La Mexicana | Yo Quiero TacoTweetup!

Last updated on October 8th, 2020 at 09:48 pm

Once upon a time, I kept my calendar booked solid with events around Toronto, revelling in everything that social media had to offer! But life doesn’t stand still, and we learn to choose where we show up as time grows more precious.

With a baby on the way and one of the most challenging jobs I’ve had yet, I’m well on my way to becoming an urban legend of the Toronto social media scene. But even though fatherhood’s hot on my heels, I look at someone like Yashy and feel a bit of hope. Pregnant with her second child, she can still find time to go out with her husband and daughter Akira to events and still balance all the parts of her life. That’s exactly what I’m going for with I’m Not Dead, I’m Just a Dad—just because you have kids, it doesn’t mean the rest of your life has to come to a screeching halt!

You just need to change the rules.

Yo Quiero TacoTweetup, Por Favor!

TacoTweetup made for a good night!

Held on the first Friday the 13^th of 2013, TacoTweetup was a shout-out to Toronto’s Twitter community to come out and play, since we hadn’t had a group event for a bit. La Mexicana, found on the outskirts of Toronto’s Yorkville neighbourhood*, was the venue of choice, giving us a great place to celebrate Mexican Independence Day!

TacoTweetup was the brainchild of a few key characters:

• Anum Khan, blogger at Summerxskin.com and PB&J Magazine
• James Rubec, Anum’s fiancé and blogger at PB&J Magazine
• Evelyn Wong, general manager of the family-owned La Mexicana
• Viktor Kis, Evelyn’s beau and eCommerce Specialist

It was a solid time to try Mexican food, taste some top-shelf libations, and catch up on all the “industry gossip”. It was a cold Friday in The Big Smoke, but the patio heaters kept things surprisingly toasty.

The food and alcohol samples were plentiful, including:

Comida? ME GUSTA!!!

Here, you assemble your own tacos with a combination of cheese, veggies, a red bean sauce and hot sauce upon request. Pretty good!

Carnita Tostadas

Potato & Feta Taquitos

Chicken and Mole Croissants — easily one of my favourite nibbles of the night 🙂

Blame it on the…

Patrón XO Cafe Chilled — I’ve had my share of tequila in my time (with some sad consequences at my birthday parties), and I’m happy to report that this stuff goes down smooth. No wonder it’s $70 a bottle!

Patrón XO Cafe Chilled & Mount Gay Rum

3 carnitas tacos, a Dos Equis, a shot of Patrón, several appetizers, 100 photos and hours of conversation later, and I’d say Anum did a pretty good job! We left with gift cards, full bellies and high spirits, promising to see each other soon.

The Verdict

I’m not exactly sure where the sombrero came from or why James was wearing it, but there it was and there you have it.

TacoTweetup didn’t blow my mind, but that wasn’t the point of it. I’ve been to the parties. I’ve wined and dined the nights away. The last few years have been such a blur of activity that it’s nice to just hang out with friends and have a chat sometimes. We all need to grow up eventually, and whether it’s with shots of Patrón or over a plate of tacos, we start to learn the best ways we really want to spend our time.

Anum, thank you for TacoTweetup. It was just what I needed without knowing I needed it.

Hasta la vista from your favourite Toronto social media urban legend,

–case p.

*I use “outskirts” loosely – Yorkville isn’t all that big.