Alvaro’s Tacos

I have used Alvaro’s for at least 5 parties now, they have always been good in the past. However not this time. I had a 7pm start time, told they would be there 1 ½ hours in advance. That did not happen. Alvaro got to my house at 6pm and said he would need to see where the grill would go. I told him the back yard. He asked how he should get there and I showed him the way they have come in the past. I went back upstairs to start my makeup, for our annual Halloween party. I was then called back downstairs to Alvaro saying he had a problem. He was unable to lift his 500b grill up the 3 stairs I have to get to the back yard. He never asked me about stairs when I spoke with him on the phone. I said I wish he had asked I would have been able to tell him about the stairs. He said he had looked on google earth and it looked fine. Not the most reliable source, especially when you have the customer on the phone. He offered to cook and serve the food in the front yard on my driveway. I was not going to have that happen. I told him no, and he said that he wasn’t going to be able to get his grill in the back yard because he didn’t want to injure himself. This is when I got my husband involved. When my husband spoke to Alvaro, he started to get agitated and aggressive. My husband asked how to resolve the problem, and Alvaro’s answer was to go through the house. He could put down a board, but if he scratched our floor or caused any damage he would not be held responsible. My husband told him we were through and he left. Fortunately, I had not paid him anything yet. By this time it was 6:30 and we had 100 guests coming at 7. Forty adults and 60 hungry kids. What were we to do? I still had not done either my husband’s or my costume make up and I now had to figure out how to feed 100 people. We have a local Mexican restaurant called Chela’s, so we tried them. There were able to get us a taco bar with all of the fixings by 7:30! I will not ever use Alvaro’s Tacos again. They caused undue stress and Alvaro did not seem sorry at all. The customer service has got to be much better if you expect to be referred. We have many friends now, who will probably never use Alvaro’s Tacos.

Alvaro catered my wedding and all my guests loved the food! There was plenty of food and everyone was happy! He and his staff were professional and replied in a timely fashion. They were professional and respectful. I would highly recommend them to anyone!

We used Alvaro’s Tacos last night for a backyard event and it was just perfect. Anthony arrived in plenty of time and proceeded to cook up delicious tacos for our guests. He was polite, talented and friendly. We appreciated how he boxed up all the leftovers in aluminum containers and cleaned up the service area. We will definitely use Alvaro’s in the future. It’s nice to deal with a company that responds to emails, is licensed, and acts professionally.

So I booked them to have a taco cart at my wife’s birthday party 2 months from now — I booked them 4 days ago and paid $ 95 out of the $ 350 total — I cancelled today and was told no refund — that I paid $ 95 to hold a date that is two months away — nice business model — I plan on letting BBB know about this as well — anyone that does business with them is foolish at best!!!

We have used Alvaros for a number of family events; reunion with 90 guests, wedding receptions with 75 guests and smaller parties with 50 guests. We have always been over the top happy with both their food and service. Prices are very good as well. Our guests always rave about how good the tacos are. Highly recommended

Great catering (food), service, and price!
We hired Alvaro’s tacos for a non-​profit church event at a regional park. Alvaro sent two caterers who were very hard working and sweet. They came on time with all the necessary equipment and utensils– even a canopy for the rain! All our guests enjoyed the wonderful food and service. They even stayed behind longer and joined us in the festivities.
Definitely would hire Alvaro’s tacos again for our next event! In fact, we’re planning on using Alvaro’s catering for our outdoor dinner event next month!

I have hired «Alvaro’s Tacos» for a couple of luncheons for my company and most recent, for the super bowl. It was a BIG hit!
They are licensed, professional, punctual, clean, organized and have a good presentation. Their food is well seasoned and the two types of salsas can be made mild, medium or hot.
The best thing is their price! I have searched with different taco guys and they either charge too much or they don’t offer the green salad, beens, rice with the price.
I highly recommend «Alvaro’s Tacos» for your next event.

We used Alvaro’s Tacos for my sons football banquet. They were early, professional and the food was delicious! All the boys and parents had nothing but compliments. We will definitely use them again for other events. The price was crazy reasonable and we had so much food!

If I could give Alvaro 10 stars I would. We have used them for so many events, office parties, birthday parties, and even my wedding. They have always been on time, been very friendly and professional, and to say the food is AMAZING is an understatement. Thank you Alvaro for making all of our events even better!

I’d like to address right up front that Alvaro’s Tacos has pretty good food. My guests all said they were good tacos, and I agree. The rice and beans though, are bland and boring, and just a basic accompaniment. These were left almost entirely untouched, and we ended up tossing the lot. Where Alvaro falls short, is in his lack of honesty, fraud in general, and extremely poor customer service.
I booked Alvaro’s for a party of 60 well in advance, and had a long stream of questions and answers about service and food over the weeks preceding my party, as numbers adjusted etc. About a week before the party I received an email from Alvaro, stating that he had me down for a 7:30 pm serving time, and asked if that was the latest he could begin service (he stated they will arrive one to one-​and-​a-​half hours early for prep in all previous communications). I went into a bit of a panic, as my party was at 6pm, and I requested service no later than 6:30. He agreed to this way in advance, and had confirmation emails etc. When I replied no, that he was to arrive around 5 pm for prep, and start service by 6:30, he stated that he couldn’t do 6:30. Panic again. I sent him copies of our correspondence with the agreed upon time, and he replied that he had made a mistake, and was looking at another booking for a different date. Yes, no problem, 6:30 was fine. «Will you be here at five?» His reply, «Approximately, yes.» Okay, so I didn’t have to rush and find a new caterer after all, which was nice, since I had already given him my deposit.
The party starts at six, people are arriving, but still no taco cart, and no call. Later I get a call about some direction details from the caterer, who eventually arrives at around 7 pm. I complained that he was two hours late, and he tells me that Alvaro had him down for seven PM service at my house, and that he had just come from another event. Great. For the next hour he sets up and cooks the food. Service starts just before 8 pm. Some of my guests have already left, and many had already eaten. (My wife, worried that there wouldn’t be enough food, had her mother and sister make 150 enchiladas, along with rice and beans, and chips and salsa.) So, full and sated from the emergency, just-​in-​case food, people make their way to the taco cart. Everyone enjoys the after dinner taco snacks, and they are almost entirely eaten. We are left with about one pound of chicken and another of pork. The beef went really fast.
Also of note, is that Alvaro quoted 27 pounds of meat for 60 people. The meat on the grill was clearly a fraction of that. If I had relied on an honest quote and arrival time from Alvaro, and not had the enchiladas, my party would have been an utter disaster, with everyone hungry. Needless to say, this was very disappointing. I paid the employee the full price despite my dissatisfaction, as this was no fault of his, and opted to take out my frustrations on Unilocal.Anyway, here’s what I thought of the food.
Tacos: The beef was pretty good, the favorite of most, and the pork was tender and spicy, and my favorite. Some of the chicken meat was on the dry side, and just okay, but the cilantro, onions, and salsa made them just fine. The tortillas were heated to order, and everyone loved them.
Salad, rice, and beans: All bland and simple.
Condiments: made well in advance, and perhaps leftovers from the previous event, but they were fine.
Grilled Jalapenos and pickled carrots: Difficult to review, as these were included in the quote, but did not make it to my party.
Flavored waters: We got the lemonade and strawberry flavors, both of which the kids all really enjoyed.
Salsas: They were appropriate for the tacos. Not spicy, but pretty good.
Quesadillas: I paid $ 30 extra for these. The kids liked them. My complaint here is that they were all made at once, and placed in a steel bin next to the condiments, and got cold and congealed pretty fast.
Taco guy: I don’t recall his name, but he was clearly aware that I was frustrated, and did a great job all night. He was very friendly and professional.
If Alvaro’s Tacos had shown up as promised, and had the agreed upon quantity of meat, I would have been happy to give them at least four stars for service and tacos, despite the rice and beans. The fact that he outright lied and cheated earns this dishonest character the dreaded one star rating.