San Diego Reader Tacotopia at the Track 2017 - recap

If you're a fan of tacos, then Tacotopia is a MUST! San Diego Reader holds two events each year, one at Golden Hill in May and one at the Del Mar Racetrack in September. We missed the first event due to our Europe vacation but did have a blast taco tasting in 2016. Below are some highlights and pictures from this year's event!

San Diego Reader Tacotopia at the Track was held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on September 3, 2017 between 12pm to 4pm for VIP or 1pm to 4pm for regular admission. Due to the location, visitors should allocate extra time to walk through the parking and racetrack so you can hit the taco stands ASAP. Each person is given two voting tickets, one for best traditional and one for most innovative. Remember, all the taco vendors want to impress you! The samples are unlimited once you enter the venue. With so many options, our goal was to try as many tacos as possible!

We came during media hour, which allowed us extra time to capture food with less crowds. Our mission was to capture the perfect shot!

One of my favorites was the special taco from Taco Taco Poway. The Camaron Puerquito Taco was incredibly delicious with the crispy cheese tortilla, house special marinated pork, shrimp, and chipotle mayo.

Another favorite was Razzy Ruca's beer belly taco because... savory pork belly! This had cheese crusted tortilla, beer + chipotle pork belly, roasted jalapeno crema, pickled red onion. 

I detect a crispy cheese tortilla theme here! Wicked Main Lobster also had the cheesy crust but we weren't exactly sure if it matched up with lobster meat... I'd be down for one of their regular menu items though!

Ever heard of Bob's Burger? Teriyaki Grill's business card is animated in the same style! Mustache dude from the card was there and he submitted to our request for a taco. This was the their tasty Grill Ahi Taco with seared ahi tuna, jalapeno aioli, soy citrus sauce and wasabi crema. It was one of my favorite unique items.

I believe Curadero is relatively new to San Diego and their taco was unique in using refried beans!

We've been to Duck Dive many times and had a chance to try their surf and turf taco at this event.

Tavern+Bowl Pork Taco was cooked with orange juice, pineapple juice, jalapenos & garlic.

Dennis voted Tallis Tacos for best traditional taco after enjoying this carnitas taco.

Romega Taqueria had their mole madre taco. This was a delicious little bite using 4th generation mole madre, pepitas, sesame seeds, pickled red onions and cojita.

Bar Bodgea lamb barbacoa taco had avocado puree, micro cilantro, squash blossom, shishito ash, chile oil. I was sort of expecting a little more pow from the green dot but the lamb was downright tasty.

West Coast Tavern shared their wonton tacos with pickled pico de gallo and sriracha aioli but it didn't taste as fresh on that day.

Mexico City Cuisine was right by the entrance and you could SMELL that grilled chicken from far away! The meat was well seasoned and juicy.

We were surprised to find desserts here too! The first was a magnificent watermelon daiquiri cheesecake by Brian Turok Menendez from Mascarpone Cheesecake. We're not cheesecake fans usually but THIS was worth the calories!

The other dessert was from a company called Get Fluffed Up and two options were offered: jalapeno and churros. The bits of cinnamon in the whipped cotton candy was exactly how we imagined a churro cotton candy would taste! We left the jalapeno flavor for the braver souls.

There were so many taco spots and we tried everything! It was no surprise that our taco hustling slowed to a crawl just 2 hours in... and we left soon after! Afterwards, I found out who won: Bar Bodega for most traditional taco and Razzy Tacos for most innovative. Congrats guys! We can't wait for the next taco adventure to begin!

Disclaimer: We were invited to this event and our food was complimentary. We were not otherwise compensated and all opinions stated are our own.