by Bottom Line: The Hatch Chili Pork Street Tacos from Taco Cabana deliver tasty pulled pork with a nice dose of heat and should be added to the permanent menu.
The pastel pink of Taco Cabana locations is a fixture across many Texas towns, and those who frequent the restaurant know that they can get reliably good Mexican food at an affordable price from this establishment. Tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and roast chicken are their staples, but the chain does venture into other territory at times and just recently they released a new line of dishes featuring Hatch chili smoked pulled pork. This is something that lovers of spicy food will want to check out if they have a location near them because it brings a nice kick.
They are currently offering the Hatch chili pork in tacos, burritos, bowls, and street tacos along with various combinations with either chips and queso or rice and beans. (They also have a Hatch chili margarita if you happen to want your frozen drink spiced up. Just a beer for me, please.) I decided to try out the street tacos which include three tortillas topped with pulled pork, onions, cilantro, and lime wedges on the side. Mine also included their Ranch Salsa which is not mentioned in the description.
The meat has a good barbeque pork taste that is rich and well-seasoned and mostly tender throughout (a few stands were a bit chewy, but that is not uncommon with pulled pork). There was not too much smokiness, but just enough so that you know the meat spent some time over the smoldering wood. The Ranch Salsa adds a nice creaminess along with some tang. And you can squeeze on that lime for some additional acid and tang. The diced onions don’t add much taste, but the cilantro helps bring a nice finish to the taco. Additional salsa is not necessarily needed with these, but the Pico de Gallo still goes well with them. The soft and tender corn tortillas are a good choice (and standard for street tacos) and they hold everything together quite well. And they appeared to be full-sized tortillas instead of the small ones usually used with street tacos.
Taco Cabana is not necessarily known for its spicy offerings, but these tacos definitely bring some heat. They have a kick right away, and that builds up as you continue to chomp them down. I would put them at Medium level which is pretty good for TC. And if you add the Pico, it kicks up the heat even more and has them approaching the Hot level. It would certainly be nice if they added these to the regular menu so that I know I have a go-to spicy item when I make a run through the drive thru. (Yeah, I know Hatch chilis are only available part of the year. Buy in bulk or substitute something similar the rest of the year!)
I don’t see any nutritional info for these on the website since they are limited-time-only items, but I’m going to guess they are around 150 calories per street taco. That’s not bad, but if you add on chips and queso (always a temptation at TC), that’s 490 cals for a small order. So tread lightly on your sides otherwise you will not be treading so lightly afterward.
I came in late on these as they have apparently been on the menu since early Fall. I have been trying out a lot of spicy items from other establishments lately, and Taco Cabana has slipped down on the go-to list. I will have to keep a closer eye on their specials going forward, though, and if you want to give these a try I recommend heading to TC pretty soon before they head back to Limited-Time-Only-Ville. The chain has locations throughout Texas, and they will be expanding to other states before too long. Just look for the pink building and prepare to dive into some tasty Mexican food!
