Question: What’s the worst thing about hard shell tacos? Actually, let me rephrase that. What’s the ONLY bad thing about hard shell tacos? They fall apart when you eat them leaving you with a frown on your face and a plate that’s covered in toppings.
What if it didn’t have to be that way though? What if you could enjoy the crunchiness of a hard shell taco without the fear of it crumbling apart upon first bite? Well, now there is! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Tacone!
I once again pulled out my waffle cone maker — the same one I’ve already used to make wafflecakes, my pizza cone, and my personal favorite, the chicken and waffle cone. This time, however, I combined some corn flour, water and a dash of salt, before flattening out the doughy mixture and nestling it between my waffle cone maker’s two hot plates.
After about a minute and a half I took my partially cooked dough out, formed it into a cone, let it cool a little and then completed the cooking process by dunking it in my deep fryer. A couple minutes later I was left with a crunchy corn taco shell in the shape of a cone.
Next, I gathered up all the ingredients that I wanted inside my taco, mixed them up in a bowl to insure that each bite contained equal amounts of toppings and spooned them into my cone.
I probably should have taken a few more pictures before I started eating this thing, because honestly, they didn’t turn out as good as I would have liked, but I didn’t care. All I wanted to do was take a bite out of the Tacone and see how it tasted, and it ended up being every bit as spectacular as I expected!
Do you know what my favorite thing about my Tacone was though? During the process of eating it not a single thing fell out of it onto my plate! No ground beef, no cheese, no tomatoes and not even a single piece of lettuce!
AJ
July 2, 2012 at 9:39 am (13 years ago)I think this is an idea that you need to sell to Old El Paso. Hit up their marketing department!
What an idea!!!
Sarah Z
July 2, 2012 at 10:48 am (13 years ago)That is an awesome idea. They finally “invented” the flat bottom taco shell so it seems that this idea would not hit any marketing department for years!
Nick
July 2, 2012 at 10:49 am (13 years ago)True! Also, I feel like those flat bottom hard shell tacos break apart even easier than regular ones because they’re shaped so weird.
@ChiPhotoGuy
July 2, 2012 at 3:32 pm (13 years ago)Woah! It’s a Tacone – Well done @DudeFoods! #foodiechats
@amylarrick
July 2, 2012 at 6:11 pm (13 years ago)#creative #food #design
@peeweeherman
July 5, 2012 at 4:34 pm (13 years ago)What happens when you combine two amazing things: the Tacone!
@gemmagracewood
July 5, 2012 at 4:35 pm (13 years ago)Aaarrrghh! Ha ha!
@Bucky_5000
July 5, 2012 at 4:36 pm (13 years ago)Here’s one for @Mount_E
@wrongkate
July 5, 2012 at 4:36 pm (13 years ago)attn Don @TheMotorleague
@kitty_divine
July 5, 2012 at 4:38 pm (13 years ago)@osubeav & @twd3lr -this up your alley?
@Kara_Hughett
July 5, 2012 at 4:39 pm (13 years ago)Hey @aaronestrada & @JessicaDamico, let me introduce you to the Tacone!
@nate_mckeever
July 5, 2012 at 4:40 pm (13 years ago)This. Is. Awesome…
@ZenMonken
July 5, 2012 at 4:41 pm (13 years ago)Taco + Ice Cream Cone = Tacone. How is this not a fast food thing? Someone start a food truck.
Hunter
July 5, 2012 at 4:43 pm (13 years ago)This is AMAZING you are a pioneer
Bri
July 5, 2012 at 4:44 pm (13 years ago)Wow. I’m trying to imagine what it must smell like. Sugary wafflecone butter goodness plus spicy oniony taconess = ??
Nick
July 5, 2012 at 4:47 pm (13 years ago)It pretty much just smelled like a taco. I used the waffle cone maker to make it, but used different ingredients than I would if I was making an actual waffle cone, so sadly there was no waffle cone smell to it.
hrm
August 14, 2012 at 2:48 am (12 years ago)A taco with a waffle/pancaky tortilla wouldn’t be so bad… waco wouldn’t be bad.
@CRBrotherton
July 5, 2012 at 4:47 pm (13 years ago)Sweet baby Jesus on a tilt-a-whirl. #OhMyGod
@jeremyjojola
July 5, 2012 at 4:50 pm (13 years ago)I present to you….THE TACONE. CONE + TACO Shell
@19jackie86
July 5, 2012 at 4:51 pm (13 years ago)@mendezlucy item for future taco truck
Kathie Wishart (@Zuxana)
July 5, 2012 at 4:53 pm (13 years ago)@LegendaryArmor @ombrophilia
ChadCotton (@ChadCotton)
July 5, 2012 at 4:57 pm (13 years ago)Brilliant!
Keith Pitts (@kapitts)
July 5, 2012 at 5:02 pm (13 years ago)This is bordering on brilliance.
Jason VanDiver (@jkylevandiver)
July 5, 2012 at 5:06 pm (13 years ago)Yes! Please and thank you.
Dannie (@DannieDee13)
July 5, 2012 at 5:08 pm (13 years ago)i must have one #numnumnum
Bunnybunns (@bunnybunns)
July 5, 2012 at 5:11 pm (13 years ago)This is brilliant.
Anna Schutz (@annaschutz)
July 5, 2012 at 5:12 pm (13 years ago)The Tacone …woah
Christopher Howard (@Spyderklamp)
July 5, 2012 at 5:13 pm (13 years ago)Wonder if @Chaddukes has seen this piece of goodness The Tacone #Fillerup
Sonya (@sonyabean)
July 5, 2012 at 5:38 pm (13 years ago)Genius. RT @peeweeherman: What happens when you combine two amazing things: the Tacone!
rachel xo (@quirkyandklutzy)
July 5, 2012 at 5:41 pm (13 years ago)the TACONE was not discussed as a use for corn at the alamo. but it should have been
Stephanie Smith (@RockHeartSteph)
July 5, 2012 at 5:56 pm (13 years ago)I give you @halo826 the Tacone!
Barbarossa
July 5, 2012 at 6:23 pm (13 years ago)Simply, an eloquent way to eat Tacos, spoon the sour cream on with every bite & U’r gaming,using this idea at the next Sunday big games & Superbowl, & with any luck won’t have to do any dishes…lol
Oh and @Nick, Yah, the flat bottomed shells do snap apart easier because of the fold, really
Chris Guadarrama (@kristop)
July 5, 2012 at 6:59 pm (13 years ago)Quite an invention. Behold the Tacone!
Michael K (@kretchmar)
July 5, 2012 at 7:30 pm (13 years ago)TACO 2.0? RT @peeweeherman: What happens when you combine two amazing things: the Tacone! #design #food
Cindy (@Grimbliss)
July 5, 2012 at 11:59 pm (13 years ago)genius…not quite a hotdog tree though “@peeweeherman: What happens when you combine two amazing things: the Tacone!”
Sarah MacDonald (@papersnacks)
July 6, 2012 at 12:16 am (13 years ago)Y.E.S. “@peeweeherman: What happens when you combine two amazing things: the Tacone!â€
Amanda
July 6, 2012 at 2:33 pm (13 years ago)This is awesome! Now i wish I had a waffle cone maker!
Ian
July 6, 2012 at 8:54 pm (13 years ago)Wow, bro, welcome to 1996…http://www.tacone.com/about-us-began.aspx
Nick
July 6, 2012 at 10:29 pm (13 years ago)So there’s a restaurant called Tacone, but all they serve is wraps, sandwiches and quesadillas? Awesome…. Aside from the name I don’t see the correlation.
Asbjørn Ulsberg (@asbjornu)
July 9, 2012 at 3:07 am (13 years ago)Awesome!
Benjamin Haner
July 9, 2012 at 11:40 am (13 years ago)While you’re breaking ground with the crunchy shell cone, it appears that this place in BC serves tacones already. http://www.redfish-bluefish.com
That said, this is a damn fine idea, sir. Damn fine.
Nick
July 9, 2012 at 11:43 am (13 years ago)It’s similar, but it looks like they just take a soft flour tortilla, grill it and sort of roll it into a cone.
Benjamin Haner
July 9, 2012 at 11:49 am (13 years ago)This is what I see as well, hence my pointing out that yours is crunchy. I was informed of this place after forwarding your post to a group of foodie friends. I thought I would mention it as his review of the place was glowing and it shared a name with your creation.
As indicated before, I would eat the hell out of what you made. Just reading your article has made tacos for lunch an almost near-certainty. Kudos.
Nick
July 9, 2012 at 11:51 am (13 years ago)Yeah, oddly enough there’s also some restaurant chain called Tacone, but they just sell wraps, sandwiches and quesadillas, none of which are even in the shape of cones. Weird.
Milweb1.com (@Milweb1)
July 9, 2012 at 3:41 pm (13 years ago)Tacone! Screw ice cream.
Galen Sturgess (@Berym)
July 9, 2012 at 7:06 pm (13 years ago)And lo, from the heavens, came a blinding light of revelation.
Erik Koster (@schizocentral)
July 9, 2012 at 7:30 pm (13 years ago)There’s a GENIUS born every minute
(@kapitts) (@kapitts)
July 11, 2012 at 1:15 pm (13 years ago)When a Mission-style burrito is just too damn inconvenient, grab a tacone.
KeenaFriedrichsmeier (@keena_ca)
July 11, 2012 at 7:17 pm (13 years ago)Sheer genius!
Ryan (@ryanschade)
July 12, 2012 at 6:59 pm (13 years ago)Really the best idea of 2012!
Miranda Leffler (@mirandaleffler)
July 12, 2012 at 8:47 pm (13 years ago)ALL MY TACO PROBLEMS SOLVED!!
@tacodelphia
July 15, 2012 at 5:05 pm (13 years ago)Someone start making these in Philly, please.
@phillydesign
July 15, 2012 at 5:14 pm (13 years ago)Solution to the only bad thing about hard shell
@phillydesign
July 15, 2012 at 5:14 pm (13 years ago)Solution to the only bad thing about hard shell
@NoNormMacdonald
July 17, 2012 at 6:52 am (13 years ago)Genius…
@GeorgePhiripes
August 1, 2012 at 12:52 pm (13 years ago)An ice cream cone + a taco = the TACONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #WANT
@davbak
August 10, 2012 at 6:33 pm (13 years ago)I want one.
@Migor
August 10, 2012 at 6:50 pm (13 years ago)I want one.
@LAFoodie
August 10, 2012 at 7:39 pm (13 years ago)A crunchy taco shell in the shape of a cone: Tacone. I love this. #tacovations
@LAFoodie
August 10, 2012 at 7:39 pm (13 years ago)A crunchy taco shell in the shape of a cone: Tacone. I love this.
@JBranchCNN
August 10, 2012 at 7:51 pm (13 years ago)From the “why didn’t I think of that?” category
@cmlarr
August 10, 2012 at 8:35 pm (13 years ago)this is ingenious
@cmlarr
August 10, 2012 at 8:35 pm (13 years ago)this is ingenious
Antonio
December 12, 2012 at 4:28 pm (12 years ago)I seen this concept on a food truck in Seattle. It was also on the show Eat street. also done on Iron Chef.
i have made them before as well and are fantastic. Sweet ones with Cin-sugar with fresh fruit salsa.
Fantastic
felix
March 27, 2013 at 11:00 pm (12 years ago)Patent infringement: Roger Wylie, Patent Attorney, Seattle, WA.
Nick
March 28, 2013 at 12:51 am (12 years ago)Huh?
Arthur
May 22, 2013 at 11:20 pm (12 years ago)A woman from Seattle has patented the corn/hard shell cone taco. This is why fried burritos, not tacos are marketed as soft flour tortillas, formed like a cone at every restaurant, food truck, and sports arena…otherwise she would sue them. No person or corporation can make them without her permission.
Nick
May 23, 2013 at 8:03 am (12 years ago)Does she have a restaurant or website or anything? Because after I made my Tacone a guy from Michigan also claimed he had it patented.
Brit
June 3, 2013 at 6:07 pm (12 years ago)I bought her taco’s at Whole Foods, a few years back. They were called Rick’s Organic Volcanic. I believe Roger Wylie is her Patent Attorney in Seattle, WA. You could ask him to confirm?
Doug Hall
July 21, 2017 at 8:47 am (8 years ago)Very cool. We make flaxseed cones, and fill them with savory and sweet food. We have what’s called an Epic cone, our version of the taco truck taco. Spicy and vegan. Check out our Instagram page /rawdaddyfoods.
Will P
April 12, 2019 at 4:37 pm (6 years ago)Hey, you stole the idea I came up with last night and googled to find this site, congratulations and rock on dudefoods. Can’t wait to have one or 2 or many.
Nick
April 12, 2019 at 5:33 pm (6 years ago)Hahaha, I’ve actually been meaning to go back and re-create the Tacone since this blog post is so old and the pictures aren’t very good. I wanna form a quesadilla into a cone and make a Quesadilla Tacone!