This isn’t your average food festival with tiny bites of average food - The Grand Fiesta knocks it out of the park!
If you went to the SD Food + Wine Fest’s GRAND FIESTA, aka Taco TKO, and if you were like me, you ate a ton of tacos. I mean, dozens of tacos, all of them with delicious gourmet ingredients. And if you’re like me, you were sipping some ultra high class mescal and sipping lots of Baja Wine. Look, I’m just saying that my memory of the event is blurry other than a general overview that I had a REALLY good time! I’m going to tell you all about it but before we go too far if you’re wondering if you should go to the next Grand Fiesta then click this button so you can get all of the info on next years event. But spoiler alert - this is my favorite food festival in San Diego so yeah, go!
At the SD Food + Wine Fest’s Grand Fiesta - not to be confused with the Grand Tasting event held the day before on San Diego Bay - there are rows and rows of booths all making fresh tacos and handing them out and hoping they get your vote for San Diego’s best taco. No crummy mini bites, no generic taco stand taco, these are designed for serious taco fans.
Rows and rows of booths handing out tacos and beverages with live music in the background.
As you taste the tacos you get to vote for your favorites and this year the People voted top taco to Chef Ilean Padilla from Mexica Fe for the Desert Taco made with beef and miso mole and ashed chiles, with green salsa consisting of tomatillo, avocado, cambray onion, soy bean sprouts and lime on a homemade flour tortilla.
To be totally honest when I got this taco I sort of wondered if it really qualified as a taco since the form factor looked a lot like a skinny burrito. But taco or not, it knocked me out and I agree with the Peoples Choice, this one was the incredible. Good job, may I have another? Of course you can! This is the Grand Fiesta!
Judges’ Choice for the 2nd year in a row was Chef Marcus Twilegar of Palmys Pacific Beach. Chef Marcus scored high marks from the judges for his Guajillo braised short rib taco with brussels sprouts, crispy sunchoke, queso Oaxaca on a hand pressed corn tortilla. OK, sue me, I didn’t get that photo nor did I get that taco but come on, there were so many tacos and have you ever tried to hold a taco and a margarita and take a photo? It’s hard, really hard!
I did however get a nice photo of the Judges Second Place winner - Del’s Hideout with their Smoked pork belly taco with citrus marinated tomatoes and onions, avocado mash, aji crema and cilantro microgreens. It was pretty, pretty good.
And here we are, EVERY WINNER FROM THE 2024 GRAND FIESTA
People’s Choice First Place Grand Prize Winner
Chef Ilean Padilla – Mexica Fé
Taco description: Beef and miso mole and ashed chiles, with green salsa made of tomatillo, avocado, cambray onion, soy bean sprouts, and lime on a homemade flour tortilla
People’s Choice Second Place Winner
Chef Ben Diaz – Corkfire Kitchen
Taco description: Lamb Rib Birria-Queso Taco, Salsa Roja, Huitlacoche SaladPeople’s Choice Third Place Winner
Chef Juan Saad – Alchemy
Taco description: Taco Zarandeado with adobo marinated Mexican shrimp zarandeado, Jamaica pickled onions, chile toreado crema, and a recado negro pineapple salsa, garnished with micro cilantroJudges’ Choice First Place Grand Prize Winner
Chef Marcus Twilegar – Palmys Pacific Beach
Guajillo braised short rib, brussel sprout, crispy sunchoke, queso Oaxaca, hand pressed corn tortillaJudges’ Choice Second Place Winner
Chef Martin Juarez – Del’s Hideout
Smoked pork belly taco with citrus marinated tomatoes and onions, avocado mash, aji crema and cilantro microgreensJudges’ Choice Third Place Winner
Chef Lucio A Hernandez – EMMA Baja French
SHRIMP TACO (capeado or la parrilla), chintextile aioli, avocado, spicy leaves, fried shrimp and lacto-fermented mushroom powder, lime, brown butter macha sauce
But really, everyone was a winner at the Grand Fiesta. I really love this event - it’s priced low enough so you don’t have to think too hard about it (hey, a lot of food events can be big bucks so I appreciate that), and what’s not to love about a sunny San Diego afternoon eating taco after taco like you’re Homer Simpson? Located at the huge park at Liberty Station, it’s never been super crowded so you can just walk up and get a taco, and another, and another. Wait, I want a drink. Baja wines or something else? Let’s try them all!
So congrats to the winners, and really, kudos to everyone who was there who made the Grand Fiesta so much fun. The San Diego Food + Wine Festival is the best in the nation and it’s right here in our backyard. The Grand Fiesta is so San Diego, the perfect afternoon in our perfect city. Mark your calendar for next November and come back in the fall when the event info gets posted. Just don’t miss it! It’s that good!