[UPDATE July 2019: Fogoncito has moved to 4596 Cleveland Ave.]
Thanks to the hard-working crew at Taco Trucks Columbus, Columbus residents have had an easier and more enjoyable time discovering the large variety of taco trucks around town. We’ve had the pleasure of exploring many of them, from the group gathered on the southwest side of town, to diverse offerings along Morse Roads and 161, to some closer to home near Clintonville and Victorian Village.
One of our favorites has become Taqueria El Fogoncito. We’ve visited this truck often enough that our four-year-old Will calls it “our taco truck.” Once, when we forgot to order his chicken taco, one of the cooks asked us if he should prepare Will’s usual. Imagine that, our four-year-old being a regular at a taco truck! I couldn’t be prouder.
We begin our meals at the truck with mandarin Jarritos, the orange-flavored version of the fruit sodas. They come in a range of flavors, although we most often see the mandarin and mango.
Fogoncito’s menu focuses on a handful of Mexican favorites: tacos (with or without cheese), gringas, and tortas. Gringas are the particular specialty at Fogoncito and their sister, both the truck and brick-and-mortar locations of Los Guachos. From our understanding, Fogoncito is owned by a relative of the Los Guachos owners, so they feature many similar favorites. The gringas are a simple open-faced flour tortilla topped with your choice of meat, melted cheese, plus onions and cilantro. Tortas take similar ingredients but sandwiches them between thick slices of bread. Pictured above is our four-year-old’s regular order: a chicken taco with cheese on it.
In addition to the gringas, our favorite is the al pastor tacos. You can order any dish with your choice of meat: chicken, asada (grilled steak), suadero (beef), tripe, campechanas (seafood), and al pastor. Let me make it easy on you: you came for the al pastor.
Al pastor is a preparation that begins with thin, marinated slices of pork stacked on a trompo (pictured above) and is fired on a spit. A pineapple is usually skewered above the meat, so that the fruit juices and fat from the meat saturate the pork, which is turned slowly and seared. At the time of serving, they slice thin strips of the meat from the side. The pork is served with a slice of the pineapple and layered on two corn tortillas, then topped with onions and cilantro.
Garnishes include sliced cucumber, lime, and a very spicy pickled hot peppers. Fogoncito also makes their own red sauce (a type of spicy salsa, I believe) and avocado/cilantro/wonderfulness sauce. I love, love avocado/cilantro sauce on the al pastor tacos and gringas, and am tempted to put it on everything else I eat. Spicy, smooth, sweet, savory. It’s one of those simple dishes that keeps you guessing.
In November of 2012, Fogoncito moved to its current location on the south side of Morse. In the past it was located further west on Morse, then at the corner of Morse and Westerville Roads, but they were kicked off that location (which is only now being developed). They were closed for some time, so we were very excited when we got word – thanks to Taco Trucks Cbus and some dedicated Twitter fans – that they had re-opened, we visited almost immediately. Above is the current view of the truck from Morse Road. The truck is perpendicular to the road, FYI.
But they’re back serving up our some of our favorite tacos and gringas in town. Wherever they set up shop, we’ll follow them! As Will would say, it’s “our taco truck.”
ALSO NOTE: They serve two-for-one al pastor tacos on Wednesdays. So if you’re looking for a chance to try them…
If you want to visit:
Taqueria El Fogoncito
4596 Cleveland Ave. (map it!)
Columbus, OH
(614) 900-4784
[…] seen a couple of taco truck updates including a non-breakfast update from Breakfast with Nick on Taqueria El Fogoncito, a review of Super Taco Nazo by CMH Gourmand, and a post about El Mananero at Taco Trucks […]