Los Arcos Taqueria

On behalf of Xicana Moratorium Coalition we want to appreciate Los Arcos for their donation to support the 36^th Annual Xicana Moratorium Day, where we will be bringing attention to the Third World Liberation – One Land One People, taking place August 30^th, 2015 from 12−5pm at San Antonio Park in Oakland. Their donation made possible this annual free event for people of color in the Bay Area.

Sad to report that Los Arcos changed hands in November. None of the things we loved on the menu have survived. The new menu is more limited, more expensive, and — at least based on what we tried — much more meh.
Even my agua fresca — tamarindo — was made from a mix. Don’t be calling it fresca if it ain’t fresca… call it azacarada y artificial instead…

I am soooo impressed by this place! It is so clean, the mother Sylvia is so super sweet and helpful, and their tamales were out of this world. They accommodated us at the very last minute when a large tamale order fell through and the price was great. They packed it beautifully, and even helped me load it into my car (parking right out in front on friday afternoon). The people are lovely. Can’t wait to go back.

400 parents and student from Lonfellow Middle school in Berkeley cannot be wrong. The Tamales sold for the fundraiser were so delicious that I am being inundated by telephone calls from the parents that had the chance to taste the best hot tamales from Los Arcos Taqueria. I recommend this restaurant as a family oriented restaurant to withstand the most demanding palate from Berkeley parents and their children.
Manuel Juarez, Esq.
ps: I eat here frequently and am happy to have my caldo de res and frijoles con arroz. at a very moderate price. Do not forhet to taste the tortillas de maiz.

I love me some Los Arcos. Staff is very friendly and willing to accommodate requests which is not always the case in smaller taquerias.
I’ve sampled the shrimp tostada, the taco plate, and the nachos and everything is extremely tasty and fresh. The shrimp tostada tastes like they use real lime juice and aren’t afraid to season the shrimp well. Their agua frescas are pretty good and I like their selection of Jarritos in the refrigerator case. They are a regular lunch spot for me and they’ve never disappointed!

Came to. this place with my bf and my mom it was empty my mom and I order carne asada it was good! It was a lot of food good service and good price we would go back again!

The Décor: This is a local place but for a local Taqueria there are nice framed prints of Diego Rivera prints which I prefer to the beer advertisement of other taquerias. Nicely painted, and overall a family atmosphere.
The Food: My kid asked for a special order of cheese and carne asada taco. I had a steak Sope and Al Pastor taco al la carte. The kid gobbled up her food. The Sope was delicious in every way but I would skip the Al Pastor because the meat was not flavorful enough for my taste. My husband ordered #5 and loved it!
The price: Very reasonable! So Affordable.

Karen was teal nice she knows what ppl like she is a good waitress but fork and knife on a torta come on jk jk thanks for bringing us the food fast. Lol

BEST CHIPS IN FRUITVALE. Not kidding, they’re just better. Gotta big combo plate for $ 10, fed me, my wife and two kids. Then went to Pena’s next door for dessert.

Got the taco plate — carnitas, refried beans, rice and salad. SO good and very reasonably priced. My daughter enjoyed her pinto beans and rice and her cheese quesadilla.

We love the horchata here. They were out of jamaica last time, but they had incredible strawberry aqua fresca — thick, syrupy and full of strawberry goo. Excellent!

Best chile verde. Ever. The place is clean, the people are friendly, and the food is great. Did I mention the amazing chile verde? I’ve ordered it from a ton of different restaurants and none compare to this. I didn’t know it could taste this good. I’ve also had the milanesa and burritos. This place never disappoints.

Menudo every weekend.
Michelada just like I remember them in East Los Angeles.
The service is a bit sketchy but the food is great.
The caldo de rez (beef soup) is a staple takeout item when I have a sick Mister.
Traffic and parking is a nightmare but we’ve been lucky to be able to get a spot every time.
Horchata is probably the best in a 15 block radius, trust me I spent a lot of money over 2 years to figure this one out.
Go often, let them get to know you. Its shabby and rough around the edges but run by good people and consistent quality.
Edit for VEGANS: no lard in beans, no chicken stock in rice when I asked recently.

If I could give this restaurant 0 stars I would. This place is by far one of the worst Mexican restaurants I’ve ever been to in Oakland. The service was bad. They took forever to make us our food even though no one was in there. When we finally received our food my enchiladas where drowning in a pool of water from their «salad». My mothers fish was raw. When we told them about the fish they probably popped it into the microwave for about 1 min. It was still raw. Then towards the end of our dinner they began to blast Mexican music at full volume to hint to us that they had closed… That’s just absolutely unacceptable. I will not be returning to this place. There’s plenty of better restaurants in the area. If you want good food go to el farolito on international blvd.

i had the sopa de siete mares (seven seas soup – a rich broth with lots of shellfish and fin fish). It tasted just like it does in Mexico. Not cheap, but can you expect a huge bowl of seafood including snow crab to be cheap? And absolutely fantastic home-​made corn tortillas.
And, yes, they do speak English.

Finally! Got some good Mexcan food in Oakland!
Got some chicken nachos (super of course) and they were fantastic!
I was pleased with the meal and the price, except my drink– $ 2.00 for Jarritos is pushing it, but I really wanted that fizzy tamarind goodness, so I went for it.
I didn’t drive, so I can’t comment on parking, but it seems like it would be a witch with a b.
Would return, and would bring friends. =)

I live a block away from the place, but it was my first time at Los Arcos… eveytime I pass by the place is empty… and here’s why:
1. although the place looks clean, the glass table tops are patched with DUCT TAPE! which makes for a very crappy décor… each and everyone had a crack or a chip but I guess it’s still not obvious enough to the management that perhaps the glass table tops are not working for them…
2. the staff doesn’t speak English all. I asked about the fish they use for fish tacos and I got a ‘cilantro, salsa and lettuce’ answer. My Spanish is equally crappy which made for an awkward conversation.
3. don’t ask for substitutions. If you’d like a flour tortilla instead of corn tortilla with your order go and make it yourself at home, fool.
HOWEVER…if tortas are your thing… and it certainly is mine… go for their steak torta with everything in it. It saves the day.

Ok, besides the horrendously trafficky area, I have always always managed to find parking on the side right next to Los Arcos.
The staff here is, of course, super friendly. Their food is delicious, if you’re going to get a burrito here it is kind of overpriced. The food would be better if it was cheaper, but if you can read their menu items, (I can not begin to understand phrases in Spanish) their «mystery» items are very superb. I had a mixed shrimp salad (that was not Ceviche) on top of tostados which was very good. One of the most decent places to have horchata.
Their quesadillas and burritos are ok, I would rather opt for a taco which is mm-​mm. Over all I would recommend, it’s a nice little atmosphere minus the noise.

burritos (4.50?) super (5.25) with a nice bag of delicate chips to go. i really wanted to like this place. clean, and friendly staff. the walls had pictures of diego somebody. the waitress was so sweet. she gave me a smile while giving me my burrito.
nevertheless, the burrito had a lot of promise with the electic mix including lettuce or was it purple cabbage? this was a first that i got a crunch eating burritos. it was a pretty big size burrito. the outside was slightly burnt and the carnitas was at times, dry.
i never see this place busy early evenings. parking is bad here. they have an extensive sitdown menu, slightly pricey. may try sometimes.

Hells yes! This place is great – the staff are super friendly and tolerant of my desire to have chilaquiles at all times of the day. They even put up with me butchering spanish as I «practice» ordering.
The salsa is delicious and the chips are super light and crispy. But, the star of the show is their homemade tortilla – which is thick and warm and incredibly tasty. I think they even make them all to order. Amazing.
The chilaquiles, tacos, and enchiladas are all good. I’ll be back to try to try the rest of the menu very soon.