Tacos are fast becoming the must-have food along our piece of the Northwest Florida Coast. Cheap and filling, spicy or savory, these handheld treats are no longer just for Taco Tuesdays.

30A food lover Martin Liptrot reviews 10 of his favorite spots to grab a taco or two or three.

Chiringo – Grayton Beach

Pork – In funky Grayton Beach, the always fun and cheerful Chiringo offers tacos in two styles – Baja and Cabo. I pick the Baja-style with peppery arugula and red cabbage, pickled onion instead of avocado but always with a spicy jalapeno cream sauce. You can have your choice of fish, chicken, and beef, but it is the pork tacos that seem to blend best with the vinegary pickle and spicy salad flavors.

Fish Out Of Water – WaterColor

Grouper – Tacos are rapidly going ‘up market’ but this white-tablecloth restaurant at the swanky WaterColor Inn still lets you get your fingers dirty. Served in a dainty taco holder, these blackened grouper tacos are ‘dressed to the nines’ with smashed avacado, a crunchy cabbage salad, and finished with a spicy cilantro and lime salsa. Tacos and crisp white table linens – perfect!

George’s – Alys Beach

Fish – Snuggled into the stylish, uber-lux village of Alys Beach, George’s is the place to relax under shady awnings, call your agent and discuss your latest screenplay while feasting on tacos. This upscale eatery specializes in locally sourced produce and ingredients so, served only at lunchtime, the fish tacos use the day’s fresh catch and come with a poblano and lime tartar and crunchy coleslaw.

Taco Bar – Seaside

Grilled Shrimp – Steps from the sugar-white sands of Seaside beach, sunbathers can take a break from the heat with tacos at this colorful street-stand eatery. With a walk up counter to order your favourites – the grilled shrimp are my ‘go-to’ – you then grab a place at any of the blue and green picnic tables to chow down on your tacos. No shirt? no shoes? – no problem at this laid-back beach diner.

Red Fish Taco – Blue Mountain Beach

Catfish – We may be at the Florida beach but for many, this will always be a little piece of ‘Lower Alabama’.

Chef Jim Richard has combined the two with this fabulous merging of crispy catfish filets and a piquant chilli and lime-soaked cabbage salad.

A nice touch is the halved avocado filled with spicy pico so you can personalize your taco to suit your desires.

LaCo – Seacrest Beach

Lobster  – A 30A favorite, LaCo (formerly La Cocina) is home to one of the tastiest tacos around. On the ‘bougie’ East End of 30A, what else would you expect but a butter-soaked, poached lobster tail with charred corn and roasted red pepper salsa all wrapped in a soft flour tortilla? Impossible to just have one.

Taco 30A – Food Truck

Beef Brisket – Tacos are perhaps the ultimate street food, so it is no surprise this Food Truck is a winner with locals and visitors to 30A alike. Taco 30A will pop up at Brewery Taprooms, Community Events, Feasts, and Festivals from Destin to Panama City Beach letting taco lovers choose their favorite style and fillings, including the delicious Barbacoa – braised beef brisket – and Oaxaca Macha – chilies, cheese, salsa verde, and peanut sauce.

Amigos – 30Avenue

Buffalo Caulifower – Located in a shopping mall on busy Highway 98, you could be forgiven for thinking Amigos could be just a run-of-the-mill Mexican restaurant but you are in for a treat. The tacos here are organized by Old School – beef, chicken, shrimp – and New School. Here, for the thoroughly modern muncher, you will find tasty surprises including the Buffalo Caulifower Taco.

As more and more of us look for alternatives to meat in our diet, the charred cauliflower drizzled in spicy buffalo sauce makes a tasty change.

Feast on tacos and feel good about your choices!

La Chalupita – Santa Rosa Beach

Carne Asada – This is the real deal. This cantina-style restaurant is the no-nonsense place to go if you like your tacos the authentic Mexican way. With a butcher’s shop in the restaurant, the choice of meats is unrivaled, served in a plastic basket you are free to add heaps of salad, cilantro, and salsa to your three double-wrapped tacos of choice.

Shades – Inlet Beach

Mahi – This ever-popular bar is the place to go for tacos while watching your favorite team on TV. Befitting of a bar bedecked in sports memorabilia, the tacos are Mahi-Mahi, a sports fisherman’s favorite catch. Served with a pile of warm flour tortillas, you can construct your own taco with filets of grilled Mahi, a spicy chipotle aioli, a tangy pico, and a lime and cilantro cream sauce.

Did we miss your favorite taco spot on 30A? Let us know in the comments on Facebook or via email.