Our editor Sam Eggleston takes a look at the wide variety of taco options available to Marquette foodies with a love for the humble taco.
If you're a fan of the good ol' taco and you visit Marquette, then you're in for a treat.
It seems that the town has developed a bit of a taco craze, and it's the foodies who are the winners as a plethora of options has opened up.
Obviously, you have your choices like Taco Bell or the special "Mexican" nights at various local restaurants, but when it comes to local, dedicated service to taco lovers there are some pretty awesome choices.
Dia de los Tacos
First and foremost, you have the Dia de los Tacos food truck. While they aren't the oldest taco slingers in Marquette, they do have the distinction of having recently been named the best taco in all of northern Michigan by Mlive.com. That's nothing to scoff at, especially when a quick Google search of "Marquette tacos" lands them the top three spots and nine out of the top 10 search results.
The truck offers up a small variety of tacos, and they all seem to be popular with their various fans. For me, it's all about the Salma, which features chorizo and cheese (and comes with herb garnish, but I always pass it up because I dislike cilantro). For my wife, it's the Lola, a mixture of pulled chicken and black beans.
No matter which direction you choose to go, you're going to be happy. Dia de los Tacos slings some mean eats, and it's a pleasure chowing down there for lunch on any given day.
Keep tabs of their location on
their Facebook page since they move around Marquette and have different locations daily.
Border Grill
You can't really talk about the quality tacos in Marquette without bringing up
Border Grill. The local restaurant has two Marquette locations (and another in Negaunee) and serves up a nice variety of southwestern-styled Mexican food. But since I am specifically talking about tacos, we'll take a look at those.
The Border Grill offers up multiple sauces, multiple fillings and multiple styles of tacos, which is always a welcome experience when you're looking for some variety. My favorite is the Mexico City taco, which has pico de gallo and cilantro (again, I drop that) and is wrapped in two white-corn tortillas. They come with chips and border salsa on the side. You can get beef, chicken, pork or just beans. You can also snag shrimp and whitefish tacos here, and a vegetarian option.
Ron's Taco Shop
This little taco shop packs some big ideas, and they have been working to execute them nicely since opening up last year.
One of the first things you notice about
Ron's Taco Shop when you visit is they aren't afraid of technology--not in the slightest. In fact, I am almost certain they are the first restaurant in Marquette--if not the entire U.P.--to exclusively use iPads to take orders and credit card payments on.
If you're not so tech savvy (hey, some people aren't), you can just ask for assistance and the staff is always happy to lend a hand.
Again, you have a nice selection of tacos while visiting Ron's, including a "walking taco" that includes your toppings right in a bag of tortilla chips for ease of carrying around while you dine on it with a fork. My absolute favorite, however, is the fish taco. They beer batter fresh Lake Superior whitefish and they sling it up on a taco with a variety of toppings choices (I recommend the spicier sauce with the fish). It's a truly standout taco that makes coming back again and again worth it.
Other options include beef tacos and a vegetarian option, as well as a nice choice of other menu items.
Ron's is also the taco shop that is open the latest, offering up hours until 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, and midnight from Monday through Wednesday. Sunday they are open until 11 p.m.
Sol Azteca
This new addition to the taco scene is also the one with the largest selection in terms of Mexican menu items. They have a slew of choices, and amongst them are a couple of tacos that are worth taking a look at.
My favorite is the chicken taco, which comes with a nice, mild chicken (that I tend to spice up with some hot sauce) and the classic veggies on top. You have choices between soft and hard tacos, and both offer up their own positives. I tend to gravitate toward the hard shell, if only because my other favorite tacos come on soft shells.
And while it's not strictly tacos, I'd like to mention that
Sol Azteca has the best refried beans I've ever had in the Upper Peninsula. Creamy, flavorful and downright delicious.
With their liquor license recently being approved, I suspect they are going to see a bit of an uptick in business. If you do stop by, it's easy to get distracted from tacos just by reading over the large menu, but don't forget why you came there and remember to order one (or several) to try.
Senor's Food Truck
The newest addition to the taco slingers also happens to be the only one I haven't tried yet. They tend to move about a bit more than Dia de los Tacos, so make sure to keep an eye on their Facebook page for places and times.
From what I've gathered, they offer up beef and vegetarian tacos as well as a pork-based version. They also have other menu items and sides, so there is a bit of variety there.
And while I can't say what my favorite is, I can say that they have picked up a decent following already, despite having only been open since the weather started to get nice.
Their Facebook page has picked up nearly 1,000 fans already, and that's not too shabby at all.
Be it a food truck, a "sit down" joint or a grab-and-go kind of a meal, Marquette offers up a nice variety of tacos for the foodie to enjoy.
Feel free to mention in the comments what your favorite taco is, and who slings it.
Sam Eggleston is the managing editor of U.P. Second Wave. He was born and raised in the U.P. and has been known to eat more than his fair share of tacos when the opportunity arises. You can reach him via email or on Twitter at @sam_eggleston