Shifty’s Taco

Maybe I’m picky from growing up in Los Angeles, but I hold all «taco» places to a high standard. Philadelphians should get the same level of taste as an Angelino.
I went here soon after it opened with my wife and I had called in an order to pick up cause I live around the corner. Most tacos at US restaurants are made with corn, so I didn’t think twice about it — corn tacos are safe for the gluten-​free among us. I went to pick up and asked what kind of tortillas were used for the tacos and the cashier said «flour,» at which point I told her I’m gluten-​free and couldn’t eat the tacos that were made. She seemed very frustrated at that idea and had the cooks make new ones for free and told me I needed to specify next time what kind of tortillas to use. She never asked me what kind of tortillas I wanted, so maybe it’s a moot point.
What I remember about my pork tacos and my wife’s chicken tacos were the blandness and small portions. It just wasn’t what I’d come to expect growing up. I can make more flavorful tacos on my own by using a better variety of spices as well as lemon/​lime juice, Greek yogurt (substitute for sour cream), and sauteed veggies. I won’t be going back, but I will say that Mole Poblano and Tamalex in South Philly have amazing Mexican/​Honduran food for the same price.

The sad part of this review is that tacos are pretty tasty. This is the second time we have had terrible service at this establishment. They need some kind of manager with half a brain to start organizing things. We placed an online order for pick-​up at 6:30 and could select the pick up time — we chose 6:55.
We walk in a few minutes after 7. Wait in line for at least 5 minutes only to be told it will be a few minutes. Okay, not a big deal. THIRTY minutes later — after everyone who placed their orders in front of us in the store (35 minutes after we placed our order) had received their food, they finally got around to serving us.
The whole point of placing an order for pickup is getting your food in a timely manner and not standing around.
Last time they didn’t give us all of our food and we got home and discovered it, they were extremely rude.
I do not recommend this place and I really hope the owners read this and put someone in charge who has any kind of business and restaurant sense to stop being so rude and get their operations in order. You are setting a pretty bad example of service in the up and coming neighbor.

The small portions for the amount you pay is a little off putting. The food was good and they give you a ton of extra chips. Service was lack luster while not telling me I get one lousy pico for this half bag of chips. Communication is key fellas. I also have no clue why this place wouldn’t have a specialty burrito or at least make a burrito. Maybe every week, pick a day and serve burritos. I bet it would work. I’m not saying become a chipotle… I would never, but burritos are awesome. There is no place close to Brewerytown. I will try again possibly.

Delicious tacos perfect for hangovers. In fact, they’re probably good all the time… but I’ve only had them after nights of overindulgence.
The sauce on the seitan that they use is delicious! Friendly service. Great people watching on Girard Ave if you grab seats at the window bar.

I’ve been here on two occasions.
1) Catering for a group of 15, with half-​hour notice. They were prompt, courteous, and well organized. I literally lived next door, so delivery was easy. A bit overpriced for tex-​mex, but not too shabby overall. I had leftovers for a week, and I can’t say I got tired of them.
2) Group of four, sit-​in. My mother (who LOVES tex-​mex, and has probably been to every tex-​mex restaurant between Philly and Oklahoma) was quite happy with the food. While the seating looks pretty limited on the outside, we were comfortable midday on a Saturday.
I honestly don’t remember the names of the tacos we got, but I do remember that they they’re juicy. One of the best parts is licking the meat-​juice off your fingers after the taco is gone.

Stopped here on Saturday while I was on a bike ride called the tour de taco. 20 miles, 10 taco stops. This was stop 6. I took the strategy of one at each stop which was pretty ambitious. Here I wound up ordering the shifty taco, a combination of chicken, chorizo and maduros.
Again I wish the taco had another tortilla layered with it, but the flavor was very good. It was spicy and sweet and not overly stuffed which is nice. It was a little too juicy for me though. I don’t need juice flying out the other end and splashing everywhere as it falls out. Flavor was real good though.
I’m a taco purist, but this place very successfully does things not so authentically. Definitely worth a visit.

I’m not sure what all the hype is about here. The first time I went here I remember eating my tacos and being genuinely surprised at how bland and flavorless they were. The only thing I ate that had any flavor was the tortilla. After my first experience I decided I wouldn’t eat here again, but SO many people have told me that I needed to give it another shot… so I did.
I got two different orders of tacos this time, this first time I got the Texican which was a fairly generic choice. This time I got the tilapia tacos and the pork tacos with some kind of mango stuff on them.
Now these tacos where still, unbelievably bland! I couldn’t even finish either of my orders because they were so unappealing and just kind of gross. The tilapia was soggy and covered in a sauce that was globbed on as to make up for the flavorless fish I assume. The pork taco has no essence of mango that I tasted and it was INCREDIBLY dry and actually difficult to swallow. The pork itself had a bizarre taste to it, kind of like an old, dry can of tuna fish.
Now let me just finish this review by saying that I love mexican food, and I love it so much that pretty much as long as you give me a taco thats even remotely good, I’ll be really freakin’ happy about it, but this was just a waste of money, a waste of time and a huge disappointment.

Picked up Shifty’s tacos to go. I wanted to try the Slow Roller but they were apparently sold out, so I settled for the Hem and Hawl. The taco itself was a little on the dry side — the fish was more than done and there wasn’t enough sauce to compensate. The flour tortilla tasted like Mission Tortillas from the supermarket. $ 8 + tax for 3 tacos. Didn’t really blow me away to want to try them again.

What. The Fuck. Happened?
In December and January, I’d be in here 2−4x/week. Easy. Would invite friends, and told everyone about it. Something began to change in February –smaller portions, inconsistent product (brisket would be really fine, then chunky, sometimes spicy and other times completely flavorless; perfectly cut and prepared seitan one day, inexplicably bad the next; large chunks of chorizo, small chunks of chorizo; fresh pico, old pico; chips were sometimes fresh, crispy, kissed with a hint of salt, and other times stale, greasy, under/​overcooked; service would be hipster sometimes, good the next), etc. Come March, I think I ordered 2 or 3 times total because the food would vary from bad to worse.
Took a break from Shifty’s, thought maybe they just needed some time to settle into being a successful restaurant. Nope. It’s gotten worse. My brisket was mushy, and barely warm. It sat on the steam table for an unknown amount of time; the chips are both stale and very hard, your teeth are jeopardized with every bite; and no goddamn Chalula’s! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, SHIFTYS?
Thanks for the memories! Bye!

I love the flavors and would have given five stars, but the ton of liquid end up at the bottom of my «to go» container (see my photo) is a bummer and it’s an easy fix. Just take few more seconds to keep the watery liquids in your serving station instead of the bottom of the dish. The whole taco gets so soggy, and if you choose a corn tortilla (I made this mistake once), the whole thing just falls apart. Otherwise, I love this place and still keep coming back despite my complaint above.
Keep up the good work guys!

I rode up for a birthday lunch yesterday curious what to expect. I had heard great things about this place prior to my visit.
I ordered the La Lucha. It was very good, especially the mango sofrito… In addition to that, your choice of three shells. I got the corn soft shell. For $ 14 I received 3 great tacos, a side of rice and beans, and a soda. All in all, a great value. It’s a laid back atmosphere and I look forward to returning and trying other tacos and sides.

I’ve been at Shifty’s since the day they have opened and I can tell you that they are INCONSISTENT. I’ve had their tacos atleast 30 times and every time I order, the tacos vary depending on who is making them that particular day. It’s rather frustrating. Sometimes they are stuffed to the brim and other times they are skimpy.
The service is casual and laid back so don’t expect anything fancy. The girl at the register I was placing an order to, was busy eating a messy taco with a mouth full of food. Type of place where everyone hires their hipster friends who have never worked a day in food service.
I still keep coming back for more.

Feels like I’m in a cantina real authentic food to go along. They have catering, pick up and delivery. Well worth it reasonable prices for great food.

Shifty’s is a small boutique Mexican joint. The menu offers some inspiration on traditional Mexican fair. $ 8 will get you three tacos that fail to serve as a full meal. Add ons for chips and salsa are available, but come in servings so small they’re gone in an instant.
Shiftys has almost no atmosphere to speak of; it’s best as a quick stop or a take out joint. Some audible frustration/​argument between the front of house and kitchen made it pretty awkward for us as we waited for food.
Bottom Line: Shifty’s is a good idea, but needs some work. In the mean time, I’d prefer a hole-​in-​the-​wall for cheap prices, larger portions, and better food.

Bless Shifty’s!
All the food is good and all the staff are great

I was so excited to try Shifty’s again since it had been a few months since my first visit. I absolutely love tacos (so maybe my expectations are high) but I left feeling like theirs were lacking… again.
First off, we came in for lunch. When I walked up to the counter with my group, the guy that you give your order to was on the phone taking a to-​go order. That’s fine, but it took a really long time (like over 5 minutes). We were in a time crunch, which wasn’t their fault, but still. We also had more than one vegetarian in our group, and after the first person ordered, they said they had no more pomegranate pulled seitan. Maybe they save some for the dinner crowd or something? I don’t know, but that was a bummer. They also no longer had the celery water or horchata on their beverage menu.
All of the tacos were good, but not amazing. The sweet potato definitely could have used more spice and the pulled pork was swimming in grease. Plus, the tomatillo cream sauce was 95% cream and 5% tomatillo (and looked like ranch dressing).
I seriously want to love this place and feel like they could be everything I ever wanted in a taco shop, but they still have quite a bit of little things to fix.

The Brewerytown section of Philly is quietly becoming a destination for lovers of good food and drink with some recent openings — one of which is this fine Taco House. These are among the best tacos I’ve ever eaten. Each one is made to order and has a creative mixture of ingredients. The three I like the best so far are the 1) La Lucha with pulled chicken and mango sofrito, 2) The Shifty with chicken, chorizo, and maduros, and 3) The Rub with braised brisket and chipotles.
You order at the counter and then find a seat at the large communal wooden table or at the window bar and someone will bring you your order when it is ready. In warmer weather they have seating outdoors as well. There are also a couple of different hot sauces of varying heat which you can add to the food.
These tacos are tasty … real tasty!

Shifty’s Tacos opened recently in Brewerytown with a small menu of tacos and a few sides. Order at the counter and you can sit at the tables inside or outside at a sort of wooden bar you can stand at (and bring your pet). Tacos (3 per order) range from $ 5 to $ 8 dollars.
While we waited outside for our tacos, I drank an Arnold Palmer and snacked on some chips and salsa ($ 3). I can’t recommend either. The tea/​lemonade combo was really watery and the chips didn’t taste fresh.
Tacos come in trios, I liked that you can do a combo and sample more than one. I picked the tilapia, the fried chicken nugget, and the brisket. I liked the brisket the least, it was dry– Shifty’s would be better off using a fattier cut of beef here. The creamy, spicy sauce on the tilapia was nice, the tilapia itself was decent, but I have had better fish tacos. The chicken, however, was a great taco. The little nuggets were crispy and flavorful, and the cheese and pickled red onions on top worked well. It reminded me of tacos I have had in Texas.
So while the chicken taco was the only successful bite of the day for me, the service stood out in a good way. My gluten free friend failed to mention her digestive issues, and her trio was initially presented on flour tortillas. The staff was quick to replace the whole order on corn tortillas for her. (The original order was gifted to me to take home, but I had been drinking a good amount when I dug in to them and can’t offer an accurate account of how they tasted.)

Today, I went in and ordered the Fish taco. It was not too busy but a wait for the fish to cook. I work only a few doors away. Mark offered to drop-​off my food and banana pudding. It was a quick drop-​off. lol. The fish taco was flavorful and light. Very refreshing. Three came in an order. The banana pudding took me by surprise… It had a small slice of chocolate cake at the bottom of the bowl. Topped with whipped cream and sprinkles of shredded chocolate chips. This made my taste buds so happy.
I’ll be back for some more fish tacos and desserts. Can’t wait to try the churros.

Thanks to a Foobooz post I ended up at Shifty’s on Saturday night for dinner. They were holding a preview pop-​up party for their new store on Girard Ave. A $ 10 donation gets you three tacos and a can of beer. That sounded like a good deal and Brewerytown isn’t too far from me so I figured let’s give it a shot.
They were currently serving three tacos– chicken, brisket and sweet potato– the donation allowed you to sample all three. They were prepared in a soft tortilla shell and stuffed decently. The inside table was full at the time so we took our tacos outside to the backyard. There was a high, long table in which you could stand and rest your plate however that was also occupied. The next best thing was a standard, tailgate type table. It was a little challenging trying to stand and eat the tacos. The basket they came in was a little small and trying to eat off a small table presented issues. Doing the best I could, the insides fell out of the tacos and the flavors blended together. All and all tasty, however I couldn’t say specific details about each taco.
The meat for the tacos were prepared outside on a smoker barrel grill. There seemed to be some sort of issue which caused the ouside to become a little smokey. That was our cue to leave.
Overall the tacos were enjoyable. I feel a little duped because some of the meat tacos are normally $ 6-​$ 8 dollars for three. Instead of a Tecate as originally offered, we were given Miller Highlife.
It’s obvious this place has some growing pains. Luckily they do offer delivery for me to give it another shot because I’m not sure if its quite worth going to Brewerytown for.