Tacoberfest: Trying Tacos Mi Ranchito in Emmett, Idaho

There are some restaurants that become part of your routine without you really realizing it. For us, the Blue Ribbon Café in Emmett was one of those places.

Whenever Sara and I were camping at Montour or spending time around Emmett, we’d end up there pretty regularly. So when the Blue Ribbon closed a little over a year ago, I hated seeing it go.

Then this week I found myself driving past the old Blue Ribbon building again.

I’d been at Montour helping my father-in-law break down camp. They actually ended up closing the campground early for the season because they no longer had a camp host, but that’s another story.

On the way home, I noticed something different. Tacos Mi Ranchito and then I remembered it’s October and more importantly, it’s Tacoberfest.

Suddenly I knew exactly where lunch was happening.

KEEP YOUR IDAHO TACOBERFEST SIMPLE

If you missed the beginning of this little adventure, I’ve declared October Tacoberfest and I’m trying to visit as many locally owned taco spots as I reasonably can.

I’m not looking for the fanciest taco in Idaho. In fact, I’m kind of looking for the opposite.

Give me a good corn tortilla, well-seasoned meat, onion, cilantro, some salsa and a lime. If you can nail that, I’m happy.

That’s exactly what I ordered at Tacos Mi Ranchito: two carne asada tacos.

And they nailed it.

The carne asada had really good flavor, but what I liked most was that the seasoning didn’t overpower the beef. You could still actually taste the meat. Add the fresh onion and cilantro and those simple corn tortillas, and there wasn’t anything else it needed.

That’s a taco.

Their menu goes well beyond what I tried—burritos, quesabirria, fajitas, tortas, breakfast burritos and more—but I came for tacos, so tacos it was. The restaurant itself says its focus is on Mexican dishes made with fresh produce and traditional flavors.

A GOOD NEW CHAPTER FOR AN OLD EMMETT SPOT

The other thing that stood out was the restaurant itself. It was very clean and pretty quiet when I stopped in, and the two women working were incredibly sweet and welcoming.

There’s still a little part of me that wishes I could walk into that building and find the Blue Ribbon Café again. That’s nostalgia talking. We had a lot of meals there over the years, and I’m going to miss it.

But buildings get new chapters.

And if this one’s new chapter involves really good carne asada tacos, I’m okay with that.

Tacoberfest Stop #2 gets a definite thumbs up.

Tacos Mi Ranchito is at 515 S. Washington Ave. in Emmett and currently lists its hours as 9 a.m.–9 p.m. daily.

Now the important question:

Where should Tacoberfest Stop #3 be?

Tacoberfest Stop #1: Bronco Tacos in Boise

I couldn’t have picked a better place to start. For the inaugural Tacoberfest stop, I headed to Bronco Tacos on South Broadway Avenue in Boise.

Bronco Tacos is a family-owned operation that says its food represents generations of family recipes and describes what it serves as a little taste of Sinaloa.

They have plenty of interesting things on the menu, including quesabirria, birria burritos, mulitas and even Maruchabirria, birria ramen. But for Tacoberfest, I wanted to start simple.

Two asada tacos. One carnitas taco. Red hot salsa. That’s it.

The street tacos at Bronco Tacos are exactly what I want when I’m craving a traditional taco. Meat, cilantro and onions on corn tortillas.

The asada was fantastic. There was a little bit of char on the meat, but it was still incredibly tender and the flavor was amazing.

Then came the carnitas. Here’s where you need to know something about me, I’m a carnitas snob. I love carnitas, so I’m probably harder on it than I am most taco meats. Bronco Tacos nailed it. Tender. Flavorful. Simple. Exactly what I wanted and the tortillas were nice and soft but, most importantly, they didn’t fall apart.

That’s important because these tacos were absolutely loaded with meat. By the time I finished, I was picking up pieces of meat with my fingers because there was more meat than the little tortillas could contain.

That is not a complaint.

Gallery Credit: Cory Mikhals

Source: An Old Emmett Restaurant Has a New Life And Really Good Tacos

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