Los Cantaros Taqueria

I generally don’t eat Mexican in the Berkeley area. Why? Because it sucks. But lately, I have had many a craving for a delicious steak taco, dreaming mainly about this amazing Mexican place I grew up with in Chicago.
Using my powers of Unilocal,I found Los Cantaros Taqueria (which by the way has two locations, both on San Pablo near the Emeryville/​Oakland border).
Los Cantaros Taqueria (at least this location) has both Mexican food and El Salvadorean food (think pupusas). I can’t speak for the El Salvadorean food, but what I’ve had of the Mexican food has been great!
Service was friendly and food came out quickly. Steak tacos with bell peppers and onions and cheese were very tasty and the rice and refried beans were pretty good as well. Their chips and salsa were addictive, as all chips and salsa tend to be. I tried a bite of my friend’s chicken burrito in a spinach tortilla and that also tasted delicious, with the chicken not being too dry (which is the downfall of many chicken options at Mexican places).
There isn’t much seating, but there weren’t a lot of people looking to sit down either.
On a separate note, I want to thank Los Cantaros, because when I left, I forgot my purse there (how I did this, I do not know :\), and thankfully, they were able to find it and keep it protected by the time I got back there. Thank you Los Cantaros for a great meal and for great service!!!

BEST TAQUERIA IN EMERYVILLE/​NORTH OAKLAND.
so this place is down the street from where i live so i go here pretty often. today i had a tasty grilled veggie burrito for a mere $ 5.45 plus tax. flavorful, nice, hot and fresh tasting. basically this is the best taqueria in the area, not as good as the almighty el farolito, cancun or el toro but the location is real good for me and it kicks ass over cactus or the taco trucks in e-​ville. check it out. friendly quick service as well, with nice tvs playing espn inside and a few tables outside.

Tasty consistent burritos, good coffee, and refreshing augas. Service is friendly and the dining area clean and quaint.

Wasn’t expecting much when my wife and I came here. We were on our way to try out YardieJerk down the street, but they were closed. Turned out great for us as this place has become our new favorite Mexican restaurant in the East Bay!!! I got the super steak burrito with spinach tortilla. Meat was cooked perfectly. Tender and juicy without being drenched in grease (how’d they do that?!). Well seasoned steak without being too salty. Then again, I do prefer salty foods so I might be biased. The rest of the ingredients tasted fresh and balanced out the meat. Mmmm… mouth watering just thinking about it.
We’ll be back for sure to try out other menu items.

Their super steak burritos (8 bucks) are amazing. Lots of meats and 4 different tortillas to choose from. ordering to go gets you a small pouch of chips. yum.
if i crave burritos in the area (emeryville), ill go here :)

Easy lunch spot near work, lots of seating, but not a destination. The steak burrito was just okay, but I hate it when I get pieces of gristle, fat or just crap pieces of meat in my burriots… a little quality control guys?
The prices are good, it’s fast, especially if you call ahead and the fresh juices (aguas frescas) are really good. However if you want an authentic burrito, take the trip to Fruitvale, where Mexicans eat!

Straight to the point.
Service = Poor — rushed and mistakes were made on all 3 orders
Cooking time = Poor — 20mins for 3 tacos (granted I sprang for three different meats, this still should have been accomplished within a reasonable time frame)
Quality of food = Meh — the aforementioned mistake played a role here but the meat was alright until reaching the al pastor taco. Half the pastor was stiff chunks of fat. No bueno!
I would strongly recommend avoiding this place for lunch or just entirely as the Bay Area is in no shortage of great taquerias or taco trucks.

Mexican food has to be fresh, has to prepared, and has to be executed correctly just to be considered better then average.
I have noticed this place shows quality and pride in the food and the establishment no less. The location is clean and the workers seem content. I haven’t had a issue in a long while (baja taco one day was a lil tooo fishy if you kno what I mean).
Carne Asada here is high grade arrachera (skirt steak) not diesmillo (chuck roll) like most other Mexican joints use. Enjoy the difference.

I love Mexican food. Like seriously.
This is amazing authetic Mexican at its finest. Stopped here for lunch last week and I tried the prawn tacos and guacamole. Both were divine. They also make fresh juices and have some daily specials.
The staff is friendly and speedy. Make sure to go in a bit before the noon hour to avoid the long line that will form.

This place is great!!! The food is consistently fantastic and it’s pretty quick as well. I recommend the prawn/​mushroom quesadilla, the burritos, the nachos… everything at this place is really tasty.

This place is for regulars … and that’s not going to be me.
The food we ordered wasn’t bad … in fact the carnitas were pretty tasty … but it was 40 degrees in here.
It was so chilly inside …
— I ate with gloves and my scarf on.
— the cheese on my nachos were a giant lump (not melted)
— they left the soda fridge door open cause the air would heat the place (okay, I’m joking about this point).
My other gripe about the nachos … when I finally managed to dig past the giant clump of cheese is when I found all the chicken. It was like turning over a rock in the woods and finding a nest of potato bugs … a less hungry person would have missed all the meat. Poor nacho ingredient distribution!

I love the chicken heart smart burrito. They grill vegetables fresh instead of adding rice. You also can’t beat the Mexico City style tacos, which are a buck during happy hour.
The parking in this little strip mall is tough, and there seems to be illegal behavior going on in the neighborhood. If that bothers you, head down San Pablo towards 40^th street and check out their newest location next to Ihop.
My only complaint is that their take out salsa containers are way too small. Be sure to ask for a couple extra.

Delicious, cheap and fresh mexican food. I got 3 Mexico City style chicken tacos and a small side of guacamole for about $ 5.50. It was the perfect sized meal — not too heavy and kept me full long enough to make it through the rest of my day.
I drive past this place everyday yet just tried it now. I will be back for sure. For those that might think the area is «sketchy» they must not be from around here. I work a few blocks away and while this area isn’t Claremont or Piedmont Ave., it’s not sketchy at all. Get your head out of your ass!
They are only open till 6pm on weekdays and 3pm on Saturday. So it’s more of a breakfast/​lunch or grab some dinner on the way home from work type place.

I’ve been going to Los Cantaros at least weekly since I moved to Emeryville last November. I love the prawn buritos. I have them frequently enough that some of the staff knows how I like them — prawn burito, no beans, super (super in this case means guacamole and sour cream. :)
Why write the review now? Because tonight something amazing was available when I ordered: A «soft» margarita. Having moved here from AZ, I thought I knew all the ways you could get a margarita. This one was new to me…
It’s a margarita made with agave wine. It still tastes like a margarita, but with a slightly less intense flavor. Really good. Almost as good as the burito.

I am surprised about all the great reviews for Los Cantaros — or maybe we just ordered wrong?
My carnitas tacos were full of dry, unseasoned bits of pork with a lackluster green salsa. My hon of hons husband fared much better, as his chicken tacos were absolutely delicious, full of tasty chunks of chicken, HOT n’ SPICY salsa, and black beans.
And those chips? Strips of store bought chips served with tiny little cups of some type of red sauce that didn’t even pretend to be salsa nor spicy.
Oh, the atmosphere? Crack ho’s coming in and going out, twitching all the while. And the parking lot was freaking filthy. Anyone have a broom?

Before reading this review be sure to be listening to this salsa music station at the same time.
Cantaros Taqueria is a wonderful place, its fun, cheap and takes advantage of all that interior décor left by the previous tenant, Hawaiian BBQ.
Cook it a bit longer, be a lot more selective with they spicy ingredients and youll have wonderful food!!!
Certainly don’t miss out on any of the side drinks, extra chips, salsa, and of course all and every part of their delicious meals. Its lively and can spontaneously handle instant large groups with lots of different orders. I think though if they have a way to keep ppl walking away with the bottles of salsa, I suggest more flavors available for people to get.
What i also hope for is that they make sure to never prepare foods Americano, but rather authentic and let them serve it with their hearts.
Ariba Ariba Rapido!!!
Ok. you can turn off the salsa music.

The tacos are awsome, and well make up for the disgusting chips and «hot sauce.» The chips are stale and the sauce is tomatoe paste with red pepper flecks.
The fish tacos are just ok, but everything else is great (including the drinks).
Unlike others, I’ve never had to wait long, and the service has always been friendly.
I do love this place, but I have friends who were almost mugged just outside at luch time during the week.
Keep in mind the area that you are in… I have seen hookers come ouf of the motel across the street.

UPDATE:
I originally gave this place 3 stars. it’s edible, but not delicious.
I decided to give it one more chance in a lunch pinch.
These are the days I wish I was bulimic.
They put PEAS in a carne asada burrito. peas! I HATE peas. you might as well spit in my food, because I’d be equally as grossed out.
3 stars for their food — minus 2 for putting peas in my burrito, for the dinky cups of not-​so-​hot sauce AND for denying me the sobe green tea because it was ‘too far back in the fridge’
Lazy no-​cookin mofos!
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Original review:
When I can’t get farther away from work to get real mexican food, I come here. It’s decent. It’s even healthy in some ways. It’s just not FABULOUS. I’ve had much much better. Beans might be canned, they don’t taste too authentic.
If you go at lunchtime, expect to wait. It’s the only mexican place in the area for Emeryville employees besides Taco Bell. Expect that they might get your order wrong too — no one speaks english besides the chick at the register. Como Que Guacamole damnit!
And if you like hot sauce. be prepared to grovel for the stuff like a salsa-​crackhead since they give only teeny tiny cups of red salsa that lacks zest and flavor.

Clean, Good Taqueria on San Pablo.
I like those ladies always working hard from early morning.
Breakfast burritos are good too.
But I think the counter is way too high for the ladies. I don’t call them midgets but they are very short people. When I go to early morning, it seems like no one is inside even though the large neon open sign out side.

4.5 stars. Love this place. Miss this place. Would have liked it better if parking was easier (lot small that is shared with sketchy laundry mat and donut/​hot dog place).
Used to eat here 1−2x’s per week when I worked down the street. Often got catering from here as well for business functions. Clean food. Good salads. Great soup-​Tlapena (sp?)
Black, refried or pinto beans. Grilled meat. Nice owners/​workers.
I wish I could find something like this closer to where I live now.