Sweet slice of life: Alamo Watermelon Festival visit undercovers two new favored eateries for our writer

7 hours ago 21

ALAMO — Every festival has its own special thing for its attendees, from Brownsville’s Sombrero Festival to McAllen’s Mxlan, but Alamo’s Watermelon Festival is unique.

In addition to good vibes and vendors from across the Rio Grande Valley, the event distributes free, unlimited watermelon.

There’s just something about free food that makes it taste better, and for this South Texas Flavor, I switched it up a bit. I headed out to Alamo for the free watermelon and left very full and happy with food from Taqueria El Cien and Holy Smokes BBQ & Catering.

The festival parking situation was a bit of a hassle. I got there around 3:30 p.m. and I was a bit worried that all the watermelon would be gone but, boy, was I very wrong about that.

I thought the line for the watermelon would be huge but through the efforts of many volunteers, it was the complete opposite, with watermelon being handed out like candy.

I love watermelon, so of course I had way too much and I won’t say how many slices but it’s the type of gluttony they talk about in the Bible.

After my experience at Watermelon Festival, I’m a firm believer that there should always be some free fruit or something at festivals. How can anyone be mad or not have a good time while eating some fruit in the sun?

I was tasked to find vendors that had location for the good readers of South Texas Flavor to be able to try, and I had just a few options.

The first spot I tried was a food truck called Taqueria El Cien from Los Fresnos — the restaurant is located at 31200 State Highway 100. I decided to try a torta. I love tortas and was in the mood for one.

My torta came out quickly and was picture-perfect, something out of an advertisement. Everything was neatly in between the buns, which were shining with some butter.

I always love when a sandwich-type food item doesn’t collapse at first bite, and it tasted great as well.

It was only 7 bucks, which is great considering festival food prices are always high, and it had bistec, queso fresco, cilantro, onion and avocado.

Maybe it was the watermelon sugar high, but that was one of the best tortas I’ve had. The simplicity, neatness and great taste in the meat and the bread makes Taqueria El Cien a must-stop whenever I’m on the way to South Padre Island.

The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.

The second thing I ate was brisket tacos, corn and watermelon lemonade from Holy Smokes BBQ & Catering in San Benito. The food truck is located at 901 FM 509, in the parking lot of Tractor Supply Co. It was about $23 for the food and the drink.

The name was fitting because, holy smokes, those were some great brisket tacos. The photos don’t do the tacos justice. The tacos had queso fresco, cilantro, melted cheese on the inside, avocado and this special sauce.

The brisket itself was great. The tenderness and juiciness went well with all the other ingredients, and every bite was better than the last.

The order came with some yellow corn on the side that also had queso fresco and some other sauce which hit the spot as well. To top off the delicious meal, I got watermelon lemonade, which was also great.

I will for sure be stopping by Holy Smokes BBQ and Catering on my way to the Island, and might even get a whole gallon of the watermelon lemonade for the beach. The food truck is open from 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

I like to rename the local festivals their own little Austin City Limits Music Festival — like Sombrero Fest is Brownsville ACL and Mxlan is McAllen ACL.

Alamo ACL is something you should definitely check out next year for the free watermelon but also the good music, great food and fun environment.

I ended my afternoon by drinking a Twister Tea while listening to Alamo’s own Cheyenne play some country classics.

I know festival prices can be annoying but a $5 Twisted Tea beats ACL prices or even Mxlans. McAllen ACL had $10 drinks, eerie similar to ACL’s. Do better McAllen and give the people some free fruit, like grapefruit, the official fruit of Texas. Just kidding, you know I love you, McAllen.

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