Top Taco NOLA Festival

The food is great and the whole idea is great. Specifically when they do it a Lafreniere park it just had the fluidity as long as they have 2 liquors 2 food 2 liquor 2 food test setups. What I didn't like is that 2 years in a row, 1st year we went, we should of won by crowd chanting our names and they gave it to the skanky costume and then when we win as couple we got zero prizes. And I tried following up through multiple emails and social media accounts and I just got a big circle. So customer service is very low. Now for the food and drinks, that is truly the vendors who put on a show. And if you have Gonzo's in there, is a must show up event. And I've been going to every single one of their events and invite all my friends

I don't usually migrate to Metairie for festivals but Lafreniere park is the perfect spot for this Taco extravaganza!! Too many delicious tacos to dissect but if you're a taco or margarita fan, you should be there. My personal favorite was the pork cheek boudin I. A cheese shell from Gonzos Smokehouse. But nothing was disappointing. Pro tip: spring for the first tasting or VIP and get there early. The lines get long after the first hour plus the tacos and most drink mixers go fast leaving you with leftovers chased with tequila shots!

My hubby and I have been to Top Taco every year in Nola so far and we love it!! Each year has new tacos, drinks, music, photo opps and fun activities!! The first year that we attended, we knew that this was our kind of thing!! I mean, tacooooos and tequilaaaaa y'all! We did the earlybird tickets, had our faces painted, won an auction item and it was amazing from start to finish.Year two, we bought the later admission tickets and it was pretty crowded by the time we entered. A couple things ran out before our friends got there, so don't be late. We still had fun, came away with a couple cute swag items and had our fill in tacos and drinks but the dense crowd did make it a little uncomfortable.Third annual Top Taco was fabulous! This year we again had the early bird tickets. We had so much fun eating, drinking and hanging out with friends. Even when general admission tickets arrived, the crowds weren't bad at all. Top Taco did a great job with arranging everything this year and I loved it. Plus, the weather was perfect!!My Top Taco faves: ***Ugly Dog Saloon had a shrimp taco that was sweet and fresh! Side note: they had topless girls.***La Cocinita served a Venezuelan taco that had a fantastic flavor w/brisket and sweet plantains. They served right out of their food truck.***Ideal Market made a taco with perfectly seasoned steak that would make you drool! Plus, in their tent, they included yummy non-alcoholic drinks, tables, music & dancing, cans of beers and photo fun!If you haven't been yet, maybe the 4th Top Taco is your year..... grab some friends for a wonderful evening on the Mississippi!

I love me a good taco and could not be more excited about a festival fully dedicated to God's chosen food! This was my first time at Top Taco and I am really excited about what this event could become as they work out their logistics and hopefully find a bigger venue to host the event.The good stuff: Tons of participants, I had no clue so many places served tacos in NOLA.This makes me wan to take a taco tour of the city. The adult beverages are the bees knees y'all! So much tequila, mezcal and signature cocktails that you'll swear you died and went to heaven!The life music was also great and it was wonderful to see so many people dancing and having fun.My favorite tacos were from La Carreta, Cowbell and Cuñada. My favorite cocktail was the yummy Orchata drink the folks at Cuñada were serving.The not so good: the very LOUD DJs! Now don't get me wrong I love me a good DJ and these guys were good but there were too many too close together that at times it was hard to hear the live music. They need a better voting system because I'll be honest I forgot to vote a few times because my hands were full and I was having a good time just socializing. All in all I look forward to watching this event grow and it become part of the NOLA Festival season for years to come.

I get that there were some set backs (COVID, Hurricane, etc) The individual(s) handling this event were shady about giving refunds & processing refunds.. Tickets were still being sent to emails causing more confusion about your refund! This event was put off for almost 2 years and they did NOT want to refund anyone period and made sure you knew it through their unprofessional emails being sent out to anyone who asked about their money being refunded. The event coordinator is absolutely terrible at his job!!!!!

Top Taco is one of my favorite events in New Orleans. I attended the top taco 2018 and it was SO MUCH FUN! I was really sad when Top Taco 2019 got rained out but my friends and I actually hosted our own top taco night at Araña Taqueria y Cantina which was a delicious (sad that it's now closed). For the festival itself: Location: Riverwalk in front of the aquarium all the way to the french quarter. I do remember the lines being insanely long despite arriving right at opening but the lines to get into the event were very smooth and well organized. There were plenty of vendors and the festival was quite large! I remember the first vendor right when we entered ran out of tacos within the first 10 minutes which set up for a bad event but the lines and vendors deeper into the festival was much better. There was plenty of music at each section of the festival. I also loved the amount of "tequila sample" they gave out. It's very easy to get tequila drunk but everyone at the festival was polite and very festive. Surprisingly not a lot of drunk people walking around the festival. People of New Orleans can handle their alcohol well. Food: There were plenty of tacos to try. I remember trying about 5-6 different vendors. My favorites tacos were from Los Jefes which ended up winning for best taco! You're also given voting chips when you enter to vote on your favorite vendor which was really fun! There's also larger drinks and food for purchase if the samples are not enough. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------Overall, a really fun event if you go with the right crowd. I do think the ticket price is a bit much but if you take advantage of the free tequila and tacos, its well worth it. If you just plan to have 1 drink and 2-3 tacos, probably better off just going to a restaurant.

I was super excited to finally get to go to top taco! This was my first year being able to go and the location was moved to Metairie. This made parking a lot easier! I got the general admission ticket so I didn't get to do the 1 hour early tasting. I feel like that would be what I'd do next year but I also don't know how many people buy the VIP tickets and it's possible you could still be waiting in long lines. I really had a good time trying all the tacos and drinks! There were some lines that were just way too long to wait in so I just had to skip those restaurants. Some stands had a whole team working so they were able to get tacos and drinks out so fast. Some other stands only had 1-2 people working and that's what really created the long lines. IMPORTANT NOTE: do not try to be fashionably late because several stands ran out of food before the ending of the festival. So, I highly recommend getting here on time. I really enjoyed all of the different speciality type tacos! Like the salmon taco from trenasse and the shrimp taco from habanero. A lot of the other stands were all serving different variations of pork tacos and I was just waiting for something that really stood out. I definitely recommend this event, you'll get your moneys worth for sure!

Tacos, tacos, everywhere! I was fortunate enough to win tickets for early bird entry, and I'm very glad I did! We took an uber down to this fest, and meandered our way across the river to find the entrance. I had heard that the long lines and big crowds made getting the food and drinks difficult, so getting there early was the key. It's a completely contained festival, right on the river. We were each given two tokens to vote for our favorites drink and favorite taco. Immediately upon entering, there was a booth dedicated to Ideal Mart. A live DJ, delicious tacos, and shots of mezcal. I figured we were off to a great start! There are lots of opportunities for selfies and swag, with many of the booths giving away freebies. Lots of sombreros and Mexicali kitsch.We were SUPER FULL and NICE and tipsy by about booth 5, but we pressed on -- I mean, we had taken an uber :-)Between the two of us, I think we ate at least 10 tacos and drank all the drinks. One booth even had a rose tequila! Johnny Sanchez won my vote for the taco, and Juan's Flying Burrito won my vote for the margarita. I did, however, love the margarita sorbet at one of the stands. I'm giving this fest 4 stars, because even with the early entry, the lines are LONG. I get it though, it's a popular fest and the servers can only work so fast. It was nice that there were several DJ's and a live band to keep you entertained though. It would've been nice to have some tables or high tops to put your plates on as tacos are difficult to eat with one hand while you have a drink in the other.

An experience... I tell you. I am grateful for my very good friend who invited me to this amazing event. Not only does it stand for a wonderful cause (Foster NOLA), but the competition was great! I would have never expected some of the vendors that participated in the festival to have come up with so many different takes on... tacos. And the margaritas were the bomb! I love the fact that it was an event where participants are able to pay up front and once on the festival grounds are able to try and sample whatever it is on the menu. I didn't have to pull out any money and there were hardly any lines. I was able to go around to all of the vendors and try what they had. Vendors that participated are Araña, La Cantina, Lucy's, and Juan's Flying Burrito just to name a few.And what made this experience even more fun and special is that I was VIP... a very important person! I was able to chill out in the VIP dedicated area and chill and enjoy the amenities of being a very important person. I definitely plan to attend this event in the coming years and would encourage everyone to do the same! You are missing out!

This was so much fun. Will definitely return next year. Great dishes and innovative cocktails. Good music. Plenty for everyone to enjoy something.