SOS Wild and Crazy Taco Night

I was so fortunate to win 2 tickets to this event. My boyfriend and I had such and amazing time. Thank Ryan, Unilocal,and SOS!
This event was set up in a giant parking lot, and each vendor had a station set up where you could try their tacos. There were around 30 vendors so I was a bit intimidated at first, but I just decided to eat until I could eat no more — because how often do you get to attend an event with unlimited tacos?
I think I sampled about 20 tacos that night, and I truly commend myself for this, as I don’t have the biggest appetite! The first 10, I ate the whole taco, and the rest, and took a bit or ate half of it. Everything was so delicious and gourmet, and I truly felt spoiled. There was also unlimited drinks, so I had about 3 sodas during my time there, but they also had margaritas!
Unilocal had a big set up in this event, which included a free photo booth from Splendid Studio Booth! I love a good photo booth, and they had a great backdrop and so many fun props. And if that wasn’t enough, they gave us a printout of our picture, and gave us the option to email the picture to ourselves. Such a cool idea!
There were a few dessert options, but by the time it was that time, I was SO FULL! But let’s be honest, I still tried them! My favorites were the Salted Caramel Marshmallow Chocolate Cookie and the Mango Cheesecake.
This event made parking so easy and convenient. We parked for free in a structure down the street, and a free shuttle drove us down the street to the event. This event was truly amazing, and I’m so lucky I was able to attend!

Been coming to this event for about 10 years now. Its really fun, and always has a colorful, enthusiastic crowd, that reduces to a drunkfest, with all the Tequila and tacos you can consume in 2 hours. Every year a few chefs step up and make some pretty interesting tacos, but there are equally as many uninspired, misses that pass as «tacos» on WACTN. It’s worth the admission, but be sure someone else drives you, like Über, if you are a consumer of alcohol.

Wow, what a great event for me! I am a Human Services major and I know how difficult it may be for non-​profit organizations, such as Share Our Selves (SOS) to do what they do for the community. During the event, I was able to meet with Sue and she summarized what SOS did in a nut shell and it is amazing how much they do and offer for the community. So, first of all, I just want to let them know that I appreciate all their hard work and to keep up the great work!
Second of all, I want to thank all the sponsors! (Especially Unilocal for inviting me as one of the guest to this event! Woo-​Hoo!!! I never ever win anything!!! So, Thank you!!) All the restaurants vendors at the event also did such a wonderful job with their creative tacos and customer service! I can honestly say that every single taco/​dessert that I had that night was very delicious. Not only did everybody made them delicious, but they made them look so beautiful as well! I would usually shout out recommendations, but I can’t this time because I have to admit that each and every single one of them was unique in their own way and it was very tasty!
I would highly recommend for anybody interested to attend in the future! Not only is it a great event to attend because they offer Orange County’s finest chef’s and their amazing culinary talents but you will be helping the community out!

Thanks to Trina D. for taking me as her +1 and Unilocal OC for VIP tickets to the event, I was able to enjoy some free tacos and desserts at SOS Wile and Crazy Taco night. Because we got VIP tickets, we were able to enter in about an hour early, when it wasn’t a zoo yet.
My favorite by far was the selections from Island Hotel. They had a a gordita with turkey, refried beans, avocado creama, mirco salad, habanero molcajete salsa with queso fresco and for dessert they had Tres Leches cake. I definitely had two of each. The chocolate mole ice cream from Culinary Craft was quite delicious. Very spicy more than chocolately. The chocolate toffee tostada from Blackmarket Bakery was also quite awesome.
Overall, it’s $ 50 for general admission if you buy in advance, $ 80 at the door. VIP is $ 150. There are a ton of vendors and it’s all you can eat. Proceeds go to Save Our Selves’s Food Pantry. I didn’t even get one sample from each vendor and I was stuffed.
It’s for such a good cause, I could see myself buying tickets to the event
Thanks to all the vendors and Save Our Selves for a great event.

Awesome night of celebrating my birthday month! Thank you Ryan C. and other Unilocal staff/​volunteers who invited me and my boyfriend to a really fun and relaxing fun evening!
(Just a side note: my bf and I wore our Mexico soccer jerseys. Some of the comments we heard were, «You’re dressed appropriately for the event.» «Aw, that last goal!» «Good game last night.» Apparently there was a USA vs. MEX game last night. haha)
I really enjoyed mingling with non-​Yelpers this time. We met a really nice couple while eating at the standing tables. The wife works at the Container Store at SCP. They had paid for a pair of VIP tickets, which gave them access to the event an hour earlier (4:30pm). They wanted to support the SOS for their great service in helping the homeless. There are other SOS locations in Santa Ana, Lake Forest, etc. They provide clothes, food, basic necessities, and other services to meet the needs of the homeless in the local community.
(Good food for thought… right??)
All the restaurant participants were great! The chefs and servers were very friendly. I enjoyed meeting some of the chefs from notable restaurants and even offering my feedback on the food. My favorite was the Turkey Dinner taco from the Senior Retirement Community. The chef was a fairly young man, and he cooks for the retirees in the community. He hosts about 9 – 10 «turkey» dinners for the seniors. How nice! He said that most restaurants that only service Thanksgiving dinners once a year do not get enough practice cooking turkey. I agree. Why not have multiple turkey dinners? Who doesn’t love turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce?
*Also, the cranberry glaze on his taco was handmade by him. Real cranberries, mashed and soaked in Grand Marnier, then blended and, out comes a heavenly decadent lovely glaze that brought a smile to my face! MMMMMMM!!! LOVED it!
Some of the restaurants offered some unique flavors such as:
Russian Kale and pumpkin squash
Vietnamese bologna with kimchi
«Italian taco» (basically an Italian roll stuffed with meat and broccoli)
Potato and black bean taco
Vegan tostada made with tofu chorizo and tofu sauce
Watermelon radish as the taco shell
Jicama slice as the taco shell that offered a nice crunch
Foie mousse
Goat Mole
Delectable, wonderfully presented desserts were:
Tres leches mini cups
Blackmarket Bakery had a dark chocolate cookie with chocolate fudge, melted marshmallow, and caramel bits. so good!
Chocolate mole… basically chocolate ice cream with mole flavor wrapped in a fortune cookie shell.
Mango cheesecake
Cannoli Taco… mmm! mini tacos flavored like a cannoli with cream filling
Tres leches in a mini dessert cup
I loved how this event was outdoors. Being near the coast, it was very nice weather to enjoy.
I liked the photo booth as well. Who doesn’t love free photos?!
I was so thankful that we were able to park in the parking structure of Hoag Health Center.
I had a really really fun time. It was a really great evening! I wish there was another event with a different theme… like sushi! haha :)

What an amazing event from start to finish! As we drove down Superior we immediately noticed the many white shuttle busses, so we followed them to the parking structure and parked with no problem. We walked out to the shuttle buses and were greeted by the nicest man. On to the bus, and about 3 minutes later we were being dropped off at SOS.
Now to the important stuff, the TACOS!
Some of my favorites, in no particular order (because I couldn’t choose just one):
Slapfish– uh-​maz-​ing! Lobster roll tacos were full of tender lobster, tossed in a delicious sauce.
The Golden Truffle: ceviche taco with squash blossoms. This taco was so delicious, it was the only taco that my husband had two of.
Sol Cocina had an outstanding presentation of a pork taco with a delicious slaw, pickled onions, and mango salsa.
The Catch had a great grilled octopus taco that was a favorite of my husband.
ZOVS had a blue crab ceviche taco, that was served on a radish slice instead of a tortilla, and proved to be one spicy mouthful.
Orange Hill offered a wild boar taco with pineapple, mango and black bean salsa, and pickled red onions. Yum!
I’m not a dessert person, so I focused my attention on the savory offerings. The many bars were well stocked, and the margaritas were a flowing. Many thanks to the Unilocal crew for the swag bags, and fun booth. This was one amazing event.

Thanks to Unilocal OC for the VIP tickets to the SOS Wild and Crazy Taco night which allowed me to arrive earlier to this gluttonous AYCE taco event. My +1, Grace C., and I had a blast trying out all the different tacos from the different restaurants in attendance. I tried the following:
Blackmarket Bakery (Rachel Klemek): Chocolate tostada (sweetness overload!)
Culinary Craft: Chocolate Mole ice cream in a fortune cookie taco shell (Spicy ice cream, so good!)
Filomena’s Italian Kitchen: Italian hot roast pork taco (Yum!)
Five Crowns & Side Door (Steve Kling): Corned pork short rib taco with Caesar slaw & caramelized onion
Haven Gastropub (Greg Daniels): Banh mi taco (this was really gross)
iBarone Ristorante: Taco di crudo do pesce (seabass and razor clams marinated in lemon, olive oil and pepperoncino oil (first one I tried and it was tasty)
Island Hotel (David Man): Gordita with turkey, refried beans, avocado crema, micro salad, habanero molcajete salsa & queso fresco (one of the best) The Island Hotel also had this amazing Tres Leches dessert which I’m not ashamed to say I had two of.
Newport Beach Plaza (Mark Gagnon): Turkey dinner taco with Patron roasted turkey with sweet & spicy yam, Finnish potato bread, and Grand Marnier cranberry glaze (so good!)
Orange Hill (Dustin White): Big jerk taco with smoked wild boar, pineapple, mango & black bean salsa, pickled red onion over a jicama shell (tasty!)
Pirozzi Corona Del Mar: Smoked swordfish belly taco with spicy Calabria pepper aioli on a limoncello infused taco shell (Yum!)
Primal Alchemy (Paul Buchanan): Local Love taco with Asian green cali goat cheese, Indian pumpkin, and Russian kale (one of the best vegetarian tacos EVER)
Rasta Taco (Lou Tista): Molé rojo chicken tacos (Yum!)
SOCIAL Costa Mesa (Jeffrey Boullt): Lamb bacon taco with Ancho harissa, heirloom radish slaw, coriander blossoms, citrus Greek yogurt, and pickled grapes (tastebuds danced)
Taco Asylum (Carlos Anthony): Goat molé taco (Yum!)
TAPS Fish House (Manny Gonzalez): TAPS Foie-​Co taco with Huitlacoche, popcorn molé & foie mousse on a crispy buñuelo shell
The Dessert Lab: Mango cheesecake, cannoli taco
Yard House: Vampire taco with cheese crusted tortilla, carnitas, bacon chorizo, chipotle salsa, roast garlic, guacamole, and cilantro (tasty)
There were more vendors like Slapfish, Zov’s, the Catch, Culinary Craft, and Newport Rib Company that I didn’t try. But after all that I was stuffed to the gills with tacos. They also served margaritas, soda and water at the event all the while raising money for Share Our Selves a worthy charity! This annual event is a major fundraiser for Share Our Selves and I can see why it’s so popular. Admission is $ 80 pp and VIP is $ 150 pp. Great event for a wonderful charity. Thank you to all the participating restaurants for your time and delicious food! Thanks to Share Our Selves for putting on this event. See you next year!

This event was literally wild and crazy! I cannot believe the amount of food that was available! My boyfriend and I ate 30 tacos!
We parked at Hoag, took the 1 minute shuttle ride to the venue, and were warmly greeted at registration. Once we walked through the registration room, we were led outside to strawberry and plain margaritas and a TON of food. I loved how this event was outdoors. The weather was perfect and we got to snack on tacos while the sun was setting. There were gourmet restaurants serving BEAUTIFUL and DELICIOUS tacos! Words and photos cannot do this event justice. Slapfish’s lobster taco and the squash blossom ceviche taco from The Golden Truffle were my all time favorites. Such great flavors!
All the vendors put their best foot forward, serving gorgeous tacos and snacks. What I appreciated the most about this event was:
1. everyone was there for a good cause and was extra friendly
2. each booth had a lot of staff so food was continuously being made
3. lines were short — we didn’t have to wait in line for longer than a couple minutes at any given booth
4. unlimited everything, everywhere!
Everything was fabulous!
The participating chefs did a wonderful job at offering really unique bites. It was almost like iron chef — who could make the most delicious, creative, beautiful item of the night??! All the chefs are winners. What a great fundraiser for the SOS food pantry.
Thanks so much for the free tickets, Unilocal!We had a wonderful time, we ate our little piggy hearts out and we can’t wait to visit these restaurants in the future. Thanks for supporting local and sponsoring a great event for our community!

Came here to eat some tacos and we did! I came here with my friend Alice after winning 2 tickets to The SOS Wild and Crazy Taco night, and boy was it crazy, crazy good with TACOS! Haha.
Anyway, I think I tried majority of the tacos, except for the sweet ones. I only had a couple bites of Alice’s sweet tacos. FYI: I’m more a savory person.
And OMFG, I got to meet Andrew G. from Slapfish and take a picture with him, that made my day complete, or for the rest of the year! If you didn’t already know, I admire a guy who can cook. Haha.
My favorite taco was probably the Slapfish one, because they put on there lobster, with a bomb sauce! Not sure what was in the sauce, but I’m going to be going back to Slapfish in the future for sure!
Good event, tried a lot of unique tacos, and got to hang out with my friend Alice, which is always really good!