One of the longest-running restaurants on Larimer Square is Tamayo Modern Mexican Kitchen & Tequieria by world-renowned Chef Richard Sandoval. Opened in 2003, the restaurant’s longevity and popularity are a testament to the fantastic food, drinks and service at Tamayo. The ever-innovative menu has been carefully crafted by Chef Sandoval since the start along with the Chef de Cuisine, currently Antonio Tevillo.

We went in last week to try Tamayo’s new tableside taco experience “Taquiza” translated as “taco party” added as a fun dining experience for groups of four or more. The party starts with Chef Tevillo greeting diners at their table and setting up the taquiza, which is an authentic Mexican taco grill. He then places premium cuts of meats, seasonal accompaniments and tortillas on the taquiza, creating a street taco party from the comfort of your table where diners build their own tacos. The traditional taquiza experience at Tamayo includes grilled skirt steak, beef Cecina, Mexican chorizo, asadero cheese, grilled nopales, charred spring onions, jalapeno, house tortillas, tableside molcajete salsa and traditional garnishments. The premium taquiza upgrades the skirt steak and Cecina to NY Strip and shrimp. This interactive experience is inspired by the authentic taquiza street taco parties of Mexico, where friends and family gather to enjoy tacos, tequila and great company.

Mahi Mahi Ceviche, roasted beet salad (top) and baby kale salad. Photo by Tiffany Candelaria

In addition to the new Taquiza option, the standard dinner menu at Tamayo features a wide range of options for eaters and appetites of all types within the following sections: Guacamoles, Antojitos (starters), Sopas y Ensalada, Especialidades, Tacos y Enchiladas. We started with the sweet corn guacamole with chips and salsa to and a variety of amazing margaritas. We recommend the Spicy Mango, the Tamayo or one of their house-infused tequilas mixed into a margarita, like the pineapple-thyme or strawberry-basil. Next, we enjoyed Mahi Mahi Ceviche, the roasted beet salad and baby kale salad with strawberries, which were all so refreshing and flavor-filled.

For our main event, we experienced the taco party and met Chef Padilla who told us all about the ingredients and his joy of cooking at Tamayo. The tacos were fantastic and everyone loved getting to pick and choose their ingredients, one lady even made a mean quesadilla.

We knew dessert was coming, so we saved room for the three treats that arrived: Tres Leches Bread Pudding, Empanadas de Platano and Pastel de Mousse. Holy moly were these all decadently delicious! The pastel de Mousse was the lightest as it is a peanut butter chocolate mousse between crispy layers. The Bread Pudding and banana Empanadas were a true indulgence, served warm and gooey with a small side of ice cream. Try it with a cup of café or an after-dinner digestivo.

You can’t go wrong with their daily Happy Hour either from 2-6pm that includes $4 beers and $5 select margaritas, $2 Taco Tuesdays, and Bottomless Margarita Brunch every Saturday & Sunday from 10:30am-2:30pm.

http://www.eattamayo.com

Words & photos by Tiffany Candelaria

Top Taco Festival Often Imitated Never Duplicated!

Last Thursday Denver local restaurants and vendors gathered in RiNo for a evening of tacos, tequila, music, and plenty more. We left with full, happy bellies and slightly sad livers as we tried to take advantage of everything Top Taco had to offer!

VIP attendees were able to access the event and all of it’s taco glory an hour before the GA patrons flooded in. Since we’re, ya know, a pretty big deal around here, we were lucky enough to snag a few VIP access tickets. We made sure to make as many stops as we could. A nice base layer for the many tequilas to come, if you will. Judging by the silent disco, we had an idea of who was there for the margaritas and tequila only.

Illegal Pete's with the bomb shrimp tacos!

Tacos Tequila Whiskey blessed us first with a tasty “Desert Rose Paloma.” Sweet, tangy and the large volume left us light on our feet and excited for what else was to be discovered. After we were handed a few mysterious tacos, later learning they were goat tacos. We were not fans. MOVING ON! We made our first real taco stop to see our good friends at Illegal Pete’s. On the menu was a tofu taco and a sweet sriracha shrimp taco. Throughout the day we made several returning stops to their booth for the sriracha shrimp taco. This was by far one of our favorite Top Taco tacos. It was surprisingly simplistic but so flavorful. The marinated shrimp was the perfect combination of sweet and spicy, and lightly topped with cabbage left no frilly distractions from the delicious meat. Illegal Pete’s used this opportunity as a test run as they may add the sriracha shrimp to their menu! Make sure to let them know how awesome it was if you got a chance to try it!

Downtown Denver’s La Loma satisfied our sweet tooth with warm churros drizzled in chocolate sauce. They were a crowd favorite as we failed to even get seconds of the treat! South Broadway’s Palenque Mezcaleria had a bomb ass ceviche. You would never think mango and shrimp would go so well together but they made it happen!

Feeling the need for a boozy refreshment, we made our way to the Blue Nectar tent to sample some tasty, craft tequila. It’s a hard life, really. Our favorite was the dark, musky añejo. After a few laps through the main event area, it was on to see what the VIP area had to offer! Patron promotions were in full force with a boomerang photo scene set up and two bars offering craft margaritas. The Pineapple Express marg was tart and refreshing! We got to observe the trendy, fresh-rolled ice cream making process and eat the cookies and cream treat. Ice cream at a taco festival, who would have thought? (Next year hoping for Choco Tacos)

Owl Bear serving up delicious BBQ Brisket Tacos to the VIP crowd!

The added cost of VIP was worth it as luxury trailer bathrooms were provided as well as access to a handful of BBQ taco vendors. Owl Bear provided for one of those moments you realize why you were put on this Earth, and that is to enjoy their heavily brisket taco that almost melted in our mouth. (Patiently waiting for their brick & mortar location to open)

If you love modern mexican cuisine and craft cocktails, this isn’t an event to miss! We’re already anticipating next year’s Top Taco! We’ve added the compiled list of all winners from Dining Out! Be sure to check it out when making decisions about your next taco Tuesday spot in the mile high city!

http://diningout.com/denverboulder/the-winners-of-top-taco-2017/