Taco Tinga

We bought a dealsaver for this place after reading some of the Unilocal reviews. It was definitely a great place to go for lunch, and with our dealsaver our meal was a whopping $ 1.64.
There were lots of meat options. My husband tried three of the five (or six?) and I tried a bite of the pork and the ground beef (both great). I ordered the soft corn taco meal and they were willing to top them with rice and beans rather than meat. They also have shredded lettuce, yummy pico, cheese, sour cream, and some hot sauces to top off your tacos. I had to scrape off a lot of the lettuce and pico from my tacos because the small shells could barely hold it all, but it was delicious.
When we arrived, one of the staff (the owner perhaps? manager?) helped us understand the crazy menu. They have a ton of options of «meals» (which don’t come with rice and beans, you have to add that — but they provide you with plenty of tacos without the R&B so you don’t need it) and then more a la carte options. We opted for two of the meals.
The ordering process was pretty slow (not a well oiled machine like Chipotle) and the check out process was even slower, which was our main complaint. The inside isn’t very appealing. But the food made up for it.

I was admittedly in a hurry when I stopped in to get some take-​out but it took me around 15 minutes to get in and out with my food, a bit too long for this type of place if you ask me. There were two people being helped ahead of me, one at the cash register and one in the food line. It is surprisingly unclear where you start — with the cashier or the food line person? I still do not know. I started with the food line person but the people who came in after me started with the cashier — SO confusing. Not clear at all.
Anyway, I ordered the soft corn tacos. I asked if the meal came with beans or rice and then rice was plopped ON the tacos. OK — that works too. Continued down the line and my tacos were like whoa — hugely piled up. When I went to pay the cashier asked me a few times what kind of chicken was on my chicken tacos — I told her I had no idea. Just one more thing that is askew with this whole system, shouldn’t they know what they put on my tacos?
The food was good. I adored the triple-​wrapped soft corn tacos. Only $ 6 — a great value. But their ordering system needs serious help.

Given its location, I wasn’t expecting much from Taco Tinga, and while there is a good amount of space not currently being utilized, the credentials of the owner — former proprietor of La Hacienda — are plenty legit. A couple other things point to their legitimacy, too, like the heavy use of chiles in both the food (particularly the chicken tinga) and the salsa. Not only is this smoky, complex fruit an underutilized ingredient in local restaurants, it’s also a bit of a jab at the restaurant whose fast casual line-​ordering is an influence. Go down the line, select your meats, add extra toppings, select your salsa, pay.
I was dubious at Tinga’s ability to keep my meats juicy and succulent while they are sitting in warming trays, but they had the forethought to prepare many of their proteins in a manner that’s a bit wetter than you might find in other places, like the barbacoa, which was positively and deliciously swimming in its own juices. The chicken tinga was quite wet, too, though not uncommon for chicken, and the subtle shifting of flavors made it a worthwhile change. Also of note was the al pastor, those little fire engine-​red Chiclets of beef, that were more tender here than I’ve seen at any other Mexican restaurant.
They offer the big burritos here, if that’s your thing, or they also have four double-​wrapped corn tacos for like $ 6; I would recommend the latter so you get to try everything. Fast casual seems to be the fastest-​growing type of Mexican restaurant recently, and it’s hard to see it get much better than Tinga. I like the location, I like how they are somehow the first restaurant in the city to use an iPad-​based POS system, and I like how they use chipotles with reckless abandon.

Went here for the first time recently, and it won’t be my last! Very very good, especially for the money. I got three soft tacos, two with steak and one with shredded pork and a fountain drink for about $ 7!
The shredded pork was amazing. Whatever they used as a marinade is liquid awesome! I plan on going back soon and trying some of their other offerings. Highly recommended.

For a small, inexpensive taco joint, this is the best. I especially liked the fresh made corn tortillas, which are impossible to find in most Mexican (or shall we say Tex-​Mex) restaurants.