Vertical cuisine is making waves in the food scene, and Baltimore’s La Food Marketa is at the forefront of this trend with its innovative Taco Tower. This Pikesville hotspot has created a dining experience that’s as visually stunning as it is delicious. The Taco Tower, priced at $125, is designed to feed four and presents a stacked array of flavors that have quickly become a must-try for food enthusiasts.
The architectural wonder of the Taco Tower features three tiers loaded with Mexican-inspired delights. The top tier is generously filled with tacos, the heart of the tower. Moving down to the second level, diners will discover a tempting combination of seven-layer dip, creamy queso, flavorful street corn, and a fiery hot sauce to add an extra kick. The base level offers a delightful mix of crispy Buffalo chicken taquitos and La Food Marketa’s signature house-made cheese bread, providing a solid and tasty foundation to this vertical feast.
Executive Chef Johntay Bedingfield, the culinary mind behind this creation, shared that the Taco Tower was born from a desire to inject fun and wordplay into La Food Marketa’s menu. Collaborating with owner-chef Chad Gauss, Bedingfield’s taco tower concept quickly moved from a text message idea to a restaurant reality. Within days of brainstorming, the chefs were sourcing tiered stands online and experimenting with plating. The immediate customer reaction was overwhelmingly positive. “We plated the first one,” Bedingfield recalls, “and people went berserk.”
La Food Marketa now serves approximately 70 Taco Towers weekly, a testament to its immense popularity. However, the dish’s fame skyrocketed when food influencer Chris Franzoni, known as @EatMoreBeMore, showcased the Taco Tower in a viral reel on Instagram. This social media buzz drew patrons from across the state eager to witness and taste this vertical culinary creation for themselves.
Interestingly, Chef Bedingfield points out that the components of the Taco Tower are not new additions to La Food Marketa’s menu. “Everything that’s on that tower has been on the menu for years—it’s nothing new,” explains the Chopped champion. The genius lies in the presentation. By stacking familiar favorites into a tower, La Food Marketa transformed them into a trendy, shareable spectacle.
The Taco Tower experience extends beyond just eating. Bedingfield enjoys watching customers interact with the dish. “People have their phones out,” he observes. “Here, we’re all about hot food, but they spend five minutes taking photos and spinning the tower before they eat it.” This playful engagement highlights how La Food Marketa has successfully blended delicious food with a memorable, Instagram-worthy presentation, making the Taco Tower a true Baltimore food phenomenon.
