Why Top Taco NOLA is one of the best festivals I've ever been to

We booked and paid for our own tickets. Nothing here was gifted or hosted.

Unlimited Tacos & Tequila, obviously we’re in raccoon heaven. Top Taco is a taco tasting tournament, that invites some of the best taco touters (sorry, I’ll stop now) to come and compete for the trophy. It was heavily populated with local New Orleans restaurants but vendors had travelled across Louisiana and even further across the US to be there.

We went on 24 October 2024, at Lafreniere Park out in Metairie, with over 40 restaurants competing.

Three tickets, and why the middle one wins

The concept was perfect, each vendor had a couple of tacos, and a cocktail or two, that they showcased. For $105 we got 3 hours of unlimited tacos, beers, spirits, cocktails & live entertainment.

There were three tickets on the night:

So the gap between general admission and the ticket we bought is $20, and what that $20 buys you is an extra hour. On a three hour festival that’s a third more event, and it’s the third that happens while everything is still in stock. Do not talk yourself into the $85 ticket to save twenty dollars.

Top tip: buy the 6pm ticket. You’re not paying $20 to get in early, you’re paying $20 for the hour where the good stalls haven’t run out yet.

Over 40 restaurants, all of them with a couple of tacos and a cocktail to their name.

The lines are long, so eat in them

The lines were not short so we quickly figured out the trick was to get in a line, pick up your taco & drink, then walk to the next line. Eating while queuing made the evening fly by, the waits feel almost non-existent and all we were going to do was stand around chatting and eating anyway, why not do it in a queue!

It sounds obvious written down. It is not what most people were doing, and you could tell, because the people standing still with empty hands were the ones checking their watches.

Nobody is going anywhere quickly, so bring your taco with you.

By 8pm, a lot of it had gone

The popular stalls ran out quickly, and by 8pm lots of places had sold out, or only had filling and tequila shots left, which didn’t seem like a bad deal at all to me!

This is the single thing to plan around. Observatory Eleven had a handwritten SOLD OUT sign on the table while their cocktail sign was still up advertising Ghost Tequila Blanco with black rice, tiger nut, coconut, pecan orgeat and autumnal spices. Which sounds excellent, and which I will now never know.

Their Top Creative Cocktail sign still up, the cocktail long gone.

If you get in at 6pm you can hit the stalls you actually want first and then wander. If you get in at 7pm you’re doing the same lap an hour later with a third of it missing.

You vote with a QR code, and the stalls know it

Every stand had a printed sign for whatever it had entered, with the ingredients and a QR code to vote. Lucy’s had gone one better and stamped VOTE LUCY’S straight onto the menu card. It gives the whole thing a proper competitive edge, people genuinely arguing about a taco while queuing for the next one.

Lucy’s: pork carnitas with mango pineapple salsa, and a margarita with a Grand Marnier floater. Note the VOTE LUCY’S stamp on the menu.

The categories were Top Traditional Taco, Top Creative Taco, Top Vegetarian Taco, Top Classic Cocktail and Top Creative Cocktail, with a Top BBQ judged in the VIP area and a G.O.A.T. award over the top of the lot.

Southerns entered a tempura battered fish taco and a roasted carrot taco. Both of them placed.

Who won in 2024

There are two sets of results, because the fans and the critics vote separately, and they only agreed on three things: Gonzos for Top Creative Taco, Southerns for Top Vegetarian, and Ralph the Baker for the BBQ.

Fan vote

Critics’ vote

And the G.O.A.T., which is the one everyone wants, went to Gonzo’s Smokehouse & BBQ.

It is not all tacos, and that’s the best bit

The creative category is where a taco festival gets interesting. Lufu Nola Indian Kitchen were ladling out of a stockpot you’d struggle to lift. ATL NOLA were cooking on a flat top with a queue three deep. Southerns turned up in a black bus and entered a roasted carrot. The Fillmore were serving something pickled on a corn tortilla with slaw and a dill garlic aioli.

The tents themselves got a fair amount of effort too. Mister Oso and Lalo had a disco ball and a gilt mirror going, which is not what you expect from a marquee in a park on a Thursday.

Three stages, and free water if you look for it

There’s live music the whole way through on separate stages, so you’re never far from a band. The Modelo Especial Stage had eight or nine of them up there with a horn section while we were eating, and the Feed Your Soul Louisiana Stage sits under the Al Copeland Concert Meadow roof, which is the one to head for if it’s raining, because the festival runs rain or shine.

Their own FAQs say there’s free water at the marked stations inside, which after three hours of tequila is not a small detail. There’s a Pepsi truck on site too if you want something that isn’t water or alcohol.

The Pepsi truck, for the one person in your group who is driving.

The bad bits, because there are some

The queues are the honest downside. They’re long, and the eat-while-you-queue trick makes them bearable rather than short. If you hate standing in a line, three hours of standing in lines is still three hours of standing in lines.

The sell-outs are the other one. There is no realistic way to get round 40 restaurants in three hours, and the ones you most want to try are the ones with the longest queue and the smallest remaining stock. We missed things we’d specifically gone for.

It’s also 21+ with no exceptions, including infants, so it isn’t one to fold into a family trip. And it’s a field at night. By the end the grass has been walked into a mess and you’re picking your way between tents in the dark, which is fine, but wear the shoes that won’t leave you standing in wet socks all night.

The Bar Car tent still being decorated. It’s a field, and it’s a lot of tents.

Is it coming back?

I’m devastated to say I can’t see any evidence of this coming back in 2026 but I really hope they do!

Here’s what happened. There was no Top Taco in 2025. Founder Shane Finkelstein told WGNO that liquor brands had cut their local marketing budgets in mid 2024, which left producers leaning on ticket sales, and that “Festivals and events around the country are folding due to dwindling ticket sales and reduced sponsorship.” His line on the decision was that rather than scale back or oversell it, “we’ve chosen neither”. Organisers said at the time that they hoped to bring it back in 2026.

As of August 2026 there’s still nothing announced, and toptaconola.com is still sitting on the October 2024 event. So keep an eye on it, and if it does come back, buy the 6pm ticket.

Getting there, and where to stay

Lafreniere Park is in Metairie, not the French Quarter, so it’s a drive out of town rather than a walk. The festival’s own advice is to take a cab or a rideshare, or bring a designated driver, and there’s plenty of parking on site if you do. Given the ticket is unlimited drinks, the cab is the answer.

If you’re building a trip around it, we stayed central and went out for the evening, and that worked fine. Hotels in New Orleans is where we’d start. While you’re there, our New Orleans Go City pass verdict and what we actually did on a 5 day pass will sort out the rest of your week.

Final verdict

5/5, and it’s the festival I bring up whenever anyone asks what the best festival we’ve ever booked was. $105 for three hours of unlimited food and drink from over 40 restaurants is a genuinely brilliant deal, the competition gives it a point beyond eating, and the standard of what was being handed over in a paper tray in a park was better than plenty of sit-down meals we’ve paid more for.

Would we go back? In a heartbeat, and we’d fly for it. Come on Top Taco, 2027.

Top Taco NOLA FAQs

How much are Top Taco NOLA tickets? In October 2024 it was $85 for general admission with 19:00 entry, $105 for the 1st Tasting ticket with 18:00 entry, and $135 for VIP with 18:00 entry plus premium spirit tastings, private bars and bathrooms, extra chefs and desserts. We paid $105 each.

Is the more expensive ticket worth it? Yes, and it’s the one bit of advice I’d push hardest. The $20 between general admission and the 1st Tasting ticket buys you an extra hour on a three hour festival, and it’s the hour before the busiest stalls start selling out.

Is the food and drink really unlimited? Yes. Unlimited dishes, beer and cocktails, plus spirit tastings, all included in the ticket. What isn’t unlimited is the stock, so the popular stalls do run dry.

How long does it last? Three hours from the 18:00 entry, two if you’re on a general admission ticket.

Can you take children? No. It’s 21+ only and their FAQs are blunt about it, anyone under 21 gets turned away at the gate, infants included.

Where is it held? Lafreniere Park in Metairie, a drive out from central New Orleans. Their advice is a cab or rideshare, or a designated driver, and there’s parking on site.

What if it rains? It runs rain or shine, so bring a coat. One of the stages sits under the Al Copeland Concert Meadow roof, which is where we’d stand.

Who won Top Taco NOLA in 2024? The fans gave Top Traditional Taco to Fantasy Tacos and the critics gave it to Mr. Oso. They agreed on Gonzos for Top Creative Taco, Southerns for Top Vegetarian and Ralph the Baker for the VIP BBQ. The G.O.A.T. award went to Gonzo’s Smokehouse & BBQ.

Is Top Taco NOLA coming back? There was no event in 2025 and, as of August 2026, nothing has been announced. Organisers said they hoped to return in 2026 after pulling the 2025 edition over sponsorship and ticket sales, so it’s worth watching rather than writing off.

Prices are what we paid in October 2024. Things move, so check before you book.