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We sought out Solbird, wanting to visit a non-chain eatery on the north-side that served local craft beer with a foodie-rep…which was surprisingly hard to find in north-side Fort Wayne. We had a long morning at the zoo and were pretty hungry by the time we dropped by Solbird. The dining space was modern industrial, but brightly colored, with a long bar on one side and small kitchen in the back with two (2) cooks. The menu consisted of fusion and creative Mexican-influenced items; tacos/quesadillas/burritos, but with ingredients such as Korean-marinated pork, chorizo made in-house, goat cheese, kimchi slaw, and fresh veggie combinations. We ordered the shrimp, pesto & goat cheese quesadilla, guacamole & chips, Mexican caesar salad, and two (2) tacos (Korean beef and shrimp & chorizo). While it was great that Solbird offered the local Birdboy beer and other nearby drafts, there were not any beer styles that appealed to us, so we stuck with water. Everything was okay up to when we ordered…but then…the wait. We were two (2) out of approximately seven (7) patrons, of which four (4) already received their food. The Mexican caesar and guacamole came out after about ten (10) minutes. The guacamole was okay, but the portion size was very small for the price. Nothing was very Mexican about the caesar, except for the addition of pepitas…it definitely needed spruced up flavor-wise. We then waited almost twenty (20) more minutes for the two (2) tacos and quesadilla. It looked like the kitchen was working on a catering order and had forgotten about our tickets. When we received our food, we preferred the tacos over the sort-of bland quesadilla (which needed more pesto). The tacos had lots of meat and toppings, definitely not a skimpy taco portion. The “Jazzy” shrimp and chorizo taco was my favorite, with a good combination of different textures and balanced flavors. Some house-made salsas or hot sauces would have been a nice spicy addition to the tacos and quesadilla, but it looked like only Tapatio was available. Anyhoo, I had high hopes for Solbird. We’d perhaps visit again when on the north-side of Fort Wayne to check out the rotating beer menu or the brunch offerings. They could hopefully work out the service timing and make a few tweaks…they definitely have the imaginative flavor combos which the Dupont/Highway 3 area needs and I hope they are successful.

• Taco King Food Truck – Menu with Prices – 4001 N Armenia Ave, Tampa
• Fonda Los Hermanos Mata – Menu with Prices – 3412 Westminster Ave, Santa Ana
• Birria?s El Padrino – Menu with Prices – 3753 Mission Ave Suite 121A, Oceanside
• Taqueria El Farolito – Menu with Prices – 565 Sebastopol Rd, Santa Rosa
• Rosalita’s Backyard Tacos – Menu with Prices – 3319 N Rampart St, New Orleans
• Calle Tacos & Lounge – Menu with Prices – 1440 Secor Rd Suite 120R, Toledo
• Antojitos Mexicanos Celaya – Menu with Prices – 6075 Winchester Rd, Memphis
• Taqueria Sinaloense – Menu with Prices – 4418 Edward Rd #4498, West Palm Beach
• Green Lechuga – Taco food truck – Menu with Prices – 23033 Gosling Rd, Spring
• Gomez Taco Shop – Menu with Prices – 4800 S Central Ave, Los Angeles
• Taquiero Taco Patio – Menu with Prices – 4517 Campus Dr, Irvine
• La Poblanita Deli Menu with Prices 767 St John St, Allentown

Taco King Food Truck – Menu with Prices – 4001 N Armenia Ave, Tampa

The Taco King Food Truck is located off North Armenia Avenue, North of i275, 1 block north of where Howard and Armenia merge, next to a Citgo Gas Station, McDonald’s, Advance Auto, and Dunkin Donuts. Although the Taco King Food Truck has set up permanent shop next to the Citgo gas station, there aren’t any picnic tables for sitting or eating nearby and it would definitely be nice to have. I was very disappointed that the Taco King Food Truck took the fish tacos off their menu, did not serve pulled pork, did not serve shrimp, and 2 of their tacos are only served over the weekend from Friday to Sunday. This left me with only 4 types of taco options including Al Pastor, Chroizo, Carne Asada, and Pollo. Since I’m tired of chicken and not a big fan of chorizo, it only left me with 2 options- the Al Pastor and the Carne Asada. Most taco places offer shrimp, pulled pork, flavored steak, and flavored pulled pork tacos. The Al Pastor and Carne Asada tacos were a bit on the small side and he marinade used wasn’t my favorite. The house made orange and green hot sauces helped make up for the marination short comings but the hot sauces were not quite as good as my favorite taco Food Truck Loli’s Mexican Cravings. Aside from tacos, Taco King Food Truck also serves Quesadillas, Burritos, Quesurittos, and Gringa Flour Tortillas. If you’re looking for a better taco food truck, I highly recommend Loli’s Mexican cravings with better marinades, more meat options, and better house made hot sauces. Loli’s Mexican Cravings is mobile though so you’ll have to check their schedule to see when they’re available. If you’re looking for good tacos in the same area north of the interstate I recommend Taqueria Emanuel off North Macdill and West Columbus.

Fonda Los Hermanos Mata – Menu with Prices – 3412 Westminster Ave, Santa Ana

a diamond in the rough, a hidden gem. Another whole in the wall, but then again, all good taco spots are. This small joint is inside the Santa Ana indoor swapmeet. A little ghetto, but if you let your adventurous side lead you, your taste buds will thank you. This is why I fell in love w/ this place: 1. Handmade fluffy delicious tortillas (regular size not the typical layered tiny taco tortilla). 2. The meat (cecina and alpastor) super flavorful 3. Spicy, but awesome habanero hot sauce. 4. jumbo size (about 15 inches) quesadilla. Stuffed with cheese, lettuce, sour cream and your choice of meat ( I had it with chorizo). And yes the quesadilla was also prepared with a handmade tortilla. (big enough to share) tacos are 1.75 and quesadillas are about 4.75. I paid about $18 for 4 tacos, 1 quesadilla, and 2 large size drinks. Closed on Tuesdays. Open M-F until 7pm.

Birria?s El Padrino – Menu with Prices – 3753 Mission Ave Suite 121A, Oceanside

Birrias El Padrino is a birrieria that specializes in both birria de chivo (made with goat, popular in the Mexican state of Jalisco) and beef de res (made with beef, popular in Tijuana), among other varied fare. Surprisingly, the eclectic menu also contains San Diego-style Mexican specialties such as “Carne Asada French Fries” smothered in sour cream and cheese, as well as “Rolled Tacos” and “California Burritos” — all of which seem out of place at a restaurant that allowed me a peak into their kitchen while their chef was stuffing a suckling pig for roasting. Nonetheless, I won’t fault the restaurant for doing what they feel is necessary to stay in business in North County, a ritzy region sandwiched between San Diego and Orange County that notoriously underappreciates legit Mexican fare, or edible food in general. I’m sure Birras El Padrino’s burritos are pretty good, but I can’t think of a reason in the world to order one when there are so many more interesting things to eat here. I admire a place that does things the hard way, the right way — and this is evident by the quality of the tortilla de hecho a mano (handmade) they serve their regular tacos with. I had both a “Goat Birria Taco” and “Beef Birria Taco” with this house-made tortilla and was impressed by the heft and distinctive taste of the tortilla and the flavor and silkiness of the meats. According to the restaurant, they add birria consommé back into the birria once it is scooped onto the tortillas, a pro move to ensure the meats are at their juiciest when they’re served to you. I much preferred their goat briria over their beef birria. It possesses more a more interesting and intense taste, even as the seasoning and piquancy (of which there is much) is identical between both braises. The goat is mild, but still tastes distinctly like goat. However, if you come here, you must order the “Quesataco de Chivo,” my favorite goat birria taco in SoCal south of Los Angeles. They utilize two corn tortillas, the aforementioned house-made tortilla grilled AND a bagged tortilla dipped in consommé, with both tortillas griddled back-to-back except for the mild white cheese in the middle that melts, forming a crunchy and gooey taco shell that itself evokes a quesadilla de maiz. As the taco equivalent of a stuffed-crust pizza, this is perhaps the ultimate cheesy, spicy, greasy hang-over cure. Just writing about this taco makes me want to drink tonight until I’m cross-eyed so I have an excuse to drive an hour to Oceanside tomorrow morning to make myself right. The “Consommé de Chivo” on its own was also pretty good with its heavy collagen content making it more of a sophisticated full-bodied, fully-realized rendered goat stock than what I’ve come to expect from birria consommé. This makes a great dip for the “Quesataco de Chivo,” imparting even more flavor to a taco that has its flavor knob already turned up to 11. Birrias El Padrino is a meticulously clean restaurant tended to by pleasant people who were proud of the food they are serving, in addition to being both curious and supportive of my current #SummerOfTastyTacos journey. (Thanks to Yelp friend Aiko N. for her excellent recommendation to me of this mom ‘n pop restaurant that is on no one else’s radar. Hopefully that changes!) Food/Décor/Service: 4.3/3.7/NA #SummerOfTastyTacos – Taco Tracker: https://bit.ly/2IHTmfY Taco Score: Birria de Chivo Quesataco (94/100), Birria de Chivo Taco (91/100), Birria de Res Taco (80/100) What to Order: Birria de Chivo Quesataco

Taqueria El Farolito – Menu with Prices – 565 Sebastopol Rd, Santa Rosa

Ordered the chicken quesadilla with the guacamole and salsa on the side. The tortilla was crispy and not soggy at all. There was plenty of chicken and cheese. The guacamole was a tad to small for my liking but very good. I will definitely try the tacos next time. Prices are very reasonable to. Located in a working class neighborhood.

Rosalita’s Backyard Tacos – Menu with Prices – 3319 N Rampart St, New Orleans

Tacos are my favorite and I have had quite a few in new orleans area. Rosalita’s is my favorite taco spot. Most importantly, the tacos are the best in the city. Rosalita’s tacos are not overly complicated like some other taco spots, yet they are still flavorful. The flavor of the pork in particular is spectacular (and it happens to be the least expensive one so load up!). All served on traditional corn tortilla that is perfectly cooked – not hard or mushy. Topped with a light cabbage slaw. Not drowning in cheese or sauces. They offer the perfect selection of everything you’d want at a taco spot (amazing from a small operation). All the meats (chicken, pork, brisket, and even chorizo), fish, and veggie. The price is low every day not just during happy hour. $2 for pork, $3 for fish, brisket or chorizo. You can get it in taco, burrito, quesadilla or nacho, and even though they are a 2 person shop operating out of a backyard alley, they even fry up some taquitos if you want them. They don’t slack on the drinks either. You can get 2 kinds of homemade lemonade, or fruit juice, or a mexican soda. Love it. The only other thing that would make it even better would be some house made horchata. Lets talk about the location. For some, its an unappealing alley in a difficult to find spot. You wouldn’t find it unless you are looking for it. But for me, that IS the appeal. Its reminiscent of trips to mexico where the tacos are best from a street vendor. Sadly, I don’t live in this area so I don’t get here as often as I’d like and Rosalitas has short hours. I would highly recommend you make your way to the bywater and experience Rosalitas before some New Orleans law shuts them down. A few tips, its cash only, there is little to no seating. Bring cash, and a chair, stay a while, make a friend or two.

Calle Tacos & Lounge – Menu with Prices – 1440 Secor Rd Suite 120R, Toledo

I’ve visited Calle a few times now. The restaurant’s style is identical to Barrio, which is a popular Mexican restaurant in the Cleveland area. The menu features a “made to order” and “build your own taco” style where you get a variety of proteins and toppings to choose from starting at $3/taco. This is a fun, unique concept, and I think it’s a great idea overall with typically good food. The free chips and salsa offered are not traditional Mexican restaurant chips; they are fried flour tortilla shells. I would say they’re similar to the Chalupa shell from Taco Bell in taste and nature, which I do like. Out of the 4 times I’ve gone there, I was only asked once if I wanted their hot or mild salsa, which was the first time. Now having tried both flavors, I personally prefer their hot salsa much more over the mild salsa option, so I don’t see why they don’t ask this as a standard. Either way, I think the chips and salsa one of the best parts of the food experience. I also have tried their queso with chorizo mixed in, and I enjoyed it also. The tacos themselves have been a hit or miss for me however. Each time I’ve gone it’s slowly gone down in how much I enjoy them. The first time I got a chorizo, chicken, and carne asada (steak) taco. The steak and chorizo were very yummy, and I felt the chicken didn’t have much seasoning to it and was okay. The thing I noticed was that there was a lot of liquid leaking from the meat at the bottom of my basket, which wasn’t bad but it did make the experience a little worse. Overall the first time, I had a great experience. The waitress was extremely nice and was checking in super often with us. The second time I steak, chorizo, and shrimp. The steak and chorizo again were very good, but the shrimp was not that good and had minimal flavor. The third time it was a lot busier than the previous two times. The waitress I had was not that attentive to our table. I didn’t get any refills given to me and she never came to check in on how we were doing. It was a busier night, but every other server seemed to be more frequently checking in on their tables, and our server seemed to have just disappeared when watching. I got a bowl this time for a $1 upcharge, expecting something more similar to a Chipotle burrito bowl, but it was a small bowl of food with chips on the side. The kitchen forgot to add the salsa onto the bowl as requested, which was a bummer but not a big deal. The taste of the meat with the toppings I chose went well together. It felt odd with the chips on the side, so I ended up throwing my bowl on top of the chips to make nachos with it. With the bowl, I personally would suggest opting away from the chips on the side and give a bigger portion of the bowl itself. If you want to keep the chips on the side, you could easily serve it as nachos instead. The last time was the busiest I’ve seen it, and there was a wait for a table, which I could see it being due to their Tuesday all you can eat taco special. We were seated and weren’t approached by a server for about 5 – 10 minutes. Once we did, we had put our orders in right away, and we waited for about another 10 minutes to get drinks and chips and salsa. I ended up doing the All You Can Eat Taco special. The catch of the special is that you can only get chicken or beef as the protein and you only can get it on a soft flour shell with lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and shredded cheese. We waited about 45 – 60 minutes to get our food, which had errors from the kitchen. I didn’t have any cheese on my tacos and my other friend didn’t get any of his BYO tacos and had to wait another 15-20 minutes for them to come out. Our server was nice and helping, but it did seem like she was doing a lot at once. The tacos I got honestly weren’t that good. The regular beef tasted identical to Taco Bell’s and the chicken was just kinda dry and not so flavorful. Had there been othe

Antojitos Mexicanos Celaya – Menu with Prices – 6075 Winchester Rd, Memphis

BEST CHICKEN TACOS EVER! Seriously tho, that seasoning. Family run and awesome, this food truck, located outside Hickory Ridge Mall, doesn’t look much different from other food trucks around Memphis. But it’s so much better. I often see the mom of this Mom and Pop place in Kroger buying groceries for the food truck. She’s the reason we came- she encouraged me to come try their food since our favorite place closed. Hubby and I consider ourselves authentic Mexican food connoisseurs so we had to try some stuff from here. We ordered two chicken tacos, one chorizo taco, and a chille relleno. We were incredibly impressed with both the quality of the meat and the tortillas for the tacos. The chicken was wonderful. I am not sure if she used rotisserie chicken or spiced it herself, but it wasn’t the usual plain, grilled chicken that you usually get in other places. Here thar be FLAVOR! Also it tastes even more amazing with guacamole- which you can request on any taco. In keeping with their already set precedent of awesomeness, their chorizo taco was a whole new wooooooorld. I usually don’t like chorizo and actually told hubby not to bother giving me a bite unless it was extraordinary. And of course, it was. It wasn’t greasy or gross, but rather well-spiced and flavorful. Hubby only permitted me one sample bite before gobbling it all down himself. We ate our delicacies at the fold-out tables right outside the place and used the accouterments on the table. There is a plastic box of limes and a plastic box of onion and cilantro diced up into little pieces as well as napkins and salsa verde and salsa rojo. As normal, the salsa rojo was the spicier of the two, but for once it was also the tastier. I used both salsas on my tacos to try both and loved it. The chille relleno was also unique. Usually you get a whole green bell pepper (or whatever type of pepper they use) halved with the filling stuffed into each side. It’s usually pretty messy to eat. However, this one was fried in batter so everything stayed neatly inside and was easy to eat. It came with Mexican rice and lettuce but I requested some salsa verde (my fav with everything), threw on some cilantro and onion mix, and grabbed a lime. I loved eating the chile relleno by itself but also enjoyed dipping it into the salsa verde. There was actually a man from Michigan in town visiting relatives who was eating there same time as us. He told us it’d been his second visit and he would definitely be back next time he was in town. We couldn’t agree more. Luckily we live much, much closer. To Try: Torta de pollo Loved: – Arroz (Mexican Rice) – Carnitas – Chile Relleno – Guacamole – Salsa Rojo – Salsa Verde – Taco de Pollo (chicken) – Taco de Chorizo Liked: – Enchiladas de Pollo – Panbazo de Picadillo – Ribs – Taco de Steak – Torta del Pastor Disliked: – Caldo de Pescado – Chicharron – Frijoles del Charro – Taco de Borrego (Sheep) – Taco del Pastor – Taco de Pollo con Mole

Taqueria Sinaloense – Menu with Prices – 4418 Edward Rd #4498, West Palm Beach

My review is for the taco truck they have outside some evenings. I haven’t been inside the building. I ordered an asada burrito , chorizo, carnitas and Barbacoa tacos. It was after 11 on a Friday . Service was friendly and cashier spoke perfect English. I started with the burrito. It was medium sized; steak was flavorful and tender, came with some rice, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese, with their orange sauce, radishes and limes in the side. The tacos came with their green sauce on side and more radishes and limes, plus a big cooked jalapeño. They were heavy on the cilantro and all three were outstanding. Carnitas was excellent, Barbacoa was delicious , and I LOVED the chorizo. Their chorizo is the spicy sort and the best I’ve had in the area among the other taquerias I’ve tried. Liked that they included the cooked jalapeño as well. Can’t really comment in the service, but this is some pretty good Mexican street food.

Green Lechuga – Taco food truck – Menu with Prices – 23033 Gosling Rd, Spring

Seriously do you want REAL AUTHENTIC Mexican tacos, quesadillas, tortas or burritos??? You need to visit this food truck. It’s on Sawdust before that real sharp turn in the road a little ways past Grogans Point. The map is almost spot on now. I’ve tried all the other three local taco joints: 1. Cabo Baja and Mexican Grill and nearly puked on their fake can bright orange cheese (want a dose of chemicals?). Plus no thanks to mozzarella cheese on tacos!!!). 2. No to Taco USA’s flaccid microwaved burritos and very Americanized tacos with mush meat. 3. Hello Taco – a wanna be to please the American palate and Hispanic IMO and can’t please me. Sorry get an identity!!! Anyway back to Green Lechuga who’s young men know the “real” secret ingredients to Mexican tacos etc. Their cooking of the al pastor, chicken and beef fajita, chorizo w/potato and chipolte beef are spot on in flavor! Ask them for a sample. They offer the freshest flour or corn tortillas. Someone is obviously making these for them because they are too fresh! Btw if you order your tacos on the flour tortillas you get more food because they are larger. So for a $2 taco you get your choice of taco meat, beans (guy next to me was loaded with them), cheese, avocado, sour cream, onions, cilantro, tomatoes and lettuce. They also have an authentic tasting hot green sauce (Yum). So pretty much order want you want. The guys freshly cook up your meat and add your sides. Not sure if there is an up charge for guacamole. Really good customer service. They have a huge white tent with bright green picnic tables to sit at. Nice place to relax out of the hot sun. I noticed a couple fresh juices and one with chia seeds. Not sure if they rotate them daily. This is the closest Authentic Mexican taco, (etc) place that I have found in The Woodlands area next to La Palma on Ave G in Conroe. Now I just need to talk them into cooking those fried onions like La Palma. They are open for breakfast also and offer egg, bacon, ham and sausage also. What a way to start the day with “real food” that tastes so incredibly good! I love their egg, chorizo, potato with a lil sour cream. Actually I love everything! Yes picky me :))! I noticed they have a tiny sno cone building next to them. I haven’t tried it. Not sure of the hours. Thank you guys for opening near my hood! Just please keep up the quality and you’ll be rewarded :))!!! Yelp Review #314

Gomez Taco Shop – Menu with Prices – 4800 S Central Ave, Los Angeles

Ok so we work literally a couple of businesses down, we were dying to have another food place close to us, so of course we love to support businesses especially when they are starting out, so when they opened I went to get some tacos. I got an asada taco, and a chorizo taco and al pastor and I also got some al pastor nacho fries, and boy were they good (nacho fries) my husband had the tacos and he liked them. Later our friend went and got a quesadilla and he said it was good!!! So then a couple days later my son wanted some chicken tacos and I went to get him some and my son liked them and he’s picky!!! I got a chorizo taco and it was really good!!! So yesterday one of our customers said you gotta try the avocado burger, so today I went and got the avocado burger with garlic fries and OMG BOMB!!!!!! So far what we have tried is good!! The place is pretty clean too they remodeled it and made it look very nice inside very chill. We really do hope that maybe they add more things to the menu like pozole or Birria, I saw a sign that they sell menudo on the weekends only, I’m not a huge menudo fan but so far what we have tried is good.

Taquiero Taco Patio – Menu with Prices – 4517 Campus Dr, Irvine

We were so happy we came here for tacos tonight! We tried the Carne Asada (with guacamole), Al Pastor (with pineapple) and Conchinta pubil (with marinated onions). In addition to the ingredients I mentioned before, each taco was full of yummy sauce and had a generous amount of meat. Each taco is $3.50 or for $4.50 you can get a “quesadilla” when in actuality it is a taco just with melted cheese in the tortilla – so basically a taco (choose your flavor) with melted cheese for $1 more. We found this out when we ordered “quesadillas al pastor” for my kids and then my husband ended up liking the “quesadilla” better than our tacos since it had the melted cheese. We both liked the tacos too – they had a generous amount of meat and lots of sauce & goodies. The restaurant also has a complimentary salsa bar with about 6 different salsas & pico de gallos (even one with mango! yum!) which were all yummy. They had pickled carrots, radishes & limes too. We also got chips & guacamole (tasty but nothing in it – just avocados & seasonings) and for dessert the order of churros that came with a delicious chocolate dipping sauce! My family of 4 shared 2 orders of churros but I ended up eating more of the chocolate dipping sauce than the churros – it was soooo good! The restaurant is located in the Albertsons/Del Taco shopping center on Campus drive by UCI (NOT In the center with Target & Trader Joes!) with free parking. They have both indoor and outdoor patio seating. When you get there you order at the counter then you get a buzzer to know when it’s ready so you go up to the counter to get your food. There were only 2 ladies making the food (so service was a bit slow…be prepared!) but luckily the nice lady who took our order put up a sign “Please order at the bar” and then she started helping in the kitchen too so that sped up service a bit. You can go to the bar (right next to the kitchen inside) and get a multitude of drinks, beers and agua frescas. The Jaimaica tasted like a cross between cranberry juice & cinnamon and the Fresa (Strawberry) was a bit too sweet for me. They have a candy station where everyone can choose a free piece of candy which is fun. I can compare this restaurant as a very Casual Puesto but with a more laid back vibe, without seated servers/waiters and way less menu options. The food was all delicious and it was good value so we’ll be back!

La Poblanita Deli Menu with Prices 767 St John St, Allentown

Small, family owned business restaurant/ bodega type of setting. I have been in so many Mexican restaurants in Allentown and Bethlehem and this one stands out. I ordered Carnitas and chorizo tacos, and chicken flautas with a side lf Guacamole. The meat was well cooked, with a delicious taste while the tacos had the right amount of meat, fresh cilantro and onion also their green sauce was absolutely tatsty and medium hot. Their Flautas were fresh, crunchy but soft at the same time, full of chicken topped with fresh lettuce, onion, tomatoes, avocados and white sauce. Lastly their guacamole was also fresh and delicious, I truly felt like in heaven while eating there. Thanks so much! Best Mexican food In the Lehigh Valley Area!