Featured Photo: Artia’s Gourmet Tacos is the latest mobile food vendor to hit the streets of Shreveport.
The folks at The Times and Louisiana Food Prize asked me to pass along the word that voting is currently underway in their Port Cities Dining Guide mobile app, which can be downloaded through the App Store and Google Play. Use the app to vote, Aug. 1-24, for your favorite locally owned, non-franchise restaurants in Shreveport and Bossier City. The two top vote-getters will be invited to compete in the Louisiana Food Prize’s Battle of the Golden Fork. The Battle of the Golden Fork is a Chopped-style competition with a $5,000 cash prize that takes place during the annual Prize Weekend, slated for Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 2016.
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The little purple food cart formerly known as Jester’s Catering & Mobile Food Cart now has a new name. Art’ias Gourmet Tacos is a project of Coty Tucker, an artist and cooking enthusiast who will be serving tacos inspired by different food cultures from around the world. Tucker is just beginning to hit the streets with Art’ias – like the food cart’s Facebook page to keep up with his daily location. Current menu offerings include the “tikka-chick,” a chicken strip taco served with Indian-inspired tikka masala sauce, as well as the “Buffalo-chick,” a Buffalo chicken taco topped with pickled carrots, cucumbers, feta cheese and homemade ranch dressing.
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Zocolo, a restaurant and bar located in South Shreveport’s Ashley Ridge Business Park, has launched new lunch and dinner menus. The new menus double down on casual dining with more burgers, more pizzas and more salads. The menu points out that all beef for the burgers is sourced locally from Smith Family Farms in nearby Doyline, La. As far as I know, this would be the first locally sourced beef burger that’s available on a daily basis in Shreveport. If you know of a Shreveport-Bossier eatery serving locally sourced meats on a daily basis (not as specials), please let me know in the comments. The 2017 edition of Eat Here: A Food Lover’s Guide to Shreveport-Bossier will include a section dedicated to restaurants that serve locally sourced meats and vegetables.
