Eat All About It: Pasco mayor tackles taco crawl, reviews each venue (with video)

Pasco Mayor Matt Watkins says he’s only half kidding when he says the three reasons he moved to Pasco 25 years ago were an affordable home, a diverse culture and tacos.

Watkins, who grew up in Kennewick, was first exposed to Pasco’s expansive taco scene by a friend during his high school years, and he’s been hooked since.

So it was a foregone conclusion when a local group organized the inaugural taco crawl to showcase the city’s numerous options for the Mexican fare that the mayor would participate. For $20, participants were given 20 tickets to sample a taco at 20 different venues.

The event wrapped up about two weeks ago with Tacos la Esperanza, a taco truck on the east side of North Fourth Avenue near Court Street crowned the top taco purveyor by a vote of participants. But Watkins, who blogged his entire taco-tasting experience, sought to make sure every restaurant and food truck featured in the event was praised for something.

“I decided to come up with as many winners as I could,” he said.

Twenty restaurants and food trucks participated in the Taco Crawl, and Watkins visited every one.

While there could be only one top taco, he gave shout-outs to most every establishment, such as best taco for a newbie (El Charrito), to best spicy taco (El Paraiso) and most adventurous taco (Los Pinos Restaurant).

His top choice? Taqueria la Esperanza, 1427 N. Fourth Ave., which he noted sounds similar to the official event winner but is a different eatery.

“A perfectly grilled tortilla with the right amount of crunch hit my tongue first,” the mayor wrote in his blog. “Then I remember the deep flavor of the Adobada kicked in and a gush of juice splattered on the plate.”

“This is simply the best taco I’ve ever had … at least so far,” the mayor declared.

And despite being something of a taco connoisseur, Watkins said even he found some new types of tacos to appreciate, such as al pastor tacos, which have a hint of citrus and incorporate Middle Eastern influences.

Organizers said the event was a huge success, with restaurants and food trucks doling out 5,000 tacos and participants casting more than 100 ballots for the top taco purveyor. Ticket sales raised $4,000 for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties. The plan now is to make the Taco Crawl an annual event with related but smaller events throughout the year.

Watkins said he looks forward to future taco crawls, partly for the tacos but also because of how it brought people into the city. Roughly two-thirds of those who bought meal tickets for the event were from outside Pasco, he said.

“I’m tickled when people come to Pasco,” he said.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 1:06 PM with the headline "Eat All About It: Pasco mayor tackles taco crawl, reviews each venue (with video)."