SHREVEPORT, LA - A record-breaking crowd flocked to this year’s Taco Wars to celebrate Latino culture, food and music at one of the country’s largest one day taco and salsa festival and competition. The festival, presented by Maestro Dobel, Modelo, and the Prize Foundation, returned on April 26 outside the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium to the fanfare of taco lovers throughout the area and generated over $168,000 in revenue for these local businesses, a 30% increase over revenue generated from Taco Wars 2024. The Prize Foundation worked in partnership with the Hispanic Heritage Alliance of Northwest Louisiana to recruit the 14 taquerias from Northwest Louisiana and East Texas as well as the live music acts – from award-winning mariachi band, Mariachi Los Caporales, to the Valera Brothers and Los Primos NG – featured at this year’s Taco Wars

“It was pretty mind blowing to see the crowds from all over the region come together and celebrate Latino and Hispanic culture,” said Gregory Kallenberg, Executive Director of the Prize Foundation and founder of Taco Wars. “The Prize Foundation is incredibly proud to host Taco Wars and see our community come together and, more importantly, eat a record number of tacos. Congrats to the winners, though, it feels like everyone won!”

The festival featured fourteen area taquerias, selling tacos to the public and battling it out for the coveted Golden Taco (Best Taco) and Golden Molcajete (Best Salsa). Participating taquerías for 2025 included El Novillo Meat Market, La Potranca, La Villa Taqueria, Maria's Kitchen, Mi Meza Latin Cuisine, Mi Mercadito, Nicky's Mexican Restaurant, Pedro’s Mexican Restaurant, Ramirez Mexican Restaurant, Taqueria El Eden, Taqueria Flores, Taqueria La Reyna Del Sur, Taqueria Mi Palmar, and Taqueria San Miguel. For competing taquerias, it’s an opportunity to reach new customers and generate sales, with 90% of taco sales go directly back to the competing businesses.

A panel of celebrity taco aficionados visited each of taqueria’s tents, tasted all of the submitted tacos and after careful deliberation, declared La Villa Taqueria the winner of the Best Taco and the $1000 cash prize.

All taquerias also gave out free tastings of chips and salsas to the hungry crowd. Attendees were given voting tokens upon entry to the festival and voted to decide the Golden Molcajete winner. Ramirez Mexican Restaurant just defended its title, with a tie for this year’s Best Salsa vote alongside Taqueria San Miguel. Both taquerias were awarded a $500 cash prize.