The Featured Joint: Locos Tacos

Pictured above is Peyton Shelnut, executive director of The Newnan Centre, sampling the food at Locos Tacos.

By JOHN A. WINTERS, Publisher

Everyone has their “go-to” place to eat. It might be with linen tablecloths and waiters in ties, or where you throw peanuts on the floor and carve your initials in the wooden tables. Whatever and wherever, it’s your “joint.”

This month’s featured joint is …

Locos Tacos

We were off to find another great street taco sort of joint.

I say “we,” meaning Peyton Shelnut, one of my main foodie buddies, and myself. Some of the better joints we’ve featured over the last few months had Peyton’s sign of approval.

And who is this Peyton person anyway? So, Peyton is the executive director of The Newnan Centre. She’s a lifelong Newnan resident who attended Newnan High School and the University of Georgia. She has a new English Cream Retriever named Lilah.

This time we drove about five minutes down Greenville St. South past downtown Newnan. There is a small strip mall on the left (again, we are heading south from downtown Newnan. If you were heading north toward downtown, it would be on your right.) I think.

They have beef tongue and beef head. Mexican Coke and Mexican Fanta. You know it’s authentic.

I can’t remember the last time I had a Fanta.  For you soda junkies, ‘Fanta was created in Nazi Germany in 1941 by Coca-Cola Deutschland to serve as an alternative to Coca-Cola, so says a website that knows such things. “The drink was developed due to an American trade embargo that made it difficult to get Coca-Cola ingredients. The root word means “imagination” in German.

Okay, back to, drum roll, Locos Tacos. It’s bright and cheery, they greet you with a hello and a smile, all good signs. And then … choices.

This is the kind of place where you stare up at the menu and go “ooh, I’ll have that. No, wait. That looks awesome. Heck check out …” You want to come back and try so many other things because the food was fantastic.

I had the Burrito Loco, stuffed with grilled steak, black beans, rice, queso, sour cream, and pico de gallo. Awesome.

I am having the Fajita Bowl next time: rice, steak, chicken, and shrimp with queso, bell peppers, and onions). I will not be having the bell peppers if they are green. I don’t do green eggs and ham and I don’t do green peppers. Red, orange, yellow – absolutely.

Peyton had the birria tacos. Something I had never tried before. The short version is it’s a fried taco. Longer version: “Birria is traditionally a spicy and super savory Mexican beef or goat stew that’s slow cooked until the meat is tender and fall-apart juicy and delicious, according to a website that teaches you how to make them. “Someone had the amazing idea to stuff this meaty goodness into a taco shell, and then dip the whole thing into the stew and fry it up.”

Tres Leches Cake

Those tacos also come with a consome for dipping that I’d drink with a straw.

And then Peyton ordered dessert because she has some Hispanic relatives and just said “trust me” and I did and wow. Tres Leches cake. Just check out the photo.

Peyton’s take:

“Birria tacos are my go-to favorite and the ones at Locos Tacos did not disappoint. Very flavorful, tender, and served with a delicious consommé that gives it that extra level of savory. The real winner without a doubt is the Tres Leches cake – incredibly moist and rich with flavor. Highly recommend!”

Like I said, she’s a fellow foodie.

One other item I plan on trying are the California or Carne Asada fries – topped with cheese, steak, pico de gallo, guacamole, jalapenos and sour cream.

226 Greenville St. S, Suite G
Newnan
678-552-9499
http://locostacosnewnan.com/

Mon-Sat. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.