.
The food at Torchy’s is above average — I had a simple flour tortilla piled high with chicken and an immense amount of vegetables and cheese. Add in the great atmosphere and you’ve got the makings of your newest late-​night stop. (but not too late — it closes at 10pm!)

Pop quiz: Most offensive use of our tax dollars?
Anti-​illegal immigrant laws that cost more money than they save? Nope.
No. It’s not preventing stem cell research, either.
War? A distant second to what I have in mind.
Word on the street is the fire marshal made Torchy’s Tacos move from Little Woodrow’s.
Yeah, I’m paying local officials to prevent me from buying fucking awesome tacos from a local business. I’m not happy about this and I’m voting with my dollars … as soon as I can figure out how, exactly.
UPDATE: Well, our resistance movement has worked. I’d like to thank everyone who joined me in this hungerstrike. Now, enjoy a taco. They’re back in business, as of last night, and no one died in a recreation of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

Last night I ate the best taco I’d ever had in my life. This is how it went down…
I was having a crappy night on 6^th street listening to lame dance music and watching a girl throw up on the floor at Union Park. I got the beer munchies about 1o’clock. I only had $ 5 in my pocket so I couldn’t go all out. I figured I could probably buy a buttload of tacos for $ 5, but alas I could only afford one. I got a Green Chili Pork taco on a corn tortilla. Luckily that was all I needed to tide me over. The service was quick and the girl working the window was pleasant to the eyes. She complimented my friends and I on our cool shirts. We should go out sometime? Missed Connection?
I will be trying every taco on the menu.
P. S. And this wasn’t one of those «you’re so drunk everything taste good moments.»