Hot Date: North Texas’ First Taco Festival is Saturday, April 20

Taco Whisperer José Ralat-Maldonado tells the Hatch, “Dallas is finally getting a proper taco festival.”

“The North Texas Taco Festival will be a celebration of our area’s taco diversity held in conjunction with the Deep Ellum Outdoor Market and presented by Ralat-Maldonado’s Taco Trail and Rich Vana’s Entrée Dallas.

A dozen taquerías, restaurants and food trucks (Cafeteria y Loncheria El Padrino, Rusty Taco, Rock and Roll Tacos and So-Cal Tacos, among others), will participate, plus there’ll be an Iron Chef-style competition to find the best taco chef.

The North Texas Taco Festival will be held Saturday, April 20, 2013, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., on the 2800 block of Main Street between Malcolm X Boulevard and Crowdus Street, adjacent to the Deep Ellum Outdoor Market and its 40 vendors.