Taco Cabana

OMG Taco Cabana gets me… I was craving tacos at like 9am and was like «Wow people are going to judge me for wanting tacos this early in the morning. What if I go to Taco Cabana and it’s closed and they see my trying to open the door and they’re like ‘chill girl it’s not even lunch yet!’»
Well surprise they open at 6am and they’re drive thru is open 24-​hours. Holy moly, a place for me! Idk what it is but I have been wanting tacos for the past two weeks and came to Taco Cabana twice. I got a number 58 (two crispy chicken tacos) and it hit the spot BOTH times.
I would say the only bummer part is that it comes with chips WHICH IM NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT CAUSE I LOVE CHIPS but if I had the option to have rice/​beans I would probably choose that over chips but that won’t stop me from coming here! Thanks Taco Cabana!

Good variety for a taco shop. Quick and fresh. Everything is pretty straightforward. Better than some of the other commercial options. I like the fajita tacos and the salsa bar. Can’t decide? Get a combo with taco, enchilada, and relleno. Try the melon waters too!

Excellent as always. Quality Mexican food. Speedy service. Great salsa bar with green chile. A much better alternative to Taco Bell.

Cheap and good. Nice patio area to hang out after eating. Good view of the Sandia mountains. Restaurant is kept nice and clean

Picked up since awesome food for the Superbowl and everyone enjoyed it! The price, service and quality of food was great…

The staff is always friendly! The manager is constantly moving and helping his staff. It’s clean and best of all the food is hot fresh and comes out fast!!! This is the only taco cabana we come to in Albuquerque! Keep up the good work guys!!!

My family and I eat there about two times a week, maybe three. We love everything! The tortillas are tasty, the flautas are crunchy and full of flavor. The menudo is great and the breakfast tacos are perfect. The management is so accommodating and friendly. We are very pleased with everything.

I think this is an OK place to eat kind of MEXICAN food. It resembles chipotle but this is not a real taqueria. That said the food is ok.

I normally get breakfast here before work. Always delicious. The other items haven’t been so on point. I bought a green chile burrito and chicken tacos. Both were so runny. I’m glad I didn’t have anything nice on and it was nearing the end of my shift. My favorite thing to order is the posole and that too has been iffy. I will say the food is fresh, just not consistently made right. Prices are reasonable and their lemonade is just plain delicious.

Why am I so in love with taco cabana? There’s just too many ways that it starts getting personal. I love you taco cabana with all my heart. –Vero P.
The music
Beer/​wine til 1am
Mexican ladies making tortillas
Free green chili/​fixings if you go in
Awesome patio
Kid friendly
Open for drunk food time
Military discount
Instant fiesta inside

Love this place. Good food, nice selection fantastic price for fajitas I can share fajitas w/​my wife and been for less $ 20. Sitting outside controlling the temp by raising and lowering the glass overhead doors and watching the traffic whiz by. I’m a fan!

Go here if you are drunk and hungry. But bring your wallet … 4+ dollars for a burrito that was the size of a hotdog without the bun. Tasted great but i would of had to buy 3 to get near full…

Let me start by saying Chipotle is probably one of my favorite simple places to go for Mexican food. I love getting my steak bowl when I go there. So when I came here I had really high expectations when my friend suggested getting their bowl. Let’s just say I’d probably be a regular here if I lived in Albuquerque! lol
Everything was so fresh here it was amazing! I ordered a Carne Adovada bowl. It comes in either a bowl or a crispy shell. Your choice. I added sour cream, cheese, corn, guacamole, and rice. The meat was soooo tender that it was delicious. It was literally so good that I had to force myself to keep eating even though I was so full because I didn’t want to waste it. lol
Chipotle will always have my heart, but this place would seriously be in trouble if I lived in Albuquerque because I would pretty much be dining there for breakfast lunch and dinner. =P

This TC has changed owners recently and I’m not sure they worked out all of the bugs. This trip was better than the last so I guess they’re improving. My biggest gripe is that they have a limited salad selection, if you don’t want a Caesar salad, you’re out of luck. It tried to build one using their «build your own bowl» menu and that was a disaster. I like TC, it’s our favorite, Saturday grab a quick lunch, place, I just wish this location hadn’t screwed up their menu.

The only time I eat at this place is late night coming home from the bar. It’s kind of a staple. Some of my favorite items are the bean and cheese burrito with green chile and the huevos rancheros. Their nachos are pretty good, too. So if you’re in the mood for some processed, greasy food… TC fits the bill. The prices are pretty decent and the food is tasty. The fact that they are open all night is even better. That being said. there are way too many awesome restaurants in ABQ for me to even think about going there while sober.
Beware of the hottest salsa option they have. I’m pretty sure it is straight chopped jalapenos. It’s like a bad joke. But clever TC, very clever.

A combination of Rubio’s and Chipotle.
Freshly made Hispanic food and clean, friendly service. I highly recommend stopping in if you are in an area that has one. The fresh salsa bar here is off the charts and by far the best of all these fresh, fast eateries.
All of the dishes are consistently good. I totally dig this spot! Wish there were locations closer to where I lived.

Much better than the east side locations!
Better menu, friendlier staff, clean, open dining room, fast driver thru.
This is a broke college student staple!

Went there for the first time today to get my parents and I lunch. I got 3 chicken fajita burritos and the little sopapillas and honey for dessert. I have to say that this was the worse burrito I’ve ever had in my entire life!!! Let me just say that out of 3 burritos no one finished it with one having only 1 bite out of it.
First off there was hardly any meat in the burritos. I felt like I got a lettuce and rice burrito with a couple pieces of chicken to compliment it. Even the chicken tasted like it was processed chicken chunks. The lettuce was overwhelming. The spices were overwhelming as well and not even that good. I can say that the sopapillas were really good.
I will go back and give it another try and I will definitely get the little sopapillas! Seems like a cool little place to hang out and eat with friends. Hopefully the food will be better the next time I go.

Update 6÷23÷2012: Still awesome! The brisket is phenom as are the flautas.
We used to live in Arizona and moved to Chicago, so every time we drive through the area, we always stop at a Taco Cabana. Of the ones I’ve been to in NM so far, this location is my favorite. It just has a little nicer and less fast food-​ish feel to it to me. Today I got my usual fav, Carne Adovada, some tortillas (cuz they are seriously delicious and fresh made daily all throughout the day– and always get a couple dozen to go), and the hubs got a couple brisket tacos. What another yummy surprise the brisket was! Delicious flavor without being fatty and had a nice texture. Love that brisket now, too. :)
I will say that all TCs are NOT made equal. I had some truly disappointing experiences in OK, but NM and Texas seem to have it down. A big thank you to John G. for guiding a weary traveler to a good location when I couldn’t remember which ones were good after so many years. Unilocalers rule! :)

Second time I came here, first time I did the drive thru. This time we decided to go inside ‘The Original Taco Cabana Mexican Patio Café’.
Pretty looooooooooooong name for a little place.
I had the Quesidila with shrimp and 2 smoothies; the strawberry and a banana one (I am going to gain a couple of pounds on this trip).
The food is good, service is kinda sloppy.
They have this little tortilla maker machine, behind glass so you can see how them tortilla’s are made (you know just like Krispy Kreme, just smaller). It is your typical fast food place for some decent Mexican or was it Tex Mex food?