EAST END Smoke BBQ Taqueria

The aroma inside Smoke is such that they could charge a cover just to come in and huff the haze of the slow-burning wood chips and roasting meat like a culinary contact high.

But the scent is free and One imagines that the the tacos are well worth the pitch meeting to investors of money at Jeff Petruso and the Columbus-basedNelda Carranco’s perfect Condado tacos, which melding of barbecue and tortilla opened its first location outside shells. The barbecue the Buckeye State earlier could stand alone as some of this spring Downtown, the best in the city — the could’ve been summed up in pick here is the brisket. That two words: stoner tacos. it’s delivered in taco form

There’s psychedelic street makes it worth the long art and tacos such as the waits and cash only policy. vegan Purple Haze (tofu, rice, black beans, red cabbage, tomatoes and mango habanero sauce). The Bubba Kush, which sounds like something that Wiz Khalifa or Willie Nelson might’ve personally designed for the munchies: a soft flour shell wrapped around a hard corn shell that’s lined with bacon refried beans, guacamole, sour cream, smoked cheddar, pulled pork, jicama, onions, pineapple salsa and jackfruit BBQ sauce.

Then there are the potential permutations of the build-your-own combinations — with a half dozen different shells, 10 proteins, 7 sauces, 3 salsas, 4 cheeses and 6 toppings it’s, uh … a lot (30,240 — but check our math to be sure).

Condado Tacos Round Corner Cantina

Approaching eight years in business, the Cantina remains the place to see and be seen in LoLa (that’d be Lower Lawrenceville) with a sun-splashed and newly remodeled back patio and bar and a tequila list among the tops in the city — oh, and they have tacos, too.

The Tecate-marinated Asada is a favorite as is the 12-hour brisket, but for something completely different the Vegan Mole is the choice, with black beans, and crisp tangy pickled carrot and bright marinated radish to complement a rich dark mole sauce. the Oakland mothership, which will turn 25 next year.

The funky Mexican artwork and murals and sculpture by Rich Bach have taken on a timeless feel. The site of a few generations worth of Pitt kids’ first dates and first margaritas (and first dates due to first margaritas and vice versa) it’s become el Corazon of a local dining empire.

It’s also spawned poor imitations, but Mad Mex manages to keep things fresh with rotating craft drafts and cocktails, and new taco combinations, such as the seasonal smoky grilled chicken and asparagus tacos with English peas, cilantro cream, Cotija cheese and fresh pea tendrils. with fun combinations such as a mango habanero pork or smoked brisket with bourbon barbecue sauce, candied jalapenos with crispy fried onions.

And lest one ever think that tacos are just tacos, consider that longtime Doce employee Steve Riffe, who helped open the place in 2015, honed his chops there and recently left to begin study at the elite Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, Calif.