Flashback to October 2021. Caitlyn and I were on a bike packing trip from Buffalo to New York City on the Empire State Trail. There was a moment, on the side of a highway, where Caitlyn just realized we had 80 plus miles of cycling ahead of us that day after already having 80 plus mile days the previous two days. I heard Caitlyn state after a long silence, “I think I need a break from these trips.” Well, here…
About a month ago, I took on my first out of three planned out west trips for 2022. I went with my middle school friend, Deepali, to Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks. We flew into San Diego and out of Las Vegas. I was so excited for our fun-filled itinerary with room for spontaneity. Deepali has never been to San Diego, so that is why we chose to fly into San Diego over Los Angeles. I also prefer…
On Super Bowl Sunday, Kevin and I ventured out for an early lunch before the game day festivities. I chose a taco place suggested by another coworker. Like Viva Los Tacos, this restaurant is also east of the city. We made our way to Tako Torta in Bakery Square. Tako Torta is a taqueria-inspired outpost, compared to its full service sister restaurant, Tako, in downtown Pittsburgh. Tako Torta has the same authentic ingredients, creative tacos, and handcrafted cocktail focused specialties…
On one of the many frequent cold weekends, Kevin and I bundled up and made our way to Harrison Hills for a winter hike. I revisited my old friend, the Rachel Carson Trail, and introduced Kevin to the eastern terminus of the trail. We have hiked sections together near North Park, but none east of Hampton. One of my favorite segments has you trek through an ATV park near Saxonburg Road. I chose this section because of the rolling hills…
When my Ultimate Frisbee game was cancelled on a beautiful Thursday evening due to lighting issues at the field, I took that opportunity for a “bike the Burgh” and “eat the tacos” kind of night. The last time I bicycled in Pittsburgh, I went to Taquitos taco truck and Voodoo Brewery. This time, I went to La Bodega in Southside followed by Penn Brewery in Troy Hill. La Bodega was my initial plan last time, but I got taco-stracted by…
Back in August of 2016, I wrote one of my first taco reviews and it was on Bakersfield tacos (link here). I cannot believe that I am coming up on my 5 year anniversary of the creation of my taco website. I looked back at my Bakersfield post and boy, was I a newb at describing tacos! At that time, I did not have a taco ranking system and I only took one photo of just one of the three…
At the end of April, I set out on a 5-day, 339 mile bike packing trip. I opened up the bike packing Pandora’s box last October when my friend, Caitlyn, and I bicycled from Washington, D.C. to Pittsburgh. We had so much fun on our 5-day adventure. I really felt like I was living in the moment the entire time. Nothing else mattered and no worries were on my mind besides food, water, and shelter. Yes, I did think about…
If St. Clair Hospital in the South Hills and Social House 7 in Downtown had a baby, you would get the name of the next Pittsburgh taco place I traveled to… St. Clair Social. St. Clair took a leap of faith and opened up during the pandemic. Their drive is to get Pittsburgh social again. The corner bar and restaurant is located at 302 South Saint Clair Street in the Friendship neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Here, we get the name St….
Tocayo translates to “namesake” in English. The new restaurant in the Shadyside area of Pittsburgh, Tocayo, shares the same ownership as Totopo in Mount Lebanon -hence the name. But Tocayo has the opportunity to specialize its menu and really achieve a perfect mix between traditional Mexican cuisine and the urban high-end flare. I am happy to announce that one of the menu items they chose to focus on perfecting is none other than tacos. I chose to try out Tocayo…