El Sancho

I wish I had read the reviews here before we ordered, but on a whim we decided to give the place a shot. I’m giving 2 stars because the women working here (likely an owner) is very nice, so I almost feel bad giving a less than stellar review. Nonetheless, I very much wonder if the health department has been here recently.
Upon waking in we noticed the tables had not been wiped down. Salsa was sitting out on a table without refrigeration or covers with flies circling it. 3 of the 5 tables had bills, and other personal papers scattered on top of them so we picked the only table we could.
The woman working greeted us and took our order. I paid by cash and she immediately pulled a fanny pack from the front of her underwear… yes you read that correctly, her underwear. Stunned we then watched her quickly go to kitchen and without washing her hands, dawning gloves or anything she prepared our food.
The food was unpalatable, bland and probably because of everything we witnessed undesirable. A little too 3^rd world authentic for my taste.

Nasty. The food is maybe a 2 at best, but the place itself is disgusting. The paint is peeling off the walls; the pictures are covered with shards of broken glass. I don’t know how this is considered a valid restaurant in California. Its border line 3^rd world.

Our family was on vacation from the Bay Area (Santa Cruz, Redwood City and San Jose), and I suppose we’re spoiled when it comes to good Mexican food — this is not good Mexican food. The beans are watery, the «super» burritos were flavorless, tiny and very loosely wrapped, and we got a total of 4 chips in an order for 6 people.
I don’t care what the place looks like, as long as the food is good. This isn’t really worth the 45 second walk from our house.

Stopped here after skiing on our way back to the hotel. Awesome little hole in the wall, family owned joint! Sat and ate a plate of nachos with a beautiful view of the lake. Nachos plus carne asda was sooooo good. Honestly some of best nachos I’ve had. That or I was starving from skiing around rocks all day. Either way thumbs up!

Gross. Just gross. I can ignore that it was a dive. That’s easy. I like dives. But after a while of watching the girl that worked the front talking to her friend, I thought this place may have been a front for a drug operation. Seriously. I’ve been in places like that in Queens.
The food was so-​so, probably worthy of 2 – 3 stars, but honestly, I was a little concerned as to what was in it. With virtually no customer turnover (at least when we were there for dinner) — other than the couple who came in, stood and waited, and then left — I question the freshness and quality of the ingredients.
Sure, there are limited options in the area, but this place was scary/​scanky, even for me.

I got a carne asada burrito, and I’ll definitely be coming back for it. Regularly. Yum

The cashier is the slowest moving human being with no working experience and no skills, but that may be due to the fact that she is a 12 year old that should not be employed. The food took thirty mins to make and then was cold when we got it. They didn’t give us the right food and their portions of rice and bean are minuscule. They were out of salsa and took forever to refill it when told. THIS PLACE SUCKS!

We just went here after we had floated the Truckee River for three hours. We were completely famished. We found this place here on Unilocal because it was not expensive and it was rated well.
Is this place fancy? No. Is it the hole in the wall Mexican joint that you only dream about? Yes!!! It really hit the spot. It was perfect. We went with two families: 4 adults and 7 kids. It wasn’t busy when we went so that was nice. We took the recommendations and ordered chili Verde burritos and fish tacos. They were amazing. Also we ordered quesadillas for the kids which they loved. The kids quesadillas were gigantic. You could really have two kids share one. We ordered the ceviche as well, it wasn’t as good as the other two dishes but it wasn’t bad. We topped off the meal with the Popsicles. I had a coconut one and all the kids had different ones like bubblegum and other yummy concoction. Those were absolutely delicious. My husband had the lime one which he didn’t enjoy as much.
It seems like a family-​owned business which is fun. They were very kind to us and our darling and loud children. It wasn’t the super cleanest place kind of like a hole in the wall joint but nothing that bothered us. After that meal we decided that we could leave Tahoe totally happy. It was really good. The best part was that it was so fresh, which is my kind of place.
Highly recommend :)!

Solid B.
This is a mixed bag: on the one hand, the food is very homemade tasting, it’s a little family-​run joint, and the prices are fair relative to Tahoe choices. One the other hand, on a slow night it took 35 minutes for them to make two fish tacos and an order of nachos (in fairness, the nice young kid running the register did tell me it would take 25 minutes because «they just got a big order,») and the «steak» on the nachos was pretty inedible.
The fish tacos were tasty but not «amazing» as other reviewers have said. The beans and rice were excellent, evidencing that the guy in back knows his stuff.
The overall disorganized appearance of the place had a look as if they had just set the restaurant up or if they were about to shut the place down. But that made it sort of charming.
All in all, some of the food was tasty, it was all homemade, and the prices were ok. Can’t quite give it 4 stars.

Mediocre at best for the nachos, taco salad was terrible, burrito was ok. The best thing here was the guacamole and salsa. Overall a very blah experience much like this review!

Grabbed take out to eat at our hotel down the street. When we got back, the kids tacos we ordered were missing and they were left with only stale chips and hard cheese as nachos. My Taco Salad, was ice burg lettuce, beans dry meat and very very watery salad dressing. My Husband did enjoy his burrito. Drive a block or so down and you’ll find a much better Mexican restaurant.

Don’t be a snob and pontificate on the authenticity of food. There is really tasty stuff here. It’s a hole in the wall place so don’t expect white table service. Basically a father and his kids serving up great food. The service can be really slow when the place is packed, but… just grab a beer and hang out and watch the lake across the road.
Pros: chile verde and fish tacos. Please get both. The nachos grande with chorizo or carnitas are also really good. Meats are really well done. Ask them to crisp up the carnitas for you. Burritos are huge. Beers are cheap. Really friendly service. Nice views of the lake. Outdoor seating.
Cons: if you are craving a taco salad. Get it but don’t expect to be wowed. The don’t always have everything on the menu… call ahead if you’re looking for the menudo or pozole.

… service ok to bad (very, very slow, food was almost cold when served)
… food bad to really bad (flavors non-​authentic, got recipes wrong)
… stay away from this place!
==} went with whole family, never going back! Place was very dirty, we found a layer of dust, say months old?

I’m a sucker for Mexican food. this place just does not do it for me. I got the chile relleno, which came out to be a bland, soggy chile with a flimsy piece of omelet wrapped around it. So disappointed. I couldn’t even finish it.
We got a chicken quesadilla for my daughter — it was the greasiest quesadilla, she was grossed out by it. Dripping grease!
My husband got the fish tacos. They were OKAY… but the fish inside was overly battered and almost burnt. So greasy too.
The place is not clean inside. Smells funny, everything is sticky. They gotta get their shit together.

Ok… Ya the setting isn’t five star fancy cuisine. In fact it’s a little sketchy for those who aren’t used to small town hole in the wall Mexican places. But… the food is down right authentic, wholesome Mexican.
Shared the fish tacos, pastor tacos and chili verde plate with my girlfriend. All three… five stars. Fish tacos were loaded with fish and cooked darn near perfectly. Pastor tacos could have used slightly more sauce, but I’m just being picky. Chili verde was excellent, but did have a little kick for those of you who don’t like the heat.
Also, don’t expect superior service. Almost only gave it four stars because of the service. But the food is what ultimately matters at a place like this and I’d give the food six stars if I could.

Being from So Cal, I’m always on the lookout for good mexican food (i.e. not TexMex). We tried this place for lunch and were very pleasantly surprised with the authentic food. Great tortillas (a must for any good taqueria) and home-​made-​tasting meats, rice, beans made for a yummy lunch. My girls had taquitos (aka rolled tacos) with chicken and my wife and I had a carnitas burrito that was large enough to feed a small family.
If you like So Cal-​style mexican food, don’t miss this place.

Ok, I’ll admit that I was a bit (a lot) skeptical walking into a Mexican place in Tahoe, being that I live in San Diego/​20 minutes from Mexico. I’ll also admit that my fears were wrong.
The food. Oh, the food! It was really quite tasty. My boyfriend ordered the chile verde burrito. Yum! Super flavorful. He also got a fish taco that was on par with the best fish tacos I’ve had. I was being a priss and ordered a salad that was pretty good. The carne in it was in need of some seasoning and is the only reason I didn’t give this place a 5. BUT… I did get some of their homemade corn tortillas that were outstanding!
This place is full of character and a lovely example of «hole in the wall». It’s family run and those are my fave kinds of places! (Oh, and all the people complaining about the «cleanliness» can RE. LAX. It’s a hole in the wall, not a Michelin starred restaurant. A bottle on a table isn’t going to kill you. Get out and explore the world. End rant.)
Kind of pricey for what it is but if you’re in north Tahoe and craving some authentic Mexican food, eat here!

I got here at about 11am on a Tuesday, with a bit of trepidation given the uncleanliness some other Unilocalers have observed, but on walking in it seemed ok so I ordered some fish tacos. I waited, and waited, and waited… Over 20 minutes! I don’t know if they had to go out to the lake and catch the fish or what.
Why 2 stars then? Well I have to admit: the fish tacos were really good.

We were the only customers as roads were closed and it was snowing that day.
We had an amazing dinner with our friend. The food was fresh and prepared for us at the time of request. My husband had fish and they cooked it upon his request which is rare these days. Usually everything is precooked. Not in this place!
We were pleased with the service and food.

A real hole in the wall dive but the Unilocal reviews about El Sancho had me craving Mexican food. The parking lot is small and limited to about four cars. Inside you’ll find only a couple of tables and stools along the storefront glass which gives you a view of the lake across the street.
My order the Chili Verde with beans, rice and flour tortillas. The chili Verde was tasty — not overbearing spicy. The beans were lighter in color but tasted good and the rice was yummy. I tried a few bites of the highly rated fish tacos which were large — stuffed full of deep fried mahi, shredded cabbage, white sauce and topped with a mild salsa.
The elder cashier/​waitress was friendly, although she did not speak much English but the younger lady chef was friendly and sweet. I informed them of Unilocal and they had no idea what that was!
Come for the authentic food and don’t let the look of the place scare you off!