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 upcharge of 75 cents). You have a choice of corn or flour tortillas. Nanataco also has a salsa bar with cilantro, limes, jalapenos, radishes and three salsas – verde, chipotle and fresca.

I went with an order of 3 tacos for $6 – hog jowl, lamb cheeks and pork belly on corn. You can also add a side of beans and rice for $1.50. All of the tacos came on nice thick, seemingly housemade tortillas and topped with iceberg lettuce and tomato. I’m a taco traditionalist and just need cilantro and a squeeze of lime, but the lettuce/tomato was easy enough to remove. Hog jowl was my favorite – lean, not-too-greasy hunks of flavorful pork. The lamb cheeks taco was really unique – finely minced meat strongly spiced with cumin (I’m guessing) and peppers. If you dig lamb, you’ll be into these tacos. The pork belly was my least favorite, small hunks of dry pork belly lacking that rich, slow-roasted flavor that I’ve come to associate with pork belly.

Sitting with a table of sharers, I was also able to try the guacamole, fish tacos, a duck confit taco and a garlic beef taco. All of these were excellent. The fish tacos have large hunks of fried, flakey white fish topped with an excellent mango salsa. And the beef and duck tacos were overflowing with juicy meat and richly satisfying. Note: We did find a large bone in one of the duck confit tacos.

Nanataco offers a selection of bottled beers and $5 margaritas every day. We ordered margaritas both on the rocks and frozen and honestly, neither were great. Both tasted like a mix or just too much sour. Maybe this is due to first week and maybe due to the fact that we were there just an hour before closing on a Friday night. We also tried the mojito and it too seemed to be from a mix with only a sprig of fresh mint as a garnish. Will be interested to try them again.

Open just over a week, Nanataco still has some kinks to work out (a wrong drink delivery, guac came out long after food, wrong order) – but the staff is friendly, on it and quick to correct any mistakes.

Though I still prefer the tacos at La Vaquita just up the road for flavor and value, Nanataco does offer indoor seating and beer/cocktails. With its cool atmosphere and friendly staff, Nanataco is a nice addition to this side of town.

Nanataco
2512 University Dr
Durham, NC 27707
(919) 489-8226
Tue-Thu, Sun 11 am – 9 pm
Fri-Sat 11 am – 10 pm

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 what seemed to be homemade tortillas. The carnitas had large, tasty hunks of browned pork with caramelized edges. The al pastor and chorizo tacos were both packed with chunks of spicy and flavorful meat. The chorizo seemed to be a large sausage that had been cut up and sautéed with crisp edges. The lengua was the table favorite thanks to a rich beefy flavor and incredible tenderness. All of the tacos were piled high with fresh cilantro and onion and none of the meats were too greasy or fatty.

Also worth noting – when you sit down you get a basket full of steaming, homemade tortilla chips with a tasty guac/salsa verde blend for dipping. Bonus: A glass of horchata costs less than $2 and gets refilled regularly.

Salamandra serves breakfast and has an extensive dinner menu with lots of fish and shrimp entrees. With table service, a liquor license and large, diverse menu – despite a pretty bare bones atmosphere – Salamandra offers a little more than the taquerias on Roxboro Rd.

The restaurant was empty and we were sad to be the only ones taking advantage of these awesome tacos on this particular day. Go check out and support Salamandra – it’s authentic, fresh, and inexpensive.

Salamandra
2627 Hillsborough Rd
Durham, NC 27701
(919) 798-9775

More pics from contributor MEZ:

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 back of his truck, teaches culinary arts at Vance-Granville Community College. He and his wife turn out some affordable, creative and tasty eats.

This Sunday we tried his short rib quesadilla ($6), a buffalo chicken slider ($3) and an order of the duck fat tater tots ($3). All were outstanding. The quesadilla, stuffed full of rich short rib meat, caramelized onions and gorgonzola was topped with rooster sauce and sesame seeds. The combination of rich meat, sweet onions and spicy chile sauce was incredible. The tots were exactly what you want them to be – golden and crispy, while a chopped rosemary topping balanced the richness of the duck fat. Our third item, the “unreal” buffalo chicken slider, to a wing addict like myself, was awesome. Note: Flip’s wife, a vegetarian, ensures all of the veggie options are top notch.

These Sundays at Motorco are a great way to try the food truck’s offerings without feeling like you have to eat in the car or stand out in the cold. Between the bar, tables and stadium seating at Motorco there are plenty of options for enjoying your Ko Kyu eats.

We are really excited to have Ko Kyu BBQ in Durham on a regular basis. Find Ko Kyu BBQ on twitter @KoKyuBBQ and on facebook. Note: Motorco’s Sunday brunches are all ages, no cover and generally start at 2 pm.

*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 get there by car if you are heading south on Fayetteville on the overpass. There are two drive-thru lanes but use the one on the right—-the car on the left side is parked there by one of the employees. Don’t be fooled by the handwritten menu posted by the drive-thru window.

They have a larger menu that the cashier will hand over of tacos, tortas, hamburgers with torta-like toppings, quesadillas and sincronizada (the “cheese-covered” section!), gorditas, huaraches, and . . . charbroiled chicken platters! You didn’t notice that “Best Charbroiled Chicken in NC” slogan on the sign, did you? Even the chickens are excited about it.

After trying their chicken taco (in the background), I’m inclined to agree.

It’s definitely great charbroiled chicken, and an interesting change from the marinated chicken common to most tacos. I think the full platter of chicken would be pretty darn good. Both tacos come topped with cilantro and onions, and the taco in the forefront is barbacoa. The meat was somewhat fatty and chewy and tossed in a very light barbecue sauce. Both tacos held up well with only one tortilla to support them. The tortillas definitely seemed fresh and were nicely browned.

I also dug the gordita beneath these copious toppings.

It was at least a third of an inch thick and really tasty. The meat, carne azada, was less impressive as it was still a bit chewy and fatty as it was in the barbacoa version. It had a decent level of spice but not a lot of flavor. The gordita was also topped with beans, jalapenos, lettuce, cilantro, onions, and tomato. Both the tacos and the gordita came with a side of either salsa roja or verde. I asked for the spiciest and the cashier said they were both about the same level of spicy, which I must say, was pretty hot at first but mellowed out after I’d been eating for a while. I would hazard a guess that roasted habaneros were involved in the red one.

Pollos La Carbonera offered all the standard taco-stand meats including lengua, pastor, and chorizo. I can’t remember any of the others, but I do remember that those tortas looked interesting, especially the one that came with an egg as one of the fillings.

Here’s one of their tortas:

And a gratuitous picture of tacos. Mmm, tacos.

Pollos La Carbonera
606 Fayetteville Road
Downtown Durham
$2–$8 per item

Reviewed 7.30.10.

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 is a nice amount of varied seating. It has more of a sit down restaurant atmosphere then perhaps the ninth street location. There are regular weekly specials posted, but we all stuck to the standard menu. This week’s special was a Pollo Hawaiillano (a concoction at the suggestion of customers of diced chicken and pineapple).

Between the three of us we ate the spicy tinga chicken, the steak fajita, the pastor, the grilled shrimp and the carnitas tacos. Rice and chips were also enjoyed, as well as each flavor of salsa. My personal salsa favorites were the guacatillo and the chile de arbol. Both are almost creamy in texture and all the flavors are very pronounced and not outshadowed by heat.

All of the tacos were served in a pair of thick, but soft, corn tortillas, and generously filled. My shrimp was cooked perfectly, and with great flavor, but did have a piece or two that was a little fishy. I really enjoyed the chipotle cream sauce and the pico which (had fresh diced jalapenos and ripe tomatoes). The carnitas were good, but I think I personally prefer chunked (like those you get at El Toledo) to the shredded variety I had at Chubby’s. My dining companions enjoyed the pastor (which includes pineapple), the steak fajita (including onions and bell peppers) and the tinga chicken. I think the only complaint we could come up with would be that it’s not even closer to our work. Oh and get there early to beat that lunch rush!

Chubby’s Tacos
2806 S. Miami Blvd.
Durham, NC 27703
919-558-6611

Open M-F
10:30am–2:30pm

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 opportunity to take any food pictures, but let me just tell you that this food carnival is a very good thing.

Inside the market building, vendors were selling bean pies, smoothies, cakes from “the cake lady”, roasted nuts,  tortas, fried chicken and biscuits, agua frescas, elotes con queso, and hot dogs.  There was even a Cuban Puerto Rican family selling mofongo!  Outside in the open air market, taqueria offerings abounded.

A lady selling tamales from a giant steaming pot seemed to be a popular choice with patrons, so I sampled a chicken tamale ($1.00) .  The tamale was wrapped in a banana leaf and the chicken tucked inside the lovely masa was bathed in salsa verde.  Really tasty.

At another vendor, I got a taco al pastor (with pineapple!) and an excellent pupusa pollo y queso with slaw.   On my way out of the market, I spotted an old latino lady making sopes by hand.  The finished product looked so good, I couldn’t resist the urge to stop for a large sope al pastor.  The next time you find yourself with a weekend hankering for authentic street food, do yourself a favor and head on down to the Durham Green Flea Market.

Durham Green Flea Market
1900 East Pettigrew Street
Hours:  Saturdays and Sundays 7:00am to 4:00pm
Phone:  (919) 308-7657 or (919) 599-6166
http://www.durhamgreenfleamarket.com

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 there.

First off, I’m a sucker for pupusas. Fried bread and cheese, what’s not to like? I had a pollo y queso pupusa and a taco al pastor and my husband ordered a frijoles y queso and a plain queso pupusa (he’s veggie). The pupupas were solid – large and oozing with cheese. They seemed pretty much the same as the ones Coma Rico used to dish out. The only difference being that now the vinegar cabbage is self-serve in the salsa bar verses already piled on top.

The taco was surprisingly good – large chunks of pineapple, well-seasoned pork, cilantro and an avocado slice on top, which was a nice touch. El Buen Sabor also brings chips and salsa to the table. The chips were the round, forgettable bagged variety but the salsa seemed homemade and had a nice peppery punch.

We left full and happy. The total for three papusas and a taco with tax came in under $9.

3411 University Dr

Durham, NC 27707

(919) 401-4619

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 the Wachovia parking lot on 9th Street. Cheers to living in Durham.

Their menu consisted of five tacos, a kimchi or cheese quesadilla (the only veggie option I saw), a burrito, three sandwiches and two special dishes (a curry plate and a spicy beef plate). The tacos will run you $2, the sandwiches $5 and the plates $7.

Between Daisy Cakes, Only Burger, the new Indian truck and the various taco trucks around town – is it just me – or does food just seem to taste better when it comes from a truck?

PS. The taco was awesome. The pork was sweet almost like it had been marinated in pineapple juice, cabbage added a nice crunch, Sriracha (I’m guessing) the right amount of fire and lime juice the perfect zing.