To celebrate Tucson this holiday season, our food writer is putting the spotlight on La Doce. Follow along as we eat tacos and soak up the atmosphere at 12 different joints along iconic South 12th Avenue. Share your favorite taco memories with us on Facebook, Instagram, or at elueders@tucson.com.
You won’t see any signs from the road, but you will see a series of black tarps vaulted like the circus, vans and trucks circled around like wagons. A yellow moving truck stocked with materials is teed up to the truck that serves as a kitchen, making a fortress. It’s an overcast Tuesday and every table is occupied. Traditional music plays cheerfully and loudly from invisible speakers. The place feels more like an informal, open air restaurant than a food truck.
It’s called Toy’ Comiendo Tacos de Cabeza, but I try something else. A man, in a black apron takes orders and makes deliveries of tacos and bottled drinks, recommends cabeza immediately when I ask, so I’m at my own peril. Unlike other cabeza-centric taco joints, though, they have pork and chicken options I can’t pass up.
The tacos themselves are bare bones: grilled meat on a nearly translucent flour tortilla. You make them your own at the salsa bar, which offers the biggest piles of finely diced cabbage and onion/jalapeño mix I’ve seen thus far: trays the full width of the salsa bar.
It seems like the regulars stick to the beef tacos, which pair well with the red salsas. Maybe branch out to the quesabirria. The pollo and adobado tacos I ordered are chopped and well-grilled. I helped myself to a huge portion of cabbage that could’ve used some jugo.
People from every stage of life gather here: teens on a lunch date away from school, older ladies wearing Christmas sweaters, moms with young kids (and older kids). A couple walks in, each wearing nice leather shoes and slick jackets. The man washes his hands at the sink to the left of the counter. I ordered there, but if you just sit down the man in the apron will take your order, so next time I’d do that instead. And I’d order the cabeza.
Toy' Comiendo
Southwest corner of Drexel and South 12th Avenue
7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily
For more information, check out their Facebook page or Google Maps site.
They have taco specials many days of the week: 99 cent cabeza on Wednesday, 99 cent birria on Thursday.
