WCCO Viewers' Choice For MN's Best Food Truck
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Over the last few years, we've gotten used to seeing food trucks pop up all over the Twin Cities.
There are usually dozens in downtown Minneapolis over the lunch hour, and we wanted to find the best.
But you shocked me when you sent me off an hour west of the cities to try Taqueria Del Buen Pastor in Glencoe.
The lunchtime hustle and bustle is typical on Hennepin Avenue and 13th Street East in Glencoe.
Taqueria Del Buen Pastor has been on this corner for the last couple of years.
The Ramirez family moved to McLeod County from Mexico in 1998, but didn't think of opening a restaurant until the company Adan and Carolina Ramirezs were working for shut down.
"She didn't go to school or anything," said Victor Ramirez, referring to Carolina. "All she knows how to do is cook."
Adan has been more than supportive of Carolina's cooking during their 34 years of marriage.
After a year running a traditional restaurant, they decided to move to a food truck -- a first for Glencoe.
And they're doing way more than most Taco Trucks.
"They'll make you a taco arabe, a burrito, and they'll split it, and they'll make you a hurache," Victor said.
Think of a Huarache as an open-faced taco on fried masa. They pile it high with beans, meat, avocado and cheese.
It, like another taqueria favorite, is a staple in their home town.
"So carne arabe is a specialty in Puebla, in Puebla Mexico, which is where we're all from," Victor said.
It's meat cooked on a rotating spit, similar to gyros. And they treat it differently than other tacos.
"It has its own special sauce," Victor said. "It's not just a simple taco you can put any sauce on."
Right now, there isn't enough room in the truck for the spit, but that hasn't discouraged Carolina one bit.
"She dreams to have a bigger one. And then she will add it to the truck," Victor said. "And then she hopes that a lot of people get to know the actual taco arabe, the real taco arabe."
The Taqueria is open Monday through Friday for lunch. And it's also open Monday through Saturday for dinner.
For more information, check out the Taqueria Del Buen Pastor Facebook page.
