Tacos el Rey

IMHO this is one of the best restaurants in NW Reno. The prices are very affordable, and the food is great. I now live in South Reno, and nothing down here compares to this place.

It was a dark and stormy night and we had spent all day shopping so cooking wasn’t going to happen. My family was in town so we had a house full of hungry boys to feed.
I ordered a carne asada burrito for myself, 15 carne asada tacos, beans, rice, albondagas soup, chips and quacamole for the locusts that occupy my residence. For basically $ 35 I fed everyone and all approved whole heartedly. The only compliant and what keeps this from 5 stars, was how salty some of the carne asada was. All in all not a big complaint.
Service was excellent as we got all this food to go and I felt a little guilty about the work load. Not even an issue! The guy behind me ordered 30 tacos to go! The woman taking orders says it happens all the time, yay! This pretty much means I will never go back to fast food Mexican again :)

Mmmmm mmmmm mmmm! If you don’t live in Mexico and you’re looking for street tacos this is as close as you will get in Reno, NV. The tacos are delicious and full of flavor. Meat, onion and cilantro with a side of lime… perfectly simple and delicious. The chips are tasty, but the salsa was too hot for this white girl so I can’t comment on its flavor. The beans and rice I really enjoyed. I liked sipping my chips into the beans. Ceviche tostada is excellent. I got my meal to go and it was a full cup of ceviche! My belly is now happy and very full!

Tacos, tacos, tacos. I’ve been struggling trying to find a cheap, easy-​going Mexican restaurant that will fulfill my taco craving and hold me over until my next craving. I went to Tacos el Ray II in sparks before I came here, a long long time ago. To me, they are both equally good eats, but this location just happens to be so much more convenient.
I do have to confess, that I forgot about these places, and how good they were the first time. After stopping by today to have their 3 steak taco combination for super cheap, I will be coming here more and more and more and more.
My steak tacos came with sauteed to perfection onions and cilantro, with some raw onions on the side (YES!) in corn tortillas (platas). With any combination you get rice and re-​fried beans on the side. In reality, because they double up the platas per taco, you can really have 6 tacos, three filled with what your choice of meat was, and then three extras to scoop that yummy bean/​rice combo into. So six tacos, for less than 10 dollars? Baby, I’m in 100%.
One little tip, get the chips and salsa (splurge if you gotta). I feel like without that, you meal just can’t be complete… even though there’s 3+3 tacos in front of you. I also ask for lime, it gets the tacos a little wet… and they’re just much more delish that way.

Great tacos! They do the little street style tacos you would find in lots of parts of Mexico. I beilive they are only $ 1.50 each, I like there Chorizo & Al Pastor. They also serve Chillichiles. There chips could be a little better but other than that it’s very good!

Micheladamazing! I’ll definitely be ordering another of these tasty drinks. Everything on the menu is ridiculously cheap and delicious. Shame on anyone who eats at the nearby Taco Bell /​Del Taco over this place. You’re not worthy!

Terrible!!! My wife and I were there last night (FRi) for take out. Ordered two enchilada dinners and chicken soup. Was told it would be about 15 minutes. 1 hour later our order was ready.
Enchilada dinners ice cold, no flavor after microwave heating. Chicken soup was undercooked, lots of chicken skin, undercooked potatoes again very little flavor.
Stomach cramps arrived for me about 2 hours late and continued all night with mutiple trips to toilet. My wife got sick around 3 am with vomiting and diarrhea al night. Now sitting in bed feeling really crappy, cramps still persist.
Wondering who was in the kitchen that night… that infamous duo «Sam an Ella»?
We won’t be going back… EVER
Diner beware

this is my go to place for real tacos. as well I recommend this place to any visitor from out of town looking for that meal that is as close to home cooked by abuelita as you can get.
my go to is the carne asada tacos/​tostadas. the el pastor is very tasty (and cooked on the spike tower thingy). in most cases the rice and beans need just a little more salt, but it could just be that growing up my family uses a lot of salt.
the staff is always super friendly and working hard to get your meal out quickly.

The service was terrible. They ran out of fries the tv was off cold food nasty nachos the steak was mediocre and 1.62 $ for a refill. If you want good Mexican food just go to Antonio’s this place was a waste of money

Please someone open a better (which isn’t asking for much) taqueria in NW Reno it would crush cause the King (el Rey) is dead.
When did chips and salsa merit charging 4.04 $…especially after you order dinner for 3.
Service=terrible
Cleanliness=see above
I could go into further detail but it won’t change a thing because many have voiced the same complaints.
More power to the king I suppose

Very friendly counter person. If you dine in they give you chips and salsa. Salsa has a little zing and a really interesting smoky flavor. All the prices are fantastic for what you get. I got a Carnitas Wet Burrito w/​green sauce really nice size, plenty of meat, tasty green sauce with melted cheese on top. I also got 2 Al Pastor and 2 Carne Asada tacos. Great flavor profile. Did add some hot sauce cause I like it spicy, but they were great on their own. ²⁄₃ of the burrito went home, and I am a big eater, but tacos filled me up.
Wife ordered fish taco combo plate they were great and retried beans. Wife is a aficionado of re-​fried beans (death row meal side) she gave them a 7 out of 10. The beef flautas were good and homemade. Got kid the quesadilla it was huge. People kept filing through the door the whole time as we ate, but they kept everything flowing smooth. Only off part was when it is ready they bring it, so no group of butlers lifting plate covers when the bell rings. All I can say is hope that your order is FIRST!

I have eaten Taco’s El Rey about 350 times, I would say 90% of those visits were 5 Stars, then I had quite a few hiccups and disappointments, so I pulled my review since it’s hard to rate a place bad after so many great visits. After quite a long spell, I ventured back, and saw an important and familiar face, Chris one of the owners. Once I saw Chris and relayed my previous concerns, it was back to the magical place it used to be! =)
It really is a special place with amazing food and prices. My only gripe is the burritos never to seem to satisfy me (little meat, lots of beans and rice, plus more beans and rice on the side — just doesn’t work for me); but everything else does from the Sopes, Enchilada’s, Taco’s (My only preference is Large), Nacho’s, Quesadilla, Flour Tortillas, etc. I tried a Crispy Chicken taco last visit and it was delicious, and well dressed up.
My last meal on Friday was 2 Large Taco’s Carne Asada ($ 2 each) 1 Large Chorizo (Homemade in house — no funky parts) Taco ($ 2), 1 Crispy Chicken (Wet style) Taco ($ 1.50) and 1 Cheese Enchiladas ($ 1.50) = $ 9 plus tax.
I am hooked on the Cheese Enchilada, it’s delightful treat to eat every time. You can really feel the home like nature of the food when it’s served to you, there’s thought and care, and many little touches, that just sing WOW, REAL DEAL!
My only WISH for any place that serves a lot of corn and cooks in soybean aka vegetable oil is to offer organic options for a reasonable upgrade charge, as I don’t want to support GMO Corn or Soybeans, etc.
The food was excellent and delicious on my last visits. The secret to culinary delight is you have to find your dishes in any place, and or the ones you like the way it comes out. I will admit many times they don’t have the chance to earn my business if they fail 1 or 2 times.
That’s why I always post what are my 5 stars dishes, so if you are someone who’s had an experience that didn’t hit you in that sweet spot, try mine (if our palettes our similar), and it just might!
I am happy to say after 5 visits recently, I can give back the 5 Star Crown to one of my old school favorites on the dishes aforementioned!

Pros: 1. Margaritas were good 2. Food was pretty good, more authentic than most places.
Cons: 1. It was really warm in the restaurant 2. Took awhile to get served. Then again, they made the food fresh but it was still a wait.

I love this place! Great food, great service, and great prices. They have a great variety in their menu (they even serve breakfast), and I’ve yet to find a dish I haven’t enjoyed. Their tacos with carnita meat cannot be beat, and the rice and beans served with their combination plates are always delicious. If you’re craving a margarita with your Mexican food, get it to go and make one at home. I found their margaritas to be a bit too sweet for my taste. Also if you come during the summer, be warned that it gets pretty toasty inside the restaurant!

I love a good hole in the wall, and Tacos El Ray is a hole in wall for sure. We moved to Reno from San Diego and this is authentic Mexico Diner food. Made with finesse and a lot of love. I had a great shrimp cocktail tonight. Never had one but have seen others having them for a long time. Awesome! Balanced cold cilantro lime tomato base with avocado and tons of shrimp. Wow! Wife went for Carne Asada tacos and the kid had a quesadilla (sp ?) which were great. We’ve been going for years and never been disappointed. Cold beer and Mexican cokes. Ladies are always sweet that work there. Super inexpensive too. 5 stars because it’s outstanding for this genre of restaurant.

My boyfriend and I love this little food joint! Definitely feels like a genuine, family owned establishment plus they have the best burritos in town! Almost every night my boyfriend asks for us to swing by and order some $ 5 huge burritos from them.
The cashiers are sweet and try and get your order right! One of the gals actually remembered us every time we came in and knew my boyfriend by name! Love how local and close knit this place feels and the food is just the cherry on top. Atmosphere is what you’d expect from a small Mexican food place, but the place is clean and well taken care of. They are very helpful and serve relatively fast. If you ever feel like supporting a deserving family owned place, this is the one for you!
Some friendly advice: call ahead and place your order! You might still have to wait in line but at least you won’t wait for your food! This place gets packed after 5 and on the weekends.

A long long time ago, I can still remember when the tacos here used to make me sing.
The Al pastor it made me shiver. Chorizo never failed to deliver. Lengua was so tender, it made me want to surrender.
But tonight’s tacos had me singin… Bye Bye Tacos El Rey. You’ve got menu that I love, but your foods just ok. I wish it weren’t so, and I could still sing your praise. But the tacos just ain’t the same!
Seriously, this place used to have my favorite Al Pastor in town, but tonight it was dry and pretty fatty. The asada had no seasoning or color, and was also very fatty too. The best taco was the chorizo, but that ones really hard to mess up.
Bottom line is, for $ 1 each, these are just fine. But they’re not great and may leave you wanting more.

This is a first time visit after seeing a Unilocal review a year ago. Finally decided to go since the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is next door and perfect for a first time try at Mexican for lunch and chocolate for dessert.
It was excellent. The chicken fajitas my coworker Julie ordered, and I ordered the steak fajitas, and we asked for chips and salsa and the young man recommended the guacamole with chips which we added and they gave us a few more chips. Plenty of tortillas (4) for our fajitas and they were flaming hot and ready for eating. The seating was perfect.
Arrive early like 11:20am before the crowd comes because there is a line by 11:45am, and it was getting packed by 12:05pm…
Enjoy! We will definitely come back and enjoy. The service was extremely nice. We tipped well. We have other favorites but this is definitely a first and an impressive first.

I wanted to change my review of this location. Previously I had mentioned this was one of my favorite taco joints in Reno, and it still is. I had also mentioned about being that one late guy that showed up with the open signs still on only to be turned away cause they were closed. We’ll keep a long story short. The owner cares deeply about his business and cares for his customers and that makes an immense difference in service to the public and myself. I really did appreciate how he contacted me through Unilocal and let me know that he will make amends for the miscommunication we had that night. I will be returning for the GREAT food! Best breakfast burritos in town! The chorizo tacos are super bomb too!
Thank You Christian! You’re a good man and a good business owner!

This joint is re-​dang-​diculous! My little and I like to have lunch here. After trying several things, we have both settled on the carne asada tacos. I get three and she gets two and together, it’s less than seven bucks. I mean… c’mon man! Seven bucks? For these little gems that I have fallen in love with and would eat 50 if I could? It gets no better — anywhere.
I don’t wat to discourage you from other menu items. I have had caviche, burritos, mole, and several other items. All deserve 5 stars on their own. The carne asada, on the other hand, deserves i medal or trophy or possibly a statue erected near town hall.
So do yourself a favor — go to Tacos el Rey and order anything. Enjoy it immensely and then invite me the next time you go.
See you there!