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These are street tacos done right. I was looking for a place close to my work and I thought, what the hell. So I went and tried it, what a surprise. These tacos would kill anywhere in LA. The place is tucked in a tiny strip mall. And when I say tiny I mean if you blink or sneeze when you’re driving by you’ll miss it. As it is you might miss it anyway. Look hard cause these are some of the best tacos you’ll ever have. They make aguas frescas too, so they have the bona fides. The jalapeño salsa has just the right amount of kick and it’s packed with flavor. But you’re not coming here for salsa, you’re coming here for tacos. Carne asada, al pastor, carnitas, are all here and they’re delicious. The al pastor has nice heat. The carnitas are tender, and the asada has a few crunchy bits that give the meat that extra flavor. For the intrepid out there they have lengua, that’s tongue in case you’re interested, and they have a Korean BBQ taco that even Roy Choi would love. They have tortas (haven’t tried them) and fish tacos too. Prices are way reasonable like street tacos should be. Don’t worry if you forget your cash, they take ApplePay. Just don’t forget your iPhone. The decor is bland but the pictures on the walls make for a good laugh. This isn’t fine dining but worth the visit and the tacos.

Guapos Tacos Menu with Prices 2517 White Ln Ste C, Bakersfield

After a night hike at Wind Wolves I remembered several of my friends who had recommended Guapos tacos. Since I am hardly on that side of town I had yet to visit their location. We looked them up on Yelp and saw they were still open. The restaurant itself is very small but does provide some seating if you want to eat there. Since it was almost closing time we made our order to go so we wouldn’t be that “guy” I ordered the Asada torta, an Asada taco and 3 chicken pastor (Say whaaaa?!?) tacos. I loaded up on 2 of each salsa. Service was very friendly and quick. I was in and out of the place in about 7 minutes. When I got home I opened I up the containers and dug in. Torta was good , it definitely needed more meat in it. It also had a little too much mayo for me. Next time I’ll ask for it without. Overall very tasty. 4/5 Tacos- I should have ate the Asada taco first. Don’t get me wrong it was good but after eating the chicken pastor it made me regret not getting an additional chicken instead. I’m a huge fan of pastor and I know it’s made a variety of ways. It is traditionally made with pork so chicken pastor was a new experience for me. It was great! The salsas really kick up the flavor. I really enjoyed the green and orangeish salsa. The red I wasn’t a fan of. The only downside is that the tacos are 2$ a pop, and relatively small but it seems like everywhere you go now they are 1.25 plus. I miss the days when you get 2 for a 1$ Overall the food was good. I would say 3.5/4 ish borderline. 4 or more, raise the score .

Taqueria La Fogata – Menu with Prices – 4623 S 33rd St, Omaha

This place is next door to Donohue’s Pub on L street. I will give this place 3 stars because the service was fast and the food was cheap. The menu is simple: tacos, tortas, burritos, and quesadillas. Meat choices include: Carne Asada Al Pastor Lengua Chorizo Tripe Barbacoa They offer $1 tacos on Thursdays after 5 pm only. The interior is sort of dated and even a little dirty. There are quite a few tables throughout. I know, these can sometimes be the really good places, right? However, the food was only OK. I ordered carne asada and al pastor tacos. The tacos are built with two street taco-sized corn tortillas, meat, cilantro, onions. They come with lime and salsa (red or green). The green (avocado) salsa is actually spicier than the red, which is not common. Overall, stop in on Thursday after 5 pm if you are in the area or next door at the pub. Otherwise, I’d make the trip to Taqueria Tijuana for tacos.

Tacos Los 3 Reyes – Menu with Prices – 1610 Old Bayshore Hwy, San Jose

Closer to 3.5 stars overall, but their corn tortillas are super fresh and one of the best versions I’ve had in the South Bay. Tacos Los Tres Reyes is located in more of an industrial area. They weren’t busy around 1:30pm on Memorial Day. You order at the food truck, and they have covered seating inside, in addition to their salsa bar. I tried their Chorizo, Suadero, Asada, and Pastor Tacos ($2.20/each, https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=jsF9eCkRQTM2J85n_8rL5w&userid=76vIFZcC7owykCBjMfGVXg). The suadero and asada were my favorites, since they were the most flavorful and seared well. I liked the pineapple in the pastor, but there wasn’t much flavor otherwise. The chorizo was my least favorite- it was spicy, but very dry and crumbly. I would recommend the suadero and asada, but not the chorizo or pastor. However, the corn tortillas were delicious. They were the perfect consistency, and also had good flavor. The salsa bar (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=GElnqnYWRN0mDeUhnXKJvg&userid=76vIFZcC7owykCBjMfGVXg) had a good amount of options. I only tried the orange and green salsas, but I liked both. The majority of tacos and salsas that I tried were spicy, so this isn’t the best place to go if you don’t like spice! For those that like offal, they have a few different options on their menu: buche (stomach), cabeza, and lengua. Pollo and chicharron are also available. I would come back if I was having a taco craving and in the area, and/or for late night eats. However, this is one of the better street taco places in the South Bay that I’ve been to. There was plenty of parking in their lot and also some street parking available.

Taco El Paisa – Menu with Prices – 1649 Elvan Ave, Columbus

On the outside, Tacos El Paisa has the rugged, authentic and hole in the wall type look. After all, it is a truck/shack tucked on a busy road. Small place suited with outdoor seating, if the weather chooses not to participates with your meal no worries there is an overhead shed type roof to keep your head and food dry! Mainly people whom venture towards stops like these either have experienced the cuisine before or are willing and eager to try new places. As far as best Mexican food in town its up for debate but its a contender for sure. The usual options on the menu as you would find on any other choices. Ordered Tacos and a Torta. For the tacos, I got carne asada and Al pastor for the meat and got the carne asada for the torta with a Horchata for my beverage. Street tacos are generally known for their doubled corn tortillas with meat, diced white onions, chopped cilantro, and your choice of salsa over the tacos. At this place, they provide a serve yourself type of topping station. These tortillas seemed heated by way of fryer and sort of left the tortillas a little tough on the bite, not a big deal. Carne Asada is the staple of street taco cuisine and the most common choice, to me it did the job of satisfying the craving but was definitely mass produced and didn’t have that certain type of effort i usually get from street tacos. The Al pastor on the other hand was great, The torta was good as well considering coming off of sub par, good for the town type of tacos. Places seem to forget that the street taco/ street spanish cuisine is somewhat comparable towards the “philly cheesesteak” on how its a working person’s type of food and its usually cooked by a person from the same type of energy. In Summary, It is good for what its worth, prices are fair and the food does the job but wouldn’t impress the experienced and in the know.

Valerie’s Taco Stand – Menu with Prices – 2213 El Camino Real suite d, Oceanside

We came to visit our friends in Oceanside for 3 days, and ended up coming to Valeries twice, because it was that good! My first visit, I had initially ordered the al pastor and the Diablo, decided last minute that I wanted to try the carne asada (not sure if this is north county thing, but certain tacos came with whole beans?). I added the carne asada and repeated I wanted no beans, it somehow became two extra carne asada tacos. I had not realized I paid for 4 tacos…oh well, I was a trooper and ate all 4 (my friends offered no help as they were full off two tacos each and wanted to see my attempt). The fullness pain hit after and I hated myself, but the tacos were so good! No regrets! The tacos are a bit more on the expensive side but they are massive and the tortilla is bigger than your street tacos. This tortilla tasted like their homemade, a mixture of corn and flour perhaps, and tasted like perfection, I’ve never been more impressed with a tortilla as I was with Valeries. The al pastor was the best of the bunch, great flavors and has a delicious smokiness. The carne asada were over cooked so it was too chewy, but the flavors were great too. I did not enjoy the Diablo as much as the breading of the shrimps and the toppings overshadowed the shrimp and the breading was a big mushy. I think it would have been better if the shrimps were grilled. The place is super clean and the salsa bar is delicious as well. They had the light orange creamy salsa which is the spiciest one there (maybe Serrano peppers based), had major heat but such great flavors that I kept dousing it on. We came back in he next day after having tacos at another spot since they ran out of elotes the day before. I ordered another al pastor taco while my friends had the elotes.

Los Chilangos Menu with Prices 14008 NE 8th St, Bellevue

Taqueria Los Chilangos is a solid food truck, serving Mexican favorites. Its truck is located at the Shell gas station at the intersection of 8th and 140th, where they’re open all day. I came here to grab some quick dinner for my boyfriend and me, as I was in the area for a meeting and spotted Taqueria Los Chilangos’ truck. I ordered five tacos, two with carnitas, two with al pastor and one with chupa cabras. For also checking in on Yelp I got free chips and salsa. On a Tuesday around 7pm, there were quite a few people waiting out in the cold for the goods. Of all the tacos, I actually thought the chupa cabras was the best. It’s not something I’d normally choose with street tacos, as it’s a combination of carne asada and chorizo, but I definitely recommend trying it. I’ve never seen this meat option at other taquerias, which is what intrigued me the most. I’m glad it ended up being a favorite. The al pastor tacos were also good, especially with the pineapple on top, which I think all al pastor tacos should have! But the carnitas, which is usually my go-to protein of choice with street tacos, was sadly, disappointing. Meat was very dry; therefore, it was bland. Stick with the chupa cabras and al pastor meats. In addition to tacos, the menu has a lot to offer, including breakfast served all day! (One of these days I’m gonna get a breakfast burrito.) They also have two different salsas that you can choose from, as well as various flavors of Jarritos. There isn’t seating outside of the truck – only a standing table, so not sure if when the weather fares better are when the seats bust out. At least you can park here and eat your grub in your car, which I noticed a few patrons doing. No shame.

Gonzos Tacos – Menu with Prices – 825 N Harbor Blvd, Fullerton

Clearly, tacos are the focus of this restaurant. It’s one of only two words comprising this place’s name. Of course just having the word “taco” in your name, and focusing on tacos doesn’t mean the tacos are good. The tacos at Gonzo’s are unremarkable. There aren’t bad, but it’s not a “destination” taco place. I’d eat here again if I was nearby, and hungry, and wanted tacos, and I wasn’t going to some other place, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to go here. I ordered both Asada and Carnitas. Both were fresh, but the Asada was utterly boring. It seemed like the meat was boiled, but I doubt it was. The Carnitas was a little fattier than I like, but not nearly as bad as most restaurants featuring Carnitas. The tacos con todo (“with everything”) consisted of two corn tortillas (small, street-taco sized), meat, onions, & cilantro. There was a small salsa bar with four salsas and some lime wedges. The tacos were filling enough, but a better bargain can be had elsewhere. I would have thought for the price they’d add *something* else, cabbage or cheese maybe? Nope. The place is real small, but the bathroom was clean. The parking is awful. You can park right in front if there’s room and you want to brave the ever present traffic on Harbor Bl. Alternately, half a block away there’s a strip mall, but that seems pretty busy too. The walls are adorned with pictures of “low rider” bicycles. Really? AS IF, some Vato on a Schwinn carries street-cred. It seemed pathetically sophomoric. I remember guys on those bikes from my childhood in East L.A., and having that as some kind celebratory theme for a restaurant seemed lame to me. Strangely, the staff acted very coldly with me. I guess maybe I’m not Hispanic enough, being only 25%, and everybody there except for me had brown eyes and seemed to be treated very nicely. Perhaps I confused them because I came in, looked at the menu to see how much stuff cost, realized I didn’t have enough in my pocket, went back to my car to get more $$$, and then came back. Maybe this activity confused or insulted them. I don’t know, but other customers were given cups for their salsa without asking and I had to ask and they only gave them to me begrudgingly and looked at me funny while handing me two tiny plastic cups. I don’t know why they behaved thus. It was weird. Basically this place is okay, but they should lower their prices or add more stuff to their tacos, and they should ditch the bicycle pictures and picture something more fitting, like a taco, or a pig being slaughtered, something relevant.

Taquitos mexico – Menu with Prices – 7491 Grissom Rd, San Antonio

I’ve been to a lot of taco trucks. And I’ve had a lot of street tacos in my life. A LOT. Yet this is one of the best ones I’ve ever had! On a Saturday night, I was craving pastor tacos so my boyfriend and I drove out to Taquitos Mexico because it was the closest taco truck to us. We both got the 5 for $6 deal. I got pastor tacos and he got asada tacos. My oh my… they were sooo freakin good!!! The meat was cooked perfectly and was full of flavor. they were topped with onions, cilantro, and grilled onions. I love that they weren’t as oily as other places too. The tortillas were soft and did not break apart. We also got a large horchata but that wasn’t too special. I really wanted to try the elotes! Right after we finished our plate, my bf immediately said he wanted more. Guess we have to get him double next time haha. We can’t wait to be back and get more tacos and elotes! Maybe try other items too!

Taqueria El Nuevo Perico #2 – Menu with Prices – 3702 E Chapman Ave, Orange

This taqueria is definitely delicious and authentic. The Carne Asada taco was very juicy and well seasoned and they use flour tortillas. The street tacos come with cilantro and onion on top with a side of grilled onion and radishes. I also bought the taco combo with carne asada (picture) which comes with rice, beans, and the onions. The Al Pastor taco (in the picture) was really tasty and juicy. The best part of this restaurant is that none of the meats were dry, but they’re a bit overpriced. However, the tacos are a bit larger than small corn tortilla tacos. There are definitely tastier tacos for cheaper if you’re willing to drive further out of Orange, but for a local, fast service taco, this is an excellent choice. There is also a lot of seating here and the place is large and clean, including a restroom.

Bandido Taqueria Mexicana – Menu with Prices – 905 E Liberty St, Louisville

I keep forgetting to take pictures so close your eyes while you read this and use your imagination. I got the fish taco (fried), Maui Wowie (el pastor), and the carnitas tacos, plus an original elote. The tacos were good street tacos on small corn tortillas, they only have corn taco tortillas. Each taco had a slaw mixture that complimented the protein. The fish was a nice battered fillet that fit well in the tortilla. The el pastor taco could have used more meat and pineapple, the pork seemed a little under seasoned. I did really like the condiment bar. The serrano and habanero salsas had great flavor. You can actually taste the name sake pepper in each without them burning out your pallet. The pickled onions were superb, thin slices of habanero provided a nice secondary flavor with a kick. The best for last is the elote. Excellent ear of corn with large juicy kernels, coated in Mexican table cream, chili powder, cheese, and with a twist a red “enchilada” sauce. All on an easy to consume stick, it was my favorite. I love knowing I can grab some quick street tacos during my lunch break.

Tacos Pipeye – Menu with Prices – 217 N Milpas St #3281, Santa Barbara

HOMEMADE TORTILLAS. I honestly should stop my review there, because that’s really all you need to know to go. But if you are still reading and want to know more, know that Tacos Pipeye has a wide range of different meat and vegetarian options as well as a variety of other Mexican food classics (i.e. sopes, quesadillas, burritos, etc.). Oh did I mention it’s 6 TACOS FOR $10? What a steal. All three meats I tried – carnitas, asada, and barbacoa – were incredibly juicy, flavorful, and fresh. However, the carnitas were to die for; sweet and savory, they were cooked to perfection. The tacos come without dressings, so you’ll have to stop at the salsa bar to fix them up the way you like. Definitely make sure to try their creamy green salsa! Parking it somewhat of a struggle, but trust me it’s worth it. The dining area is small and designed more for quick eating, but they have tvs in case you don’t want to miss the game while you’re running to get food.

Tipzys Tacos – Menu with Prices – 3848 E Belmont Ave, Fresno

It’s ok. We tried a variety: Carne asada tacos: meat was kinda bland,my wife’s taco had burned bits. Chicken tacos: bland, no flavor really at all Shrimp tacos: my favorite of the three, but that’s not saying much. Carne asada quesadilla: my son said the one from Taco Bell is as good. Asada fries: crinkle cut frozen fries with mozzarella cheese and carne asada. Fine because we were hungry. Probably wouldn’t have rung bells if we weren’t starved. Chips – you get a basket of chips with paprika or chili powder on them. They are $1.25 and you don’t get anything with them. Don’t get me wrong, they have a salsa bar but they only had tiny little cups- like 2tsp – to put salsa in and wouldn’t give us anything bigger. Super lame, that. As far as the actual salsas- the pico was the best thing about this dinner. Jalapeños were tiny- good knife skills- so you got that yummy fresh pop of hot without it being overwhelming. The ancho chili salsa is good, my wife said the green one was good. The carrots looked gross, I didn’t get any. The cabbage was diced, which I thought was weird. It was also in a container filled to the brim with water. Maybe to keep the cabbage fresh but anything I put cabbage on (how I usually like my tacos) tasted predominantly like water. Not good. No fountain drinks, you buy by the can (or bottle for water) and drink it from the can/bottle. We didn’t have any beer. Murals were beautiful, the rest of the decor was dated and uncomfortable.