Nelly’s Authentic Mexican Tacos

IM IN LOVE WITH NELLY! And the tacos are the best I’ve ever had on this island. So much flavor. We got the steak tacos, pork tacos, and chipotle chicken tacos. Home made freshly pressed tortillas make this taco as well as their freshly homemade habanero hot sauce and I’m not sure what it is but the green tomatillo salsa is AMAZING the combo of both on every bite is like a flavor that you never want to end! Thank you for existing nelly and Benito!!! Gracias!

Meh. I purchased a fried chicken quesadilla to share with a friend. It was just okay. I am from California and am used to very flavorful and seasoned food. This was not it, the chicken was not seasoned and there wasn’t enough cheese in or around the quesadilla. All people in our party had the same feeling.

I don’t know about authentic. I’m from California where there are taco trucks in every corner like an ABC store in Waikiki. The food was edible but it wasn’t anything to write home about. I ordered a burrito, which was basically two chicken tacos stacked together. It wasn’t even rolled up so it didn’t qualify to be called a burrito. It was plain shredded chicken with super bland Spanish rice a pinch of raw onions and cilantro. No salsa, no Pico de gallo, nothing to make it the usual authentic chicken burrito. And it was a giant taco, not a burrito ($ 8)!!! A burrito is rolled up, not open faced. My husband ordered 2 tacos at $ 5 each and it came with literally a side tablespoon of beans and rice, and the bland meat and tortilla. Needless to say, it was not worth what we paid for and we should have stuck to our original plan of eating at Giovanni’s shrimp truck.

Love love love Nelly’s! Super simple and delicious home style Mexican food! Literally everything I’ve tried is fantastic! You won’t get any Of that sour cream and Kraft Mexican cheese here! Just home made, real Mexican food!

Great price and one taco is enough. Just need a cerveza to accompany it. We had steak and pork tacos and a burrito and the quesadilla. I loved my steak taco but would do hot sauce next time.

As Mexican in desperate need of Mexican food in my travels, I came across this truck that saved my life! They have hand-​made tortillas! I got the carne asada tacos and they were bomb! They also have Mexican Coke! Definitely would recommend to others looking for something different than the usual rice plate in Hawaii!

This place is very good. I am from California and am use to good Mexican food and this place hit the spot. I enjoyed it and the people running the truck are super nice and hospitable. Only good things to say about this place, check it out!

Delicious! Hard to find, but really yummy tacos! Definitely worth the trip! They also have yummy rice & beans! I’m from San Diego, I know good Mexican food, this one is a winner!

La major comida de Hawaii
Tacos ricos
Try some real Mexican food it’s delicious we order tacos quesadillas sopes todo hecho a mano all made to order plus the people serving are nice. If you are near north shore try them el jefe es nice

Fantastic steak tacos! Cheap and authentic! They are with other food trucks invade you are not a seafood goer!

Always a go to when I’m missing california and craving some authentic Mexican food. Burrito is delicious. The people that work there are super genuine and kind hearted. I wish I spoke more Spanish!

Nelly’s is by far the best Mexican food I have ever had!!! Forget the shrimp trucks and go the the Mexican truck in the back!!!

Amazing tacos and burritos, the wait is a little long. But the food is fresh and made when you order it. But hey, your on vacation so why rush. Well worth it!!!

I’m from LA and this is the best taco I have ever had. Stop and get shrimp but make sure to get some Mexican food. Homemade tortillas and salsa. Everything is delicious.

I can’t believe I had to com the way to hawaii to find my grandmas hand made tortillas… Nellys is so authentic I felt right at home. The fried chicken tacos and carne asada burrito is awesome!

Whoa Nelly! Located on what I call the island of food truck heaven. towards the back… step into little Mexico. Seriously, a trailer with a… look at the picture ’nuff said.
The food was good and definitely authentic. Coolest thing here for me was the coca cola in the glass from mexico. Definitely brings back childhood memories. Gracias!

Don’t go trying to find this place once it has gotten dark or else you might find yourself doing several u turns like we did. It’s a window on the side of the shaved ice place, right in front of the Kahuku Grill. Once we found it we were so glad we didn’t give up and go somewhere else!
Ordered chicken tacos, and my brother & dad ordered the steak burrito (which is not actually a normal hand held burrito, it’s basically two tacos put together). I found the tacos to be delicious and fresh! Loved the homemade corn taco tortillas. I will note that it was so fresh that my fiancé found some cartilage in his that kind of weirded him out. The only reason why it is 4 stars & not 5. The medium salsa verde was just perfect, the right amount of heat.
It is cash only, but there’s an ATM in the convenience store right next door if you need it. Would highly highly recommend this place!

This is a review for the foodtruck, not the take out window by the shave ice place. Nelly’s is by far, the best part of that Giovani’s tourist trap center. The Mexican food there is über-​authentic and super delicious. The chicken tinga tacos are loaded and the very fresh chipotle chicken is served up on fresh hand-​made corn tortillas. It really doesn’t get better than that. The Guarache is delicious as well. The burritos are open-​faced, so you’ll have to do a little work to stuff it down your gullet, but well worth your efforts. I was nothing but happily stuffed on all 3 of my visits to Nelly’s. Skip everything else in that Kuhuku tourist trap.

Such an amazingly nice lady! We were lost and she came out of her shop to the highway to find us and guide us to her place!
We had the chile relleno, steak burrito and carne asada. The chile relleno was the tops, plenty of cheese and it really tasted like the Anaheim chile. Yum. Steak burrito was also very good. The carne asada was good too, just the others were better.
On the salsa, we got medium since it was our first time. Our advice — don’t be timid, we will go for hot next time.
The real star here is the tortillas — clearly handmade perfection.
So 4 stars for the food and 1 star the the amazingly nice lady. 5 star rating and we will definitely be back!

Disclaimer: I’m originally from California so it’s REALLY hard for me to like mexican food in Hawaii. It just doesn’t really compare. So if I were still in California, I’d probably rate Nelly’s 3 stars. But for being in Hawaii, Nelly’s deserves 4 stars. It’s a simple meal done well. Quite possibly… no wait… Definitely (!) the best tortilla on the island. Probably the one and only place I’d want to eat mexican food on Oahu.
OK, so on to the review… this is a lil mom n pop set-​up. They aren’t actually a food truck. The couple speaks spanish so that’s a good sign. The wife hand makes the tortillas right in front of you — another good sign. They have homemade salsas, too.
At first we ordered 2 tacos: steak and pork (carnitas). $ 4 each. You have the option of adding papas (potatoes), rice, beans, onion, cilantro and salsa. We asked for our tacos with all the fixin’s. We sat down and we were both quite pleased with the portion size and the taste. These aren’t lil corn tortillas with a spoonful of meat and a squirt of salsa. These are sizable tacos (as they should be for $ 4 each!).
We liked the tacos so much that we decided to skip all the neighboring shrimp trucks and random other food trucks to try a chicken burrito. For an $ 8 burrito, it’s a good heavy portion. What was interesting was that in the to-​go container, they lay 2 tortillas down to cover the length of the container. They pour in all the food as if it’s a huge taco. And no, they don’t roll your burrito into a burrito. Strange, right? A burrito here is actually a huge ass taco! Hey — I like the stuffing so I’m not complaining. But if you’re looking for something to hold upright in your hand… you won’t be able to do that at Nelly’s. The best part of the burrito was eating the middle portion where the tortillas overlapped. It was extra chewy and delicious. I really do love the handmade, fresh tortillas. It makes a world of difference!
Now… if only we could get Nelly’s to move to town…