Lalo's Restaurant

The Location: Lalo's Restaurant 5063 24th Street Sacramento, CA

The Taco: Chicken, Al Pastor, and Carnitas

The Price: $1.25 per taco

The Verdict: You know you are in for an authentic Mexican experience when all the signage outside the restaurant is in Spanish.  We walked into this gem at noon on a Saturday. The place was packed! It's a small venue, in a seemingly undesirable part of town, with about 15 tables, most of which seat 6 comfortably. I was pleasantly relieved to find out our server not only speaks Spanish, but perfect English too.

The first thing to arrive at the table is a gigantic bowl of diced onion and cilantro with plenty of lime wedges. Next come two sides of salsa, a green and a yellow-red. The yellow-red salsa turned out to be my favorite.  Neither salsas were over the top spicy, but the yellow-red had a bit more kick.

I ordered 4 tacos; 2 chicken, 1 al pastor, and 1 carnitas. I also added a side of rice, just incase the tacos weren't enough.  I was amused that the rice arrived with peas and carrots too. It was standard Mexican rice that you'll find at most taquerias. All the tacos arrived with onions, cilantro and a dab red salsa on top. Everything in this restaurant is clearly freshly prepared.

The chicken tacos were small marinated grilled chunks of chicken. I didn't find them to be exceptionally very flavorful. The al pastor had a nice red sauce, possibly adobo, though I don't consider myself an al pastor aficionado. It was very good. However, la crème de la crème are the carnitas! I could have eaten four of just these carnitas tacos. If only I had known! Topped with the extra salsas and fresh squeezed lime juice, it was near perfection. No overly fatty bits of pork and a perfect juicy pork flavor. You can order the meats by the pound with tortillas on the side. I might have to do just that with the carnitas next time.

As a non-taco aside, my better half ordered the Molcajete, which is impressively served in a steaming hot cauldron with tortillas on the side. It's not every day you get to eat cactus.

Overall, an extremely pleasant experience and definitely worth the trip.  I'm only deducting a half star because the service wasn't exceptionally fast, it took a long time to get our bill and our entrees for two came out several minutes apart, not served together.

The Rating: ★★★★ ½ (out of 5)

Taqueria Garibaldi

The Location: Taqueria Garibaldi, 1841 Howe Ave, Sacramento.

The Taco: Crispy taco. Chicken, carnitas.

The Price: $3.10/each à la carte

The Verdict: When I drove by this restaurant with a vaguely Italian name I thought maybe I had stumbled upon some kind of cosmic Italian-Mexican mashup. Carnitas ravioli? Fettucine al pastor? Sadly it was not to be. (Note to the internet: please work on this).

Instead I found a typical taqueria with the usual burritos, enchiladas, and, yes, tacos. I opted for two of the crispy tacos - one with carnitas and one shredded chicken. Each one was loaded up with sour cream, guacamole, salsa cheese and meat. Speaking of meats, they offer at least eight different choices on the menu as well as four different types of tacos (regular, super, crispy & vegetarian); a return visit would definitely be required in order to sample every possible combination.

As for the tacos themselves, I found the shredded chicken to be pretty bland. The carnitas was chewy and had a hint of crisp on the outside, just about right — but it suffered from being a bit too fatty. Fat is flavor, but there can be a fine line between flavorful and over-fatty. The crispy shells were obviously freshly prepared and were not too greasy, a plus. For my taste the tacos were too heavy on the sour cream and not heavy enough on the guacamole but that may be a personal preference. Overall, I found these to be average – definitely an edible meal but one that could have been much more enjoyable with a few tweaks.


The Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)

524 Mexican

The Location: 524 Mexican.  524 12th St, Sacramento

The Taco: 3 item combo. One chicken & two carnitas tacos, plus rice and beans.

The Price: $11.49

The Verdict: We hit up 524 Mexican after reading some good reviews expecting to find the greatest gift to Mexican food since the flour tortilla. Unfortunately, we left sorely disappointed. I tried the chicken and carnitas crunchy tacos and found both to be bland and uninspiring. The meat had little flavor of its own and I encountered several inedible bits of gristle in the carnitas tacos. The reviews had led me to believe that the food here was consistently excellent and delicious, so either we ended up at the wrong restaurant or they were having an off night.

The Rating: ★★ ½ (out of 5)

Super Taco (Laguna West, Elk Grove)

The Location: Super Taco 4720 Laguna Blvd, Elk Grove

The Taco: 2 Taco Combo Dinner Plate (1 crispy chicken, 1 crispy carnitas)

The Price: $7.75

The Verdict: We've seen the "Coming Soon" sign for months and finally Super Taco in Laguna West has opened up. Once inside we come to find out they have two other locations in/near Elk Grove already.

When you first enter there is a counter to order at but we went for the full sit down dining experience. The paint on the lovely decorated chairs was so fresh you could still smell it. We were started off with an amazing array of salsas served with a piping hot basket of chips. The salsas included one house (chunky red with cilantro), one green (very thin and drippy), one red (spicy and thin) and the last was interesting. It was habanero peppers, onion and lime juice. If you like spice, you will like this combo!

My tacos were standard issue corn tortilla shells stuffed with the juicy meat I ordered, topped with lettuce and tomato. They come with cheese but I left the cheese off. The carnitas meat was perfectly shredded with a nice meat flavor but it definitely needed some salsas on top. It was also missing that pan fried crisp to it, but that didn't take away from the lovely flavor. The chicken was shredded with a nice marinade. I added salsa to this one as well. The side servings of rice and beans were plentiful. (Note: I always skip on the beans and order double rice because that's how I roll.)

Overall it was a pleasant dining experience with great food and excellent salsas minus the exceptionally long checkout time. We were done and we couldn't flag down our waiter for the check. I think the 3 waiters were overwhelmed on opening weekend. The place was surprisingly busy for its first Saturday!

The Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)

Taqueria El Festival (Downtown edition)

The Location: Taqueria El Festival. 906 J St, Sacramento

The Taco: Super Taco (1 carnitas, 1 pollo)

The Price: $3.10 / each

The Verdict: I had just stopped in at El Festival's other location on Folsom Blvd only two reviews back and had left wanting more, so when I found myself downtown with some time kill today I decided to make a return trip to see if their new spot on J lived up to the same high standards. All in the name of science, you understand.

This time I ordered two of their Super Tacos, one each of carnitas and chicken. The super comes loaded up with meat, cheese, cilantro, sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo. These tacos live up to their "super" name with all the toppings being piled high, making them a delicious drippy mess to eat. Just as on my visit to Folsom Blvd, the carnitas was moist and flavorful with just a little chewy crunchy crust. The chicken was well marinated and had a good flavor.

All in all not much new to say here that hasn't already been covered, the line at this one was also out the door by the time the lunch rush was in full swing.  It's always good to see that a separate location is living up to the reputation of its sibling.

The Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)

Chevys Fresh Mex

The Location: Chevys Fresh Mex, multiple local locations

The Taco: 3 taco combo.  One Original Salsa Chicken, One slow-roasted Carnitas, One Picadillo Beef served with beans, rice and sweet corn tamalito.

The Price: About $12

The Verdict: What is there to say about Chevys?  We've been there a number of times, but as I recall it has been a few years since we last tried them out.  It's a major national chain, and as such has to cater to the broadest possible tastes.  Unfortunately, that means that the food is not particularly authentic.

Getting straight to the details: the meal was delivered luke-warm.  Not acceptable at a large, well-established restaurant like this.  The beef taco contained some ground beef which lacked any interesting flavor.  It tasted like something I could make at home in 10 minutes with powdered taco seasoning.

The chicken taco was slightly better, but it was too dry.  I had to dump some salsa on just to liven it up a bit.  I don't know where they get the name "Salsa Chicken" because the taco did not seem to have any salsa anywhere within.

The carnitas had a strange smokey, almost BBQ-like flavor.  Very different from what I would traditionally expect from carnitas.  With some complementary side dishes and a tweak to the seasoning it could potentially be sold as an acceptable bbq taco, but, as is, it was out of place at Chevys.

Conclusions: The simple taco should be the cornerstone of any mexican restaurant, especially one with years of experience and tens of thousands of customers a year.  Somehow, Chevys managed to disappoint three separate ways on this trip.

The Rating: ★★ (out of 5)

Eva's Mexican

The Location: Eva's Mexican, 242 Vernon St, Roseville

The Taco: Chicken Taco Lunch Special

The Price: $5.45 for one taco with rice & beans

The Verdict: Last taco of the year, and last review of the decade!

Eva's is tucked away in old Roseville across the street from the Magic Circle Theater. I stopped in this morning for a quick bite and I was happy to find a very reasonable selection of lunch specials that could be had for only a 5-spot and change. There was, however, only one taco selection amongst the specials; though it can be had with either chicken or beef. (There are some other taco choices elsewhere on the menu for a few bucks more). I chose the chicken taco, and it appeared at my table in just a minute or two. It featured shredded chicken which was moist although not extraordinarily flavorful, topped with lettuce, a big mound of cheese, and a slice of tomato. While I didn't find it to be remarkable, it was a perfectly acceptable light lunch and priced reasonably for a sit-down restaurant.

The Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)

Los Primos Mexican Food

The Location: Los Primos on Sheldon Rd

The Taco: Two taco combo (chicken)

The Price: $7.19 (including rice & beans)

The Verdict: Los Primos is located next to a gas station on Sheldon Road. Well, not so much next to the gas station as attached to the side of it. You enter through the gas station convenience store to get to the restaurant (they also have a drive-through). Not being ones to let the lack of a formal setting stop us in our hunt for the perfect taco, we ventured in with the family.

The restaurant is small, with seating for perhaps a dozen people, but the menu is relatively large with everything from soups to tortas and plenty of burrito and taco choices. I went for the chicken taco combo plate that includes rice, beans and two crunchy tacos. The tacos came loaded with lettuce, cheese and meat but unfortunately not a whole lot of flavor. Even after dousing them in one of the several available salsas they just didn't pack much more than a bland taste.

While there was nothing wrong with them per se, and certainly the threat of the gas-station taco could have been far worse, there was nothing special to remember. At another more traditional restaurant these would have been more disappointing, but given my somewhat lowered expectations of the locale I am letting them off with a 3-star rating.


The Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)

Centro Cocina Mexicana

The Location: Centro Cocina Mexicana 2730 J St, Sacramento

The Taco: Taco de Carnitas y Taco de Pollo.

The Price: $10.75 for 2 taco combo dinner plate served with rice and beans (though I ordered my plate sans beans)

The Verdict: Upon arriving I dove straight into the chips and salsa. The chips were warm and fresh and there were two blended salsas to choose from, one red, one green. I enjoyed both immensely. Neither were particularly spicy, but had plenty of flavor and a tiny kick. When we got around to ordering our waitress told us the tacos from the combo plate were small, and she was right. This entree certainly needed the sides to go along with it to complete the meal for me.

I was disappointed when my plate arrived and the rice was only long grain white rice instead of your traditional orange spanish rice. The chicken taco was advertised as "seasoned chicken" however I could not find the seasonings. The meat seemed bland and boring with no flavor. My chicken taco was loaded with cabbage though and I thought that was an odd selection, as opposed to the more standard lettuce topping. The meat in the carnitas taco was really good. It sure was crispy and had great pork flavor. It wasn't too chunky and I quite enjoyed that taco. Though both tacos advertised salsa on them, I did not find that it was nearly enough so I made sure to dump some from the chip dipping bowls to spice up my tacos a bit more.

Overall since I did not enjoy half my meal, I cannot give a glowing taco review.

The Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)

Salsa Tacos

The Location: Salsa Tacos, 910 W Capitol Ave, West Sacramento

The Taco: Two item chicken taco plate

The Price: $7.26

The Verdict: Tonight was a return trip to Salsa Tacos which has previously served us up some tasty bites (in the pre-blog era). This was my first time through their tiny drive through, and the service was quick and efficient. Once I got home I found the crunchy tacos a little soggy but I'll blame that on the unfortunate circumstance of a 20-minute drive home and won't subtract any stars. The tacos were otherwise very tasty, with juicy meat and a substantial amount of filling stuffed into the shell. Quick tip if you like it spicy: order the hot salsa and pour it on liberally. It has a good flavor as well as a good amount of heat that manages to be hot enough without burning the taste buds into oblivion. As for the side dishes, both the rice and the refried beans were delicious. I'm not sure if the beans are prepared from scratch, but they tasted like it.

This small restaurant is tucked away on W Capitol Ave directly adjacent to a Jim Boy's Tacos. If you have the choice, I recommend you go for Salsa Tacos over the chain store every time.


The Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)