Palacios Mexican Restaurant

Great portions and of course free chips and salsa! Great hidden gem for those Mexican food cravings

The tacos and tortas here were delicious! The tortas are huge, the tacos had a healthy helping of meat, and I especially liked the al pastor — it has a very flavorful marinade, and unlike a lot of the local Mexican places, there’s no pineapple in it (which I prefer). The tortilla chips weren’t great — standard chips from a bag, not freshly fried — but the salsas were good, with a nice spicy kick. Unfortunately they don’t have alcohol, so no beer or margaritas with your tacos.
There weren’t many people there when my friends and I went there, & it feels like a little family-​run place where not many outsiders stumble in. Most of the people working there didn’t seem to speak much English, and the menu’s only in Spanish, but our waitress (who seemed to be the daughter of the family) was friendly and helpful. I’ll definitely go back for the tacos — I think they can compete with anything I’ve had on Cherokee.
NB: This place used to be called Sabor a Mexico, and that Unilocal page has more reviews, but it wasn’t clear to me if it’s changed owners or just names. The old name was still on the menu, so it’s hard to tell.