The Secret Allure of Taco Billy

West Asheville’s Taco Billy seems to fly a bit under the radar. It’s not blatantly white-people-making-overrated-trendy-tacos the way White Duck is, nor is it authentic like Taqueria Munoz. It exists somewhere between and thus doesn’t seem to reap the same word-of-mouth as the other two. 

Taco Billy was the first place I had Ashevillian tacos back in the fall of 2018. I wrongly remember thinking they were just ok and thus didn’t return till earlier this spring (my first experience was Taqueria Munoz was similarly and misguidedly “meh,” so if you learn anything from this post, it’s that my first impression of any given taco joint is probably wrong). Now, however, it’s one of my favorite places to eat…but the real draw for me, and the star of Taco Billy that I believe puts it on a whole other level from the other Ashevillian taco shops is the Taco Billy-branded cookies you can buy at the register.  

Listen, I think Taco Billy does phenomenal tacos. They have my favorite breakfast tacos in town (and while I typically need 3-4 breakfast tacos to feel full, I sometimes struggle to get down two of theirs), I dig the Yard Bird, and their backyard eating area is essentially an underrated place to hang with some $2.50 Tecates for the afternoon. It’s the cookie, though, that I crave, that I sometimes wake up at night thinking about, that will sometimes even make me suggest Taco Billy when going out to eat with friends, even if I’m not really in the mood for tacos. 

The cookie isn’t necessarily super innovative—two chocolate shortbread cookies sandwiched around the right amount of nutella—but it’s delicious. Every time I have one, I feel compelled to talk about how good it is for the rest of the day and typically text at least one friend to tell them the merits of this particular cookie. 

Criminally, there’s no mention of this cookie anywhere on the Taco Billy website. I scoured both Yelp and Trip Advisor—no mention either (though there were several mentions on Yelp about how Taco Billy is good, although not keto-friendly, even though they don’t advertise themselves as a keto-friendly taco joint…people really are the worst). Like Taco Billy itself, it sort of flies under the radar. 

Asheville has an overwhelming amount of taco options. Asheville also has many bakeries and shops with locally-made, bespoke cookies to satisfy your sweet tooth. But where else can you get the taco/cookie combination you never knew you needed? Only Taco Billy.