Torchy’s Tacos

Had the best time there. The food is amazing! The prices are super reasonable but the quality is way above.
Can’t wait to go back and try new things!

This was my first time eating at the highly acclaimed «Torchy’s Tacos,» and I have to say it was very good! This location has plenty of indoor seating, and a few tables outside but I actually took my tacos to-​go. They were great about wrapping the tacos, so they did not get too messy by the time I arrived back at Rice University.
The line here looks longer than it actually is. The issue is that the cash register is right at the entry way so from the outside, it appears that there will be a long wait, but in reality, I probably only waited between 5 – 7 minutes to order — So definitely don’t let the line deter you!
I ordered the Baja Shrimp taco and the Crossroads. I 100% preferred the Baja Shrimp. It had a nice kick and crunch to it. It also came with an incredible spicy/​chipotle sauce. Get this taco! The tacos are small so I would recommend getting two, you will be full from that. For these two specialty tacos, it was about $ 9.
The queso and chips was good, but not something I would order for myself.

This place is so good! The chips come out hot, and the food is fresh & well cooked. I ate there once on vacation and had to go back once more before I left; it was that good! If only they had a location back home in Ohio. If you’re on the fence about this place, I urge you to DO IT! You won’t be sorry. Thank you Torchy’s for the amazing food!

Hey foodies! Late post but I love this location! The staff is nice and the food is always proportion right. The parking could be a little difficult at times. Forwards that best torchy location is in rice village… compared to the cinco ranch location that’s horrible. Check it out guys!

I had higher expectations for Torchy’s and this was a complete letdown. It was a raining Sunday when we went and the line wasn’t very long when we got there… Not until we sat our table and the line was out the door and wrapped outside near their patio. One of the guys at our table didn’t have his chips handed to him when we were at the register… So we informed the food runner who dropped off the avocado dip. The staff didn’t have to be so rude when we asked about the chips. Wth is going on with this location. At least the cashier guy was really nice but the chips he handed to me were so stale. :/
The food itself was lacking… The queso wasn’t very hot and my Veggie burrito had hard pieces of rice that stuck to my teeth as if the rice has been sitting out for while before they decided to throw it in my burrito.
Most likely I won’t be coming back to this location. It’s too small and I definitely didn’t have a pleasant experience all together… Overall. I didn’t enjoy this location.

If you don’t really care about authentic Mexican tacos and want to try some more American-​friendly fusion fare, this is the place for you. Torchy’s serves up large, fresh, tacos that are a mix of traditional offerings and seemingly proprietary combinations, usually with odd political names or cultural references.
Given the wealth of taco options around Houston, you can definitely find cheaper tacos of more authentic or Americanized variety, but some of the options at Torchy’s just can’t be beat. Political leanings aside, I’m partial to their Democrat, essentially a barbacoa taco with a slice of avocado on top. The Republican has smoked jalapeño sausage (tasty by itself but not conducive to a good taco), and the Independent is a mess of a vegetarian taco. Out of the breakfast options, the Ranch Hand (egg, cheese, beef fajita) and Wrangler (egg, cheese, barbacoa) are both solid options, but there are cheaper simpler tacos as well.
The best piece of advice I can give is to try to avoid the busiest parts of the day. The people at Torchy’s hustle, but with high volumes, mistakes are bound to be made, tables aren’t flipped fast enough, and the drink station becomes a mess of unavailable beverages and wet sticky surfaces. If you catch them between traditional meal periods, the lines are shorter, the drinks are stocked, and you can find a table without much trouble.

Awful service for sub-​par tacos.
The place and the servers are not equipped to deal with the crowds and so you have an inordinately long wait (even to sit, let alone eat) on a Saturday evening. The people behind the counter looked flustered. If you order «to go» you are standing in a narrow passageway between the tables, the kitchen and the soda fountain with a continuous barrage of customers and kitchen staff running back and forth. The most dangerous is when a server rushes out with two hot pans of molten queso in both hands straight into the standing crowd — this can’t end well at some level.
But for us, as parents of a child with dairy allergies, the worst sin was is having specifically ordered tacos without cheese, having dairy allergy alert written in red on the order, and still ending up with tacos containing cheese. Luckily my daughter noticed the cheese crumbs peeking out or our Saturday evening would have been spent in dealing with a food allergy attack. Come on folks — you HAVE to be more careful than this especially when it comes to food allergies in kids. On a positive note the restaurants did give us replacement tacos without cheese.
Not coming back anytime soon!

I just died and went to taco heaven! I thought it would be funny to order the Dirty Sanchez taco because of its name. Lol. Turns out, it was freakin delicious! Scrambled eggs, fried poblano chile, guacamole, escabeche carrots, shredded cheese, poblano sauce on a flour tortilla with Diablo sauce. Best taco everrrrrrr! I literally want to eat one everyday.

Tacos are sub-​par and definitely not Mexican. I’ve had a few bad experiences here, so I will only share two anecdotes.
First story: My parents live in the neighborhood and requested Torchy’s for dinner. We called ahead, drove over, and picked up the tacos twenty minutes later. Took them home, passed them out, and realized that we were one taco short. We called back to ask them to prepare our missing taco and arrived ten minutes later to pick it up. Not only was there no taco for us, but the kitchen hadn’t even been informed. They gave us a free queso as an apology, and the queso is really tasty, but they wasted our time on their mistake.
Second story: I called ahead as I was leaving work so that I could just pick up the tacos on my way home. They asked if I could be put on hold, I said yes, and I was on hold for the seven minutes it took me to drive to the restaurant. I understand that restaurants are sometimes so swamped that they don’t have the time or manpower to take call-​in orders, but there were literally only three people in line. It was clear that I was just forgotten.
Bonus: I needed to use the restroom once and the toilet was actively overflowing and smelled horrible. Manager told me I could use the restroom at the cigar shop next door, but that’s not a viable option for me. Wasn’t even mopped up yet when I left.

The tacos here are good. They are big. They are expensive. 3.75 for one taco. I feel the size and uniqueness reflects the price almost but $ 3 or $ 3.25 would be a more accurate worth of what you get compared to other places. If you want good tacos for a better price El Rey open ²⁴⁄₇ is your go-​to. But anyways im still going to come here to torchies a lot because the tacos here are so unique.
The place is almost always packed… its how good it is here at Torchys Tacos. A reviewer said it’s not real mexican tacos but shut up because some of them pretty much are… just because they have some extra that are specialty dont fault them for it. People like the options.
As for Hilary H. giving one star for a couple minor issues .get a clue… it could happen anywhere the two things you listed– not that extreme. Try running a business yourself and you will see. One star is too harsh for what you said. Dont be stuck up.

Went here again to bring a non Houston person and they loved it! On a Wednesday at 7ish no line and fast service! Even when I go and there is a line it goes very quickly! Their chips that come with salsa/​guac/​queso are delicious!!! Im pescetarian and I have many options when I go there — fish, veggies, and eggs! My favorites are the «independent» which has fried portobello, the dirty sanchez (egg and fried poblano pepper), and the tuna! I’ll get two tacos and be absolutely stuffed!
It’s seat yourself And sometimes the tables are kind of in disarray which is my only complaint. Will always take guests here!

I love torchys! The queso is my go to! I also like trailer trash and the independent which is a portobello mushroom. The sauces are so good too! I also like the Migas for breakfast which is served all day. I like going at 3 when the place is dead or when they open in the am. Other than that I order online and pick up and just pay the .50 cent order fee because the wait is soo long! But one of the best places to grab a cheap eat in Htx

Torchy’s may be as ubiquitous to Texas as Ford pick-​up trucks but for someone from the Northeast they’re a precious commodity.
On this evening we did a quick smash and grab of tacos. Me– the «democrat» and the «trailer park». I exercised some self restraint and opted not to get the latter «trashy», though that did not limit my enjoyment in the least. The democrat was served with succulent beef barbacoa and the trailer park fried chicken in a taco — need I say more?
My husband got the fried chicken taco served in a waffle rather than traditional taco shell– is everything rely bigger and better in Texas? Well this was… his green chile pork was equally delicious.
This location is the perfect spot if you’re a college aged millennial looking to unwind after a long day of hitting the books. We were definitely older than the average patron here, but we had a great time nonetheless.

This place makes some pretty good tacos and then décor is pretty cool. It’s basically a place you can stay and have a quick bite or just get your meal to go. The employees were really nice with helping you figure out what you want especially if it’s your first time! I like all the drink in the fountain machine, I can’t even pick which one was the best because they were all pretty good! The prices are bad either! Try this place if your in the area, or the other locations!
Also don’t forget to tell them to make your taco «Trashy»

This may be blasphemy to the folks that will wait 15 or more minutes in line for a «decent» taco (you are aware there are many less hipster but authentic taco spots…).
We are regulars when we don’t want to drive to Chiloso’s or other places.
However, we have noted a significant drop-​off in quality and service in our last few visits. Namely,
— always some mess going on when you order. Only one register open, etc.
— the coffee area is constantly a mess. Spilled milk, trash, running out of coffee
— yesterday our tacos came out cold. This was early Sunday with no crowd. We were in a hurry and told the waitress but could not wait to get replacements.
Time for the management to observe and improve? Or maybe the popularity outweighs this less than expected service???

Tried this place after all the hype and I have to say I am pleasantly surprised!
We went on a Thursday night or something, we managed to only be the second person in line, as soon as we stepped up to order about ten people walked up, so yea the lines are still insane on week nights.
I ordered the crossroads and the brushfire.
A classmate was telling me about some brisket taco that was out of this world. The cross roads was what I assumed was it. was really good with the sauce they provided. That girl acted like I was gonna get the big o from eating it so assuming that it probably why it fell flat for me.
The brushfire was ridic spicy yo. I ate a drop of the sauce they give you to put on it and that was spicy on its own. Bro, you trying to burn my eyebrows off? This mess is hot! Without the sauce I was basically crying. They don’t mess around.
My boyfriend took the safe route and ordered the fried avocado and the trailer park with trash (queso)
The avocado was good but it was almost like it was missing something but I couldn’t pin point it. It was probably meat.
The trailer park was the best thing we ordered. I stole his taco to save my tongue the humiliation.
Oh and the local beer they had on tap helped too.
Will be going back!

I’ve only been to torchy’s for breakfast. I like the monk special because it sates my migas craving. If you add queso and the picante sauce. Foodgasm ahoy! (So good). Since I usually go in the morning, I usually see people who just worked out, and parents with their small kids (strollers and all).
Rice village is usually not fun for parking but this building has its own lot and another on top of the bldg. I find that the morning is when I park in the best places.

There comes a time in every student’s life when he looks at an insanely long line to a restaurant and forces himself to become a pawn of conformity and wait in line instead of going to another restaurant. For me, that time came when I approached Torchy’s. I’ve heard this place hyped up many Many MANY times and finally decided to give it a go.
I have to say, I’m not the biggest fan of Tex Mex, but I enjoyed almost everything I ate. The queso had a delicious spicy kick to it and the corn was a nice, spicy palate cleanser. My fav was the baja shrimp though. They don’t skimp on the amount of shrimp they give, and as a whole it’s pretty solid. The one thing I didn’t enjoy was the Mr. Pink. The fish was SUPER dry and honestly, its taste paled in comparison to the other dishes.
I’ll admit that Torchy’s won me over. Not the best tacos I’ve ever had, but definitely worth trying at least once in your life!

If someone asked me what are three reasons for staying in Houston I would say 1. It’s Beyonce’s Hometown («H-​town b*tches») 2. Cheap housing and gas and 3. Tex-​Mex food
Torchy’s is a model of great Tex-​Mex food. The tacos here come in infinite varieties with my personal favorite being the Fried Avocado taco. Also, the queso is to-​die-​for, no joke. I absolutely hate succumbing myself to bright yellow plastic goo but Torchy’s queso lights me up because it contains sour cream, guac and some sorta hot sauce in the cheese. Also, the tortilla chips are always warm and fresh. If that’s not enough, the nookies (fried cookie dough) is the highest form of beauty manifested as food. I have to indicate slight bias here, I’m a huge choc chip fan so I might be exaggerating a little.
The line is often long because the food is so good for so little cost (tacos are around $ 3) but the service is fast.
The ambience is alright – wooden chairs and yellow lights with a TV so the die-​hard football fans aren’t clutching their phones in one hand and cramming nachos in their mouths with the other.

Not much I can say that hasn’t been said by the other 25 185 114 567 145 reviews on here.
Good decent sized tacos. However, the prices do reflect the size as well.
Service can be slow here since they only have two registers: One for taking orders and the other one is for take out/​pick up order. Most of the time, the people behind the take out/​pick up order is not going to help out even though there’s a line snaking out the door. That’s a damn shame.
I’ve tried plenty of their tacos but I usually just stick with the typical chicken/​beef fajita tacaos. I do enjoy the democrat as well, but not so much the republican. The queso is okay, nothing special.
The last time I was here, we had to wait 15 minutes to get some damn queso. I had to keep asking the guy who was bringing the food out to the tables about our damn queso until finally I got up and went back the register and told them to get me my damn queso. Meh.
I wouldn’t mind going back if I’m in the area, but I definitely wouldn’t go out of my way to dine here.