I’m back in New York and I’ve driven back to Cortland to visit Caleb. I’ve been craving tacos and will not shut up about them so Caleb has decided to humor me and take me out for some in Ithaca today for lunch. I’m pretty sure he’s just happy that I’ve made a decision about a meal for once, my love for tacos is a benefit to us all.
LOCATION: 101 N Aurora St. Ithaca, NY 14850
In the heart of downtown Ithaca is Viva Taqueria. We don’t tend to come down here because parking is tricky or expensive and Caleb isn’t a fan of these kinds of things but thanks to google and yelp he’s decided to make the effort to get me good tacos and for that I’m grateful. I’ve never been in this area and Viva Taqueria is a bustling place. Right on the corner, you can spot it from down the street streaming with people and packed with patrons on this weekend lunch hour. We go inside and the place looks big but jam packed with tables all over the place and very little room to walk. We only have to wait a few minutes before we’re seated at this small table near a couple of little girls on a play date. It’s going to be an interesting lunch. We each order a bottle of root beer and I finally get the tacos I’m craving.
I order the Hard Shell Tacos because I love corn tortillas but most places use flour for their soft tacos so I tend to order hard for safety, plus I love that crunch. The hard shell tacos come as 1 chicken, 1 beef, and 1 chorizo filled with beans, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and salsa fresca and a side of rice, beans, and escabeche on the side. Caleb orders a burrito because he feels they’re superior but we’ll not talk about that. These tacos are what I’m looking for. I like the variety of meats that I get to try and I enjoy all of them. I’m not a huge fan of rice and beans so I pick at that a little but the escabeche has a great tart kick to it that reminds me of out pickled carrots and radishes too. I’m not blown away so I don’t know that Caleb and I will come back down here with the hassle of parking and the plethora of college kids everywhere but it hit the spot for the day and I’m pretty happy that we’ve come down here to get food. I do like the area and we do some light shopping on our way back to the car on this really beautiful, sunny day. Theres a book store and record store that we stop in and I love it. Tacos, books, and music, I’ll take it.