Laredo’s Jalapeno Festival
I admit I came to the Jalapeno Festival with reasonably big expectations — according to hearsay its Laredo’s biggest event of the year and tied in some inexplicable way to George Washington’s Birthday. We showed up in time for the Jalapeno Eating Contest (which will be televised apparently). It was a bit underwhelming. 15 minutes to eat as many jalapenos as you can doesn’t sound like a long time but it gets a bit excruciating around the 7 minute mark when you realize that watching 22 people leisurely eating jalapenos and drinking beer isn’t all that exciting. It doesn’t help when they have the ‘baby its hot hot hot’ song on repeat the entire time. Apparently, because of the lack of national promotion in an attempt to keep it more local, the pro eaters didn’t get involved and this years winner succeeded with a measley 82 jalapenos (the record is 266). The most entertaining part was watching competitors puke half way but even that didn’t justify the 15 dollar entrance fee. All in all I would have to say the event was madly overpriced. Granted people mostly go for the music, and I am not exactly the best judge of Tejano music — although David is a bigger fan than I am. The gusting wind made it pretty cold out (in Laredo terms anyways) but there were still thousands of people in attendance. The food lines were long for fairly crappy offerings — we talked my mom into ordering the most disgusting tripas of our lives. They were burnt, way too greasy, and its questionable if the shit had ever been cleaned out of them. In other words I may have killed my mom. Sorry. The elote en vaso (corn in a cup) was really tasty however. It was my first time trying it, since I am actually a corn hater, but I have to say it kinda turned me around. Apparently anything can be saved if you dump a ton of mayo, butter, Mexican cheese, crema, and chile sauce on it. Plus it was warm!
im glad i didn’t attend. however corn in a cup is great!
Hi there…I randomly ran across your site. I am originally from Laredo, and am now living in Chicago after having moved here for Culinary School(Le Cordon Bleu). I miss Laredo…but it is not a site for foodies…though I must admit…I miss the food terribly, the smell of mesquite and onion skins burning for the carne asadas, the barbacoa on Sunday mornings, and even Taco Palenque at 4 in the morning. I hope my hometown is treating you well….what brought you down there?
P.S. Jalapeno Festival used to be awesome…back in the day
We love Laredo! We are definitely enjoying the food and having lots of fun. We always welcome any recommendations on where to go/eat from Laredo experts!
Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for. We have the Chicken Wing Fest here in Buffalo usually Labor Day weekend (Sat & Sun). It’s gotten too big for the premises (a local minor league baseball stadium) and I haven’t gone the last 2 years. They do get the champion eaters in for it.
As more vendors have joined the fest, it’s become sort of a volume thing and IMO the quality has gone down.
I’m actually headed to Laredo for the Festival this year and would love any suggestions anyone might have of different restaurants to check out while I’m there. Where can I find the best Mexican in town? Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
We really like La Unica for their tostadas and flautas and Mexican cola. For breakfast, we love Desayunos Marla–its on Mcpherson between Calle Del Norte and Gale. Have fun in Laredo!
taco palenque has really good food.. a little over priced. Dannys restaurant is good too.. theres alot of those all over town. Usually the best tasting mexican food are mom and pop restaurants, those can be found all around town.