Pineda Tacos

Delicious carnitas tacos, 2.55 each. No frills, paper plate, basic atmo. Fyi, extra charge for guacamole and skip the combo. A bottle of Jarritos is 2.50.

I work in the neighborhood– everyone loves this place! The food is delicious and fast. The chicken tacos are perfect– spicy and flavorful. Very simple and authentic. I typically take it to go and they include all of the salsas and cutlery. Also, the prices are amazing– I get 3 tacos plus chips/​salsa and a drink for under $ 8!

Authentic, traditional and just plain YUMM! Goes to show that there is much more to good Mexican cuisine than tacos and burritos.

This is the best Authentic Mexican place in Minneapolis hands down! Try the burrito or tacos with carnitas steak or spicy chicken!
My boyfriend and I are regulars at this restaurant. We can’t get enough!

Very tasty, flavorful, and spicy just the way I like it! MMM tacos are the best. I usually get the traditional corn tortillas with 3 different types of them-​steak with bell peppers and onions, chicken, and pork. The shrimp is ok. It has slightly too salty.
The green sauce is the best! so delicious! Red sauce is decent.

I have a confession: I was confused between this place and Pineda Plus at 330 Lake St. and my earlier review was for the wrong business.
This place is still OK, but really a completely different kind of spot. I went to grab some tacos for myself and a burrito for my wife. The meats are very limited and not cooked to order, which was disappointing, so I skipped the tacos — to me, tacos are a bit pointless when the meat was cooked earlier and kept warm.
The burrito was really good though — this sort of set up reminds me of places in San Francisco where, arguably, (and I say this risking the wrath of people in several cities that have made damn good burritos for decades…) the modern burrito — called a mission burrito for the mission neighborhood was born. So Pineda hits pretty close to the mark with tender meats packed into a large soft tortilla with rice, beans, etc.
For the SF Mission this would be a very average burrito, for MN this is a very good one. Price is really on point, as well. I think a filling burrito will run you just about 5 bucks.
I think Trinh’s very good review was also for Pineda Plus, as the description matches the much smaller, cozier interior.

Great burritos just off Lake & Hiawatha! You can pick out pretty much any toppings you want to put on your burrito here, from a wider selection than you will find at chipotle or qdoba. I usually get a veggie burrito by itself because i don’t really drink pop or eat chips with dairy (vegan).
PRO: inexpensive, tasty burritos made in front of you
PRO: cubicle-​style booths in the middle of the dining area
PRO: dramatic af spanish-​language soap operas playing on the TV
if you’re local, watch out for the grilled fajitas, those green peppers you see are not green bell peps but jalapeños!

I had to have tacos last night so I made my Mexican friends take me to an authentic place. We’ve checked out the place next door, La Hacienda, but Pineda has bigger tacos and gives you more meat.
It’s a small dive with a few booths. I got an alambre with chipotle pork. The meat was so tender and flavorful but there were a lot of fatty pieces. The side of rice and beans was good but they don’t give you a lot of it. The salsas were not as spicy as I would have liked and the bag of chips had so few chips!
But overall, I would come back here for the entrees over other places for sure.

The food is great and comes out (from the kitchen, hehehe) quickly. Would recommend to all burrito connoisseurs. I10/​10 on the food.
However, to no fault of their own, do not be surprised if someone approaches you in the parking lot asking for money. Do not be surprised if other customers are speaking loudly and using foul language while you try to enjoy your meal. Do not be surprised if you see a physical altercation between other customers or have to listen to someone’s music that they are playing on their cell phone.
Again, the food is great, but it is in a high crime area so, well, there you go…

The food was excellent, but my family of four all had stomach issues later that night. We’re in no hurry to try it again.

Pineda Tacos is different enough from every other taqueria on Lake Street which makes my taco-​loving self happy.
Like others have mentioned, it’s a choose-​your-​own-​adventure of taco/​burrito/​quesedilla making pleasure. Want crema, lettuce, onions and a wee bit of cheese on your carnitas tacos (like I do)? You got it, dude. And those carnitas are exactly what I aim to slow-​cook my pork to, but inevitably fail.
I couldn’t figure out a way to just order tacos, so I got the plate with beans, rice and a side of chips and salsa; all forgettable.
Atmosphere? What’s that? I was a little skeeved out by the dirtiness of the dining room, but ended up taking my delicious food to-​go and problems was solved.

Good place, slightly better than their bigger neighbor Taqueria La Hacienda, but I like the less known places.

I love this place, lots of menu items, very authentic! They even have real Mexican Coke made with real sugar. My favorite new burrito place.

I was craving for something good to eat and decided to go here for the first time. I was skeptical but I must say my stomach is satisfied.

Prepare for obesity. The food is so good. The spiciness is actually spicy. I ordered the spiciest burrito with their spiciest sauce (much to the surprise of the guys behind the counter) and my esophagus will never be the same.
I have no idea what the tiger burrito is, but I get it every time. It’s $ 5 for a burrito, plus chips and a soda. Not sure what makes it different from a regular burrito, and I can’t find it on the menu, but I swear it exists…

First time here. Ordered à chicken mole takeout burrito. Burritos are on sale now in January 2015 for $ 4.99. Not réal favorable even burrito maker reheated chicken mole meat in the microwave in styropfoam no less. The burrito maker puts tortilla on a hot grill which is neat. Added lettuce, sliced not cut up tomatoes, salsa, little bit of cheese, Rice and refried beans. Good value for your money. Filled me up.

After protesting for five hours or so, which consisted of walking from East Lake and Hiawatha to Augsburg and back, I worked up a monster appetite. Luckily, I found Pineda Tacos not too far away from where I parked, on my walk to the protest rally point.
The menu is pretty disorganized, and, I couldn’t for the life of me find any menu item with the word «taco» in it. (Perhaps, I was really tired.) Anyways, I was about to utter «dos tacos al pastor y carnitas» to the staff member behind the counter, until I saw this sheet of paper taped on the wall that said «carnitas special.» So I ordered that and a torta milanesa for my boo, too. #impulsivebuysarethebestbuys
I got my number, sat down in one of the booths, and only waited for about five minutes before I got my order.
Carnitas Special: Not sure how long this baby is around, but for the most part, it’s delicious. I’m not sure what cut of beef they used for this plate, but it’s topped with some caramelized onions and complemented with refried beans and orange rice. I wish the carnitas were more tender and broken apart, but it didn’t make it any less delicious! (Especially with the spicy verde sauce.) Eventually, after my plastic knife failed to cut this sucker, I cave-​manned this hunk of beef aka ripped it to shreds with my own two hands. #sorrynotsorry #icarrysanitizer
Torta Milanesa: I swear I planned on giving my girl the torta, but after I learned that she had eaten dinner after a quick chat on the phone and my belly still grumbled, I devoured this thang, too. With fluffy bread, tasty guac, ooh good lawd, I couldn’t help but smile from the tastiness.
Overall, I would totally return to Pineda Tacos (on a non-​protest day) to get my Mexican food fill. However, it’s slightly a notch below some other taquerias I’ve eaten at.

0 stars for ambiance — high school cafeterias are more charming. 0 stars for service — there isnt any and it would be easier to find someone who speaks English in Mexico than here. And 0 stars for presentation.
1000 stars for the food. Oh. My. God. Absolutely DELICIOUS off-​the-​charts good food. Easily the best Mexican I’ve ever had, possibly the best food of any kind I’ve ever eaten. What you get at Pineda Tacos is hard-​working, happy, smiling people cooking up bold, fresh and rich flavors into what i can only describe as tex-​mex perfection. Do yourself a favor and skip the overpriced, bland wannabe «chefy» food at Rosa Mexicano, skip the assembly line garbage at Chipotle and skip on over to lake street for authentic awesome. (See picture for my favorite — get it with the Chipotle chicken.)

Great place with great food. The staff is always very helpful and is happy to make a recommendation.
I’ve tried everything from the tacos to the burritos to the tortas and they all have been very satisfying. A must during a quick lunch break.
¡buen provecho!

Stopped in here for the first time on Friday night based on good word of mouth from friends and the close proximity to our house. We ordered the chicken enchiladas combo and taco salad combo. Food was pretty good, but the restaurant was FILTHY. Like, «this tastes good but I’m sure I’m going to become violently ill in the next 12 hours» filthy. The salsa bar was particularly suspect and looked like it had been set out the previous day. Lots of fruit flies everywhere. In that regard, hell yeah it’s authentic Mexican. ;p
Neither one of us ended up getting sick, other than some wicked acid reflux. I’d probably give it another shot — I only saw three employees, two making the food and one running the cash register, and there was a consistent line, so perhaps they were just short-​staffed on this particular day and maybe we’d just come in after a big dinner rush or something.