The TikTok from @zach.is.back runs about a minute and forty seconds and opens with a phone screen showing a search bar. “Today I’m doing the lunch in my city trend,” a man in glasses and a navy polo says from his car. “It’s very easy. All you have to do is type in the search bar lunch in my city with your city and go to the first restaurant that pops up.” On screen text reads “LUNCH IN MY CITY TREND: MENTOR, OH.” The restaurant he lands on is a taco spot, and he says, “this looks really good.”
He reads out his order and its prices. “I got a three taco combo for $14, their corn fritters for $6 and a 16 ounce horchata for $5,” he says, which adds up to $25 before tax or tip. The frames show a cardboard tray holding three tacos with a lime wedge and a cup of dipping sauce, a paper boat of fritters and a cup with a green straw. The horchata comes first. “The creamy milk and the cinnamon. Delicious,” he says.
The corn fritters are next, and they are the surprise. “They’re topped with cotija cheese,” he says, adding that there is a chile lime seasoning on top. A line of on screen text clarifies “Lime Mayo + Scallions as well.” “These are really good. The lime is coming through,” he says. “I love corn, and the cheese is perfect. I will be eating all of these.”
Then he works through the tacos, wearing black gloves for the mess. The first is the restaurant’s smash taco, which he describes as “a burger with lettuce, cheese, pickles, a special sauce.” The frames show a folded shell stacked with shredded lettuce and a pickle slice. “I’ve actually made a taco like this at home,” he says. “It’s really good.” The second is a pork taco with “braised pork, red onions and a habanero salsa,” and it is the one he loves most. “That pork is delicious, and that habanero salsa has got a kick,” he says. “That pork is so juicy. I love that one.”
The last taco is birria, and the tray’s dipping cup gets a moment of its own. “I could just drink this stuff,” he says, and the frames show a taco being dipped into the cup. He bites in and comments on the mess: “I’m making a mess, but this is delicious.” Then he signs off with a short pitch about why he likes the format. “I love this trend because it has people going to local restaurants. So please support local restaurants.”
Pork is the star of his favorite taco, and the U.S. government has a number for it. The safe minimum internal temperature chart on FoodSafety.gov says to cook pork steaks, roasts and chops to 145 degrees Fahrenheit and then rest the meat for three minutes, and to cook ground meat to 160 degrees. The video does not say how the braised pork was cooked, so those figures matter most for anyone recreating the taco at home.
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