I recently heard about French Tacos: O’Tacos is a chain with 130 franchisees. Evidently there is no singular taco, it is always tacos. Has anyone actually eaten a “Tacos?” Please enlighten us.
Most Americans would call them “burritos” and that’s pretty much what they are - only with a bit less hot sauce and stronger meat flavor. I recently waited on line for 20 minutes at Stazione Garibaldi in Milan for one and was pretty pleased with what I got - except for the lack of chili heat.
In Italy, you can find them at Kebab shops in almost every small city. I haven’t yet seen the chain though.
Should you have one? Yes, especially if you want to experience what the locals eat when nobody is looking. But, both France and Italy have vast bar and street food cultures that Americans (except me) almost never explore and that’s the real mistake. In my experience, this is where the real food adventures happen.
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This thread might be of interest.
The New Yorker: The Unlikely Rise of the French Tacos
We have a French taco spot in Toronto. They aren’t too busy, and they recently started offering bowls, as well as their French tacos.
Also this thread: An immigrant hopes to find his American dream with … French tacos?
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Aside from calling them tacos by default (in fairness, French has the silent s at the end, so it sounds similar), I’m amused by the name of this chain. Would love to know its origins, because it makes me think of an Irish person putting a twist on Tex-Mex food with a French chain on tacos.
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Thank you for the links! The New Yorker article is a pretty good description of what we find in northern Italy, only the fries are optional. Upon refection, I’ve never seen rice in a French Tacos although it’s normal in burritos back in Pennsylvania.
Food travels so well and evolves so quickly. I’m always curious to see what appears; birria ramen in New York, burritos with fries in Europe, and … you just never know.
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I agree.
I noticed the menus of places French Tacos also mention Bricks, and I wondered if it has anything to do with Brik, not in terms of seasoning but in terms of concept.
Brik are the hand pies of North Africa, which are related etymologically to burek, bourekas, cheburek, found throughout the former Ottoman Empire, the Middle East ,and into the former USSR.
Briks are fairly common in France due to its diversity and colonial past.
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We actually have a local restaurant in LA (the French Way) that sells nothing but French Tacos.
They make a French Tacos with fish and chips, which is totally finger licking delicious.
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While I’ve noticed the word, I can’t try everything and have let it slide by. I’ll look, but I’m also looking to try “Chinese Crepes.”
I have a seven hour train ride with two changes on Saturday and I’ll keep my eyes peeled for both.
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Chinese crêpes are already a thing in their own right, before China and France met! Bing! They’re delicious. Definitely try them if you see them!
There would be places that sell them in France.
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Both Paris and Milan have great Chinatowns, but I spotted the Chinese crepe sign in Cuneo, a town of 50,000 about half way between Turin and Nice. Indeed, the village I’m staying in - Entracque - is in Italy, but only a few miles from the French border.
Never (in the 39 years I’ve been coming here) could I have imagined the multicultural food scene that’s popping up in Cuneo. Every visit has something that amazes me.
The mention of briks lengthens the list of foods I have to seek out, but it doesn’t end it.
BTW … the best thing I’ve eaten around here this year has been an amazing soup made from chickpeas and leeks sold from a food truck calling itself “Celtic” and served by Italian-speaking biker guys wearing kilts.
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@moderator: I think this thread should be reloacted to the France discussion, France is not “rest of Europe.”
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As I hear the word pronounced in Paris, the “s” is not silent – one of many exceptions to the French rule.
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Interesting. I haven’t been to Paris in decades. However, I just googled it and came up with several videos of French speakers explaining that the final “s” in “Paris” is not pronounced.
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That’s correct - French are not pronouncing the s in Paris
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I think @onzieme means the S in Tacos or O’Tacos is not silent, whereas a French word ending in -os generally has a silent s.
The S is pronounced in Tacos because the word is borrowed from Spanish, where the S is pronounced.
Or @onzieme is talking about the S in Crêpes. I have heard Francophones say crêpes, like crepps in English, rather than crepp.
Whereas often, Anglophones who don’t speak French often pronounce crêpes more like craypz.
I think, with my Ontario School French, I generally drop the s, pronouncing Crêpes Suzette, Creppe Suzette.
I see what you mean. In Paris, the “s” in the word “tacos” is pronounced. The statement is not about the pronunciation or lack thereof of the “s” in Paris.
So I guess the “s” in the word “tacos” is pronounced not just in Paris, but elsewhere in France.
Thanks for the clarification. I didn’t know that the “s” in “crêpes” is pronounced (crepps).
Makes sense if the general rule is to pronounce the “s” when the “s” is pronounced in its original language, such as taco.
What are the other exceptions to the French rule of not pronouncing “s”? Especially when applied to food names?
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Phoenika is correct, I was referring to the s in “Tacos”.
I’m not sure what the actual grammatical rule is for pronunciation of the final s, but you may want to check these sources out. Also, the final s is often pronounced for place names in the South of France: e.g., the famous Bordeaux wine château Cos d’Estournel, the wine village (and name of the wine produced there) Gigondas, etc.
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The word Tacos is also pronounced with its s in Quebec, and elsewhere in the Francophonie.
(I think the proper pronunciation of crêpes is with the silent s 
)
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A common word in French is fils, meaning son. The S is pronounced.
Names are different than words, as they often have different origins. Case in point: Marguerite Duras. The S is pronounced. But not Dumas. So the name Alexandre Dumas fils has an occurrence of both.
