Taqueria El Guache

Some of the best pastor tacos you can find in town, the pork tamales are awesome too.

There’s no ignoring an itch for tacos, so the journey began to a questionable neighborhood for some good tacos. I needed a change in my taqueria rotation and after reading the reviews this one topped the list. This taqueria is inside a Valero (good sign) and cash only.
This shop is quaint, with three two tops and a stand for the community paper towel roll and hot sauce bottles. I was off to a good start being the only gringo in the place. My typical order at any taqueria is tacos al Pastor and nothing else. It’s been my quality scale of good taquerias and rarely steers me wrong. This time I was feeling a little more adventurous. I ordered one each of Pastor, Picadillo and Chorizo with rice and beans. Each taco came with two soft, freshly griddled corn tortillas. The Chorizo taco was dripping with grease and the taste reminded me why I never order them… I like Chorizo but that’s a lot of damn chorizo in one sitting. The Picadillo is now my second favorite taco. This delicious concoction of piping hot ground beef, potatoes, peas and carrots with a little kick at the end was perfect. Put it in a tortilla, top it on eggs, mix it with breakfast potatoes. Any way Picadillo is served, at least here, is guaranteed not to suck. Then came the Pastor. This was good but unfortunately it lacked the acidity from the warm pineapple. Rice and beans were average and just took up room for more tacos. For drink I ordered aqua de Jamaica but they were out, so I took the Horchata a sweet drink made from rice, almonds and cinnamon. It was very good, but there’s no way I could drink their quart sized servings.
Next time I’ll stick to the Picadillo and Pastor. Each taqueria has their own version of each taco and this were good.

Fueling up the tank happiness again. Valero seems to be pretty consistent with their good tacos even though each little enterprize is different. Do I even pay attention to the gas prices? No, it’s just about feeding the driver of the Hemi taco tank: D. This find that I will not take credit for is yet another reason to be friends with Daniel and Trevor if you trust in their discoveries. Their reviews are the reason I put on the brakes here. Tank wasn’t on «E», but the auto and I always need to re-​fuel.
4 stars easily after one visit. I wish I had tried more, and I certainly will, but I only had 2 tacos since I only had 2 dollars in green and some change. Cash just burns a hole in my pocket too fast, so I usually have less lunch money than a junior high kid. I not only want to go back and get more of what I had, but try a few new things along with the red salsa that I somehow missed. The green was great which makes you want to try the other even more. Way to Rope me in: D.
There is likely an ATM available here considering you can wire money at a Western Union but I didn’t want to mess with it. Lazy I know, but this is perfectly acceptable on a Saturday. I odered 1 picadillo and 1 pastor. LOVED them both. The pastor was great but I would have liked it with my new found pineapple friend that goes great in Pastor tacos if you like that combo which is found at a few places. The pastor was just the right amount of orange greasy love without roughy gristle or grease overload. The picadillo was awesome as well and it scared me for a millisecond before I opened it up. I completely spaced on the fact that I got a bite of potato and thought it was a horrendous piece of meat at first. Once I opened my taco I was relieved. I felt like a health nut champion seeing just a tad of corn, carrot and a few green peas along with the potato and beef. This is about all I need to feel extremely healthy with a tasty taco in hand with some veggies. Maybe not exactly what the food pyramid suggests, but close enough: D
Next time I’ll go with more cash and try the Cubana Torta and more!
Don’t expect these for dinner unless you grab them by 5pm. They open at 6am and are closed on Sundays. Face it guys, we’re not «supposed» to be eating after 9 or 10 pm anyway. Umm… Yeah. Oh, and while you’re there, feel free to wire me a Christmas bonus from the UK ;)

A better draw than lotto tickets or slurpees, tacos have become the new marketing campaign for many gas stations. You may get nervous ordering tacos amidst exhaust fumes, but every now and then it will pay off. El Guache, tucked away in a corner of Valero at I-​35 and MacArthur may be one of these rare finds.
PICADILLO TACO: 4 stars. Nicely seasoned, and greasy, but not overwhelming.
PASTOR TACO: 3 stars. Decent, but didn’t blow me away.
CHORIZO BREAKFAST TACO: 4 stars. Can’t go wrong with some good old Mexican sausage, egg, and potato.
HOMEMADE FLOUR TORTILLAS: 3 stars. A little bit of a let down. I was hoping for hot and soft, but they were just OK. I wonder if they might be better first thing in the morning.
HOT SAUCE: 5 stars. They took the standard red and green sauces to the next level! The red was especially impressive.
FINAL THOUGHTS: A short walk from school, this place will definitely become a regular stop for me. However, with every taco I eat I realize just how amazing El Paisa (just a little further east on Walnut Hill) really is; I think she will forever be my Mexican mistress.

I have such a weakness for gas station tacos. It is my proverbial kryptonite. As soon as I see a gas station with the little ‘taqueria’ sign I get all light headed and lost in thoughts of tiny tacos, grease dripping through my fingers, and little square styrofoam containers. Ahhhh…
I’ve driven by this place many times, as it is right off the 35 and nestled away in a Valero station. It is super hard to spot from the freeway, but the trained taco eye should have no problems finding this gem.
The wifey and I rolled in for lunch and ordered my usual tacos staples: Picadillo, Pastor, Chorizo, and Fajita. They were, of course, dirt cheap, came out fast, and we returned to the car, ready to examine our prey. Each came with the usual fixins (cilantro, onion, lime). Salsas included a green creamy tomatillo and a spicier red salsa. Both were legit.
First off, the Picadillo. Delicious. Fantastic. Hot, juicy, filled with little potato cubes and a little corn. Nicely spiced.
But then it hit me… THE PASTOR. Oh sweet baby jane, this was one amazing taco! As soon as I took my first bite it was like a mariachi in my mouth. My mind began to slide into a kind of taco-​induced euphoric coma, a glorious moment of taco bliss! The meat was red, spicy, and bursting with flavor, seared on the outside and tender in the center. The grease soaked into the soft flour tortilla and just the sound of it dripping onto the white styrofoam was like angels strumming harps.
All the tacos were fantastico but by far the Pastor brought home the prize. After inhaling round one, we looked at each other and said, «OK, lets get more.» The owner told me that his wife hand makes each tortilla every morning, and you could definitely taste it.
Now…I urge you to try this place, however, PLEASE take this advice: Avoid the barbacoa. It is no good. The texture is very strange and will likely ruin an otherwise perfect experience. The rice and beans are pretty standard and nothing spectacular. Of course, they offer a wide assortment of other things that I won’t touch (lengua, chicharron tripitas), so if you go for those, you are on your own. I can only speak for what I had. Stick to the tacos previously mentioned and you will do fine.
Hours are Mon-​Sat, 6am-​5pm (Closed Sunday)