Sixth Annual Imperial Valley Taco Festival Blends Food, Family, and Friendly Rivalry
BRAWLEY — The sixth annual Imperial Valley Taco Festival brought lively music, family traditions, and fierce culinary competition to downtown Brawley on Friday, May 2. Organized by the Brawley Chamber of Commerce, the event ran from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. and featured 10 food vendors competing for the title of Taco King.
This year’s crown went to Antonio’s Baja Catch, which won $750, a custom Taco King championship belt, and the Best Salsa Award, earning an additional $250. Gerardo Antonio, owner of the winning food truck, thanked his family and said this was his first major competition win. He said he started participating in 2022, “just trying to see if people would like my food.” The positive reception that year encouraged him to invest in his truck. Additionally, the Brawley Chamber of commerce said that Antonio’s Baja Catch has been with them since the first ever taco fest.
“There needs to be more events like this one in the community,” Antonio said. “We do this because we love it, and we love seeing the happy faces” when people eat his team’s food.
Antonio’s Baja Catch has been a vendor at the taco festival since its inception, according to the Brawley Chamber of Commerce.
Other winners included Amy’s Snack Shack, which won $500 in the open category. Owner Amy Flores, who sold birria and carne asada, has been participating in the festival for five years. She said every year is exciting and praised the festival’s organization. Flores previously won an award for Best Carne Asada.
The Brawley Union High School Band Boosters won the People’s Choice Award and a $250 prize. Stephanie Molina, treasurer of the club, said they were selling quesabirrias to raise funds for instruments and an end-of-year field trip to Knott’s Berry Farm. The booster club is made up of parents of band students.
The judging panel for the main taco competition included Brawley Mayor Gil Rebollar and a group of well-known influencers from the Imperial Valley, including Jesus Enriquez (better known as Pinche Matache), Dembow Exotico, Edward Morales, Leah Jerez, and Tara Malcomb.
Reflecting on the success of the evening, Karen D. Montaño, Chief Operating Officer of the Brawley Chamber of Commerce, said:
“We are super happy with the outcome of the Imperial Valley Taco Festival. Each year we’re getting more contestants, more vendors, and more people attending our events.”
Vendors offered a variety of food beyond tacos, including carne asada fries, quesabirrias, loaded nachos, elote, and maruchan with corn. Some returning participants, such as Sofia’s Kitchen and The Three Brothers, continued to emphasize family values and homemade flavor. Isabel Gonzalez, who runs The Three Brothers, said the food truck is named after her three sons and started in October 2022.
The festival also debuted its first-ever Taco Eating Contest, sponsored by El Jumping Bean Taquería of Brawley and Calexico. Four participants were challenged to eat 40 tacos, a portion of fries, and three chilies, all for a $1,200-value catering prize.
The competition was intense. Two early favorites started strong but didn’t finish — one contestant vomited and was disqualified, while another tapped out due to being too full. That left a head-to-head showdown between Keith Webster and Carlos Tabarez. Though Tabarez was the slowest eater, he had less food remaining on his plate, and the mayor determined he had won.
Tabarez received the catering prize and shared that he plans to use it for his daughter’s birthday. As part of the prize, he will return next year as a guest judge in the taco competition.
The evening closed with live performances by Banda Exclusiva de la S and Valentin Garcia, providing music for the crowd until the event wrapped up at 11 p.m.