Ah, yes, Mi Hacienda at 895 2nd Ave. It is a particularly colorful location as there is a bar in another unit in the same building that often gets cops called to reel in the brawling. This is one of the few food places where I have ever had staff mess with my order. I ordered a plate of three basic tacos from the top of the menu and they laughed and exchanged rude jokes in Spanish which they assumed I did not understand and then served me a single taco with a strange mix of ingredients and no meat. Really do not recommend this place unless you are into local color and are prepared to order in Spanish and come across as the sort of person who is worthy of a plate of three tacos whatever that might entail.
OK? I actually agree with the general sentiment. I just happen to quite enjoy that combo and while I do enjoy taqueria sauces, I just haven't found any that have paired quite as well as that.
Ok I ate at the #1 on the list, by accident, when I spent a couple months in Redwood City two years ago. Just looking for tacos, bought and ate in my car. Socks knocked off, under the impression since then that Redwood City Taquerias were all that good. But I was just lucky!
El Grullense Grill (Woodside and Gordon, #2 in TFA) is the taqueria GOAT; I stop there every time I find myself in the south bay around lunch or dinner. My roommate and I ate there 3-4 nights each week in grad school. Amazing public service for taco-lovers here!
Hard to pin down precisely, but the tacos are better and more consistent in my opinion than eg. the Grullenses on El Camino in Redwood City and Palo Alto. It's also a bigger spot with murals, nicer seating, full salsa bar, and usually some people watching games around the bar. Just a great spot to stop in!
Back when I lived in the bay area I loved doing a "tour de taco", biking from Palo Alto to SF and stopping at every taco place in the path, for a taco. Recommended.
My god it's satisfying to look at a web page that's 100% useful, curated content. No overhyped clickbait nonsense, no social media garbage, no "partner content".
In 2023 I'm at the point where I'm convinced that people who deliberately host websites unencrypted are in on a much more interesting conspiracy than mere stubborn libertarian-ish "not my problem" whining.
This list is pretty woefully out of date, even if it's an excellent snapshot in time of a Redwood City that once was. We moved to RWC in '10, and it has changed a lot. Gentrification of the Little Michoacán area has begun in earnest (hi! we bought in NFO), and the downtown area's light-industrial flavor has been nearly eliminated in favor of 1+5 apartments (of which I am a huge fan).
Taquerias have come and gone since this list was written. I just got back from Mexico, perhaps I should undertake to do it myself...
I ate at El grullense no 1 on middlefield almost every day in 1995. 5 dollars for 5 tacos at the time. No salsa bar but they put enough of the delicious ranchero salsa and pickled jalapeño for a perfect plate.
I think the ones on el Camino actually came a couple years later. One tiny one in front of Safeway and another down south a bit. I think this is the one he ranks as number one.
I really recommend trying anyone of these places if you can. Really the simple ranchero style is delicious and unlike other Mexican food you’ve had. Sorry not a lot of vegetables but you can skip the soda and get an agua Fresca or carrot juice to make up for it.
Awesome page, but what the hell, no pork is a hard constraint, lots of awesome pork tacos (cochinta, carnitas, suadero, chicharron...).
One subtlety about Mexican tacos that is lost in other countries is that there are different taco types for different times of the day. Lamb barbacoa tacos (not to be confused with Jalisco-style beef barbacoa), pork carnitas and chicharon are definitely morning/lunch, whereas pastor and suadero tacos are more an evening taco. Northern style beef tacos, and Yucatan-style cochinita are more for lunch (Mexican lunch is the main meal, often around 2-3pm)
Admittedly, it's a Peruvian restaurant, and not really a taqueria, but an honorable mention for Estampas Peruanas on El Camino would have been nice. Most of my friends loathe this place, but I love it.
Also, a shout-out for the memory of Viva Mexico! whose remains lie under the Box offices. They only killed two patrons, but had some very nice Tex Mex style food. (An investigation found their kitchen was fine, but their meat supplier was unwholesome.)
I think this is one of the best ways to get to know a city. I did a similar survey of the most popular cheeseburgers in SF a few years back and it was a blast spending an afternoon exploring a new neighborhood after a great lunch. Black Sands Brewery's burger was my favorite, RIP.
The stealth taqueria in the back of the mercado is a good tip, especially in places like the South where "Mexican restaurant" means something else entirely.
