J&R Tacos

Love J&R’s! I grab dinner there before movies downtown Merced. I more frequently eat lunch from their food cart at UC Merced on Mondays/Wednesday’s. Love their chicken nachos and salsa verde.

If I could give zero stars I would. The worst experience ever. I ordered a supreme veggie burrito and got a tortilla full of lettuce. Barely any beans or salsa and no avocado Evan tho it comes with the burrito. The tortilla and lettuce cost me $ 8.06 seriously almost $ 10 for lettuce and tortilla. I will never get food from them again it was terrible.

Although the place is kind of small, the people are very friendly and receptive. This place is always very clean and offers a lot of options. I love going here when I need my Mexican fix when I am downtown. I love their food and I will be back there.

Don’t come here expecting «taco truck tacos», but their al pastor is my favorite in town. Also gotta love their Thursday beer special. Five stars because of their consistency and friendly owners.

I came here a couple months ago with my husband and we ordered a tamale and burrito. The food wasn’t great at all. The tamale was very very dry like it had been heated up too many times. I gave two stars because the staff was very friendly and helpful.

Just gave them one more try. Even worse than before. $ 9 for a burrito with «steak» that looked and tasted like dog food and dried chicken that tasted like it was cooked in the sun for 8 hours with no seasoning. Barely any Sour cream and I don’t think I saw one piece of avacado. No hot sauce or even Pico. Lots of lettuce though!
Seriously, how are these folks still in business?

J&R takes a fresh approach to the typical Mexican fare.
I ordered the chorizo super burrito (super burrito includes sour cream guac and lettuce in addition to the rice beans and meat)
Was it the best burrito I’ve ever had? Most definitely not. Was it the worst? Far from it. Hence why this place deserves a 3 star rating.
For those of you complaining about burritos not being «worth the price,» take into account the chips, plus a free drink at check in. J&R’s burrito tips more favorably on the «burrito scale.»

Gross how does this place stay open worse place ever!!!
Over priced !
No flavor !
Wouldn’t recommend to my enemies!
Trust and believe if u like tacos go to Corner of R st and 14^th.

Stopped in, on our way to Tahoe, because they had vegan options. Found a great Mexican restaurant with fresh healthy ingredients. Stopped in again on our way home. Great food! This will become a regular stop when traveling up the 99.

Love the food I’ve gotten here. The service wasn’t the best but they were at least friendly! The taco’s I got were delicious and fresh. Inside gets crowded at lunch time so I’d suggest checking it out in good weather to take advantage of the outside seating or not an noon.

My favorite Mexican restaurants in Merced. I usually order the tacos here. It’s always hit the spot. Leaves me in a good coma afterwards. I sleep real well.
This place do have a healthier feel to it. You can choose the type of tortilla you like (tomato, regular, spinach, etc). The food is less greasy compared to a taco truck. Very clean. Never got diarrhea once.
Students do get like a 10% discount. Must tell them in order to get the discount.
Definitely recommend coming here if you are a Merced product.

The food here is fresh and delicious. The pastor and chile verde are among my favorites but my daughter always gets the enchiladas.
The chips and salsa are also top notch.

Their food is pretty tasty. I always order their nachos al pastor. The meat is seasoned perfectly and the nachos can easily be shared by two people. I ordered their carne asada tacos for the first time recently. They were good, but I prefer taco truck tacos.
If you’re in the area I recommended giving this place a try!

Slow service. Food wasn’t good at all. Haven’t had great Mexican food anywhere in Merced but this takes the cake for the worst taste and quality

I visited J&R’s for the first time yesterday. I’ve had their food a couple of times before at their food stand on UC Merced’s campus.
The customer service was nice. The cashier explained to me their healthy options and was very friendly. I was happy about that part!
I had a regular burrito with a whole wheat tortilla. I like the idea of this place (they have many whole wheat, gluten free options, and they don’t cook their meals with lard) but my burrito was very dry. I only ate half of it. When I usually have it from their food stand on campus, it’s very good and flavorful. I was disappointed with my meal but happy with my service.

Love the food and atmosphere here! The food proportion could be a little bit bigger, but other than that, great place for lunch or dinner!

J& R Tacos is not what you expect.
Healthy choices and great décor. Needs more space, it felt a bit crowded.
But the chilaquiles plus carne asada that I ordered was great! A bit spicy. But I worked around it.
Next time I’ll ask avocado and another egg… And if possible less spicy.
I’ll come back soon.

This Mexican restaurant is located in the of downtown Merced. I came here with a colleague and they were surprisingly decent. There are many authentic Mexican restaurants in merced, but i gave this place a try because of where I was for a meeting.
I ordered a burrito on wheat tortilla, carne asada, black beans, avocado and cheese, but it came with other stuff like lettuce, sour cream, etc (see picture). I’m not a picky eater so I asked for everything. The service was good, they were prompt and to hold us over, there were chips and salsa. The staff is friendly and the restaurant is clean.
Although it isn’t a big restaurant, it still seats a good amount plus outdoor seating. I prefer the inside during Merced’s super hot summers. I will definitely return when I’m downtown.

Ok, I’ve been here about four times, each time hoping to find what everyone else is giving 5 stars for. Still haven’t found it. I’m underwhelmed by the food, have tried different things each time just to see what it’s about and it’s not great. I’ve not seen a Mexican restaurant in Merced use bagged Costco tortilla chips, but that’s what they use here. A recent article in the Merced Sun-​Star had indicated they poured Bobcat Brewing beer and that’s why we went again.
When I asked about the beer, the guy at the register had not an idea what I was talking about. I figured, OK, maybe they don’t have it. I then asked about the Tioga Sequoia beer they had (which I could clearly see they had on tap). Again, he had no idea what I was talking about, had to ask a co-​worker and she didn’t know either. I finally said, just give me a glass of whatever is coming out of that tap behind you. It was poured into a hot glass, right off the shelf. Arrrgh! No way to serve a beer!!! Beer wholesalers, please come show these people about the proper way to serve a beer and educate their servers on what they sell!!!
Ordered carne asada nachos and a asada burrito. There were those darn bagged chips in the nachos, which I had forgotten they used. Seriously, is it so difficult to fry up some tortillas to make chips? A sprinkle of asada and very little beans and less cheese on the nachos. Only thing which I thought was good was the salsa, but there was too little of it and served with those bagged chips. Had to get three refills on the salsa to get the nachos down.
The burrito was, meh, OK. I’ve had better food for lots less on the price. Guess the reviewers giving 5 stars must be getting something else for their money than I am, or else they have absolutely no taste for Mexican food. Or they are UC Merced students who have no idea about Mexican food and are think Chipotle and Taco Bell is the bomb.

So so so good! The place writes on their menu that it’s also healthy and you’d never be able to tell with how great the food is!
The tamales and the pastor burrito are to die for! Their chips are crunchy and salty, just the way I like ‘em!
They have a wide variety of beers from Modelo to local. And also Mexican cola and sodas.