Food Truck Bite of the Week: Rum Pork Tacos at Tango & Stache

Lou Bustamante
A drink and a bite all in one. With an egg on top.
Our weekly bite explores the city's food trucks, one at a time, highlighting our favorite mobile dishes and snacks.

The Truck: Tango & Stache
The Cuisine: Cocktail-influenced Mexican comfort food
Specialty Items: Anything with the duck or bacon fat masa
Worth the Wait in Line? At 9 p.m., a total 5 minutes from the end of the line to food in hand.

Some weeks are so demanding that at the end of it, you don't just want to drink a cocktail, you want to eat it too. In a taco.

Thanks to Tango & Stache, you can. Serving up a rotating menu of tacos like the Rum Milk Punch Pork Taco ($4, bacon fat tortilla, milk punch-braised pork, toasted coco nib, bacon gremolata) on the menu for the next few weeks, Joshua Wilder Oakley of Tango & Stache gets his inspiration from shaken and stirred.

See also: Carne Asada Tacos at El Tonayense
Food Truck Bite of the Week: BBQ Tri-Tip Sandwich at Mayo & Mustard

ftbotw-TangoStache_byLouBustamante.jpg
Lou Bustamante
The tacos left me giddy, and not just because of the boozy kick. Each taco order starts off with a ball of bacon fat enriched corn masa dough that Oakley presses into a flat round. He griddles each one, and then tops it with the fillings, including an occasional vegetarian sometimes (be sure to ask). If you're feeling especially indulgent, enhance your order with a sunny side up egg ($2) that pools into a deliciously yolky sauce at the bottom of the plate. If you're feeling a little tipsy, don't forget to add some of the homemade hot sauces and condiments that provide a defibrillator jolt of spice to the tacos.

There are plenty of bartenders finding inspiration for new cocktails in the kitchen, but very few cooks have found much inspiration from the bar. Oakley started with smoked negroni pork tacos, but spirits also find their way into his condiments, like whiskey-pickled jalapeños.

Lou Bustamante
Stache, aka Joshua Wilder Oakley
Oakley has some cooking chops, which he earned in kitchens like Gary Danko, Michael Mina, and Bar Bambino, you can tell the thought and care put into the food makes this worth seeking out. And it's a business that wouldn't have happened if Oakley hadn't broken his foot and wasn't able to work in a kitchen until it healed. "As I was recovering, a very long and slow process, I came to realize that there was no way I wanted to go back to working for someone else," he explains. After some nomadic pop-ups at bars in San Francisco, Tango & Stache has found a regular weekly stop at Rye every Thursday night, and also Wednesdays starting Feb. 27.

The taco may not replace the cocktail, but a cocktail-inspired freshly made taco will make you just as happy. Order up another round.

Follow @LouAtLarge



Location Info

Venue

Map

Rye

688 Geary, San Francisco, CA

Category: Music

0 user reviews
Write A Review
Save to foursquare
Powered by Voice Places
My Voice Nation Help
2 comments
Sort: Newest | Oldest
jonbcaliman
jonbcaliman

"Some chops??!!  You kiddin' me??  Dat's my NEPH, he has a LOT of chops!

Now Trending

From the Vault

 

©2013 SF Weekly, LP, All rights reserved.
Browse Voice Nation
  • Voice Places San Francisco / Bay Area

    Voice Places

    Find everything you're looking for in your city

  • Happy Hour App

    Happy Hour App

    Find the best happy hour deals in your city

  • Daily Deals

    Daily Deals

    Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%

  • Best Of

    Best Of...

    Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city