Smok’N Cantina

I had the great fortune of experiencing this fine cuisine today with my family and may I just say, «Wow!» Never before have I experienced such exuberant and explosive flavors without being overwhelmed. The service was magnificent and the food was executed without flaw. I recommend this fantastic food to anyone and everyone in the Columbus area looking for a trendy and perfectly crafted taco. (Or quesadilla, sandwich, or side) #muybienmihermana #comidamasbueno #meencantoestecomida

I noticed these guys on StreetFoodFinder today, and since I was driving past their lunch spot over at Easton, I decided it was worth a look.
It looks like Smok’n is a pretty new entry to the food truck scene — most of their website, for example, is under construction, and right now the truck is just in a basic black matte paint job with a few decals and menu boards.
The idea of doing some kind of BBQ taco really isn’t new to Columbus (Paddy Wagon, for example, pretty much made their bones with this), but Smok’n is doing a fairly solid rendition. The beef brisket taco with a sweet and hot sauce is a nice bite, especially with the black bean and corn salsa, and I really liked the green chili infused hummus.
I was hoping to try the sweet chili shrimp taco, but found out that they’d sold out, so I went with the «North Carolina» pulled pork taco instead.
That was a little disappointing. Now, the pulled pork wasn’t bad… but it was basically in the same sweet BBQ sauce as the brisket.
When you tell me something is NC style, I expect it to be sauced with tangy vinegar or a mustard based concoction — part of why I decided to order that was I was hoping for a nice contrast to the brisket’s fatty sweetness with some acidity and bite. That doesn’t really happen — you basically just get more of the same with a slightly different texture.
If they’d simply called it sweet pulled pork? Fine, no problem, and I’d have been aware. But as it was, just a slight edge of a downer to an otherwise tasty lunch.
Service was VERY quick (maybe 5 minutes tops after my order?) and the portion size is good — two tacos and a side makes for a nice lunch.
Add back a star on the review if you’re not quite as much of a BBQ snob as I am, and give them a try if you see them around.