Tacos and Tech So Far at SXSW

Folks, we have arrived! And although we didn’t actually get to Texas (aka my homeland) until the wee-hours of Monday night/Tuesday morning, On Tap staff (i.e., myself and Monica) decided to kick start the trip with a stop into a legitimate taco joint: Tyson’s Tacos.

First off, let me just say that DC has a gaping hole in the 24-hour breakfast taco market, and it’s probably for the best because I would surely go broke if it were as delicious as the outdoor diner-esque Tyson’s. Upon nearing the restaurant, you may think it closed, but it’s a ploy to keep the pretend taco aficionados away.

The lights were dim, and there was only a window reminiscent of where an E-ZPass teller would be planted where you could put in your order. As I said, the breakfast was to die for, featuring tacos with bacon, fried avocado, pico, potatoes and numerous other toppings, each complementing each other like a couple gaining steam in the form of third and fourth dates. Tack on the queso, and you’ll have a full-on food coma.

After hitting the hay and trying to sleep off the massive quantities of sodium absorbed from the binge, we found ourselves at the SXSW 2018 Trade Show at the Austin Convention Center this morning. Here, there were booths dedicated to virtual reality, sound and other various industries vying for your attention and hopeful that you’ll buy all of their products on Amazon. Once you shuffled through all the people battling for you attention in order to show you the latest in mobile gaming or the future of aviation, the back of the room was littered with different states, territories and countries showcasing reasons for visiting foreign lands, either across the pond or the street.

Standing out was the neighbor to the south, as the most memorable marker was the hanging, chandelier-style Mexico display, which proved luminous when compared to the vibrant signs signifying other countries, such as the U.K., Ireland, Brazil, Argentina and Japan, to name a few.

Upon circling around and avoiding all the people trying to give away free tote bags, we decided to venture into the place pleading to be kept weird. Look out for more of our coverage, including what will mostly be music-oriented writeups, here.