El Tacoriendo

OMG maybe I just haven’t had chorizo in forever and a year, but that chorizo taco was mouth-​wateringly delicious. When I bit into it, it was like a small glimpse of what I imagine heaven would be. I wish I could have had 5 more after I bit into my first bite. Instead, I had gotten a torta with asada, which was still quite delicious but didn’t floor me like that taco did.
5 stars for the food, but we’ll dock one because of the service. The food was slow coming out (granted we were on a working schedule, and it was probably a lazy Sunday afternoon for most other people), and we had asked for a to-​go order for a colleague that was forgotten until we went up to pay for our food.

I expected much better for all the positive reviews. Both my colleague and I had been to many Mexican restaurants and were underwhelmed by the food. I had the Carne Asada and considering how pricey it was, it was a let down. The place is kind of expensive. I don’t know, maybe it makes more sense as a dinner or take-​out place, but lunch dine-​in was kind of weird. Server rushed us a bit during ordering and considering we were first-​timers, she was not very helpful.

Authentic and delicious!!! We had a bunche (pork belly) taco, a pastor quesadilla, and an order of the mixed fajitas (chicken, beef and shrimp.) Amazingly good!!! The place is just a hope in the wall, but the meal exceeded all expectations. We didn’t leave a crumb.

What a bizarre little hole-​in-​the-​wall. Ten tables and booths total. Part of a drive-​through package building. Deliveries received through a defunct drive-​through window of a by-​gone era. Chips and salsa are not free. Water was warm with minimal ice.
The salsa, which I bought, was chunky and very fresh; the chips were thick and crunchy. The main course was honestly just average. I ordered my meal with no peppers and they also eliminated the cheese. When asked why, the server said, «Well, the cheese goes on top of the peppers.» Wow. Just bland and unimpressive. Not terrible, but wouldn’t bring me back. My partner’s fajitas were apparently bland, also.
Slow service. Waited for far too long for the chips, salsa, and cheese dip we ordered. Super slow on refills, yet both employees were free to stand, talk, and eat while we were waiting. I don’t normally comment on that type of thing unless it is pretty egregious.
Ultimately, though, I feel like a reasonable barometer for a restaurant featuring food from another country is this: do people from that country come and eat here? The answer seemed to be a resounding «yes!» for this establishment. Maybe I’m missing something.

Do not juge a book by its cover! This restaurant doesn’t look like much and honestly, I wanted to drive right by it. Something told me to get out of my comfort zone and try it. I ordered steak fajitas and they were honestly the best steak fajitas I have ever had! Don’t forget the chips and salsa!

Great authentic Mexican food! The Shrimp plate is really good!

Amazing food! Haven’t had anything I didn’t like yet! Carnitas Tacos and Carnitas Quesadilla are my favorite! You definitely won’t regret trying them out. Friendly service, great food.

While I’m sure there are several places in and around Columbus to grab great Mexican food, El Tacoriendo has quickly become a family favorite!
I’ve never been disappointed, and I always leave wishing I had taken one less bite (or two) of whatever I’ve gotten. In other words, I always get my money’s worth!
I love the Pastor Burrito, and just about every other taco combination they serve! The prices are low, the food is amazing and I know where I’m heading when the urge for Mexican hits me again.

My first experience here was great! The best authentic Mexican food I’ve had in a long time. For a low price too! I had a gordita, stuffed with beef and beans with cilantro and cheese and a shrimp tostada. I ordered a side of guacamole which ended up being enough to share and take home with the leftovers. The service was fast and friendly too. I can’t wait to go back.
It is a small place, nothing fancy, but very clean. I would prefer Tacoriendo to some of the larger, fancier, and more expensive Mexican restaurants around Columbus just for the food, and the atmosphere made me feel like I was back in my mom’s old neighborhood in Chicago.

I live 5 minutes from this location and have been quite a few times. I have never been disappointed

Okay… a couple of things were wrong here when I visited.
We ordered enough food to feed a family of 4 and managed to eat about ¾ if it, which is probably a personal problem and irrelevant to this review.
The tacos: the chicken and carnitas were unforgivably dry, even with one of the hot sauce varieties on the table. I’m talking sawdust dry… like dryer than the corn tortilla. I think if one of the main selling points of your menu is a laundry list of meats available as a taco filling, that none of them should be dry.
The rice and beans were not good at all and were left uneaten. The rice was crusty like it had been sitting out or like it was scraped out of the bottom of a pot or microwaveable dish. and the beans were runny and unseasoned.
The flan was delicious though and my chorizo tacos were amazing. My husband said the torta was good also, but I didn’t try any.
I would like to come back and try again or maybe just hit the taco truck.

Wow, I forgot to review this place! Their food truck is one of my favorite Mexican spots in town, so I had to head out to the brick and mortar to see if it holds up. It’s way out on Refugee Rd so probably only a one time visit for me, since the food truck is five minutes from my job, but if you’re out this way or live close to there, you need to check it out!
Just like the food truck, you don’t want to judge this book by it’s cover. Right next to a dilapidated car wash, Tacoriendo is not much to look at. The building is run down and the inside is yellow painted cement, equipped with Mexican music videos playing constantly on the TV (A+ for Mexican music videos). We were told to sit anywhere, and our server was very nice. I think I actually recognized him from making deliveries to their truck over on Allegheny.
The menu here offers quite a few more options than the food truck, including a decent amount of fish options and combos. Honestly, I love the tacos and quesadillas so much that I wasn’t interested in anything else and wanted to see how they compared. I went with two pastor tacos, two cecina tacos, and a cecina quesadilla. If you’re unfamiliar with cecina, it’s beef that they dry and salt like jerky, and Tacoriendo grills it after that. It’s amazing.
I also ordered some chips and guacamole, but I wasn’t a fan of the guacamole. It was a bit too creamy for me and tasted like it came out of a bag. My buddy really liked it though.
The food was out quickly and everything tasted great as expected. My friend brought his girlfriend from out-​of-​town to the truck, and she really loved it, and they both liked this spot as well. My tacos and quesadilla were perfect and a little less greasy than the truck, since they didn’t sit in a container for too long. But what really makes Tacoriendo for us is the hot sauce. The red sauce has a pretty big kick, and we just love the flavor. The green is pretty tasty as well, and you really can’t go wrong with either one.
If you’re looking for great authentic Mexican, then look no further than Tacoriendo. If you can’t make it out to Refugee Road, then check out the food truck on Allegheny off Stelzer. The food is super cheap, so you can really try a little bit of everything, but you MUST try a quesadilla. I don’t know what they do to it, but the amount and kind of cheese they put on it is awesome. End rambling. Go try it yourself.

If you want authentic food, you have to go where the locals hang out and live. Me and a friend were in the mood for Mexican food. We decided to try El Tacoriendo for lunch. Great choice!
It’s a smaller sized restaurant. Tables take up all the space. When Stephen and I got here (close to noon on a Saturday), several of the tables were taken. We located an empty one in the back corner and headed toward. A young lady (perhaps college age) brought us menus. She was polite — in a good mood considering it was a small blizzard outside. Answered all of our questions about the different dishes. We got chips and guac to start. After much self agony, I picked a pork and chorizo burrito and a Tortas Cubana.
I can say with confidence that the Guac here is quite possibly the best I’ve ever had! Not salty. Not doused with onion or garlic. Super smooth texture. Perfect sized chucks of avocado. My mouth is craving another size of it, just talking about it! And for $ 3.50? So worth it!
Eeny Meeny Miny Mo determined the Burrito as the starter. Interesting: The seasoned pork was crumbles; I was expecting pulled, but this was great, nonetheless. perhaps a bit less seasoning next time, but nothing to complain about. And the chicken chunks mixed was a pleasant contrast. All the fixings mixed in, soft, flavorful shell, all amounted to bliss. I was stuffed after eating that large burrito, I had to transfer the Torta to a to-​go container. I’ll be sure and update after eating it: p
***This location has a brick and mortar restaurant. The Allegany location is just a food truck serving tacos/​burritos/​gorditas, no entrée plates!***

I tried this place for the first time today and loved it. I learned about El Tacoriendo’s through a Unilocal review of another establishment and upon coming to this page noticed the many positive reviews and decided I must try for myself.
I have to say I was impressed and not a bit disappointed. Having read other reviews I was not surprised at the less than stellar location or outside appearance. But once inside I was greeted by a friendly staff member who had my order hot and ready to go (I called in ahead for takeout). I was asked if would like some hot sauce. House made hot and mild were available, I asked for 2 of each. Good call by me.
The food appeared and tasted fresh and delicious. I ordered a beef burrito with everything which was outstanding. A Quesedilla, also great. It had a good mixture of meat and cheese. Oh and they make their own Tortillas and that’s a plus in my book. Lastly I ordered a Torta with Chorizo which I saved for another meal and that tasted great even after being reheated. Overall everything tasted fresh, well seasoned and well prepared.
I’ll definitely be back and I’m already thinking about what I’ll try next time.

At first glance this place doesn’t look like much of a restaurant. It’s located next to a car wash and there isn’t any clear signs or lights, with the restaurant’s name.
But that’s where the bad ie; hesitation ends.
I had the chicken burrito and the chicken tortilla soup. The soup was absolutely delicious and very authentic tasting. I’ll definitely order the soup again, especially on a cold or rainy day!
The chicken burrito was very good. I believe it had grilled chicken, grilled onions, sour cream, lettuce, cucumber and cheese. I put some green chili sauce on my burrito and that really kicked it up, a notch! Again very authentic and fresh, tasting.
I’ll definitely be back to try more items, off of their menu. :)

I found myself in the neighborhood, and I had to stop by this restaurant since their food truck on Allegheny Ave is one of my favorites. I’d taken note of the location a while back so I didn’t have the troubles of others in finding the place. Just remember it’s just east of Old Courtright and attached to a drive thru carryout.
The dining room is small but bright. There’s a counter for take out orders and two TVs playing Telemundo. The menu has a good number of choices. There are breakfast items, large dinners, seafood dishes, desserts, and soups that are not available on their food truck. The server greeted us and was polite, but very straight faced and quick to get down to business.
We were given a complimentary noodle soup. It tasted vegetal based and had macaroni noodles; nothing amazing, but it was free. I had always wanted to try menudo, and had no doubts that I would get an authentic version here. I also ordered a buche taco which is one of my favorite tacos from their truck. The menudo was definitely unlike anything I had before. It came out in a large bowl with spicy red broth and oil globules floating on top. I could tell from the first whiff that it was intestinal. There was a generous amount of beef stomach and tripe, but nothing else besides broth and meat. It came with lime, diced onions, cilantro, a few soft corn taco shells, and hot pepper seed that I made little menudo tacos out of. It wasn’t quite as spicy as it looked. I really enjoyed it, but I would probably split a bowl with someone in the future as it probably contains an insane amount of cholesterol.
I love that I can try such different things here and that it is likely to be very similar to how it’s eaten south of the border. If that interests you this restaurant should be high on your list. For those looking for the familiar, you can find that here as well

Purchased the groupon deal and, after much anticipation, finally made the long drive to El Tacoriendo.
We were seated and quickly helped by a very sweet waitress. She brought us a couple of cups of soup after we placed our order. With her help, we decided on quesadillas, tacos, and tostadas with various meats; asada, carnitas, barbacoa, chicken, etc. As our waitress pointed out, they are all definitely worth trying!
The food was good, especially for the value. Our groupon was for $ 22 and we barely spent it even with all of that food! I think the steak quesadilla was my favorite.
The restaurant is colorful, with chairs and seats decorated with vibrant suns. The World Cup was playing on the TVs.
The service was great, though they were a little busy. I know the one waitress was doing everything she could to serve everyone.
The only thing keeping me from giving 5 stars is that, almost immediately after sitting down, a family of 3 adults and 3 children under the age of 5 sat in the middle of the restaurant. The kids were completely out of control; the one stood on and jumped off of his chair at least 15 times, was doing a handstand on his chair, was pounding on the table, was laying on the ground, was screaming, etc. It was probably one of the most annoying restaurant experiences I’ve ever had. It’s not super fair to hold it against El Tacoriendo, but it definitely did color our experience in a negative way.
Aside from that (maybe we’ll get it to-​go next time?) the food and value is amazing and we would definitely return.

When I walk into a Mexican restaurant and I am like «WHOA BRIGHT» because everything is painted day-​glo, I get excited because I know that actual people from Mexico probably go there, which means it will probably be better than many other Mexican restaurants.
Margaritas: Cheap and good. Not El Camino good, but definitely good (and also not El Camino $$, though they are worth every penny over there).
Menu: Standard. Did not have chiles rellenos despite them being on the menu. I think I got a torta instead and enjoyed it.
Dessert: Had flan. It was okay. Not my fav. Still ate it all because I’m a fatty.
Service: Really great! Our server was friendly and helpful, despite me kind of having a moment when she told me they didn’t have chiles rellenos. (I try, y’all, but sometimes my face reacts before my brain can stop it.)
Price: Not taco-​truck cheap but very reasonable. Apparently also there is a happy hour that we juuust missed. Will get there earlier next time.
Why am I suddenly in the mood for lots of margaritas?

I love a good hole in the wall, and El Tacoriendo epitomizes everything awesome about one.
In a neighborhood Apple maps only describes as «Southeast Columbus,» El Tacoriendo is in a small, unassuming building. Honestly, I was a little bit worried when we first arrived, but once inside, it was a bright and colorful little restaurant.
We were quickly greeted and told we could sit anywhere we wanted. Our server came right over to our table and was super friendly and helpful. All three of us decided on a margarita on the rocks — $ 5 and deliciously strong. For food, I ordered carnitas with beans and rice. These were some of the best carnitas I’ve had in town!
Everybody in my group thought the food was good, and we ate every bit. It was so good that we decided to have flan for dessert… which was also delicious. Sometimes flan can taste a bit eggy, but not here!
Each of us had a drink, a main course, and dessert for only about $ 15! Such a steal!

Took me a minute to figure out where the entrance and location was. But once I walked up to the side of the drive through liquor market, I was pleasantly surprised when I walked through the door. I felt like I was back home, in southern California, walking into one of my favorite hole in the wall joints.
Carnitas burrito was on point. Full of flavor and NO cheap fillers. Homemade hot sauce was the perfect compliment. I got to relax, watch tv in español, chow down on a burrito and wash it down with jarritos piña. Yum.