| A SPOTLIGHT ON THE JOURNALISM YOUR SUBSCRIPTION HELPS BRING TO LIFE. |
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Kara EdgersonĀ |Ā Manager of Digital Operations
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| Now, I want to mix it up with something we all love: tacos. |
| This week, we spoke with Endia Fontanez, the food and dining reporter for The Arizona Republic, about our latest Top Taco contest and the winner may not come as a surprise to some of you. |
| Hereās what she had to say: |
āPeople love his tacosā
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| This is the second year you have helped lead our Top Taco efforts at the Republic. And we have a repeat winner: Estero Beach Tacos was crowned the Top Taco champ, with over 30% of the votes. You mentioned how Owner Jorge Picos told you that he was āshockedā about the results. Tell us more about his initial reaction when you contacted him? What does this win mean to him and does he plan to expand his business? |
| Estero Beach Tacos is a small food trailer that only pops up at farmers markets on weekends, due to Picos having a full-time corporate job during the week. So part of the initial shock for him was that people love his tacos enough to vote for him ahead of some of the more longstanding brick-and-mortar establishments. He told me that last yearās win was a major boost for his business, which may have helped contribute to the repeat win. Hopefully, this yearās win will bring him even more visibility. |
āFamiliar faces and interpersonal relationshipsā matter most
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| You also mentioned the runners up: Pelonās Food Truck came in second place and PoNyās Miches came in third. Can you walk our readers through what makes each winner different? And what does these results say about taco lovers in Phoenix? |
| Like Estero Beach Tacos, both Pelonās Food Truck and PoNyās Miches are not necessarily the ābig namesā in Phoenix. And in my opinion, thatās exactly why they won. PoNyās Miches recently opened its first brick-and-mortar location, after operating as a food truck for several years. With such an abundance of options for tacos in Phoenix, people seek out familiar faces and interpersonal relationships rather than more upscale, āsit-downā establishments. |
Whatās next for Top Taco?
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| We can only expect that you have plans to continue this contest, correct? What can you tell us about whatās next for Top Taco 2025? |
| Iām super excited for Top Taco to become a regular contest at The Republic. Even though I cover food, there are still a ton of great restaurants in Phoenix that I donāt know about, and Top Taco has introduced me to some seriously great and underrated new taco destinations. |
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| The people have spoken and the winner of Top Taco 2024 is āshockedā. Meet the man behind the grill, and the second and third place taco makers. |
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