Today, eaters in Lincoln Square get a whimsical world of walking tacos, splashy street art, and kitschy decor via a Lincoln Avenue storefront. Taco In a Bag, from two of the top competitive eaters in the world (Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti and Tim "Gravy" Brown), officially moves from a suburban mall to the city for an 11 a.m. opening.
Beginning as the wild food truck Glutton Force Five, the brick-and-mortar concept was born after the pair won the suburban space on an episode of the Food Network show "Food Truck Wars." The Lincoln Avenue space involves a variety of out-there decor elements, such as oversized bottlecaps used as stools, murals to their "Taco Thief" character, and their Glutton Force Five claw machine game. Framed newspaper clippings and trophies from their eating exploits adorn a rear wall.
To eat, Bertoletti and Brown aim to "save the world from boring food" utilizing 12 varieties of walking tacos (bags of chips with a variety of creatively-themed toppings), six types of doughnuts in a bag for dessert, and elotes. It opens at 11 a.m. daily and stays open late on weekends, until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.