King Taco

Theres always a wait here! Whether it’s morning, lunch, dinner or the in between meal hours, there is always a wait. The burritos and tacos are not that different than other taco restaurants, but their sauce/​salsa is their money maker. Their red salsa is the best salsa ive ever had. No other Mexican restaurant matches in tastiness and spiciness of their sauce. Make sure you always add the red sauce. Your tongue will be in ecstacy and pain at the same time and you’ll want to come back for more.

I love this place the best tacos, burritos, sopes, chicken around .been coming here since I was little always get green salsa you will enjoy the food better., I just hate the long lines = longer wait that’s how good it is

This location. NOT GOOD.
First of all, during lunch hour, there is a line around the corner, through the restaurant, past the bathroom, past the jukebox, past the woman wiping the floors, past the other door…
And there are 2 CASHIERS OPEN!!! Why make people wait 20 – 30 minutes to place their order when you can open up least one more register? This is insanity people. WTF?
Also, the «pollo», that I have come to love from their location in East LA on 3^rd street, was terrible here today. The one in East LA has chicken that is juicy, tender, roasted, moist, fall apart goodness…
The chicken at this location was hard, overcooked? Terrible, lacking flavor, hard, gross and just not good… none of the flavors melded together and it was just not good.
I am going to skip this location next time because it sucks.

The service person who took our order was very rude, she charged us for something that, we didn’t order, when we told her bout it, she was bother, and reply, «I asked you if you want this» we didn’t even know the kind of tacos, she charged. The like the tacos here, the only problem was that the tortillas were not hot or warm .
You need to hire people who have people skills and like to work with customer, she was not friendly at all, no smile and rude tone of voice .
Her name is Mireya R.

Best tacos in town! The meat was marinated to PERFECTION and the hot sauce is the spiciest I’ve ever tasted. All in all great experience. Tip: the lines get really long, but they’re worth it!

I have been coming here for years with my dad and the portions are always reasonable for the amount of money we spend here (~$ 80) for the whole family but seems like they are training their new employees to cut back on the meat!
We aren’t asking for free food! All we ask is for our sopes have a decent amount of meat not just beans and a handful of cabbage.
Manager is some new guy who does not know how to run king taco and listen to the paying customers! When we approached him about his employee Daniela he just laughed and said that’s how much meat our sopes are suppose to have, like if this was our first time here. Even the women next to our server was giving appropriate servings!
Customer service deserves ZERO stars! I won’t be back !

Had the Carne asada and al pastor soft shell tacos. Al pastor was a bit greasy but Carne asada was great. the salsas are probably the best part. I’d come back again :)

I got the el pastor tacos along with the carne asada nachos. Along with the GREEN SAUCE! It was delicious! The only thing negative I have to say about the place other than the horrible parking is the if you’re not a big fan of onions do not get the al pastor, as they already cook their meat with onions. Or else you will be spending a good time picking them out, as well as the cilantro. I did see many people were ordering their burritos. Worth a try. We did also order the horchata, it was very powdery.

Love the food, hate the parking!!! Parking is very limited… don’t even bother entering the parking lot, street park!
The taco’s are cheap… pastor all the way, love their nacho’s as well. If I lived in LA, I would be eating here 3x a day. Looking forward to revisiting when in LA area again.

This was our first time here and we loved it! Best al pastor tacos I have had in a while and their green salsa is a must. We also ordered a sweet pineapple tamale which was even better than I expected. Everything was very fresh and service was quick. I definitely recommend this place if you’re in the mood for some great tacos. Only down side was the parking situation. Their parking lot is small, but luckily we were able to find street parking. Will definitely be back next time we are in LA.

Of all the King taco locations I’ve been to, this one is definitely my favorite due to the consistency of the food. Other places, I’ve had burritos where the meat was dry or just seemed lacking… not here!
Yes, parking sucks… I mean, it REALLY sucks. I’ve experienced, getting a parking spot, going inside to order, and coming out to find a car (double parked) blocking me in… go inside to ask if it’s someone’s car and if they could move it… no one responds… I’m left stuck waiting there for about 20 minutes before someone came out… I was debating calling the cops and having them tow the car cause I really needed to leave… so just be weary
I always get an all-​meat al pastor burrito and my boyfriend always gets the carne asada. Both our burritos are always chock-​full of juicy meat. The wait here can get pretty ridiculous. If there’s a game or anything happening at Staples center, don’t even bother coming here. My boyfriend and I made the mistake of coming here once after a Laker game (we didn’t realize there was a game that night) and ended up waiting 45 minutes for food.

THE KING!!!
Love this place. The meat is bursting with flavor. A must try!

BIAS DISCLAIMER: Review from spicy food lover.
PROS: Wonderful carne asada tacos and burritos. Big menu, roasted chicken and sopas and nachos. Crazy delicious frickin HOT red salsa; green salsa delicious too. The salsas are hot, smokey, tangy. Rich flavors. Value.
CONS: Wait in line. Chicken tacos lacking compared to beef and pork.
VERDICT: King Taco is a WINNER.
COMMENTS/​TIPS: L.A. homie born and raised, I grew up with King Taco, which means I also grew up with a lot of other taco stands (tacos are ubiquitous in Los Angeles). King Taco is a larger local chain, over 20 locations you can find a King Taco within driving distance anywhere in L.A.
Once there, be ready to wait in line, lunch or dinner time 20 – 30 minutes from ordering to eating can be expected. Try telephone order well before busy time if you plan to take out. But reasonably fast during non-​busy hours 10am-11:30am or 2pm-​5pm depending on location.
When I’m craving a real spicy carne asada soft taco or burrito, I go to King Taco (or El Taurino on Hoover). They kinda make everything to order, so it’s not really «fast food», it’s more like good street food inside a building. You can watch them make your meal behind the plexiglass.
I prefer the carne asada tacos and burritos. The tacos are the little soft half-​moon munchies wrapped in two layers of corn tortillas, topped with diced onions and cilantro, I taste a bit of lime. I weight 150 pounds, 5 tacos is perfect for my lunch, but I’ve eaten 8 tacos before, I have friends who can eat 10 tacos. Sometimes I mix it up, a carne asada burrito (hold the beans) with 1 taco, or I have 2 – 3 tacos and share a burrito. It’s up to your appetite.
The burritos are flour tortilla wrapped and fairly well-​constructed, meaning they don’t fall apart as long as you pay attention to it. Carne asada, rice, cilantro and onions, salsa, hold the beans for me, wrapped in a warm flour tortilla. A 6 inch brick of L.A. Mexican delight with enough protein and carbs for the day. Fat? Yes, it probably has lots of fat, but it’s delicious fat and perfectly fine as long as you’re not inhaling 3 at a time.
I don’t know the entire menu, I stick to the tacos and burritos, sometimes nachos or a half roasted chicken to share in a group. All delicious, but I go for the beef tacos and burritos. «Al pastor» is good when I’m in the mood for that sweeter beef treatment, but the standard carne asada is my usual that I suggest everyone try at least once.
There’s nothing like a semi-​greasy fluffy corn tortilla wrapped around marinated beef topped with onions, cilantro, and that delicious red salsa. But I usually get at least one taco with the salsa verde (green salsa) because the green sauce is really tasty too.
King Taco’s salsas are mysterious. Not just a condiment, they are an integral part of the dish. Flavorful. Smoky and spicy and tangy, hard to explain. Very addictive, I can drink the stuff but I would pay for it later. I’ve taken the salsa home and had it with eggs, hot dogs, over rice, it’s that good. I’ve looked far and wide for a similar salsa, and only El Taurino on Hoover has salsa that’s on par with King Taco. Anyone know of other places with this kind of salsa?
Overall, King Taco is a WINNER! But I’m biased.

You know there is a huge possibility of a taco place being good when there are a good number of Hispanics in a long queue. I have a soft spot for Mexican food. I’m from Portland, and we are blessed with a huge number of Mexican food carts that are mighty good (shoutout to Don Pedro!).
I had three carne asada tacos and one carne asada burrito. Bland af. Even with the highly controlled and limited salsa (they give you one small pot of salsa for every 3 tacos you order). Pass.

I ordered 11 tacos so, lets just start there.
I met a new friend who told me that he’s never had tacos in LA (i know, idk where i found this guy). So knowing this I knew I had to take him to King Taco.
The line is looooong but the orders are SO quick. Having lived in LA and the valley, I am no stranger to tacos and i can wholeheartedly say these hit the mark fasho. Fresh, tasty, stacked and just soooo simple and delicious, exactly as they should be. Adding excessive toppings is not the way to do it. If you want genuine quality Mexican tacos, this is how it’s done .
Add a mix of the red and green sauce (thank me later) and you will be soooo happy.

Looking around King Taco, it’s almost like the Mexican McDonalds. It looks like a standard fast food place inside. However, it is anything but!
I had 3 tacos — one Carne Asada, One Al Pastor, and one Suadero. The Carne Asada was pretty good, but my favorites were the Al Pastor and the Suadero. Also had Carne Asada nachos with cheese. Really good size portion on the nachos. The tacos are a bit small, but they’re so cheap so you can get a bunch.
Two of the biggest comments I’ve read on here are the red sauce is delicious — very true. Pretty spicy, but it’s not unbearable. The other is the lines are always stupid long. I only waited 5 or 6 minutes, but I must have gotten lucky cuz as soon as I ordered they did get crazy long.

I wish there was a King Taco more on the West side of LA cause I’d be there ALL THE TIME. King Taco has been my go-​to spot for Mexican food for years and I don’t ever see that changing. The menu is simple, the food is fantastic, and the prices are super reasonable. The cashiers always get a kick when I try to busy out my Spanish on them.
I usually get a couple of tacos when I go and I always order an all-​meat burrito to-​go (that’s my lunch the next day! haha). The carne asada is out of this world delicious. Flavorful, tender, etc… I always ask them to pack on the onions and cilantro as well. The green sauce is their mild salsa and it’s bearable. If you’re adventurous, ask for the red sauce (hot). I’ve had their carne asada quesadilla and that’s also amazing. They even give you a small side of guacamole as well. Cheesy bites with carne asada and guac… mhmmmm. The carne asada nachos are also good!
Everything here is delicious. You can’t go wrong when you go to King Taco!

This pace was recommended by a friend and let me tell you it hit the spot!!! I order Asada burritos super delicious. If you wanna be adventures try tacos de Cabeza super good!!! the red salsa was super good and tasty but if u CANT handle the heat it’s totally up to you! The green salsa very tasty and not so spicy. enjoy!

ALWAYS A LINE!
I’ve heard so many positive things about this place that I finally decided to check it. Restaurant is always almost at capacity. Lines are long (15 min plus wait for food and order) and the crowds are suuuper diverse, latinos, chicanos, asians of all types and a few lookers ;)
But waiting 20 min for a carne asada burrito definitely detracts from the experience. It was good, but not sure what the fuss is about? Maybe im just old :(

I love King taco don’t get me wrong but yesterday during my break for work I got delayed due to the fact that the cashier issued me a discount; then one of the workers has the cashier take that discount back having me pay all over again and re order I work as a security officer, so chaier applied me a discount I wouldn’t be making a big deal but the gentle man who made the cashier re take my order didn’t even apologize for there being a mistake I’m in the military as well if this man thought I just wanted to receive a discount I would of just ask them if they offer military discount that fact that no apology was given really upsets me…

Once again I have lived like 3min from this place for 4 years and just now have eaten here. The hubby and I were craving tacos and King Taco popped in my head. Wow wow woww… there are like 5 diff kinds and we ordered two of each. I just had the chicken ones with the fire red hot sauce. Proceed with caution. That sauce is bad ass good but super hot! My husband nearly inhaled 6 tacos. They’re small but they get the job done. So so good best tacos of me life! Their nachos looked ok and I can’t wait to go back and try the quasadilla — i know i spelled that wrong lol — i also like the atmosphere — very very roomy with lots of tables and big big pictures and huge menu. It’s nice to see the food on the walls so you can see what you are ordering. I love this place it’s so good… im getting all hot n bothered jus thinking of those yummy tacos. I will return I’m jus so upset it took me this long

I’ve been going to this location for the past decade. Over the years, the price has gone up significantly while their burritos have gotten smaller and smaller. I’m a fairly skinny girl but one burrito just isn’t enough for me. To put things into perspective, I would never be able to finish a burrito from chipotle. I usually can eat ¾ of that in one sitting. I can probably have 2 of the carne asada burritos at King Taco. That’s $ 12 for Mexican food! That’s just messed up.

Oh how I miss you.
This is me
On a Tuesday night
At 11:13pm
Writing a Unilocal review
That is way overdue for King Taco
Because I can’t stop thinking about your tacos
And it sucks because I don’t know when I’ll have you again
Being all the way here in NYC.
The hot sauce. The onions. The al pastor. The carne asada. The cilantro. The sour cream.
Cheap, quick, filling and zee best tacos and sopes, ever. Ever. ever.
Goodnight.

I had 4 carne asada tacos they were pretty good and the red and green salsa is amazing. I will definitely go back!!!
Tip –Avoid parking in their lot its too hard to find a empty parking spot then cars line up and its hard to get out

This place is a classic, your abuelita would be damn proud of you for coming. Genuine Mexican food. El delicioso. P. S. You’ll prob catch Dora the Explorer here #AnotherOne

I had no idea about this place till my boyfriend told me about it. These locations seem to only be in sketchy neighborhoods, literally the dumpiest Mexican restaurants i’ve ever been to. Yet somehow us asians keep coming back. It seems to have somewhat of a diverse following on the weekends. The quality is consistent. My fav dish are the sopas. Love how the meat is seasoned. The only thing I don’t like is the parking.

After hearing about this place from various must try Tacos in LA, my friends and I came here late night after a work event.
I wanted to order the mole tamales but they ran out so I ordered a regular tamale with pork and sopes. Although the flavor was there, I thought the food was over rated and dry. I wished I had a better experience, the meat in both dishes were over cooked which contributed to the dryness, luckily the flavor profile was strong making my experience pleasurable. Would I come back? Yes, why not. People rave about this for a reason. Would I crave it and wait in a long line? No, there’s plenty of Mexican restaurants in LA that have a well rounded product. I would still suggest it to my friends for the experience.

Great food! Always tastes amazing, i usually get tacos or tamales, but the quesadillas and sopes are yummy too!
There is a small lot but there is street parking nearby.
Prices are cheap and food is good! Only complaint would be that it’s always busy, but that’s what happens when it’s well liked and the foods yummy!

Had to give King Taco a try since my coworker swears its some of the best Mexican food around. When we first arrived, the line was almost out the door. Just from that, you can tell this place is pretty good when it comes to authentic Mexican food. The line moved pretty quick and the ladies at the front were doing there best to take orders quickly and get people out of there asap.
The restaurant was very clean and there was plenty of space to sit and eat. You would see a few stragglers just sitting and hanging out in the restaurant not eating or doing anything but just looking around but don’t let that worry you, everyone was just minding their own business.
As for the food, I ordered a chicken and asada taco plus two pork sopes. The asada was pretty good but my favorites had to be the chicken taco and pork sopes. The pork and chicken was soooo tender and flavorful. They also had Tamarind drink and that’s very hard to come by sometimes at restaurants. They usually only have Jamica or Orchata which makes for a good replacement if Tamarind isn’t available. I also had a chance to taste my coworkers nachos and I wasn’t a huge fan of it.
Overall, Kings Tacos gets the nod from me and I’ll be back for some more pork and chicken.
OOOO
4 out of 5 Afros

Eat It OR Beat It?
**EAT IT!!**
Great tacos, fast service, not the best taco’s I’ve had, but it satisfies the taco cravings. Red sauce will literally burn your ass the next morning but nevertheless, it’s delicious! My favorite taco joint is nowhere close to this place… you have to go to SD and it’s called Tacos El Gordo… Chula Vista or in Vegas. EAT IT!

Pretty freaking bomb. This is legit Mexican food. Not that I’m Mexican and would know but being a Los Angeles native, I can confidently say I know my stuff. This place is all around awesome. Cheap prices and even better food. Ordered the carne asada burrito (SENSATIONAL), carnitas taco (ALSO EXCEPTIONAL) and a regular horchata (HEAVEN). All this was under $ 10. Say whaaaat?
I would advise you to brush up on your Spanish before coming through since they tend to not call out the order numbers in English. Overall, amazing experience. Shoutout to my BFF for putting me on to this gem!

Me encantan estos tacos Y comida. Esta comida me recuerda much a la comida mexicana. Pero a nosotros no encanta el limon. Les daria 5 estrellas pero no tienen limon, y lo unico que tiene limón me imagino que es la salsa pera también la dan muy limitada.

Damn the carne asada here is delicious! The meat is juicy and seasoned really well. I also tried the rib steak. I definitely won’t be trying that again because the meat is really tough. But for carne asada I’ll come here any day.
It gets really busy though, so you might have to get in a long line. Also, the tacos are super cheap!

Came here with a group of friends and I still
wonder why I don’t like this place! Everyone raves about now great and authentic the food is. I’m sorry to say that I’ve had better tacos out of food trucks than this place. Way too much hype. Uhm… what’s up with the nachos tasting like Costco tortilla chips topped with Cheese Wiz? Lord I’m Mexican and I do not approve of this place! If you still want to try it, enjoy!

I stopped by here during break with my coworker to get some BOMB food. When we arrived there was a long line but we waited anyway because we wanted our food. I ended up ordering a carne asada sope, a al pastor quesadilla, and a jamaica. The total came out to be around $ 9 including tax. Less than $ 10.
The carne asada sope… it is the best sope I’ve ever had. It has the crunchy yet chewy goodness of the sope, topped with delicious beans, lettuce, copious amounts of carne asada seasoned to perfection with cheese. I am salivating just writing and thinking about it. It is totally worth your every cent.
Al pastor quesadilla is also bomb. King taco is known for al pastor and they should be! Perfectly cooked and tender, wrapped up with love.
Jamaica is really good here too!
All in all, king taco will never disappoint. The long waits are always worth it!

Finally tried this location. I went to the location in Lincoln Heights and their tacos were tasty but I think this one on Pico takes the cake.
I ordered my usual, Al Pastor tacos and an Horchata drink. I also ordered some carnitas sopes. I don’t know what they did to make the Al Pastor tacos taste differently here but it tasted so damn delicious than the ones I had at Lincoln Heights. The meat was more tender and the onion had a different flavor. It was so delicious. I never really add sauce to my Al Pastor tacos because I think it taste fine on its own but I tried it with the green and red sauce. Now I can usually take the heat but the red sauce was a bit too spicy for me. I think I prefer the green one on the tacos, it was just refreshing.
It was my first time trying their sopes at King Taco. I ordered the carnitas sopes and oh my goodness, probably one of the best sopes I’ve ever had. The cornmeal shell was nice and crispy, the carnitas was tasty and tender, and the refried beans and cotija cheese just melted in your mouth. It was the perfect little meal.
There is a private parking lot but it gets filled up fast. Street parking isn’t too bad though, I found metered parking easily on the side of the restaurant.
I think this location is my favorite by far.

I finally made it!
After hearing about King Taco for so long from my Unilocal friends, I was in the area and decided to give it a shot.
Obviously, parking sucked… but you just can’t complain about parking. If you have a smart car, definitely bring it… you’ll be glad you did.
The line was about 10 people, but it moved pretty quickly. I ordered a carne Asada burrito and I added guac for $ 1.25 even though it wasn’t immediately on their menu… from what I noticed.
While my burrito was good, I don’t believe that it was worth the hype. With guac, the burrito was pushing $ 8 by itself with no drink! Comparing to a local Alberto’s and Chipotle, this isn’t very competitive in my opinion. The red salsa, however, was definitely a pleasant surprise though as it was actually pretty hot and had me heading to the bathroom afterwards to wipe off the sweat from my forehead. You’ve been warned!
Would I try it again? Probably… but for something else like their tacos. Until then, we’ll meet again King Taco.

Mi primera vez en este lugar. los tacos son super Buenos pero el servicio al cliente deja mucho que desear. Desconocía el numero de mi orden y me estuvieron mencionando como 3 min cuando fui a recojer mi orden la persona se molesto. Pido limones y me contestan burlándose de mi acá no manejamos limones.

Another success story for King Taco. This place is good. Stand in line, order, and they’ll call your receipt number quite fast. Of course it depends how busy they are.
My soft tacos were delicious! I had a carne asada, carnitas, and a buche one. All freshly made and tastes good. Unfortunately the server gave me one with red hot sauce, and two with more mild green sauce. The red one burned me up pretty well, and I wasn’t really able to enjoy my taco. The other two was much more enjoyable. At least I was able to taste the meat.
They have a whole menu of soft tacos, burritos, sobe, and they also serve tamales.
I have tried almost everything in their menu and the soft tacos are probably their best bet. The least favorite is probably tamales, which is made with corn starch and flour with either chicken or pork inside. It’s still good though.
Every location I’ve been to is comparable. You won’t be disappointed.
This location is pretty big. They’re busy around the clock basically until closing. The location is kept quite clean and have bright lights. I assume it’s a not so good area since there’s a security guard. But it should be fine. Don’t think too much and enjoy your food.

Es la segunda vez que vengo. Pedí unos tacos de asada Y me diero con mucha grasatambién tienen que enfocarse servicio a cliente! También tienen que enfocarse en la limpieza !

La atención es mala, la comida regular. Falta mejor atención al público y aunque es en buenas porciones el sabor deja mucho que desear. Yo como en la calle la mayoría de las veces por eso se que no llega a lo que Unilocal lo tiene como valorado. Para mi Unilocal esta vendiendo Ratings ya que es la primera ves que no cuadra la evaluación con la calidad encontrada.