Taqueria El Coral

Funny– this is now a Salvadorian papusas factory restaurant with a new name.
I will reserve my judgement for when Flor tries it, and then only after she gives her stamp of approval.

I love this place, but admittedly, I haven’t tried much else other than the steak (carne asada) tacos… these things are like crack. This place is close to my home, so I stopped by on the recommendation of a friend of mine. I picked up some steak tacos (standard taqueria price, 1.50 each) to check them out. Boy, was I in for a surprise! There was plenty of meat in each taco, marinated, grilled to perfection — I couldn’t believe it.
I used to live in Houston, and I’d pop down to Mexico every now and then — El Coral brings me a lot of memories from those areas, very good food at standard prices. I do enjoy the super tacos as well, but I don’t like the higher price. I’ve also tried the tortas (excellent if eating in, gets a little soggy if taking out), tamales, and carne asada plate. There’s something about the food here that keeps me coming back, although I haven’t tried the burritos because I’m just not a huge burrito fan.
The seating is quaint, 2 two-​spot tables inside, 2 four-​spot tables, and then 2 4-​spot tables outside. If you’re in the mood for some great steak tacos, I would definitely recommend you stop by. They are very friendly and quick, and if you’re eating in, the roasted salsa has a very nice kick to it with your tortilla chips.

Unfortunately the portions of the meals are quite small for the price and the overall quality /​value of the food is poor. Refills of horchata and soda would be nice. The shrimp cocktail was very small and pricey. The «torta de pastor» lacked a lot of ingredients and the amount of meat was ridiculous. The «shrimp tostada» was fairly good. The owner, Chuy, is a very nice guy. Too bad the food isn’t that good.
Desgraciadamente las porciones son pequenias y por el precio, caras. Chuy, sera bueno tener «refills» en la horchata y las sodas. La torta de pastor se desbarataba y tenia muy poquita carne. El coctel de camaron tena 5 tristes camarones y la tostada, estuvo mas o menos buena. En promedio, la calidad y el precio es de regular a pobre. Lastima, el duenio es muy amable.

This place always looks dead when I drive by. No one’s ever eating there and no car is ever parked there.
Walked in for some take-​out one night and got a quesadilla and some tacos. The food was tasty, but I don’t think it’s a very good value at all. There was very little carne asada which were very tiny cubes in the first place. There was also no free chips and salsa like many other taquerias. In the end I was still hungry. Not sure I’d go back there again.

— update 06÷14÷07 —-
soon after posting my review here. i’ve noticed them chintsing on their meat. i’ve been getting a burrito with very little meat in there. so i have to ask for extra carnitas ($ 1 extra). but even that seemed weak. i’m taking my review from 4 to 3. still good but i’m getting ripped.
— update 06÷14÷07 —-
within a 2 mile radius of my house is about 20 different taquerias. none of which serves a decent carnitas burrito. i have to go all the way to downtown to get la victoria’s.
brief history… there was a place in the exact same spot called ruby’s that opened about a month after we moved in the hood. sucked. sucked bad. sure enough the business was bad and it closed within 2 months. and then all of a sudden this el coral showed up. i was suspicious that it was the same place but it was taken over and the marketing group wanted to rebrand and reorg. i wasn’t buying it. so i purposefully avoided. mind you this place is literally crawling distance from my house. i could sleep walk here.
just 2 weeks ago my neighbor happens to be walking by and had a burrito in hand. looked damn good. i asked where it came from and she estatically said «el coral». what? could it be? after a solid year of trying out all the different taquerias in the hood the place closest to my house is the burrito i’ve been looking for? without hesitation i gave it a go.
it rules! the carnitas are awesome. not your typical fried pork. it’s seasoned with fresh cilantro. it’s so flavorful that it might even be marinated. just recently i tried the chicken tacos and that too was rockin’. they serve horchatas, the people are always really nice and best of all, it’s just down the street! this place alone probably increased my property value.