The Smoked Taco — Restaurant in American Fork

Aight’ listen up Alpine Moms & Dads, we know you probably don’t eat at your local taco stand because it doesn’t look that nice and it doesn’t have a catchy name or logo. And you don’t like the idea of eating on the sidewalk or on the hood of your escalade. If eating churro fries sounds ‘cute’ then this is the place for you.

Honestly, it’s not bad. But that doesn’t mean they’re good. By definition these are tacos; but these are tacos for the people who don’t like normal tacos. How do I know, because for the 30 minutes I was there with my family I was the only person there who looked remotely hispanic. Drive a few minutes more to Don Joaquin and you’ll notice a difference. Just follow the Mexicans. If it’s fusion that you’re after then go to Sol Agave, where they do a good job honoring some of the flavors of Mexico while still looking good for your instagram feed. Example, the pastor taco from Smoked Taco looks appetizing but it’s just pulled pork that’s been reheated with none of the marinade or smoke of normal pastor tacos.

My conclusion, Smoked Taco is running mostly on hype and is to Mexican food what Olive Garden is to Italians. A lil’ bit insulting but an okay place...

If you told me that smoked meats and tacos were a match made in heaven, I’d have said, “You’re full of beans!” But after visiting The Smoked Taco, I’m now a believer—and possibly their biggest fan.

The menu is a delightful fusion of BBQ and Mexican cuisine. I tried “The Gringo” with brisket, gringo sauce, candied jalapeños, fried onion, cotija, and cilantro, and “The Fleeing Californian” with tri-tip steak, cali sauce, roasted corn, pico de gallo, guac, cotija cheese, and cilantro. Each bite was a flavor explosion that left me questioning all my previous life choices. 

And let’s talk about those churro fries. Sweet masa dough fried to perfection, tossed in cinnamon sugar, and served with whipped cream and caramel sauce. They’re so good, they could probably broker world peace. 

The staff? Friendlier than your grandma at Thanksgiving. The atmosphere? Cozy enough to make you consider moving in. If you’re in Utah and haven’t been to The Smoked Taco, do yourself a favor and get there ASAP. Your taste buds...

I have come here before and loved my tacos. They are a generous portion for $5-$6 per taco. The atmosphere is a bit loud and echoey. The flavors are pretty good. But this time our tacos were barely mid. The corn tacos were literally cold and limp. The meat was at least warm but a taco like this should be hot. The tortilla should be hot, because it should have been fried right before they serve it. It felt like these tortillas were heated/fried earlier in the day and set aside to get cold and limp before adding the fillings.

I got the Fleeing Californian and it had good flavor but too much sauce and it was messy to eat. The other taco I ate was the Rocky Barbacoa and it had a good portion of meat, that was in basically one big chunk, and it was greasy. I had to put a napkin down just to catch the grease. My husband was super turned off by his cold Burnt Ends taco. And The Gringo was also cold and the tortillas were limp and greasy. I would not return based on this visit. But I have liked this place in years...