Something Spicy in the Desert - Crazy Coyote Tacos - Banning, CA

A couple of times a year my wife Kim and I head out to the Cabazon Outlets to try to get into a little trouble. One of the things we look forward to the most is stopping at Crazy Coyote Tacos a quarter mile up the road on our way back to the OC.

Plenty of Seating Out Front

Crazy Coyote Tacos is a funky little roadside shack that serves up some very tasty Mexican treats. You know you are in the right place if there are a couple of large dinosaurs out front! I told you it was funky, and funky is a good thing!  

Spicy Super Taco with Chicken

We usually get the same thing and luckily they do not have a huge menu so I do not feel guilty at all. I get their Super Taco with Chicken with spicy salsa. They make the corn tortillas that are used for their tacos. Nice thick scratch-made corn tortillas with melted cheese like an open face quesadilla. Then they put their chicken with green sauce mixture and top it off with spicy salsa, fresh cilantro, and onions. This taco can be a little messy but to tell you the truth I could role around in it and be very happy.

Super Nachos with Chicken

Kim always gets the Super Nachos. They are a pile of chips topped with gooey cheese, chicken, beans, their spicy salsa, fresh cilantro and onions. This is all kinds of gooey yumminess. If you are a fan of nachos with cheese sauce Crazy Coyote Tacos takes it to a whole new level.

Dozen Tortillas for the Road

If you are heading to the Cabazon Outlets or towards Palm Springs make sure you take some time to check these guys out. At least stop and pick up a dozen fresh corn tortillas for the road. You will be glad you did.

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Making the Taco Gourmet – Dos Chinos – Santa Ana, CA

One of these days I may have to visit a regular restaurant but that just seems almost like a chore. Food trucks are still so much fun and I keep finding ones that really take their food to the next level. Dos Chinos is no exception. They do gourmet tacos! We are talking fancy marinades, good cuts of meat and big flavors.

This past weekend Kim and I finally stopped off to check these guys out. There truck is nothing special. It looks more lunch truck versus gourmet food truck but do NOT let that stop you from walking up to that window. This family owned and operated business is all about good service and great food.

Garden Grove Short Rib Taco

Most of their menu selections are available either in a taco or burrito. To help us try more items we did mostly tacos. First off was their Garden Grove Short Rib taco. This was short rib marinated in Jose Cuervo Tequila Korean BBQ sauce. This is the only time I will do Jose Cuervo and look forward to it. It was an awesome marinade.

Oahu Shrimp Taco

Then on to the Oahu Shrimp taco, which was Hawaiian garlic butter shrimp with a pineapple salsa. Normally I am not a big fan of fruit salsas. They remind me of 1995 when I still lived on Maui. Plus warm pineapple? Really? How do people eat that? However on this taco the sweet of the salsa really worked with the savory of the garlic shrimp. Yum!

Hollywood Chicken taco

How about a Hollywood Chicken taco? This taco has Thai coconut curry chicken with a tamarind sour cream sauce. Coconut curry in a taco……..really works! Just enough to taste the Thai style curry and the sauce was a nice finisher.

Filet Mignon Asada

Our last taco was the special of the night, Filet Mignon Asada. Yep, you read that right. As you may know by now I am not one of those people that goes to a steak place just to order a filet. Really, who cares, yes it is the nicest cut of meat you can get but there is so little fat it usually has no flavor. Well, when I go to Dos Chinos again this is the first thing I will get! Filet rocks as an Asada. Well it rocks for sure if these guys are making it.  By the way, it was only $2 for a taco.  What a deal!

Dos Chinos Fries

We topped our meal off with their Dos Chinos Fries. The have clarified garlic butter and cotija cheese. The saltiness of the cotija with the garlic butter were a knock-out combination.


If you have not figured it out, then you need to read this again! We loved the food at Dos Chinos. They can get pretty busy and they cook everything fresh so there may be a wait but, it is worth it. They are very friendly and are becoming more and more active on Twitter. I think if they figure out the social media game they will become one of the top trucks in the OC.

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Good Food, Isn't Complicated - @theTacoDawg

That is the main theme at the @theTacoDawg and they nailed it! Dang, I really love food trucks. Food trucks are all the rage these days. Some people wonder and some people get in line and dive in. I am lucky enough that more and more food trucks are coming to Orange County.

Today I was able to sneak over to @theTacoDawg. I tried a number of delicious items (some would say I pigged out!). The Beach Comber taco, comes with your choice of meat, cheese, savory citrus slaw (w/mandarin oranges), and chipotle cream. I chose chicken for my taco and it was awesome. It has a soft corn shell with tender chicken, cabbage and all the rest of the trimmings. It was light but full of flavor.

The Beach Comber

The Texan has choice of meat (I got beef), cheese, bacon, lettuce, tangy Tex Mex and BBQ sauce on a soft corn tortilla. Once again a masterpiece! The meat was perfectly seasoned, the lettuce crisp and the sauce added a nice punch of flavor to the taco.

The Texan

The Dirty Dawg, was an all beef hot dog, smothered in homemade chili, nacho cheese (YES!), crumbled potato chips and onions. TASTY! The dog itself had a nice texture to it. They must be quality dogs or they are cooked perfect, or both. In addition, the chili was a perfect accessory and the cheese was just what you would picture…ooey gooey. I really enjoyed the Dirty Dawg.

The Dirty Dawg

Are you full yet? I was, but I trekked on to the Deep Fried Mac & Cheese! Picture a square serving of delicious mac and cheese about inch and a half thick, then rolled in breadcrumbs and deep fried to a nice, golden brown. Now break it apart and dip it into some ranch dressing. Doesn’t that sound like artery-clogging goodness? Well, it is better than that! You have to try this.

Deep Fried Mac & Cheese

Oh yeah, I cannot forget the seasoned fries. Think curly seasoned fries from a drive thru but not curly and cooked perfectly.

It was an interesting experience because they were also filming for some sort of show. It was fun watching it. With all of that going on they still served up killer food. On top of that the people were really friendly so all around it was fun. This was a very good lunch. I will visit these guys again!

If you have still not been to a food truck, make a point to go. If you need help finding trucks, please let us know and we will point you in the right direction!

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