ottawa foodies

FYI - taco fest coming up this weekend

apt613.ca

I read the taco fest is run by the same people who just did the 613 night market at Lansdowne.

After that,I think I might just get my tacos at Whole Foods 3 for $8 and they stuff the full of toppings and even have tofu cubes instead of meat as a choice.

Taco Fest was fairly underwhelming last year. Long lines, overpriced drinks, and mostly "fusion" offerings (which isn't necessarily a bad thing but in this case largely meant "tacos by restaurants that don't normally do tacos"). Most places seemed to be using flour tortillas at straight-out-of-the-fridge temperatures. It was also advertised that there would be vegetarian and gluten-free options but there was barely anything. I'm giving it a pass this year.

I kind of "hate" to recommend Whole Foods for tacos as usually I make my own at home or try and eat from smaller places.
But Whole Foods has great tacos with a lot of vegetarian choices.

You can get a corn tortilla or flour tortilla and they have cubes of tofu cooked in some sauce.
some toppings are guacamole, salsa, mango salsa,pepper jack cheese,feta cheese, cheese sauce, rice, black beans, refried beans and lots more stuff.

It is 3 tacos for $8 and they tend to overstuff them a lot,so the corn ones anyway fall appart very easily and I end up eating them with a fork.

Unless I am making cheap vegetable tacos at home,for the ones with tons of toppings I am always going to go to Whole Foods for that.
-the nachos are amazing too,bought some last week and at least 5 strangers stopped me to ask where they were from....kind of weird to have people do that...

Lone Star veggie fajitas are also really good,but not sure what you can get for gluten free there- maybe corn chips? or are they tortilla/flour chips?
I have not been to lone star this year,so no idea what they use.

I agree with strawberry girl. I went yesterday, was hoping they would build on last years event. but it seemed like there were fewer vendors and higher price and no "fest" vibe. I like the concept though, venue was nice (glass building overlooking the canal, gorgeous view:) and effort from the vendors made to make tacos but was pricey (small taco was 5$ plus cost of entrance fee so better to go directly to restaurant which we did right after). The desserts looked nice, regret not trying them they looked delicious. I love tacos (ate tons in Mexico, and also enjoy tex-mex and local spots) so was disappointed in the event and lack of variety and options (although there were some nice stuff too:). In this case I think maybe a "bring your pick" event would have been better (i.e. showcase your best seller or favourite dish or something experimental dish you wanted to try out). But kudos to vendors as it's probably a lot of work to set tables and prep for this and the art work on the sign was creative.

Prettytastyreview - ya Lonestar rocks! (they weren't there:( I go every now and then, I especially love the hunt club location, same great food and modern vibe. Regarding the gluten/carb thing I think they have the option to swap the tortillas for lettuce with the fajitas but I like their tortillas so never tried the lettuce version. I also love their chips and salsa:)))) yum yum

I'll second PrettyTasty re Whole Foods. The tacos are surprisingly good and well-priced.

Pro-tip: ask them to double up the tortillas specifically because they fell apart last time you had them.

Lone Star has corn tortillas for those who want gluten free.

We love their flour tortillas, we buy them at their take out counter ($4.99 per dozen) to make our own fajitas and tacos at home. They freeze really well if you put parchment paper between each tortilla.