Marshall – In the northeast corner of our state, you’ll find the town of Marshall with its majestic old courthouse overlooking the center of Harrison County. It’s a big draw to town, but so is the food you’ll find at the Wright on Taco Shop. “East Texas has it going on,” said Julie Wright. “We can hang with the big cities.”
Julie and her husband Brian own the Wright on Taco Shop but don’t let the name fool you, this place offers much more than just tacos. They also smoke some serious meats. “Tacos and barbecue,” said Julie. “It’s the Texas way to eat.”
Now BBQ wasn’t originally on the menu when Julie kicked off this eatery adventure with a taco truck, but when the couple decided to take that next step with a brick-and-mortar building it happened to have a little bonus. “In that restaurant, it was a barbecue shop, so there was this old pit that was there, and we added that to part of the deal,” said Julie. “Keep the pit there and let’s see what we can do with it.”
They did very well. “We did not know what we were getting into with the restaurant business, and you probably hear that a lot, but we really just took it as our responsibility of, let’s bring our best so that we can serve our best,” said Julie. “Craft barbecue takes a ton of time. It takes a ton of prep time, a ton of attention, and just the actual process. And then the tacos, we don’t take that for granted, either. We make as much from scratch that we can.”
When faced with this conundrum, there’s only one thing to do; get both! Assistant pitmaster Josie Bib gave me a preview of our first treat, the Texas Twinkies. “It’s a jalapeño,” said Josie. “It’s wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cream cheese and brisket. They’re delicious. Those sell out pretty much every day”
In the kitchen, Austin Foust got to work on a special sandwich called the Porkstrami. This piece of pork is brined for 7 days before getting smoked and it smells amazing. “We are really trying to think of ways that we could use pork shoulder a little bit more, just due to the cost of things, but also how great pork shoulder is,” said Julie. “I think it’s overlooked in several barbecue applications. It’s just so good.”
Austin takes half a pound of the pork, stacks it high on a toasted potato roll and tops it off with honey mustard BBQ sauce, onions, and cilantro. “That porkstrami is that nice little pink color,” said Austin. “Now, that’s not the smoke ring. That’s the brine color.”
The tacos start off with freshly made tortillas. “We press these every morning and we go through them like a fart in a windstorm,” said Austin.
We get the thunder rolling with the Hannah, a simple taco with barbecued chicken, bacon, and queso. The Texican starts off with chopped up brisket, gets topped with coleslaw, jalapenos, and BBQ sauce. Finally, there’s the Employee of the Month. Not to worry, it’s only fried shrimp with some fried avocado, lettuce, cheese, pico, and aioli. No employees harmed in the making.
With a plate full of food in front of you it’s not easy to decide what to go for first, but that Texas Twinkie certainly isn’t a bad place to start. The smokiness of the brisket goes great with that peppered bacon, and the jalapeno and cream cheese cut through the richness of the meat perfectly.
Up next is the Hannah taco, which features nothing but meat and cheese. The chicken is tender and the bacon is crispy, and that cheese just pulls everything together. The Texican features that same awesome brisket from the Texas Twinkie, with a fresh slaw that keeps everything nice and moist. Finally, the Employee of the Month is a lighter fare that is packed with flavor.
Finally, if you have any room to spare, it’s worth using on the monstrous Porkstrami. The classic pastrami brine works wonders on a pork soldier to make a sandwich that’s worth running all the way to Marshall for a taste.
Well, whether you’re in the mood for some terrific tacos or a particular pork sandwich that’s put together perfectly, coming into the Wright On Tacos shop is definitely well worth the stop on The Texas Bucket List. “I just say, ‘Come on, give us a chance,’” said Julie. “Try it out and we’ll show you what we got.”