Exotic Latino Grill

Very good little truck, cheap tacos 1.50 $ stays busy large portions and pretty quick. I will definitely be visiting them again for sure to get my authentic Mexican tacos. I might even upgrade from steak to beef younger next time… mmm…

This place is the best. Their empanadas and baleadas are really great. Very cheap too!

As Junior’s has progressively gone down hill in the last year, I’ve warmed up to the charm of Exotic Latino Grill. While I still wish that they had a bigger assortment of veggies to put in their tacos, like grilled onion or zucchini, they’re still quite good, even without dairy. I also dig their sweet plantains — I really can’t get enough of those things. Still haven’t tried the pineapple cheese empanada again but I would consider it. Regardless, I’m glad that I gave them another chance and I now have a new truck to satisfy my taco cravings.

I find it hilarious that drunk students come here at night, but I guess if you are open so late you can expect this crowd. I did not go at night and it wasn’t crowded. It’s kind of in an odd spot, but you can just look for the liquor store or the UDF and it’s right next to those.
I got the Cuban sandwich and it was very delicious, but I would not call it a Cuban sandwich at all. I know what a real Cuban sandwich is like, so maybe I’m being picky, but I wish they would just give it another name. It’s like a giant tasty sandwich. My dad got 2 arepas which was unnecessary because one would have been enough. The cheese one was the best. My brother got the hot dogs which sounds really weird, but they cook their hotdogs in a special way that makes them look really delicious. They had pineapple and potato chips on them and I think they were cooked in some sort of tomato sauce. It sounds strange but if you just try it I’m pretty sure you will like it. My brother has also gotten other things from there and he said everything that he has tried was amazing. I will be back to try the other things on the menu.

I’ve only been to this food truck once. Just about everything me and one other ordered was very overcooked. Also, the food took a long while to come out, expectedly because of the over cooking of everything. One star added because the verde sauce tasted authentic and fresh.

Best authentic Columbian food around! I order steak and chorizo tacos, papa rellena, and empanadas. It was amazing! Papa Rellena was a bit bland but added the salsa they provided and it was amazing!!! Highly recommend ordering ahead of time because it’s made to order. I waited ten minutes though so I didn’t mind.

All the previous reviews rightfully praise this food truck. It’s nothing fancy on the outside, it’s a food truck. But damn it’s good.
My go to’s are the pineapple and cheese empanada and the baleada. Ordering both is 7 bucks!!!
Sometimes they are out of those dang empanadas, and if that’s the case, don’t worry. EVERYTHING else is good ;)

This delightful little gem is found tucked away in the parking lot of a liquor store. Don’t be distressed by the trailer, the food truck era is back baby. Just grab on with both hands and enjoy.
The food here is great. Like, I ate here twice within 5 hours. I can’t say to my current recollection that I’ve ever done before. I had a chorizo burrito the first time and a chicken quesadilla the second time. The chorizo was of good quality and the ingredients were fresh and delicious. The chicken was nicely spiced and the quesadilla was quickly and greedily devoured at the hotel.
The burrito was so full it didn’t really close like a burrito. That’s not a complaint, just a warning. Come prepared for a more in-​depth burrito consumption experience than you contain in one hand.
If you’re in the area and you’re hungry, come here. The food is worth your money. Plus you can order ahead by calling in. Baller move, bro.
Cash only.

Its really good quality Mexican street food for pretty decent prices. I have been multiple times.

We ended up stopping by this food truck after failed attempts of finding two other trucks around Clintonville’s Indianola corridor. Heading South, I ran out of options, and having passes Exotic more times than I can remember, I made the ultimate decision to give it a shot.
This place isn’t technically a «Mexican» food truck as this site may say. It’s actually Colombian and Honduran dishes, but if you’re like me, and I’m assuming the majority of Columbus, many of the dishes are almost identical to what you’d typically find at a Mexican truck. The first thing you’ll notice is that the menu is pretty gigantic, but after talking with the guy running the place, it seems like they may be missing a few of the items further down on the list. Despite all my options, I went with chorizo and pastor tacos, a pastor quesadilla, and a pastor empanada.
This place is cash only so come prepared, or you can stop into the convenience store behind it and take some money out of the ATM. You shouldn’t have a problem finding a parking space, since the store has a private lot and is usually not very busy.
As far as the tacos go, the chorizo was by far my favorite. It definitely had the most flavor and had a bit of a cinnamon taste that I really like, and it wasn’t too salty like a few place I’ve been to around town. The pastor on the other hand just really didn’t have much flavor it all. Unfortunately, the red sauce didn’t add much taste to it either, but it did had a hell of a kick. It was pure heat, and that’s about it. One of the hottest red sauces I’ve had around here. The green salsa was much better.
I suggest getting the quesadilla without lettuce and all of the other crap that was in it, minus the meat, cheese, and maybe onions. It was super greasy and falling apart, and I just wasn’t a fan. It’s also enormous with the added beans and sour cream, and I could only finish one half. I actually really liked the empanada despite the pastor, but it was heavy on the shell covering and not packed with filling.
Overall, I’d proably skip this one if I had the option for all the above dishes (minus the chorizo), but I would be back to check out some of the more Colombian and Honduran plates.

It’s pretty dank Mexican food for really inexpensive. The burritos are huuuge and only $ 5. The tacos are pretty small, but only $ 1.50. It’s a deal!
It’s no cantina, but it’s also not the dirtiest Mexican I’ve ever had either.
If I had to eat one food for the rest of my life, I’d choose burritos… and I’d be pretty happy if some of those burritos were from the Exotic Latino Grill.
They’re open during the day and late night. ELG only takes cash, so come prepared!

I got the papás rellanas which is supposed to be mashed potatoes with a beef filling and deep fried. I wanted to order a couple of other things but they were out. Mind you, it was only 2pm on a Tuesday. The man was nice but after getting my food, I opened the lid and seen two «deep fried» balls with a leathery cheese oozing out. I stayed there and ate it in my car. I opened one and seen a pink-​ish meat inside that looked like canned salmon or a cheap canned chicken. And the potato wasn’t mashed. It was chunks of dry potato with no seasoning smashed around this very bland and dry mystery meat mixture. And the batter on the outside was rubbery as well as the cheese. I took two bites and couldn’t stomach it. It was BLAND and rubbery. I took it up to him and asked if this was microwaved. He said «yes, first pre-​deepfried then later he microwaved it to heat it back up to order».
Ummmm Why isn’t my food fresh sir??? Then I asked him what the meat center was because they were advertising «beef papas rellanas». He told me it was chicken.
It was a gray-​ish pink chicken… And now my stomach hurts. The food smelled like it was sitting in an old fridge and smelled like old fryer grease. No shade but I don’t trust the food. And it was disgusting and bland. The textures were off and the salsa roja was bitter and the salsa verde was decent but needed more flavor. It was my first AND last experience. If you own a truck, make the food fresh and delicious… especially with simple ingredients like beef and potato. Hope this helped somebody.

Very good and inexpensive. We eat there often!

this is not real mexican food… watered down salsa with a buncha salt! Cheap but not good. I got tacos and they sucked. sorry but it’s the truth.

I stopped here for lunch and ordered a Columbian hotdog and a burrito, total, $ 8. If I’d known the burrito was Chipotle-​sized if not larger, I may’ve skipped the hotdog, but the dog was delicious. Definitely not commuter friendly though! It leaked pineapple juice all over me. The potato chips as a topping were interesting, the saltiness pairing well with the pineapple.
The burrito contained no salsa, just meat, beans, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and rice. The meat (I went with asada) had great flavor. The ingredients weren’t mooshed together at all, so there were many discrete layers, which may be a pro or a con for you. Great value at 5 bucks. I look forward to returning to try more of their menu!

I recently moved to an area that’s not too far from this truck, and I luckily have had a chance to try it. Unfortunately, I stopped by in the evening, and they seemed to be out of some items at that point. However, I was able to try their carnitas and arepas. Both were good, but I’d have say I’ve had better arepas elsewhere. As with most trucks, the food is incredibly affordable, and unlike some other trucks, there’s usually parking spaces open in the lot where it’s located. I’m not sure if this is always the case, but there seemed to only be one person in the truck when I was there. And when multiple people in line making orders, we did all have to wait for some time before the food was ready. Nevertheless, I imagine that I’ll be making return trips in the future given the truck’s close proximity to my house.

Really like eating at this place. Empanadas are so good I just love them. They come with a red hot sauce. It’s spicy but a must with the empanadas.

Looks like they’ve moved. Passed them on High at the Super Food Mart, at Pacemont and High where Ray Ray’s used to be.

I’m legitimately addicted to the salsa verde. No matter how hard I try, I can’t recreate it. Steak burrito for $ 5, ask nicely for extra «green sauce».
My son refers to it as «the good stuff». As in, «mommy, may I please have more of the good stuff for my tacos?» Cheers!

I love this place! It’s an taco truck right off Hudson in the 13 – 0 parking lot. I’m always craving this place after the gym for some reason. Unfortunately, I haven’t tried anything else besides the chicken burrito. It’s $ 5 and it comes with an green sauce and hot sauce. Actual I have had the quesadilla before and they were also good. But the chicken burrito is super thick and fills you up just right. The black beans are soft and cooked and seasoned well, the chicken has moisture with each bite and full of flavor, the rice is so good and fluffy and than the rest lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sour cream and cheese are very clean and fresh. I’ve gone here at least twice an week. Nothing satisfies me like there burritos, I maybe over exaggerating but I love their burritos more than chipotle or any other taco truck in the city. They have an picture menu which separates itself from the others and its Columbian food not Mexican so there’s an difference and they would tell you. Not all Mexicans run taco trucks people. But def try this place out not just the burritos but other things in the menu. It fits my budget and I’m full and satisfy afterwards.

Been going here since it was still on lane ave. They have great tacos at an affordable price. 3 are just north of 5 $. Get the green sauce! Their al pastor is nice and sweet. Warning the tacos are juicy and even though they double up on the corn tortillas they usually break so grab some napkins. Arepas and empanadas are also really good. As of January 2015 they expanded their menu even more. Next time I am trying the new Bandeja paisa.

I like this place. It’s affordable.
The wait has been a bit intense for some of my roommates. Sometimes communication gets messed up and orders have to be re-​made. But overall, love the fact that it’s within walking distance from home. Great ²⁴⁄₇ place for long nights.

Like Unilocal says «Woohoo! As good as it gets!» I’ve been more times than I’ll ever admit; but I will admit this is one of my five favorite restaurants. You can get better food here for $ 5 than you’ll get at many other places for $ 30+. Go for the tacos, empanadas, arepas (don’t overlook the cheese and pineapple), and veggie burritos.
p. s. The items I mention above are only 5% of their HUGE menu. Feeling like crab soup? They have it, on the menu at least.

Basically, they have Mexican food, and South American food. They do have the typical standard fare as far as Columbus taco trucks are concerned. Tacos, burritos, tortas. The one exception might be that ELG does some pretty awesome tamales. You can tell that these are the same kind that old Mexican women work for days in kitchens before Christmas, and make hundreds and hundreds for their loved ones. Perfectly steamed masa in a corn husk with your choice of filling. On the day we went, they had a sweet corn tamale on special. Pretty amazing stuff. The most amazing part: these folks are Colombian. Well, maybe not amazing, but they nail it when it comes to Mexican food. I’m pretty sure that next time, I’ll order something off the Colombian menu.
Overall, the wait seems to take forever, but that’s because they make every single order after you order.

Ever since I got introduced to baleadas in Honduras, I’ve been hooked. They’re almost like a fluffly quesadilla filled with bean paste, cheese, cream, sometimes scrambled eggs and/​or meat. As far as I know, this is the only truck I’ve seen that serves it and it’s a big thing for just $ 4. I haven’t tried their other entrees, but they’ve already won me over.
Other than that, I’ve only had the sweet fried plantains and it wasn’t so good — not very sweet or flavorful.

I came down here for a late night snack. And that’s no lie; they’re open all night. I settled on two tamales the sounded good. They had sweet corn and lots of hot sauce! And they were a lot better than I expected. I’m going to have to get a little adventureous with them on my next trip.

Looks reeeeeal seedy but don’t let that fool you! Food is top notch and hits the spot.
I ordered 4 tacos (2 pollo & 2 pastor) and at $ 1.50 each it’s a hell of a bargain! They come with lettuce, cheese, tomato, and sour cream. Plus you get a verde and hot red sauce on the side. They come on corn tortillas not flour just FYI. Amazing! Seriously blows Chipotle or any other fast food out of the taco arena.
Can I just say, please don’t bitch at the window. The dude is trying to take orders, translate your drunk ass English and cook simultaneously and it doesn’t help if you bitch. Also, no one cares if you like the pineapple salsa over the pink colored salsa and why bother telling him the ratios to put on the Columbian Hot dog. Shut up. Just get it the way it comes sister — they’re cooking not you. If you want a special hot dog microwave it yourself.
Back to the food. It’s delicious and filling. Give it a try and remember stop substituting and bitching and just enjoy & eat!

El Manantial Latino is not in the top echelon of Columbus’ taco trucks, but given that there are 40+ trucks and counting, you can hardly hold it against them. Plus, there are two things going for El Manantial: 1) it’s one of the few taco trucks in walking/​easy driving distance of the University District & Clintonville, and 2) as far as I know, it’s the only place in Columbus serving Colombian food.
Speaking of which, I should point out that they’re currently located in the parking lot of the 14 – 0 on Hudson Ave. between Summit and Indianola, not on High Street. And while I’m at it, how is it that Unilocal has a category for Taiwanese food, but doesn’t appear to know that Colombian food exists?
El Manantial has expanded their menu over the years, which is a good thing. Last visit I had the Bandeja de Pollo; for $ 8, you got one of those big styrofoam containers stuffed to the brim with a chicken breast palliard (aka «pounded flat»), rice, black beans, fried plantains, and salad. The salad was forgettable, the chicken decent; frankly, I’m a sucker for anything accompanied by rice, black beans, and plantains, so all in all, a good meal. Or in this case two meals, given the quantity of food I was given.