Travels with Josie

Posts Tagged ‘food’


Posted on June 19, 2010 - by

And the winner is … Tacos el Gordo

Me and Cesar and Tacos el Gordo: Best food in Vernal

Midday, Vernal Utah
25 excruciatingly slow miles down.

Pausing to post in Vernal, Utah, I would be remiss if I didn’t report on the winner of the hands down best food of the trip so far:

Cesar and Coco at Taco el Gordo on Main Street, Vernal, put three eggs, chorizo and potato together like nobody’s business. And the green sauce? Yes! Fiery flavor that lives a little longer on sunburnt lips. Yum yum yum. This moves Rebecca’s in Springer, New Mexico, down to second,where she is vying with a peanut butter-smudged apple I had by the side of the road a while ago.

Cesar and Coco cater to the oilfield workers out of a classic roadside taco truck. Originally from the Mexico City area, they moved to Denver more than 20 years ago and have been working the Vernal scene for several years. The town used to be booming with oil and gas workers, many from Latin America, but the economy has cut into the oil and gas industries in the last couple of years and Cesar says now it is just holding steady.

One of his customers, a black guy from Colorado Springs said he came here to work in the oil fields, but picked up the skills to become a diesel mechanic. He’s been doing that for two years now, he said. “I’m all about adding knowledge he said,” sporting a CU Buffs jersey. “That was a pretty big change for a city guy coming down here.”

His race is notable because he is only the second African American I’ve seen on this trip, the other guy was walking toward Douglas Pass wearing a floppy hat and carrying a duffel bag. I stopped to talk, thinking I’d found Don Quixote. Maybe I had, he seemed happy with his lot in life, heading for Grand Junction. I was shocked to see him — or anyone — walking out there. I asked him if he hitchhiked, he said he’d take a ride if a nice person stopped, but he could waste the whole day standing there with his thumb out.

With that, thanks Cesar — If I see you down the road I’m going for the Vernal Omelette: FIVE eggs, ham, bacon, chorizo, potatoes and quacamole.