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Kara Edgerson | 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. |
| Hereâs what she had to say: |
âPeople love his tacosâ
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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 âshockedâ 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 yearâs win was a major boost for his business, which may have helped contribute to the repeat win. Hopefully, this yearâs win will bring him even more visibility. |
âFamiliar faces and interpersonal relationshipsâ matter most
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| You also mentioned the runners up: Pelonâs Food Truck came in second place and PoNyâs 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 Pelonâs Food Truck and PoNyâs Miches are not necessarily the âbig namesâ in Phoenix. And in my opinion, thatâs exactly why they won. PoNyâs 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, âsit-downâ establishments. |
Whatâs 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 whatâs next for Top Taco 2025? |
| Iâm 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 donât know about, and Top Taco has introduced me to some seriously great and underrated new taco destinations. |
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