Steve Sabo and Juan Gonzalez have been training for this moment. Before opening Funky Truckeria in 2015, the co-owners and chefs ran their own food trucks, Orange Truk and Wholly Frijoles, respectively, and learned to cook fast. That speed was instrumental when the pandemic hit and orders ticked up to 500 on two-for-one taco Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“We doubled capacity, and it’s all takeout,” Sabo says.
Even with the high demand, each taco is made fresh to order. After tasting authentic ones on trips to Gonzalez’s native Mexico City and serving them while working in Los Angeles and San Diego, the chefs have learned fresh prep — along with creativity — is what sets street tacos apart.
As the name suggests, their tacos are funky. Inventive recipes showcase global influences from their travels, like the Korean barbecue tacos. Choose from chicken, steak or pork belly. The latter option ($4.99) sings with three sauces and Ohio pork belly cooked in three steps. The pork tenderizes in sous vide bags for 14 hours, is fried and is pan seared with a Korean barbecue sauce that’s a mix of ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar and kiwi.
“I wanna call it bacon candy. You get a crispy outer surface and a rich, creamy, fatty inner surface,” Sabo says. “We cook the sauce into that meat at the end, so we get full flavor on everything.”
It becomes funkier with a cabbage and carrot slaw tossed in a roasted poblano and lime sauce, sesame seeds, cilantro and a light drizzle of a sweet creamy Asian sauce that bursts with ginger and sesame. The final taco keeps the phone ringing for a taste experience that Sabo describes as getting smacked upside the head.
“Beef, cheese, sour cream. People are used to those kinds. So when they have the Korean barbecue … the softness, crispness of that pork and you mix it with the slaw and carrots,” Gonzalez says, “people don’t expect those flavors to pop in your mouth. It’s like, Whoa. What is this? ”
My Favorite Carryout: Croissants from Blue Door Cafe & Bakery in Cuyahoga Falls. “This guy is an artist when it comes to his pastries,” says Funky Truckeria co-owner and chef Steve Sabo.
Carryout or dine in, 3200 Greenwich Road, Norton, 330-208-0560, thefunkytruckeria.com
