Taco Bus

So deceiving! The whole Taco Bus thing is actually a prop that’s in the front of the restaurant where you place your order and the signs like «broken English perfectly spoken» made me assume I was going to get some authentic tacos. Nope, not even…
My sister and I both ordered 2 plates that included 4 different types of tacos: carnitas, carne adada, pescado and cochinitas pibil with beans and rice. It took longer than expected for our food to come out and we were even more disappointed when we tasted the food. Meat was overcooked — dry & hard. Beans and rice were bland. And, I’ve never had cabbage put on all tacos before, so weird.
We left irritated and hungry — such a waste of time & money. Now we know to pass up this place!

Convience and ambience is pretty cool. Definitely a fun way to eat and order. I do enjoy the many different combinations of ways you can make your meal. Simple process, but many options with the ordering. These things will certainly have me coming back to give another try.
But, for the high price I was expecting a more filling and tasty meal. I would say the food was good, but certainly not great. And the portion was very small considering it was almost a 30 $ lunch for 2 people. If keeping the portion small I would expect a side of chips or something small to make it feel more worth the money spent. But 30 $ and I was not very full after eating my burrito, and by the looks of the 2 scrawny soft tacos my friend was having I would imagine his stomach was saying the same thing.
For that price the portion should be large (like a Moe’s sized portion), or mouth watering good. My meal was neither. Especially with the crunchy burrito wrap crumbling away at the end.
I see this place with potential, I’m willing to give another try. I do like the mix and match ability to create a new meal almost every time. But if I continue to walk away with a larger bill that isn’t justified by a large or amazingly delicious meal then my returns will be limited

If you want the best tacos/​burritos out there come to this place it even has the option to get Vegan cheese. I always get the Burrito Prenado with Rajas con queso or the tacos with tofu guiso. Fresh and never disappoints! I miss the tempeh on their menu!

Yes, it’s actually a bus and there are tacos. It is a taco bus. I had two tacos, adding the rice and beans. Both tacos were fresh and tasty and filling. The rice and beans was just okay. After all, it’s a TACO bus not a RICE AND BEANS bus.
They have a two Coke Freestyle machines, but both were out of the Minute Maid light lemonade. :-(

This place is right in the middle of Tampa and Brandon, making it a place those residents should try at least once. Im sure if you like tacos or burritos, youll love this place.
I love taco bus. They offer a large portion of quality ingredient filled meals for a very reasonable price. The employees are friendly and knowlegeable.
The parking lot needs resurfacing for sure and the building could use a fresh coat of paint, but if you can get past that, you are in for a treat.

Taco Bus used to be a phenomenal place, but expansion and publicity has done something — and it isn’t good. The quality of the food has gone way done, the prices have gone way up and the service (which wasn’t all that good to begin with) has dropped to an even lower level. Some people embrace being on TV, others try to monetize it– and it’s too bad that this place has taken the latter.
Hopefully the owner will return to his roots, because the original Taco Bus on Hillsborough used to be worth a 30 minute drive. Now, none of them are worth going to.

I used to love the bus but every time I return my opinion becomes lower and lower. I used to give them five but they have cut down how much meat you actually get in burrito where all you see is rice and beans. My friend ordered a burrito with chipotle and it took them ten minutes to figure out they had none. Along with no meat my burrito was not good the rice was crunchy… I will no longer consider the bus as an option.

I can image that the only reason this place stays open is because the food is pretty good. The service sucks. Super slow.

Would not recommend save your money go to Taco Bell
The food did not feel like. authentic Mexican food

Taco Bush was Terrible. Food, Service and Atmosphere was a Horrible experience.
Do yourself a favor and DON’T waste your time and money.

Stopped here before we went to the CYME event. It is located right across the street from the CQ location. Easy in, easy out off the road, so that was nice.
We placed our order and then walked inside to get our drink from the coke 100 machine and sat down to avoid the super ‘skeeters. Our food came out quickly but I noticed that my order was not correct. *sigh* I asked that there be no cilantro, since it tastes like soap to me. However, there was cilantro through out my main dinner. The sides were great though, the rice and the beans had great flavour.
All in all, It was a good visit and I am a fan of the brand.

Usually, Taco Bus is good, but my last couple of visits have not lived up to my last review.
I have now been there several times. I’ve tried most things off the menu, and like I said before, most of the time it’s good. Although, I do have to mark them down for being inconsistent.
My usual is the Burrito Perñado Carnitas, but lately, I’ve been trying different things off the menu. I finally had a chance to try the queso dip, but I didn’t really care for it. Once, I ordered the El Jeffe and was pretty happy with it. Sometimes the food is great, but it’s like a box of chocolates (in my best Forrest voice). Ya never know what you’re gonna get. For instance, today I added the grouper to my burrito. The grouper was 90% batter, and terribly overcooked. It was like fish jerky.
Overall, I don’t think I can go back. I’m not a fan of playing roulette with food. The price is on the high side compared to similar restaurants, and the dependability is hit-​or-​miss. I’d rather go somewhere consistent with their quality.

Cheap and delicious lunch. I always get two soft flour tacos with lightly fried grouper, white cream sauce, veggies, rice and beans. It costs $ 6.95 total. Can’t beat that! This place gets super busy during the week around lunch time so either place a call-​ahead order online or show up when they open.

Taco bus is a nice place, really. Decent food, but nothing fantastic. I truly appreciate that they have so many option for vegans. That said, they once put both regular and vegan cheese on my burrito and I was like «huh???» Doesn’t specifically asking for non-​dairy cheese imply that I don’t want dairy cheese. It was just one slip up, so far, so I don’t want to be a major deterrent for those who live dairy free, but definitely double check, especially at this location.
The guacamole is always fresh and delicious and to me this is a major sign of integrity for a restaurant. It really pisses me off when I pay for avocado anything and it’s brown, which happens way too frequently at most place. This avocado is always perfect.
The staff is courteous and the service is quick.
Again, three stars because it’s pretty good overall but it doesn’t WOW me.

Came with family for lunch before heading out to the airport. Food was fast and good. It’s a notch above Mexican fast food, so don’t expect culinary excellence. You will, however, get a solidly yummy and filling meal for a fantastic price.
I went with the El Plato with cochinitas pibil. An amazing value for $ 8.49. I got a plate full of food and four corn tortillas. The BF got a tostada and side of rice. We shared an order of chips and guacamole. We were so full, we barely touched the chips and guacamole.
For the night-​owls, they’re open until 4 am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They also serve beer and sangria for the non-​work lunch.
We will definitely be back when we come to town again.

I do highly recommend this Taco Bus as the best of the satellite locations (the original on Hillsborough is a true 5 stars). The food here is still excellent but not quite the quality of the original. The location on Falkenburg is ideal to catch traffic on the way to/​from Brandon or those leaving Ybor after hours (they are ²⁴⁄₇ most days).

My husband and I (when we were dating, three years ago) visited for a vacation and stopped by the original Tampa location. I’ve been lusting after Taco Bus for THREE YEARS. Nothing would do. Now that we’ve moved to Brandon, it’s our weekly stop. The service is always great, not to mention the food is mind blowing.
The El Hefe is a monster, my husband and I (we are good eaters) can split it and be totally full after! Filled to the brim with two proteins of your choice, rice and beans, veggies, guac and sour cream and cheese. Heaven.
The tacos are fresh and light, never stuffed too full, and always delicious.
The quesadillas are our go to appetizer, and our favorite fillings are the portobellos, carnitas, chicken, or the butternut squash (don’t knock it till you try it! It’s filling, richer than you’d expect, and exquisitely tasty)!
I can go on and on, but I have to close out with mentioning their horchata. I have to get one EVERY time. Every. Single. Time. It’s creamy and refreshing and not too sweet. It’s perfect. (I confess: I’ve taken it home and frozen it for later in Popsicle molds, and put iced coffee in it. Life changing.)
You will NOT be disappointed!

I had the chicken Chipotle quesadilla. It was delicious, the chicken was juicy tender and flavorful. I noticed the dining area was very clean. The service was fast and friendly.
I like the fact that the outside dining area is dog friendly.

Tried this place after coming out of a concert in the MidFlorida Amphitheater. It was the only place we found open late, nearby. This place is pretty isolated, there’s nothing close by except a jail. Not exactly inviting late at night.
I really loved the look of the bus outside… It was fun. You walk up to order and the girl helping us was not friendly or unfriendly… Just working. We took our order to go. And didn’t take too long a wait.
We tried the preñado burrito and el plato with chicken. Nothing was particularly exceptional… Just ok. I actually really disliked the chicken. Simply not for my taste. My husband said the chipotle chicken was better. It worked out since it was open and we were hungry. Otherwise, i would skip it.

What a fun concept! The name may be misleading though, because while you do order at a window in the side of a bus, it’s simply a prop. This is no food truck, it’s a complete quick-​serve restaurant that serves terrific (and authentic) Mexican food.
The two tacos I tried (soft corn tortillas with pibil pork in one and pastor pork in the other – the pibil was better) were as good as any street tacos I’ve had, and the crispy vegetable accompaniments were very fresh. On a return visit I tried the tostada with pastor, which I didn’t think was as good as the tacos.
The dip duo (I chose queso and guacamole) was also excellent. At almost $ 8 it seemed a bit pricey, but the chips were fresh and the queso had a wonderful creamy spiciness.