Bent Taco

The name is a thesis. At Bent Taco, the taco is the starting point and the bend is the cooking — a Baja fish taco finished with gochujang-lime crema, a brisket taco built on chimichurri and potato crackling, a burrito that runs General Tso chicken through coconut rice and kimchi. The base is Mexican and the grammar is Southern California, but the kitchen keeps reaching past both for the detail that turns a familiar plate into its own. This is a Collingwood taco-and-drinks kitchen that treats the format as a frame to push against rather than a tradition to protect.

The taco lineup is where to start. The Baja Fish arrives bright and crunchy — crisp fried fish under red cabbage, radish, and apple, pulled together with gochujang-lime crema and cilantro. The Meat & Potatoes taco is the richer counterweight: braised brisket, jack cheese, chimichurri, beet crema, and a scatter of potato crackling. Between them sit the Chicken Tinga, chili-roasted and gluten-free, and the Pork Carnita, pulled pork brightened with pineapple salsa over coconut rice. The same fillings carry into burritos and bowls — a Chicken Tinga Burrito with Monterey jack, coconut rice, and pickled red cabbage among them — so a table can pick the format it wants without leaving the menu's centre. Most of the tacos come marked gluten-free, which makes the lineup easy to navigate without a special request.

The plates around the tacos are just as considered. Tot Supreme is the easiest way to turn dinner into a shared order — spiced tots buried in queso fundido, crema fresca, pickled onions, and scallions, with loaded Nachos as the larger version. The lighter side holds its own: a Bent Ceviche that changes with what is fresh, a Watermelon Salad of compressed melon with daikon, cotija, crushed chips, and roasted-jalapeno vinaigrette, and a Street Corn Elote of charred kernels, crispy shallot, guacamole, and cilantro-lime vinaigrette. The Quesadilla Supreme keeps a straighter line — grilled chicken and cheddar with pico de gallo and green onion.

That reach for the unexpected is the through-line. The General Tso Burrito is the menu's biggest swing — crispy chicken, coconut rice, kimchi, pickled jalapenos, and spicy crema, more playful than any taco-bar fallback. The Cubano borrows from a different tradition entirely, layering smoked ham and melted cheddar with kosher dills and cumin-lime crema on a milk bun. Even dessert keeps the house stamp: churros under cinnamon sugar with a house-made dolce, and a Bent Ice Cream Sammy of fresh-baked cookie, vanilla ice cream, and mixed-berry compote.

Plant-based diners are not handed a single modified side. The Bent Fried Cauliflower Taco dusts and fries the cauliflower, then loads it with avocado, apple, cabbage, and scallion crema; the Chorizo Beet Tostada spices beets in place of meat and finishes them with guacamole, chimichurri, and radish. There is a Coliflor Frita over coconut rice and beans, and Vegan Nachos built on black beans, guajillo, and salsa rojo. The vegetarian and vegan paths stay in the main flow of the menu rather than tucked off to one side.

All of it points toward a planned night rather than a quick stop. Bent Taco has worked Collingwood's Downtown Heritage District since 2016, a few minutes from the Blue Mountain slopes, and it leans into the occasion: a drinks list of margaritas and cocktails, a tequila-and-mezcal selection, a patio for the warm months, and reservations for the nights it fills. There is a takeout menu, too, for the evenings that stay home. The menu is wide enough to keep a mixed table happy — meat-eater, vegetarian, and the one who wants a margarita first — without anyone settling. Order the Baja Fish and the Meat & Potatoes as the first read, put Tot Supreme in the middle, and let someone take the General Tso swing.