TAQUERIA LA PUERCA ESPINAL
The Finest Dining in the Woodlands Since 2006
HOURS OF OPERATION
- Sunday - Thursday: Dawn to Dusk (approximately 6am to 8pm depending on season and Strumpet activity)
- Friday - Saturday: Dawn to Late (extended hours, live cricket music)
- Closed on Strumpet Raid Alert Days (check main page for alerts)
MENU
All dishes prepared with fresh woodland ingredients. Vegetarian options available upon request (we just leave the bugs out).
Tacos
Cicada Al Pastor Tacos - $4.50
Pine-marinated cicada on mini corn tortillas with cilantro, onion, and pineapple salsa. Our most popular item.
Cricket Tacos - $3.50
Crispy field crickets on corn tortillas with mole sauce and toasted sesame. Three per order.
Sides
Nachos de la Woodland - $5.00
Tortilla chips with melted cheese, jalapenos, guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, and your choice of cricket or mealworm topping.
Mealworm Quesadilla - $4.00
Toasted flour tortilla with Oaxaca cheese and toasted mealworms. Served with salsa verde.
Salsa Trio - $3.00
Three salsas: mild tomatillo, medium chipotle, and hot habanero-cicada. Comes with tortilla chips.
Desserts
Cinnamon Churros - $3.50
Fried dough sticks rolled in cinnamon sugar. Served with chocolate dipping sauce. A woodland favorite.
Blackberry Cobbler - $4.00
Wild woodland blackberries baked in a buttery crust. Served warm with cricket-vanilla ice cream.
Drinks
Horchata - $2.50
Sweet rice milk with cinnamon and vanilla. Made with water from the woodland stream (boiled, we are not animals).
Margarita de la Woodland - $6.00
Tequila, triple sec, lime juice, and a salt rim made from crushed acorn shells. Served in a hollowed-out gourd.
HAPPY HOUR
Every day from Dawn to 9am (or whenever the first hedgehog rolls in). All drinks half price. Free cricket toppings on all tacos. Limit one margarita per hedgehog - we learned this lesson the hard way.
SPECIALTY MENU
Crickets en Confit - $5.50
Slow-rendered field crickets in duck fat with rosemary and garlic. Limited daily supply based on what we catch.
Mealworm Fries - $3.00
Deep-fried mealworms seasoned with woodland herbs and sea salt. Crispy, savory, and surprisingly addictive.
YELP REVIEWS
*****
Best cicada tacos in the woodlands, hands down. The pineapple salsa is life-changing. I came for the food and stayed because I got stuck in a root tunnel on the way out.
****
Solid nachos. Cricket topping was a nice touch. One star deducted because a squirrel kept stealing my chips when I looked away. Management should address the squirrel situation.
*****
The churros. MY GOD the churros. I rolled into this taqueria a cynical hedgehog and rolled out a believer. The chocolate dipping sauce tasted like victory over Strumpet.
****
Horchata was excellent. Margarita was strong enough to make me forget about the HAARP broadcasts for an hour. Four stars because the bathroom is just a hole behind a bush.
**
Two stars. I am a human who got lost in the woods and stumbled into this place. Everyone stared at me. The taco tasted like bug. Oh wait it WAS bug. I want to speak to a manager.
*****
The blackberry cobbler is better than anything Strumpet could ever make. And Strumpet has a whole restaurant in her boiler (A&W/KFC co-branded). Still does not compare. The woodland must be for the hedgehogs.
COUPONS
Present these coupons at the counter (printed on bark accepted):
- BOGO CRICKET TACOS - Buy one order of cricket tacos, get one free. Valid Tuesdays only. Not valid during Strumpet Raid Alert Days.
- $1 OFF HORCHATA - One dollar off any horchata order. Limit one per hedgehog per day. Expires when Strumpet is defeated.
- FREE CHURROS ON BIRTHDAYS - Free cinnamon churros on your birthday. Proof of spawn date required.