Death by Tequila Named Taco TKO Judges' Choice at the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival Grand Fiesta

The San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival hosted the tenth annual Taco TKO competition at the Grand Fiesta – the Festival’s closing event and all new flavor of awesome celebrating San Diego’s cross-border connection to Mexico.

This head-to-head competition, where top taco-makers put their best bite forward to be named San Diego’s Most Awesome Taco, was judged by both a panel of esteemed judges and hundreds Grand Fiesta…a.k.a some major foodies.

Judges included Scott Koenig of A Gringo in Mexico, Hector Casanova of Casanova Fish Tacos, and Chantelle Malarkey of Chef’s Wife + Chef’s Life.

Death by Tequila duck birria taco was awarded Taco TKO Judges’ Choice award and crowned San Diego’s Most Awesome Taco this year. Chef Josue Baca- Gutierrez’s juicy duck confit taco came filled with guajillo adobo, fresno peppers, red onions, cilantro, and drizzled with a chile de arbol oil atop a handmade blue corn tortilla. Talk about YUM!

“It was a great experience for all of us! We are thrilled that we were given the chance to express our concept and our food to a lot of people. That’s what makes us try harder every time we can come to these types of events,” said Executive Chef Josue Baca- Gutierrez of Death by Tequila. “I try to stay as close as possible to my roots, and elevate those dishes using better products and techniques. The whole idea behind this taco was a classic birria, but making it a little more complex using duck legs and adding spices that complement the duck, also using duck fat in our home made tortilla to add more flavor to every single component on the taco.”

Taco TKO People’s Choice went to Coco Maya by Miss B’s and Chef Quinnton Austin with their broken down pork belly pibil taco. Birrieria Don Alvaro secured People’s Choice second place, while PARQ Restaurant & Nightclub and Chef Marcus Twilegar took third with their twelve-hour shredded smoke Brandt Beef brisket served with award-winning mole sauce on hand-pressed tortillas.

Thousands of foodies tangoed through tastings at the Grand Fiesta, sampling different tacos and bites from a variety of San Diego and Baja California restaurants, as well as a variety of unique beer and spirits stations while enjoying live music from Bulevar Descarga and art from Pako Pablos, Inocente Galicia, and more.