El Tucan Express serves lunch and dinner classics
Published 7:26 am Thursday, June 16, 2016
I love food trucks because each meal at one of these spots is a break from reality.
In the normal world, you can’t walk up to the window of a vehicle and ask a stranger for food. At a food truck, you can. In regular, everyday life, the police would probably come if you and your friends were caught standing next to a van, eating hamburgers, tacos or hot dogs. All of this is OK to do if that van is actually a food truck.
At a restaurant in the real world, you have to dress appropriately, wait in line for a table, and then wait for food. At a food truck, there are no tables. You can show up and order your meal while wrapped in a tattered, moth-ridden Snuggie if that’s what you truly want to do.
Your entire meal is handed to you through the window. There is not waiting on a server or hoping the next drink refill comes before you pass away from dehydration.
Food trucks make the world everything I wish it truly was — lawless and a little goofy.
On Tuesday, I found a sweet oasis in the parking lot of the Moss Bluff Valero, at 393 U.S. 171. The food truck that has been there for the last few weeks is the mobile version of the El Tucan Mexican restaurant in DeQuincy called El Tucan Express.
From what I’ve gathered, the restaurant is looking to expand to other areas of the Southwest Louisiana and the truck is a good way for El Tucan management to gauge public interest in other areas.
As a fan of the El Tucan in DeQuincy, I can say without a doubt that this place wouldn’t struggle to win over residents in any area. The food they serve is delicious. We can argue about authenticity all day, but just from my perspective, you’d be hard pressed to find a Mexican restaurant in the area where everything on the menu is worth ordering.
At the food truck, the options on the menu are scaled back a bit not only because the kitchen is smaller, but also to make sure the meals can be prepared quickly.
Mainly, the truck serves all of the restaurant’s most popular fare. The menu has quesadillas, burritos, chimichangas, enchiladas, tacos and various forms of nachos. It’s all easily put together and it’s always delicious.
My favorite thing on the food truck’s menu are the Nachos Texanos. Honestly, it’s a flavorful pile of meats, cheeses and vegetables. Everything is grilled, and it all comes together in this glorious symphony of messy greatness.
The nachos come with grilled steak, chicken, shrimp, red, yellow and green bell peppers, tomatoes and onions. Individually, all of the meats are cooked perfectly. The steak and chicken are both tender and pull apart easily. The shrimp tasted fresh and with the grilled vegetables, it added unique, more natural taste to the dish.
The chalupa rice and beans lunch special tasted as authentic as anything you could get in Southwest Louisiana. The rice was light and fresh. The beans were soft and had a thick, full flavor that only expanded the dish’s appeal.
The lunch special at the truck are $6-$10. The nachos cost $7-$10 and worth the price.
El Tucan Express is my new favorite place in Southwest Louisiana. I can show up in shorts or a T-shirt or pajamas, or dressed as a high school sports mascot and order food there. It doesn’t matter.
I’ll still get served and enjoy my meal because, remember, food trucks don’t logically fit into normal life. Everything about them is backward and strange and wonderful. And I love it.
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On Tuesday