A good friend of mine Joel, who is my source for great taco stands, is putting together a specialty tour company to take people to see the real Puerto Vallarta.

One of the tours he is working on right now is a taco stand tour to visit some of the great taco stands around town that a visitor wouldn’t normally have the chance to try. Tacos are the heart and soul of Mexican cuisine.

To get feedback on the new tour, he is offering afree tour to two groups of VallartaBlog readers. On the tour, you will visit 4 different taco stands to try a variety of tacos. The tour lasts about 2 ½ hours.

To get an idea of the types of places you will visit, take a look at some previous posts: Tacos El Carboncito, Tacos Willie, Tacos El Grano de Oro. These aren’t necessarily the places you will visit but it gives you an idea about what to expect.

Joel is offering the free tours until February 21 to the first two groups of people who reply. Tell us when you are available and if you have any special preferences. Transportation is provided from your hotel or condo. The group limit is 4 people per tour and participants will pay for their own tacos and sodas. Everything else is included. Just to give you an idea of cost, tacos and sodas typically cost less than one dollar apiece.

The taco tour is a really cool way to see another side of Puerto Vallarta. Buen provecho!

One of the restaurants we go to when we are in the mood for fajitas is Fajita Republic located on Basilio Badillo street in Old Town.

Our favorite dish is the Molcajitas – strips of beef and cheese, onion, pineapple and salsa heated in a stone molcajete. They give you a stack of flour tortillas, plus guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, rice and beans to make your own tacos. We are not real big eaters so one order is enough to feed the two of us.

This visit we decided to try something new and we ordered the Shrimp Tacos Pastor. The shrimp are covered in an adobo sauce which is a red tomato based sauce made with chipotle. Adobo can be on the spicy side but the version at Fajita Republic is tasty and mild.

Something new that they are doing is giving you a plate of nachos on the house. They have always started you off with a ton of tortilla chips and homemade salsa plus a plate of jicama sprinkled with chile powder. And, they still do, with a plate of nachos to boot.

Last March, they relocated the restaurant to the other side of the street. They kept the same menu and decor. So if you have been to Fajita Republic before and enjoyed it, you will still find it to your liking.

Service this visit was really quick and friendly, much better than our previous visits. The waitstaff puts on a good show at the tables when they serve the fajita plates flamed in tequila. I kept trying to get a picture of them in action but I was never quite quick enough.

Prices are mid-range and include chips and homemade salsa, a plate of nachos, and a plate of jicama. The Molcajitas cost $134 pesos and the Shrimp Tacos Pastor cost $128 pesos.

Fajita Republic is located at Basilio Badillo #188 in Old Town. Their telephone number is 222-3131. They Also have a location in Nuevo Vallarta at Embarcadero Centro, Paseo Cocoteros Lote 8 Villa 8. The phone number in Nuevo Vallarta is 297-2277.

We had some good barbacoa tacos from the “Aqui es Tlaxcala” taco stand located on the corner of Calle Brasilia and Calle Ecuador. The stand is on the back side of the Municipal Stadium two blocks from the 8 Tostadas Restaurant. The stand is also located directly in front of my favorite tortilleria in Puerto Vallart

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Good stuff! Makes you hungry just looking at them. Use the map below to make your way to the taco stand. You might also want to read about my favorite tacos in all of Puerto Vallarta.

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