Eating my way around North Carolina (part three)

North Carolina provided some interesting high and low points during the rest of my trip. On Saturday, we got out of Raleigh and headed towards Charlotte. For lunch, we stopped at a taqueria in Durham. I asked a number of times if Mexican food was going to be good in North Carolina. I am, after all, from Southern California where there is an abundance of Mexican goodness.

I was pleasantly surprised by how great Taqueria La Vaquita was. The cow on the roof top welcomed us with open hooves.

Taqueria La Vaquita

I ordered a three taco plate (carnitas, pastor, and asada) that included rice and beans. It was a ton of food and extremely authentic with only cilantro, onions, and radish, lime and hot sauce on the side. Even in California, I would be hard pressed to find tacos with meats this flavorful. Unfortunately, I witnessed a group of people order the "taco americano" which has lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese and sour cream. Disappointing, indeed. 

Three taco plate from La Vaquita

We drove briefly through Duke University's campus before heading onwards to Charlotte. Unbeknown to us, it turned out to be NASCAR weekend in Charlotte. NASCAR fans made an evening out on the odd to say the least.

Marriott welcomes NASCAR fans!

Our marathon of eating continued at Price's Chicken Coop. We shared a half chicken dinner which included cole slaw, hush puppies, and a biscuit. This certainly wasn't the best fried chicken I've had in my life, but it did satisfy my fried food craving. The cole slaw was my favorite part of the meal.

Price's Chicken Coop

Price's menu

Fried chicken meal from Price's Chicken Coop

We were determined to experience Charlotte's nightlife since we missed out on Raleigh's the previous night. For dinner, we headed to downtown Charlotte and found out what happens in this town when it is NASCAR weekend.  The entire downtown area was filled with people. It felt like New York but certainly didn't look like it (we started counting shirtless men at this point. Shirtless, beer-gutted men.) It was also at this time that I discovered the most amazing beverage in the universe: Firefly vodka, a sweet tea flavored vodka. For the remainder of our trip, I drank it like water.

I had the most fun at one of our earlier stops due to dancing to pop music with gay men. Other than that, I was asked by someone if I was "oriental," and we hopped from place to place looking for nothing in particular and finding nothing in particular. 

Taqueria La Vaquita
2700 Chapel Hill Road
Durham, NC 27707-1903

Price's Chicken Coop
1614 Camden Road
Charlotte, NC 28203-4756