Nanataco is a nod to the traditional taqueria made more palatable for gringos from Scott Howell of Nana’s. Bright yellow walls, chalkboard menus, open garage doors, picnic tables – all make this an inviting space.

Nanataco offers burritos, nachos, tortas, salads, quesadillas, tacos, etc. They have a classic meat and a dirty meat menu. Their classic meats include garlic beef, pork butt, chicken, beef tongue, chorizo and grilled veggies. The dirty meats are duck confit, pork belly, hog jowl and lamb cheeks (these have an …

Salamandra re-opened earlier this summer on Hillsborough Rd., just next door to their former location, and it is a really great addition to the authentic Mexican food scene in Durham.

We tried it out for lunch and were really impressed by the food and the warm, welcoming owners.

Our table of three all went for tacos – $1.60 each. We choose a mix of al pastor, carnitas, lengua and chorizo. All were really good and served on …

More good news for Durhamites! Every Sunday for the foreseeable future Motorco Music Hall is holding Sunday “brunches.” Every month a different band will do an artist residency at Motorco playing shows on Sunday afternoons. The shows will be free, bloody mary’s will be served and – most importantly for Carpe Durham readers – the Ko Kyu BBQ truck will be parked outside.

Ko Kyu BBQ is an international-inspired food truck run by “Flip” who, when not dishing out awesome food from the …

*UPDATED with more pictures from TUF*

Pollos La Carbonera is that bright orange and yellow building you pass right near the Fayetteville exit of I-147. Bull City Wings was its last incarnation, but now it’s a Mexican stand with a drive-through window around the side and another window up front to order from on foot. There are a few picnic tables to sit at that provide a nice view of downtown and a breeze. Carpe Durham had some good comments on the food soon after they opened.

You can only …

I’ll keep this short  since we have reviews of other Chubby’s locations here and here. I have to admit I was excited to hear that Chubby’s had opened up a new location in RTP. Though it’s not yet listed on their website, this location is very much open, and judging by the line out the door when we left, the word has spread. We ventured in around 11:45 and were greeted by a large menu board and smiling faces. The decor is bright and there …

The Durham Green Flea Market (1600 E. Pettigrew St.) is the largest indoor/outdoor flea market in Durham.  Every Saturday and Sunday between 7:00am and 4:00pm, a wide variety of vendors set up shop to sell almost anything you can imagine.  Clothing, furniture, produce, bootleg cds/dvds, stereo equipment, and trinkets of all varieties are on offer.  But more importantly, for this taco hound, there is a really good selection of various latin street food also available.  It was pretty crowded when I went on Sunday afternoon so I didn’t have the …

On the corner of University Dr and Old Chapel Hill Rd., just behind the Target, is a bright yellow and red money order/check cashing place. In the back of this hard-to-miss establishment is El Buen Sabor Taqueria y Pupuseria.

Some may remember this as Coma Rico, which was reviewed here in 2008. I loved Coma Rico for the occasional take-out pupusa and was really sad when it shut it doors. I’m not sure how long El Buen Sabor has been open in the same spot, but I’m glad it’s …

My mouth is still on fire from the sweet, spicy BBQ pork taco from Bulkogi, the Korean taco truck that has set up shop in the Wachovia parking lot on 9th street.

Apparently the same truck used to make appearances at the Raleigh Fair Grounds. I talked to the very nice lady who is running Bulkogi and she said that they are just starting but that they plan on setting up in the same spot nightly from 5/6pm until 8pm. Got that? Korean tacos will be sold every night in …

While browsing through some of the recent entries here at Carpe Durham, I noticed that we’ve experienced a serious taco drought lately!   So I set out to cure this problem with a trip to Toledo Carniceria & Taqueria (2223 East NC Highway 54 # F)  in the Park Terrace plaza.

The menu at Toledo offers typical taqueria fare – tacos, gorditas, tortas, quesadillas, burritos, etc. A hand written note taped to the bottom of the menu board informed me that the weekend’s special was menudo and pozole. …

Taqueria 3 Hermanas is a fairly recent addition to the diverse  ethnic food scene near the intersection of Highway 55 & 54.  This taqueria actually shares space, including the seating area, with the Jamaician restaurant “Jamaica Jamaica” which set the stage for some strange musical dueling (Bob Marley vs. Univision soap opera theme songs).  The staff at Taqueria 3 Hermanas were really friendly and spanglish was being freely spoken in the kitchen,  so ordering was really easy for this gringo.

Since  I was stricken with a mid-afternoon taco …