Los Comales de Durham

ATTENTION: Los Comales has reopened under the new name Guanajuato in this same location with the same management and food.

Just learned that they may be closing soon. It was a second-​handed info so I can’t personally verify it, but go before they close! :(

Unfortunately both locations closed on May 28, 2014 due to their having over $ 180,000 in unpaid state tax bills.

Chiles Rellenos! It’s not on the menu but I have ordered them every time I go and they are amazing. They also serve Menudo but only on the weekends and they often run out.

I’m always hesitant to write a review that goes against the grain, but I really just didn’t see what all the other Unilocalers were talking about. I found it to be very average Mexican food. Much better than the Americanized chains, but not as good as some other authentic Mexican places I’ve tried.
The food is definitely authentic. They had several dishes I’ve never heard of and was excited to try. The menu was all in Spanish with no English descriptions. But you’ve come out here for authentic food so that shouldn’t be a problem. Just be adventurous and ask for recommendations. The cashier was very helpful in trying her best to recommend and describe.
They had a salsa bar with a really nice variety of salsas. However, they had no tortilla chips! I’m not sure if it’s an everyday thing or just that day. Either way, I was disappointed that a Mexican place didn’t have chips.
The food was good. I had a chicken quesadilla, pastor taco and one thing I can’t remember the name of but was recommended. Like I said, it was good, but pretty average. I’d go again if I was in the area, but I wouldn’t go out of my way again.
The price was great! The quality and portion sizes matches the price well.

Good food, great prices. We weren’t disappointed but not awed either. The tacos were solid and the fresh toppings. The lengua was pretty good, the chorizo was great, but the suadero and pastor were both really dry. The cachete was out. The meats were generally a bit bland. The pupusas were fine, nothing special. Tortillas are awesome, so was the papaya aqua fresca.
I honestly thought Taqueria La Vaquita was way better in terms of flavor for tacos.

Arguably the best Mexican food in Durham.
Their tacos are authentic, and they have a great salsa/​topping bar. I would also suggest trying their Pupusas and Gorditas, which are equally as good.
For tacos, I suggest trying their Pastor, Suadero (favorite!), and if you’re feeling a bit adventurous, try the Cachete (Cheek/​Jaw Meat). It’s so much better than it sounds.
The only downside about this establishment is its lack of seating and unappealing environment. It is a former fast food restaurant that has been converted into a restaurant, but not a lot of renovations has been done to the place. Also, this place is usually crowded during lunch/​dinner, so finding a seat, especially if you’re with a big group is difficult. Most tables only seat 4, max.
However, the food here is amazing enough to garner a 5-​star rating.
p. s. Don’t forget to order Horchata and/​or the Cantaloupe juice to wash down your delicious Mexican food.

My go to place for tacos in The triangle
area. Best value ever! and as
someone who lived in Mexico I can tell you the food here is the real deal. Be ready to order in Spanish or point. Best thing here are the tacos al pastor, or the torta al pastor which comes with avocado and the works.
Their free salsa bar rocks my socks. Their pozole is amazing! Only available on weekends, though. if you’re ordering carry out, order ahead of time. they make everything as you order so they take a while.

Thank you Unilocal reviewers for directing us to Los Comales. The food was great — similiar to street food I’ve had in Mexico, especially the escabeche, pickled onions and salsa selections on the salsa bar.
The tacos al pastor were very good, but I missed the pineapple that usually accompanies the meat when it’s cooked on a spit. I think this meat has great flavor, but was probably not sliced off of a rotisserie. Nonetheless, very tasty.
The chorizo tacos were bursting with flavor and needed only a little enhancement from the salsa bar to perfect them.
And the pupusa? Come on, it’s great dough, filled with gooey flavorful cheese, chicken and grilled. What could be bad about that?
My least favorite? The chicken taco. Mine had plenty of meat, but it was dry and lacking a punch of flavor. I removed the chicken from the tortilla and filled it with pico de gallo and some grilled onions that came with the tacos.
Speaking of tortillas — I’m a fan of the ones here. I have no idea if they make them fresh, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they do. They tasted like abuela was pounding them out in the back and cooking them on a comale. They were perect little imperfect circles of tender masa harina.
Although I speak acceptable restaurant Spanish, the gentleman taking orders spoke fluent English, so there was no need to torture him with my attempts at communicating in Espanol. He was very nice, polite and efficient.
My only complaint? It took around 30 minutes to get our tacos and pupusa. So I probably wouldn’t come here if I were in a hurry. But if you like watching a little Univision or Spanish soap operas, the wait time will pass quickly!
Oh, and, the agua fresca. Ummmm… Delicious!!! Two of us shared one (the canteloupe). It was large enough to share, especially because of the copious quantity of sugar in it. I’m thinking that the pineapple agua fresaca would be darn delicious to mix with a little tequila.
In all we ordered 6 tacos 1 pupusa and 1 agua fresca. Total bill: $ 16
My daughter who is in college and on a budget is putting Comales on the rotation list — at least on those evenings where time not of the essence!

This is definitely going to be a subjective review, but maybe someone will agree with me!
I decided to lead a group of my friends to this place because we were craving Mexican food & it had pretty high ratings. I don’t know about most people, but I am not fluent in Spanish – in fact, I barely know any. But their entire menu is in Spanish. If you have the time and no one is waiting in line behind you, I’m sure you could ask the lady behind the counter what every single thing on the menu means OR spend 20 minutes on your smartphone translating each word via the Internet/​app.
Also, as a vegetarian, my options were very limited. So I went safe & simple and ordered a veggie burrito. (They have a small salsa bar, too.) My burrito was okay. Nothing noteworthy except I did like the light crunch of the grilled tortilla. The grilled onions that came with it tasted kind of bitter and metallic? I had to pick it all out.
This place is definitely more authentic-​ish Mexican food so you’ll be able to try some flavors that Taco Bell and Chipotle can’t offer you. But be prepared to come with a Spanish-​English dictionary or Spanish-​speaking friend! And then maybe you’ll have a better experience than I did.
***PS: I have given 2 stars because vegetarian options are VERY limited, and my food did not taste good. The quality was lackluster, and the flavors were boring to me. Please, strangers and employees/​managers, stop harassing me of my opinion. I won’t remove this review because I feel like some people might find it useful. (It’s not just 1 star because I think it’s cool that it’s super authentic. However, I have had better authentic Mexican elsewhere in the Triangle.)

I stopped here while on my way through town and discovered this little gem. The chicken taco was awesome. I also enjoyed the environment as it felt like you were consuming authentic Mexican food. I honestly didn’t sample several dishes but my boyfriend enjoyed the mushroom quesadilla, the chorizo and beef tacos as well. He did say the meat was a bit dry but that didn’t keep him from devouring his food.
I think this place is worth a shot. Plus, you can’t beat the price!

I had a nice visit to Los Comales! It definitely is different than your typical Mexican sit-​down restaurant with free chips and salsa and margaritas in every flavor under the sun. You walk up to the counter and order, and then wait to pick up your food. I had two tacos that were really good as well as an agua fesca (traditional Mexican flavored water – it’s infused with fruit). I tried to order in Spanish and accidentally ended up with cantaloupe agua fresca – despite the fact that I hate cantaloupes it was still good, so I can’t imagine how much I’d like the other flavors. There was also a nice salsa bar which added some flavor to the tacos (which are thankfully simple and meat-​focused, again unlike the chain sit-​down mexican restaurants whose tacos are mostly filler lettuce, beans, and sour cream).
Overall, I’d definitely recommend people to go and not be intimated. I was obviously a bit out-​of-​place, but the food was good and everyone was really friendly!

I like finding places where the locals eat. You walk in and there are house painters, families, and other locals.
A mix of Mexico and Elsalvadorean. The tacos are quite splendid. We have eaten here twice on our way through Durham. Tasty pupusas, tacos, gorditas, melon drink, Mexican coke…
It’s an older all glass storefront dining room tight against the road off I-​85… Don’t be afraid of the Spanish menu on the wall. Just tell them what you want in English and they’ll ring you up and bring you out some tasty tacos.

Dropped by today with my brother on our way home for lunch. It wasn’t very busy and the other customers were all Latino so that was a giveaway about its authenticity. I ordered 2 al pastor tacos and he ordered a barbacoa one (which the lady kindly informed us was lamb) and an al pastor one. Definitely would recommend both. The tortillas are nice and soft and the meat was juicy, flavorful, tender, and succulent. I slathered my tacos with lime juice, salsa verde, and their mixture of tomatos, cilantro, and onions. It basically fell apart when I was eating it, but after I grabbed a fork, it was all good. We also got horchatas and our bill came out to be under ten bucks. This is awesome Mexican at an unbeatable price. We’ll definitely be back.

The best tacos in town. Great pastor, pollo and decent Barbacoa and carnitas.
Good pupusas, too.
Try the house made fruit sodas (cantaloupe, pineapple) and horchata. Mexican coke available, too.
The FREE toppings bar makes it. Smoked jalapeños, fresh radish, cilantro, and limes.

Los Comales doesn’t need my seal of approval so I’ll keep this short. N. Baltikahn and I first went to Los Comales after an event at The Museum of Life and Science. We had heard rumors of plentiful amounts of food at this particular soirée and left sorely disappointed. When we got to Los Comales, the place was packed to the gills with families enjoying eating out on a Friday night and watching their favorite (my favorite, too!!!) telenovela, Teresa, on the TV. Always a good sign.
All I’m sayin’ is that my huevos rancheros were the best, lardiest, appetite-​satiatingest, eggy mess I’ve ever had in my life. The salsa bar is awesome and the burritos ain’t bad, either.

The menu is in Spanish! The food is cheap! The staff is really nice… they were willing to explain each type of meat/​taco for me. The tacos were good and it’s stuffed pretty full and comes with 2 tortillas per taco that it feels like you’re getting a 2-​for-​1 deal! The chorizo, spicy lamb, chicken, beef… all were good!
We also stumbled upon a mushroom quesadilla (we didn’t order this… it was given to us by accident) that was delicious! The cheese they use is SO GOOD. The staff was friendly when we told them about our order and apologized, went to make the dish we originally ordered and gave us the mushroom quesadilla for free. Good food, friendly staff, what more can I ask for? The only thing is that it can get pretty crowded you sort of have to stake out a table.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I love their bar with different toppings/​extra stuff you can add on top of your meals! So good.

Maybe there was too much hype or maybe I’m just biased against corn flour but I actually was not extremely impressed with los comales. After doing my Unilocal research, I decided to order the chicken pupusa and horchata. Though very cheap and good for its price (especially with the unlimited salsa bar and free drink refills), neither left a spectacular impression with me. My pupusa had little filling and I could barely taste the chicken. Also, the flour part was very bland so I had to use the salsa very liberally. Good salsa though. It was a nice spice, not very hot, but tasty.
The horchata was not outstanding either. I would have preferred much more cinnamon rather than extra sugar.
Nevertheless, at only 5 dollars for dinner, I’d definitely be open for coming back and trying some other items on the menu. Maybe some tacos, or one of the specials. Los comales: decent Mexican food for a cheap price.

5 stars for the chorizo taco ($ 2). It is unbelievable. I lack the words to describe how astonishingly delicious it is, but here goes! The crumbled meat looks deceptively boring and a little messy, but one bite will send you scrambling to pick up all the loose bits that may have fallen to the bottom of your tray. The burst of flavor is utterly delectable; I’ve never had anything like it. It tastes like the chorizo has been marinated in a picante peper oil and then rubbed in various intense spices, but that logical explanation still can’t explain why it is so freaking delicious. I sorely regretted that I only got one (I also got a pastor, so I was pretty full after two tacos. Lame, I know. The pastor is also good, but it just pales in comparison to the chorizo because well, it’s incomparable).
My roommate, who is vegetarian, got the mushroom quesadilla. It was quite good, though really messy to eat. (Then again, when is mushroom stuffing NOT messy to eat?) One of my dinnermates got the chicken in molé, which was alright. I think I’m just not a huge fan of molé … :x However, the chicken was very tender and good.
One of my friends also got the horchata, which I felt was wonderfully mild and refreshing and milky. Yum. :) I would totally recommend that, too.
You will not regret stuffing yourself with 4 chorizo tacos. Or more, if you have a larger stomach. I’m still really mad at myself that I came here on my second to last day in Durham. Ugh.
You also know it’s mad authentic when most of the customers are Latino/​a. :) I felt really conspicuous as the only Asian person in the restaurant with 3 white friends. :x They were also the only white people there, but at least they had each other. IT’S TOTALLY WORTH IT THOUGH.

As soon as you step into Los Comales you can tell it’s the real Mexican deal! I think Mandy S (Food blogger Demandy) and I were the only non-​Mexicans in the place when we stopped in for lunch the other day. Up front there’s a short menu of taco options with simple, one word names. If you’re not a Mexican food expert, it may be intimidating given the lack of descriptions. I went with the special of the day, bisteca in ranchero sauce and an orange soda. Los Comales has a nice offering of condiments and sides (radishes, cucumbers, salsa, pico de gallo) but otherwise the space is spartan and cafeteria-​like.
My bisteca was a plate of braised beef and potatoes in tomato and onion sauce, yum! Hearty comfort food and while the bisteca wasn’t spicy, the beef was tender and tasty, with a nice stew-​like sauce. The bisteca came with a nice side of tortillas which I chose to avoid to limit the carbs, however I would have really loved some chips. Looking over at Mandy’s tacos I knew I had missed out with my order. Her trio of tacos were big, a bit greasy but looked wonderfully delicious! And her pupusa? Cheesy, corn goodness.
And while I certainly liked Los Comales, I appreciate the gringo-​friendliness of my other Mexican fave, Los Cuates in Raleigh. Well thankfully, it’s really inexpensive to eat here at Los Comales so I’ll be back with a better dining strategy at hand. Tres tacos Los Comales, por favor!