Over an extended Labor Day holiday, Carol and I did another Fitpacking backpacking trip to Mount Rainier National Park, and that was a good opportunity to catch up with friends and revisit some favorite locations (well, we tried to do this back in 2022, but Covid-related complications threw a big wrench right into our plans). Before we headed out on the trail, we were meeting up with my college roomate Steve and his wife Emily at their house in Seattle’s Wallingford district. There are a number of good smaller restaurants and breweries in the area, and one I was interested in revisiting for a simple meal after our travels was a favorite from a 2016 (my, how time flies), TNT Taqueria.
Located on 45th Street (Wallingford’s major east-west arterial), TNT Taqueria is basically a taco stand much like I’d find in most of Southern US travels: they basically have an ordering window where you can order an array of tacos, burritos, tortas, and agua frescas (indeed, I’ve just read off the writing on their canopy), with a variety of different proteins and sides available. After getting your order, you can either take it home, eat at the small outdoor counter, or grab one of the three tables inside the restaurant. We opted for the last of these, since it was good to get off our feet, and it gave us a good chance to watch the kitchen staff at work.
As I’ve mentioned in other reviews (particularly in this much older review of Pro’s Ranch Market in Arizona), I always like a good agua fresca: that blend of fresh fruit juices, sugar, and water (and often teas, nuts, barley, spices, and other ingredients as well) to make a refreshing iced beverage. Getting a piña (pineapple) agua fresca at TNT, I was quite pleased with the resulting beverage, having a very fruity flavor while not being overly sweet, and watching the kitchen, I could see why, since they were making fresh batches of several different flavors of agua fresca. No mixes here, just proper combination of fruit juices, sugar (no corn syrup), and water.
For my meal, I decided to go for the taco platter, with three tacos served up with rice and beans. Of the available proteins, I went for green chile chicken, carne asada, and hominy hash tacos, and was quite satisfied. The chicken was tender, with a good, well-rounded green chile bite. The carne asada tender yet crisp (so reasonably freshly grilled), with a nice, smoky marinade. The hominy hash tacos were probably my favorite, with nice little bites of sweet potato and lightly crisped kernels of hominy. Add in some good beans, and some nicely done Mexican rice, and this was an enjoyable platter.
Carol, meanwhile, went for a torta, getting the barbacoa torta. This was an ample portion of nicely tender and crispy barbacoa with a well-rounded barbecued flavor, served with caramelized onions, slaw, chiles en escabeche and Tapatio aioli. Served on a proper Mexican torta roll with just the right amount of crisp, this was an excellent and flavorful torta, reminiscent of the best ones I’ve had in Arizona.
Finally, we got a side of Elote (aka “Mexican Street Corn”), and the version at TNT is well-prepared: decent corn to start with, a nice char on the corn, and just enough lime, chipotle mayo, cotija cheese and cilantro to complement the corn without burying it. A great side to our various entrees.
Overall, I loved TNT Taqueria: the food was every bit as good as our previous visit way back in 2016, the staff friendly, and especially in this era of inflationary food costs, reasonably priced. It’s definitely one of the better options in that part of Wallingford (although I still need to give Dick’s Drive In a visit sometime).
