El Trebol – Earns an 8.5 Haydon Rating

I have been drawn to El Trebol before I even knew their name. As soon as we first drove into our new neighborhood in Hutchinson, I saw the trailer. My mouth immediately began to water.

Coming from Southern California, SoCal, I have a little bit of a taco truck problem. I am a taco addict. That said, I had this trailer on my radar… the problem… they barely seem open.

I even asked Lilliana at the Dillons across the street, “Hey, those tacos across the street any good?”. Her response floored me. “What tacos?”. In disbelief, I sauntered back to my truck and took my hungry son back to the new house, taco-free. So now this has become a thing, and every time I drive by 5th and Adams, I feel my neck crank around to see if the trailer is open.

Closed.

Closed.

Closed.

Then, suddenly on a weekend, it was open. I gazed at my clock in the dash… it was noon. I sped home to tell the family of my good fortune and asked who wanted tacos. DUH. I jumped back in the truck and drove with a sense of hurried control to get my dang tacos.

I swung around the corner from the traffic light and bounced into the laundromat parking lot to see a closed-up taco trailer. Is this some kind of joke? Who closes a taco trailer in the middle of an afternoon on a weekend?

Over the next two months, we sampled all kinds of food in the area, but I still had my sights on trying these tacos at this small, non-descript, silver, trailer. Why this fascination? I told you, I have an issue. 🙂

My issue translated into me asking other businesses about this elusive taco treat. I asked Jackson at Startup Hutch. I asked the owners of Ax It Up Hutch, and the Boy Scouts leaders if they had ever had these tacos… again I got the questioned glances and tilted heads. I was beginning to think there was no silver taco trailer and I was imagining things.

Well, I got a text message from Zack at Ax It Up Hutch last night. It was 6:02 pm and by 6:16 pm I was on my way.

I met the ladies at El Trebol and thanked them for being open. I told them we had just moved to town in September and while we loved being here… we were sad that we didn’t get to try the tacos earlier. It appeared to be a Mom and Daughter team. They acknowledged the odd hours and the mom apologized (many times). I wasn’t trying to make them feel bad… I was excited to finally try them.

We each got two tacos. Haydon got the Al Pastor & Tongue, while I got a shredded beef and Al Pastor. The servings for street tacos were very generous and mom asked if we wanted pineapple in our Al Pastor – just say yes. So good.

To me, the shredded beef was like a Barbacoa with a denseness of flavor that played well with the green salsa they had provided. I loved the richness of the aroma, flavor and texture of the filling in this taco. I also liked the playful sweetness of the Al Pastor. My own Al Pastor is a little more spicy and bites back… while El Trebol’s example is easier on the palate with a citrus snap on the back end.

Haydon loved the lingua-tongue. He said it was a little chewy but he loved the flavor and seconded my opinion on the Al Pastor. When I asked him to score them on a 1-10 scale… he didn’t hesitate to offer them an 8.5. Wow! For me… I go more 7 – 7.5 but my standards are high. I typically use a double layer of tortillas on street tacos and these were single layers. I wasn’t asked which salsa I wanted and they provided a green salsa. It was good, but not spicy. I like spicy. The meats… no doubt… wonderful. All three that we tried were off the charts in flavor, consistency, and volume/serving size.

While chatting up the ladies they said that they are fluid in their hours and locations. They move the trailer to do special events.

Summary –

If they are open and you are the least bit hungry… stop.