Snack Attack: Apple Pie Tacos at the Painted Burro
Apple pie tacos at the Painted Burro. / Photo provided
There are a slew of Taco Tuesday specials scattered around Boston each week. But only one comes with apple pie spices and ice cream.
You’ll find that sugary salvation at the Painted Burro in Somerville, where you can snack on apple pie tacos. Each trio of ice cream-laden treats come stuffed with apple pie filling, a dusting of cinnamon, and a drizzle of caramel. Throw a bit of fresh strawberry and whipped cream on top, and you have one next-level dessert. The dish will run at the Davis Square taqueria through November as an off-menu special, so remember to ask for it.
Apple pie tacos seemed like the perfect seasonal dessert to owner Joe Cassinelli and his team. They wanted to introduce a dessert that riffed on the classic Choco Taco, while adding a pinch of locality and fall flare.
“We were in a kitchen meeting a few weeks ago and talking about how much people love dessert tacos, and how there aren’t many of them out there,” Cassinelli says. “Our sous chef came up with the idea of doing a fall dessert taco using some New England flavors—apple and fried dough. He worked on perfecting the apple pie taco for about a week until he got it the way he wanted.”
If you want to prep for dessert (and Taco Tuesday) with more straightforward tortillas, try the Painted Burro’s grilled portabella mushroom taco with cilantro pesto, red pepper mole, and candied walnuts, and the blackened cod taco with jalapeño corn mole, mushrooms, and bacon.
It won’t be long before you can also celebrate Taco Tuesdays in Brookline: the Burro Bar is poised to take over the former Ribelle space this January. The new restaurant will offer a streamlined, small-scale take on the Pained Burro’s taco- and tequila-fueled menu. Both taquerias are part of the Alpine Restaurant Group, which also operates Posto and its suburban sibling, and Rosebud Kitchen & Bar.
$10, The Painted Burro, 219 Elm St., Somerville, 617-776-0005, thepaintedburro.com.
