Paco Taco

They closed?! HA! Good riddance.

Small inside seating but plenty of outside patio seating. They don’t offer a wide selection of salsa, its something I wish they did. The service is slow. Tacos are street style so they are small but delicious.

2.5 Standard, uninspired, and a little resentful. Nothing about this place reminds me of my hometown. Just Escondido fast food, don’t expect anything special. Go to Tacos El Gordo if u want Tijuana Style.

We visited this small taco shop for dinner, even with all the signage out from we passed it 2 times but eventually found our way to heaven.
Small but perfect menu with all the essentials of a Southern California taco shop. My husband and I shared the pastor fries and it was PLENTY for two adults. The dish was delicious and not grizzley (fatty) like a lot of pastor tends to be. The guacamole and fixings were just perfect! I look forward to trying other items on their menu in the future. Great job Paco!

Paco Taco is my favorite place for Mexican food in Escondido for the following reasons:
–Everything is extremely fresh. I have on multiple occasions watched as my chicken went from raw to sizzling delectability in minutes. Salsas are beautiful and brightly flavored. Tortillas are delicious, both corn and flower. Chips are crispy and perfect. I’ve once watched guacamole made specifically for my street tacos! Brilliant!
–Food is cheap! $ 1 chicken tacos and phenomenal baby quesadillas!
–There is an honest authentic yet very chic/​hip essence to Paco and his Taco shop. The architecture of the tiny spot is cool and urban, which made an impression (on me)
–They are open late! The fact that they are within walking distance from my old apartment made this HUGE!
–Outdoor seating is clean and mellow, great for a lone meal or a casual date.
–Their chicken is to die for. Nachos, burrito, tacos, everything. I don’t do pork or red meat but I’d imagine they are stellar as well.
Occasionally in the past, service has gotten backed up during busy times. Proceed with caution at lunch hour!

Stopped in based on the reviews and was not disappointed. Sauce on the al pastor taco is amazing. Could take an entire side of that.
Also picked up a chicken burrito. Very flavorful and really big. Was real happy on both picks and will be back soon.

This place is tiny with a few outdoor tables but overall very clean (even the restroom). It’s not your typical hole in the wall, the food is clean/​great NOT filthy/​good. The guy working was friendly and overall service was excellent.
Carne Asada California Burrito is legit and the price is right! EAT HERE!!!

I cant believe it looks like no one is talking about the Al Pastor FRIES! Successfully amazing idea — other meats on fries with sauce (plus the cheese i added). The guy working was awesome! Very helpful– quite a salesmen for a taco place.
This place saved my life after a really long working day, (10+hrs) where our usual spot was already closed by 915pm. My husband liked the Al Pastor fries i got over his Carne Asada fries (only barely) — and asked for that next time.
Free salsa and carrots — yes please.

Great tacos and pastor is real pastor never better than the TJ tacos but close to it. So good.
Ahh man today we came in and a homeless guy was in here and he smelled soooo bad !!!

This is a tiny hole-​in the-​wall type food spot. It’ next to a gas station and Bargain car rental. I love their adobada/​al pastor TJ-​style street tacos. I request it with everything that it comes with. The special creamy sauce is my fave. Also, their small salsa bar has chilled sauteed onions which are a compliment to the tacos. I’ve tried their carne asada and fried shrimp tacos and I was not impressed.
I’ll stick with the adobada/​al pastor tacos which is the only thing I eat from this spot. Enjoy! My friends love their food.

We live around the corner. It’s pretty consistent. We come here all the time and
We only order al pastor tacos, even though we have tried almost the full menu. I have to give this place 5 stars based on the al pastor alone because it’s one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. When you walk in you can see it spinning on the roaster. Tip: the sauce on these tacos is amazing and if you order to go you lose half of it in the wrapping — order for here if you can. Enjoy! I want one right now… yum!

Let me start out by saying… the food is solid here. The tacos are some of the best I’ve ever had, I’ve been here numerous times, every time it’s been good.
The bad… don’t sit on the patio, and if you do, don’t look into the shop thru the window. There are always a bunch of dead flies. ;(But I will still be back!

When I visted they didn’t have any Al Pastor meat or chicken. So I ordered something else.
We got 6 tacos, and no joke it took about 40 minutes to get them! Were they making each taco one at a time or waiting on the cilantro to grow? We thought this would be a quick place to eat but ended up staying there for a long time.
The tacos where decent, but not worth the wait. I wouldn’t have minded waiting that long if the tacos were phenomenal.

We found this little treasure on Unilocal after a day at the Safari Park. Paco Taco is a hole in the wall on Escondido Blvd. We had a hard time finding it because it is sort of off the street in an alley way. I am happy we did find it because the food was really good and cheap.
The tacos here are baja street tacos, so there is meat, onion, cilantro, and maybe guacamole on two small corn tortillas. The tacos run about $ 1.50 each.
I had the carnitas tacos. They were delicious. I also had some meat out of the carne asada tacos. Very nice. I will recommend Paco Taco and will go there when I am in the area.

Wife had the fish taco and said it was good. I noted that it wasn’t swimming in watered down sour cream like it so often happens in many places. B+
Kids had carne asada tacos, sans any toppings. I tasted the meat and it was just like many other decent taco places B
I had the cabeza taco and it was the real deal (some places try and substitute lengua or another cut of meat). Topped with onions/​cilantro A
Wife and I had the al pastor tacos and a lot of them. As others have mentioned a great blend of edge searing and slow cooking of the meat makes their signature dish a classic. A
I had the shrimp taco. The tortilla was a little too oily and it had just a touch too much melted cheese, but the shrimp were not overcooked and with a squeeze of lime and some of their green hot sauce it finished well. B
All of these tacos are often called «street tacos,» or «TJ» tacos, as they are very petite. One could easily take down 4 or 5 of these little guys. That said, they are $ 1.50 a piece (with few exceptions, such as the shrimp taco was $ 2.75), so the total bill for these little wonders for you and a guest might surprise you.
Also, the menu if fairly limited, so if your looking for all of those Cal/​Mex type of burritos you won’t find it here. Also, no beer is sold here. They take all credit cards, including Discover and outside seating is available. Parking can be super limited.
Anyway, nice addition to that area of town. I will definitely return to this place and bring others. For its type, this finds an immediate place in Escondido’s top five taco shops.
–Went back again 6.25.12 and had more al pastors. So good. Tried a fish taco and it was off. Couldn’t ascertain whether it was just chopped fish or battered fish. Stick with the mammalian species here.

This place is small, nice, and clean. The girl at the counter was nice and efficient.
I started out with a carnitas taco. The tacos come with 2 tortillas and lettuce. This taco was awesome! The flavor is of perfectly marinated pork that has been fried. This was my fav taco.
Next I had a carne asada taco. This was excellent.
Last I had a spicy pork taco. This taco was very good. I like the version at tacos y gordo a bit better.
Overall this is a great taco shop! The tacos were priced at about $ 1.50 each and 4 of them were perfect for dinner.

This little taco shop is hard to find. It is squeezed between two used car lots on Escondido Blvd. It is located between 3^rd and 4^th Streets. I just always look for the Union Oil gas station which is very near.
The food is good and cheap.. . $ 1.49 for a carne asada or chicken taco. I would have to say the carne asada taco is my favorite. They also have head, tripe, and tongue tacos but I am not that adventurous. The last time I did order the spicy pork taco (the al pastor) but found it too spicy, this gringa will stick with the chicken and beef options.

TJ street tacos?!? I didn’t know there was a style of tacos.
It’s a nice little taco shop. There is an area outside where you can sit if you didn’t want to stay inside.
My friends here in Escondido wanted to grab some so I was down to try it. Why the heck did I order a california burrito!?! It’s called Paco Taco… I should’ve ordered a taco! I don’t know what I was thinking. I wasn’t really sure if I would like a TJ type of taco. Well I sure did! I was glad my friend offered me a bite of his taco. It was delicious! It’s filled with carne asada. soo good! I really wish I ordered their tacos. But don’t get me wrong. Their california burrito was AMAZING! It is different from what you would get at other taco shops. I thought it tasted great.
I want to come back and try all tacos they offer. Great prices and delicious food! You’ll see me here more often!

Soooo Good! The fish taco is a huge piece of catfish that is GRILLED to perfection. About $ 1.49 each– beats most taco tuesday’s in town– and you get it at that price everyday!
Go here and please your mouth and wallet areas.

Couple of things going for Paco Taco. 1.) Good location in a brand new custom building. 2.) They have an authentic «TJ» style taco bar, replete with the adobada /​al pastor rotisserie. HUGE plus for Escondido, where most taco shops use the same frozen meat for everything. Bleh.
I tried the al pastor and the chorizo tacos. Admittedly, both are very rich flavors to begin with, but I found the al pastor (as much as I wanted to love it) way too salty. The chorizo was solid, but then again, it’s hard to do chorizo tacos wrong. Their chicken, carne asada and tripe tacos all looked awesome. Need to try next time I visit.
All in all, I loved the freshness of Paco Taco. Nothing is frozen. Everything is cooked to order in plain view of their dining room. They also have a salsa bar, and go through the trouble of container prepping their salsa for individual use. Very nice touch.
Throw in their cool al fresco patio parallel to Escondido Blvd, and Paco Taco is a great addition to the neighborhood!