The street taco: a Mexican treat

Street tacos are a traditional Mexican snack of warm corn tortillas typically filled with meat topped with onions, cilantro and often a spicy sauce.

Their presence is growing on American menus as consumers’ interest in Latin-American cuisine, and in foods they see as authentic, continues to increase.

But as much as consumers crave authenticity, they also crave variety, and so street taco fillings can vary a lot and include meat substitutes such as plant-based protein, or vegetables such as cauliflower, or American’s favorite protein, chicken.

Restaurants are also taking street tacos beyond their Mexican heritage and bringing in Asian influences with different aromatics and condiments such as soy sauce and gochujang.

Market research firm Datassential reports that street tacos are found on 2.9% of U.S. menus, an increase of 31% over the past four years.

Click through the gallery to learn more about this week’s Flavor of the Week and see how one restaurant is using street tacos on its menu.