Like my trip to Portland in March, early April had me spending several days in Burlington, VT at the University of Vermont (UVM) campus, volunteering as a robotics competition judge. Like usual, this involves rather early mornings and a good 12–14 hour day of volunteering, and then usually my evenings are my own for going on a long walk and finding some new places to enjoy. In this case, I decided to check out more of Burlington’s “Old North End” (which I occasionally visit, see our 2017 review” of The Shopping Bag, one of the neighborhood’s burger spots). But this time, I decided I wanted Mexican, so I had another destination in mind: Taco Gordo.
Much like some of my other Burlington favorites like Hong’s and Skinny Pancake, Taco Gordo started out back in 2014 as a food cart on Church Street, with the occasional special events, and the at-the-time cool-and-hip (and now, alas, gone) ArtsRiot food truck events, but they were successful enough selling street tacos that they went brick and mortar. It’s a bit of a divey location (I remember when this was one of the area’s seedier bottle redemption centers), but they’ve made a business out of selling a simple taco-driven menu, strong margaritas, and a few other dishes and drinks.
I love places with simple menus, and the base food menu at Taco Gordo remains as simple as it was back in the food cart days: tacos and burritos. That’s pretty much it (although ‘tacos’ does include a tostada, which really kind of is a taco on the grand scheme of things), with a selection of a half dozen rotating proteins. They’ll have a few specials on the various chalk boards around the joint, usually a veggie taco (a veggie picadillo on this visit) and a meat taco (Texas brisket this trip), a salad, and a good selection of tequila-based cocktails.
I decided to go for both some tacos and a tostada (thanking the now-departed Lalo’s in Lebanon NH for reminding me how good a proper tostada can be). My tacos were a mix of the slow-cooked carnitas and the brisket special. Both were nicely cooked and tender (I usually like a crisp on carnitas, but it worked well here.. the only crisped item I saw was the al pastor, which was starting to sell out as early as my 5:30 Friday visit). The onion and cilantro nicely chopped to order, and in one of those little extras I always appreciate, the tortillas double-stacked (to prevent “taco blowout”). The tortillas were worth noting, since these aren’t generic corn tortillas, but nice heirloom mix, fresh-made tortillas from All Souls Tortillas. Add in a well-above-average fresh salsa and toppings bar, and Taco Gordo offers up one of Vermont’s best street-style taco experiences.
As I mentioned above, the other thing that Taco Gordo likes to focus on is tequila drinks: they’ve got a good selection of tequilas available, and do make a good, strong classic Margarita as well as a good Paloma. I opted for a Paloma for my first drink, but when deciding for a second, I decided the try their special, the Lord Fauntleroy (that’s a good obscure reference). With El Charro silver tequila, tamarind, orange, and ginger beer, this was a nice, refreshing cocktail for closing out my meal.
Overall, I really liked Taco Gordo. Vermont doesn’t have a lot of good Mexican or taco joints (I’ve complained here more than a few times about “Vermexican” food), and Taco Gordo is one of those nice exceptions: good, quality tacos, tostadas, and beverages, made correctly, and served up simply. I’ll definitely consider stopping by here on some of my other trips to town.
