Taco Keto is a little red truck parked by an auto shop near the corner of Cullen Blvd. and Clay St. Seen it? Maybe not; it's easy to miss in the mix of a continuous line of cars whipping in and out of the parking lot. It’s even harder on the first Friday of the month when Critical Mass cyclists stop by on the last stop on their Tour de Tacos route.

Taco Keto
1401 Cullen Blvd.
713-224-1898 

But being buried in all that traffic just means the little truck is a gold mine for authentic street tacos. So authentic are the tacos at Taco Keto that they resemble no other taco we know of in Houston (if you know a place, don’t be shy). Every tortilla is lightly coated with a red sauce, giving the tortilla a burnished amber hue and more flavor than usual.

The recipe for this sauce is top secret. Rosie Chavez, the woman behind the sauce, says plenty of people have asked for her recipe in the 15 years that she's run Taco Keto; some have even pleaded to watch her work. Chavez has known of people who started up trucks that mimic hers, but the windows on those stands are now closed while hers remains open. She's even said no when asked to consider selling the sauce by the bottle.

As a result, a trip to Taco Keto is the only way to experience Chavez's signature sauce firsthand. Pick anything on the menu with a tortilla; the tacos are the popular. Two are only $3, and come with a side of grilled potato cubes, a slice of lime, and a roasted jalapeño pepper.

But if the aim is to indulge in something humongous, try the quesadillas. I ordered beef quesadillas and they came loaded with everything—and a lot of it: lettuce, onions, sour cream, tomato, cheese (so much cheese!), and little chucks of seasoned, juicy beef. The tortilla holding all the grilled goodness looked as if it could have originally been the size of a large pizza. Not only is it huge, one order comes with two quesadillas. They're so big, in fact, they can be hard to handle. Lettuce, beef, juices, and such escaped, but because the top layer and bottom layer of the quesadilla weren’t glued to each other, it was at least easy to stuff them back inside.

Regardless of what you order a Taco Keto, you can be assured of one thing: it will be flavorful inside and out.