Taco Palenque

Definitely a hometown staple. I’ve been coming here for as long as I can remember and I can’t leave Laredo without at least a couple of visits (sorry New Braunfels and San Antonio locations are just not the same).
After a cold and brutal bike ride we settled in to restore all the burned calories with some coffee and tacos and of course chips and salsa.
The potato and egg taco was tasty, but had obviously been sitting out for a while as it wasn’t hot or fresh, even though service was slow this morning. The bean and cheese was also great and nice and hot, plus it comes with a second tortilla so all the dropped filling makes another taco (I refuse to admit the beans are not vegetarian, ignorance is heavenly bliss in this case).
The coffee is self serve so you can get all your little heart desires. My sister likes to add horchata to the coffee. Although I didn’t try that because I needed straight up coffee, it’s something I’d like to try.
The salsa bar: Avocado salsa, tomatillo salsa, red salsa, pico de gallo, cucumbers, cilantro, radishes, cabbage, pickled onions, roasted jalapeños, Serrano peppers, serve your own chips at no additional cost. Hands down the best part of the dining experience. I love the avocado salsa with lime and cilantro, the tomatillo salsa, and the grilled jalapeños the best.
My only complaint is that the quality is inconsistent and the orders are some times wrong. The food is always good, but at times everything is great and fresh, other times it’s obviously been sitting out, cold, and stale. Nonetheless, it’s a must do when I’m in town.

Waiting for over 20 min the drive thru. Other people ahead of you get the food first. No real reason to come back again.

Awesome tortillas and barbacoa. Salsa bar was TO DIE FOR. I would go back again and again. Friendly staff as well. Clean restaurant.

Here in Laredo for Labor Day Weekend, my husband and I was looking for a yummy place for tacos! We stumbled across this place because it was close to our hotel and very convenient, (bad mistake) call me crazy but because of the location I thought I would be n good hands when it came down to bomb ass Mexican food! #1 food very pricey, #2 small portions, #3 not seasoned,#4 Not Good At All… We were so disappointed, we couldn’t even finish our food. The only thing that was half way tolerable was the salsa bar! Never ever again

Expensive as hell. A beef fajita plate with a small drink is $ 16 ($ 14 plate, $ 1 drink, $ 1+ tax) — It was a little amount of beans and rice. The beef fajitas were cold as if it were sitting there for hours. Flour tortillas were stale. Do not buy the Beef Fajita plate, it’s a huge waste of money. It would be half as much if you got a pirata with a drink, basically the same thing minus the rice.

This place is great!
It is a bit overpriced but they have the best green salsa and chips.
When I want to eat healthy I eat the palenque salad remove some of the extra water they put and instead of ranch I out the green salsa as dressing yummm!
The best one is the one in north laredo on Mcpherson

I love, love this place! Always open! Quick and fresh food. I dream about the tacos from here. The chip and salsa bar is one of the best I’ve ever had. Friendly service. Plenty of seating. It’s a just try!

The food is delicious! The fajitas, rice, beans, etc are amazing! As authentic as you can get in Laredo.
The only reason I take away some stars is because the prices have gone up, yet the quantity and quality are still the same. I like the service better at this location. It is usually less crowded than the others, and it is usually cleaner as well.

I went there on a Friday during Lent and observed they had fish tacos on the menu. I was expecting some sort of baked fish with lettuce and tomato. I was served what appeared to be some deep fried fish sticks wrapped with tortillas. I asked the waiter guy for tartar sauce. He replied, «What’s that»? The fish taco was comparable to eating pieces of deep fried wieners wrapped in cold floured tortillas. Lesson learned. Don’t order fish tacos at taco palenque because although it’s on the menu, that’s not what you will be served. Eating the taco palenque version of a fish taco is more of a sacrifice than abstaining from meat. Next time I will go with the usual –cheese enchiladas– or just stick to going there for breakfast tacos. Or I will go to HEB for a loaf o bread and a jar of peanut butter.

My family and I had a huge case of the late night munchies, and fast food didn’t sound appetizing. This place is open 24 hours, so we decided to drop in. Upon entering, the first things I noticed where the sizzling sounds of the the grill and the hordes of loud obnoxious drunk college kids. To be fair, we did go after midnight, & I would have done the same thing at that point in my life.
To the left of the front desk, they have help yourself self fresh tortilla chips. They were well salted and pretty crispy. I ordered one carnitas tacos and one steak taco with rice and refried beans. I wanted to order a beer to go with it, but I forgot my freakin ID. They wouldn’t serve me, needless to say.
We must have ordered around 20 tacos, and they don’t come labeled. So thus began the sorting and opening of every taco, and appropriating it to the right person. I found it pretty annoying at the time, but it was all forgotten when I finally had my first bite.
Man, those tacos were huge! Like can’t-touch-the-ends-of-the-tortilla big. They have a salsa bar full of fresh cilantro, onions, jalapeños, and a variety of salsas. I didn’t care for any of the salsas, so I just loaded up on pico and the fixings listed above. The steak taco was by far my favorite. The steak was so good and flavorful, and not tough at all. It was well complimented by the rice and beans. I left the place with a huge yet satisfied gut.

meat! meat! taco palenque serves very good fajitas! the parilladas are a swell! also you can never go wrong with what they have on the salad bar! guacamole salsa is very good!

Being a Laredo/​Nuevo Laredo native all my life, Taco Palenque has been a staple in my choices for years! The food is good, 24hr service convenient, and always an interesting (usually drunken) crowd after 2am on any given night.
Since moving to the Dallas area, I’ve felt a yearning for quality Mexican food and decided to swing by here for some take out after a night of, err, Hydration at the local watering holes. To say the least. Boy, things have changed! This has become and all out chain and the service/​quality of food proves it!
The prices have skyrocketed, first of all, to an almost ridiculous price. Any fajita taco, chicken or beef, is $ 3.99 and the pirata (pirate) specialty (adding cheese and beans in the mix) was $ 4.39! That’s almost a meal price anywhere else! I remember buying two tacos and a soda for $ 5 before! Everything has inflated and overpriced now. I’m no cheapo, just do not agree paying way more for the same food I’ve always ate growing up.
Our order was the Panchitos, a Mexican version of panchos with added fajita, beans, and guacamole, and this was the «kid’s meal». It included a drink, as a substitution for a kid drink and a gelatin side. Yes, gelatin as a side. Tab was over $ 15, how? My drunken self didn’t question it, nor minded it. Aside from whataburger, it’s the only other 24 hr option in Laredo so it seemed the better choice.
My worry was the service! I failed to mention the food was «para llevar», since it seems you have to communicate in Spanish anywhere in Laredo 90% of the time to get better service, and that proved costly. When we returned to the register and told them of our meal being To Go, we loaded up at the salad bar with condiments and extra chips and somehow our order number was jacked. After half hour we realized we had no food yet so we inquire about it and the jerk at the register says our food went to some table already and they didn’t know not to so so since we didn’t have our number. What?! It was TO GO you moron! Another 10 – 12 minutes and we finally recieved it, with a side or sarcasm, teeth sucking, and poorly packaged food orders.
Tisk, tisk. I love my little border town, it’s in my heart, but I was greatly disappointed. Last time Taco Palenque, last time. I’ll stick my mom’s cooking next time I come down to visit in a few months. Atleast that home cooked feel and taste is there. Perhaps whataburger is the better late night option. Yikes!

Originally I mistook this place for Pollo Palenque. Totally different and Taco Palenque was slammin. Good quality but fast food. I ate here twice during a three day trip. Too many places in Laredo have Palenque and taco in their names. That is pretty confusing for gringo out-​of-​towners.
I digress, I got the beef fajita taco and loved the homemade tortillas and good sized volume of meat in each taco. Plus they are open ²⁴⁄₇! I found it annoying that all the places in Laredo defaulted to spanish even when orders are placed in English… but I guess it comes with the territory/​culture of the city.