MANCHESTER, NH — When Marie Campos typed a simple search into Google looking for “taco tours” around the country, she wasn’t expecting it would lead her to an epic adventure, including booking a flight to New Hampshire to see for herself if “the world’s biggest taco tour” was for real.
But that’s exactly what happened.
Campos, communications and marketing staff for Minneapolis-based Lake Street Council, said she came across Manchester’s Taco Tour while researching ideas for her own organization’s annual event in Minnesota, which happens in September. The search result described Manchester’s event as the nation’s — and in some places the world’s — largest taco tour.
Her first reaction?
“I just couldn’t believe that this is real,” Campos said. “You see a lot of things online and you never know what’s real and what isn’t.”
Campos traveled from Minneapolis to experience the event firsthand and report back to her colleagues.
The result, she said, was “unbelievably amazing.” What impressed her most wasn’t just the crowds. On paper, the event seemed almost impossible.
“Any event that is during the work week, only four hours, cash only — all of those restrictions — is amazing for any city,” Campos said. “The fact that that is done here, I think, is really amazing.”
Campos represents Lake Street Council, a nonprofit economic development organization that supports a six-mile commercial corridor in Minneapolis that is home to more than 2,000 businesses, many of them immigrant-owned. The council organizes the Lake Street Taco Tour, an event designed to celebrate the area’s cultural diversity and food scene.
While Minneapolis’ taco tour spans miles of city streets and dozens of participating businesses, Campos said one of the biggest lessons she took from Manchester was the power of concentration and simplicity.
She praised the Greater Manchester Chamber and the ease of volunteer sign-ups, the event’s marketing and the sense that the entire city was invested in its success.
“I really loved how it feels like the community has some skin in the game here, and everyone really wants to see it succeed,” Campos said.
She also pointed to the straightforward format that allows participants to walk up to vendors, hand over a few dollars in cash and receive a featured taco without having to navigate lengthy menus or make complicated choices.
“I think that simplicity is really amazing,” she said. “It’s a great way to introduce customers to businesses and give them a shot if they’ve never tried anything before.”
Another aspect that stood out was the event’s exclusivity.
During her visit, Campos attempted to sample several Taco Tour offerings before the event itself, and was repeatedly told she would have to wait.
Rather than finding that frustrating, she viewed it as part of what makes the experience special.
“It does make it really special,” she said. “It’s a moment. You can’t miss it,” Campos said.
According to Mallory and Kyle Chumas, who through their agency, Married Marketers, helped out with this year’s Taco Tour, Campos was not the only person who traveled to New Hampshire as a Taco Tourist.
“Kyle and I were just sitting here talking about all the stories from yesterday, and I was trying to pick and choose which ones to share on social media, and we were talking about the person from Minnesota to volunteer, and I look up and there she is,” said Mallory Chumas.
At that moment, Jonathan Hutchins of William & Sons Coffee inside the Beacon Building, where Campos stopped for morning coffee, came over and offered up a souvenir box of leftover Horchata-filled Concha Croissants for the trip home, which was their Taco Tour offering,.
Campos happily accepted.
Like many visitors, when asked, Campos struggled for a moment to pinpoint her favorite tacos – “there were so many,” but among the standouts for her was an ice cream taco from Creative Kones, which she described as memorable and unique.
Beyond the food, Campos came away a true believer in Manchester’s Taco Tour hype.
This was her first visit to New Hampshire. She stayed in a downtown hotel, found staff there eager to share Taco Tour recommendations and encountered residents who were enthusiastic about the event.
“People here are so nice,” Campos said. “Everyone has just been so nice.”
The trip also reinforced something bigger than the hype and beyond tacos.
For Campos, the success of Manchester’s Taco Tour demonstrates the power of community-centered events to support local businesses and create economic activity.
“Taco tour or not,” she said, “any sort of event like this that brings economic development and support to businesses is truly amazing.”
As for whether Minneapolis hopes to challenge Manchester’s claim as the biggest taco tour around?
Campos laughed.
“No, I don’t think so,” she said. “I mean, if it just happened, I couldn’t reject it.”
For now, she’s returning to Minnesota with plenty of ideas, a few souvenirs, and perhaps the most important takeaway of all: the legendary Manchester Taco Tour is, in fact, real.
Below: Taco Tour Gallery by Stacy Harrison
