A Culinary Voyage on Columbus Food Adventures’ Taco Truck Tour

By Nick Dekker

Posted On: Jul 19, 2024

Columbus Food Adventures has nearly 15 years of experience in leading Columbus residents and visitors to the best eats the city has to offer. The tour company features over a dozen itineraries that span walking tours of historic neighborhoods, to van tours that visit international eats, to seasonal tours featuring holiday lights or summer drinks.

Los Guachos Taqueria in Columbus

But one of their signature tours, and one of the originals when they launched in 2010, is their taco truck tour. Owners Bethia Woolf and Andy Dehus grew the business out of their explorations of Columbus’ food scene, including their work identifying and documenting the many taco trucks scattered around the city.

Columbus Food Adventures’ taco truck tour runs two Sunday afternoons a month, May to October. Guests meet at a designated point on the west side of Columbus (where there’s a heavy concentration of taco trucks), then hop in the van with the knowledgeable tour guide – in our case, Andy, one of the company owners! All of the drives are short, only five minutes or so, and each stop includes commentary on the background of the truck, the regional cuisine we’re trying, and other details.

Mariscos Archi in Columbus

The itinerary can change depending on the trucks’ availability, and it’s grown and shifted over time, but here’s a quick breakdown of our tour!

Stop #1: Don Chava, a truck that’s part of a small grouping of trucks with shared seating. They’re known for their slow-simmered carnitas. We tasted them on corn tortillas with cilantro, onions, and pickled veggies.

Stop #2: Very close to Don Chava is Mariscos Archi, which specializes in all types of seafood. We sampled an amazing tostada topped with a zesty shrimp ceviche.

Stop #3: One of the OGs of Columbus’ taco truck scene: Los Guachos. Their original truck sits on the west side, and they’ve grown to multiple storefronts, all built on the popularity (and nationwide recognition) of their al pastor.

Stop #4: Sabor Costeñas, a truck specializing in Oaxacan cuisine. There we tried a handmade quesadilla with cheese and veggies.

Stop #5: Mr. Grill. One of the city’s longest-running trucks, known especially for their gorditas.

Stop #6: A sweet treat at Dulce Vida, a vibrant ice cream shop that also serves savory food. We were plied with generous portions of fresh mango ice cream.

By the end of the tour, we were certainly full, but left with the desire to return to each and every one of the trucks. Andy helpfully described each truck and its dishes, so we had plenty of context for our meals, and we found ourselves eager to introduce more friends and family to them.

To learn more about the taco truck tour, visit their website. And to see all of their tours and keep up with more interesting eats around Columbus, visit ColumbusFoodAdventures.com. You can also check them out on Facebook, or follow @CbusAdventures on Instagram.

For more things to do, check out #OhioTheHeartofitAll at Ohio.org.