Taco trucks seem to be really common on the West Coast. They’re all over Seattle, although not in particularly convenient locations—most of them are either pretty far north or south of downtown. So one afternoon my friend and I decided to do a little firsthand research at two of the city’s more centrally located trucks.

Rancho Bravo Tacos is in Wallingford, close to the University District (and all those starving UW students). Atmosphere is lacking—a silver trailer camped in a corner of the Winchell’s Donut House parking lot, a canvas canopy covering one plastic table on which sit plastic squeeze bottles of rojo and verde sauces and a napkin dispenser, a tiny walk-up order window. But who needs atmosphere? Their veggie burrito was a deliciously messy affair, a flour tortilla packed with rice, black beans, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, onions, mushrooms and cilantro. My friend had the veggie rice and bean bowl and deemed it excellent, if not especially bountiful (but it cost all of three bucks). A guy sitting next to me at the cramped table said “Man, this is awesome stuff” as he wolfed down three chicken tacos (I suspect he was a regular). With a coke, my tab was $5.50. You can’t beat that.

Then I simply had to duck into Winchell’s, a longtime doughnut chain based in California that has a very good reputation. Actually I needed to use a restroom, and it was a mild shock to discover they didn’t have one (or so the guy behind the counter told me). But I recovered and got an apple fritter, my litmus test for determining the primo-osity of a fried dough product. The verdict: Although not up to the high standard (and size) of the apple fritter at Three Girls Bakery in Pike Place Market, it was good. In fact, it was darn good—crunchy outside, soft and fresh inside, swaddled in sugar/cinnamon glaze and studded with the requisite bits of apple. I had no absolutely no problem finishing it.   

From Rancho Bravo Tacos we hunted down a restroom and then headed north on Aurora Avenue to the El Camión truck, which sits under a tree at one end of the very large parking lot at the North Seattle Home Depot. This one had a bit more ambience: a black truck decorated with a string of red chili pepper lights, several picnic tables, even a rubber lizard placed on the tree trunk for a bit of ’ol Meh-hee-coh.

And the menu was more extensive. I had two chicken tacos, strips of grilled meat with shredded lettuce, sliced radishes and cilantro in corn tortillas, lime wedges on the side. They were quite tasty. They also had, in addition to quesadillas, tamales and tortas (Mexican sandwiches), breakfast burritos (available all day, a definite plus), fish tacos—whitefish, shredded cabbage, white sauce (mayo) and pico de gallo—and for the more adventurous, tacos with lengua (tongue) or tripas (boiled and grilled tripe).

For a bebida (beverage), I went authentic and had a glass of horchata. This milky drink, supposedly quaffed by the Aztecs, is made from ground rice, ground almonds and water. It was refreshing, slightly sweet and had hints of vanilla and cinnamon, not unlike a dialed-down eggnog. It made a good foil for the tacos. And this two-truck visit ended up being a very filling lunch.

Want to find out more? (Of course you do.) Just do a google search for “Seattle taco trucks.” Or, contribute your ‘truck experience.’ Rancho Bravo Tacos is at 211 N.E. 45th St. (four blocks west of I-5) in the Winchell’s Donut Shop parking lot. El Camión is at 11728 Aurora Ave. N. (just north of N. 115th Street) at the north end of the Home Depot parking lot.