The best Mexican food in Central Florida doesn’t come from a chain. It comes from a bus.
Nominations are open right now for the Best of Central Florida Community’s Choice Awards — and we need the Tampa Bay community to write Taco Bus in. This is a 100% community-driven award. No panels. No judges. Just the people who actually eat here deciding who deserves to win.
What Is the Community’s Choice Awards?
The Best of Central Florida Community’s Choice Awards, presented by The Ledger, recognizes the best businesses across Central Florida in more than 130 categories. Winners are chosen entirely by public nomination and vote — which means the restaurants, shops, and local businesses that show up here are the ones their communities actually went to bat for.
Nominations are open now through April 26, 2026. The top businesses by nomination volume move on to the voting round, with winners announced at an exclusive awards gala and published online in September.
How to Nominate Taco Bus
We’re asking our Tampa Bay family to nominate us in two categories:
- Mexican Food
- Vegetarian/Vegan/Gluten-Free Food
Head to the nominations page, find each category, and write in Taco Bus. It takes less than two minutes and means everything to a team that has been showing up for this community for nearly 30 years.
Why Taco Bus?
We opened our first location in Tampa in 1995 with a simple idea: authentic Mexican street food, made right, served without attitude. Nearly three decades later, we’re still at it — eight locations across Tampa Bay, a Diners Drive-Ins and Dives feature, multiple Creative Loafing awards, and a loyal community that keeps us going every single day.
We don’t do fusion. We don’t cut corners. We make the kind of food that brings people back — and brings their friends with them.
And for guests with dietary needs, Taco Bus has always had options. Our menu includes a wide range of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free friendly choices, because great Mexican food should be accessible to everyone at the table.
Make Your Voice Heard Before April 26th
Nominations close on April 26, 2026. If Taco Bus has ever been your go-to taco spot, your late-night craving solution, or the place you take out-of-towners to show them what Tampa Bay food is really about — now’s your chance to make it official.
Nominations for the Best of Central Florida Community’s Choice Awards close April 26, 2026. Voting opens May 16, 2026. Winners announced September 24, 2026.
