Central Falls Taco Crawl

Tacos Don Nacho’s mobile trailer serves daytime and late-night tacos and elotes, which is street corn on a stick.

Central Falls — and next-door neighbor Pawtucket — is worthy of a day’s worth of tacos. Meaty fillings are slow-cooked, braised, grilled or roasted, stuffed into freshly made corn tortillas, and served with red and green salsas using fresh tomatoes, peppers and chiles, and topped with lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, lime slices and chopped cilantro. Make a day out of it and travel around town sampling tacos from various restaurants, quirk-serve counters and even a mobile trailer.  

1. Grab a few tacos at Tuxpan Taqueria

Excellent $3- and $4-tacos are filled with slow-cooked pollo and carne asada at this tiny taco spot with a dining counter, several tables and an outdoor patio. Sit at the counter and watch the cooks assemble tacos using the key ingredients — fresh corn tortillas and slow-cooked meats — accented by housemade pico de gallo and salsas. The eatery makes a great torta, which is a Mexican sandwich hybrid served on a fluffy Portuguese roll from Colonial Bakery in Cumberland. 355 Broad St., Central Falls, 722-1620, instagram.com/tuxpantaqueria 

2. Try Mexican street tacos at Hidalgo

Hidalgo is hidden away in a strip mall on Pawtucket’s Barton Street next to Lusitania Portuguese Bakery (Hint: go for the tacos, but stop in next door for sweet bread, too). At Hidalgo, choose from nearly a dozen meat options including carnitas, pollo (chicken), al pastor (pork) or chorizo. Of course, the same meats are served in burrito, torta, gordita, tostada and quesadilla form. And if the posole is on, have them pour you a bowl and sit and slurp the spicy pork-filled and chili-packed broth with hominy corn kernels, served with lettuce, sour cream and chips to kill the heat. 308 Barton St., Pawtucket, 722-7622, facebook.com/hidalgorestaurantri

3. Head to La Herradura Taqueria Mexicana for more tacos

Want the best tacos you’ve ever had? Ask a Mexican friend where to go. That’s exactly what I did to find this hidden gem of a taco spot. La herradura means horseshoe in Spanish, which is lucky for taco lovers. They have tacos, burritos, tortas and tamales filled with shredded beef, chicken, pork, tripe or tongue. Tacos arrive stacked on double corn tortillas stuffed with meat, cilantro, onion and limes, plus housemade green and red salsas served on the side. 716 Dexter St., Central Falls, 753-1671, laherradurataqueriamexicana.com

4. Taste tacos and elotes at Tacos Don Nacho’s taco trailer

This tiny trailer in Pawtucket, which also has a second walkup shack in Woonsocket, serves tacos that are synonymous with South of the border. No Tex-Mex here, just freshly made tortillas stocked with a range of Mexican meats like asada (beef), pastor, lengua (tongue), chorizo, pollo, carnitas, barbacoa, cueritos (pig skin) and oreja (pig ear). The taco trailer is one of the only restaurants in the area that serves late-night eats, so expect to see a line of partygoers soaking up the scene until midnight. Get an ear of street corn on a stick sprinkled with cotija for the road. 234 Barton St., Pawtucket, 688-2932

5. Sample roll tacos at California Taco Shop

This taco spot has nine locations in Rhode Island, and each of them is as good as the last. While they serve traditional hard and soft tacos, assembled both regular (onions and cilantro) and supreme style (with lettuce, cheese, sour cream and pico de gallo), they also have a specialty called roll tacos. Tortillas are rolled with chicken and cheese, deep fried, and served with a side of lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream and guacamole. They come in sets of three or five, so you might want to grab a bunch and just roll with it. 877 Central Ave., Pawtucket, 305-5506, californiatacoshopri.com