El Papalote

Stopped by here for a quick lunch and asked if there were salads on the menu. The owner/​manager was incredibly accommodating and offered to make me my own! It was served in a huge taco shell quickly after I ordered.
Food was great, service was fast, and best of all, the food was cheap cheap cheap! ($ 6 for a huge veggie salad with avocado).
Sure got my fill, alright! Major props to these guys!

Best Mexican food I have ever had! May take a while but that’s because everything is made to order and fresh! All sauces are made in house as well as the tortillas. Fantastic place and great people! If I could give it more stars I definitely would!

Good prices. We got two chicken tacos and a Fajita burrito. Decent Mexican food.
The restaurant itself seems a little unorganized; maybe just unorthodox. The window to order is on the opposite side from the front door.
Nice people though.

They’ve definitely stepped up and made some changes for the better. Their burritos are huge and really good. It’s still a wait but it’s not fast food so it’s worth it!

Their classic burrito or tacos are awesome. Also portions are huge. Bring a kite to put up! The service is a little slow but everything is made fresh.

So good!!! Fish tacos are on point, veggie tacos are loaded! Will definitely be coming back.

Usually the longer I wait for food, the more stars I want to take away, but not here. First, it’s a two person show but second, the food is just THAT good.
The tortilla chips are like crack. What seasoning is that?!
We had three different tacos: the asada, the carnitas and the fish. All of them were really really good. The homemade tortillas are a bit thin but still really good (chewy!)
I also had the side of rice and beans (cheap at just $ 1.50). They were basic and good. Hot, which was nice and sort of unusual.
Two things of note: there really isn’t a mild salsa here. If you’re super sensitive to spice, be aware of that. They say it’s mild but it’s really medium to Americans, haha! The other thing is that there is an action sports business in the same building so the rubber scent is pretty strong unless you sit on the farthest side of the building from it. Even then it takes some getting used to.
Overall, we definitely need to keep this place in business, OC, so get over there and get your tacos on!

Some of the best tacos I have ever had! I tried one carnitas, one asada, and one chorizo. Homemade chips and salsa (the chips were freshly made and perfect — just the right amount of salt, and tasted amazing with the salsa for the chips), homemade tortillas, and some of the best flavors — simple yet oh so delicious! The carnitas had really balanced flavor, and the chorizo and asada had the right amount of flavor balanced with heat. Found this place while on our way to a meeting, and was so glad we stopped. Relatively quick and super filling. And very reasonably priced. Am working in Salem, and I would definitely drive the hour back here just for the tacos!

This place has great authentic Mexican food :) I would recommend as a great family place to go.

Food was great. Definitely a hidden gem of Oregon city:) will definitely be back! Be careful if you order the el papelote spicy… they throw in some habeneros! Very tasty but caused a few tears lol

I cannot stress this enough– phone in your order ahead of time and take it to go!!! The food is delicious! Homemade horchata! The place reeks of gasoline from the shop next door and they take FOREVER to make your food. However, it is so good that I will keep going back, haha. They only include chips if you dine in. Seems like all Mexican places around here are stingy like that with their chips though.

The owner was very friendly, and gave us good advice on what to get since it was our first time. We got beef empanadas, fish tacos, and a papalote. The order came with free chips and salsa.
Empanadas — fried perfectly. Not greasy and the shell was really tasty. The chipotle sauce, créma and cheese were all really good together with the empanadas and and beef. Would order again.
Fish tacos– the homemade tortillas are thin (in a good way) and really are quite nice. The fruity salsa is well made. The avocado was ripe. Would order again.
Papalote– potatoes and steak goodness. This monster burrito type dish is homey –the kind of dish I would expect my friend’s Latin grandma to make. It’s the sort of food that other, lesser Latin dives would screw up. At papalote the ingredients are so fresh and scratch made that the home style cooking works.
Tldr: home made Latin cuisine and it’s really quite good.

I work right up the street from this place. I see it daily as I driven by, always wanting to go. Wow what a hidden gem, I went on a whim with a co-​worker for lunch. I’m an adventurous person at times, I went with the Lengua taco which btw seriously awesome! I also ordered a steak burrito in case the taco didn’t agree with my stomach, everything was very tasty. You know a place is good, when you have customers who are walking out talking to you about how great the food is! I’m going back for sure!

Excellent breakfast burrito, piping hot and delicious. I recommend the Bacon one, only $ 5!!! I’ll be a regular to this place, that’s for certain. It’s hidden, so don’t be scared. It’s right on Molalla avenue. Excellent customer service. I’m super stoked about this treasure I just discovered in This sweet little city.

Love, love, love this place! All of the tacos are amazing and the homemade sauces and chips are fantastic! The owner is very attentive and appreciative of your business. Highly recommended!

I really really really enjoyed the fresh made tortillas and the meat in our tacos was really well cooked and spiced. The salsa bar is also on point with those delicious pickled onions and veggies!
However you cannot miss/​escape the smell of motor oil coming from the shared building. It’s intense. Like if you closed your eyes you’d have thought you were at jiffy lube and not a taqueria.
I’ll order to go next time to avoid the smells. I’d give the food 4 stars and the space 2 as its large, empty and quite frankly far from clean.

Best place to eat in Oregon city. Excellent service fast and hot! Our new favorite place to eat! Thanks!

This was our third visit to this hidden gem of a restaurant in Oregon City. The staff is so friendly and welcoming. The food is excellent — starting with freshly made, hot tortilla chips, and the array of housemade salsas. We’ve had tacos, sopes and burritos with carne asada, carnitas and chicken — all the meat was flavorful and well prepared.
Tonight though I had the chile rellano and it was fantastic! The best ever.
Go here… eat here! It would be a shame for this wonderful restaurant to not thrive because of it’s less-​than-​ideal location. Stop in — you’ll be glad you did. We’ll be back often!

Yum! Food is on point. Very fresh ingredients in a mom & pop atmosphere.
Food: I ordered a beef empanada, a fish taco, and a veggie taco. My order came with chips and some delicious salsa. All were very tasty, but my favorite was the fish taco because of the combo of pineapple salsa and chipotle sauce. The menu does gravitate towards heavy, filling options, so more salads would be a plus.
Atmosphere: more signage needed. It’s confusing to figure out where to park. When you walk in to the restaurant, you’re standing in a big open room next to a desk. I stood there for a few minutes before realizing that nobody was coming, so I made my way to the back corner of the restaurant where the kitchen was. A simple sign pointing people in the right direction could do the trick.
My waitress was very friendly and made some good menu suggestions. Definitely a family atmosphere.
Value: I think my total came to $ 6 or $ 7, which is super affordable for everything on my plate! I was not able to finish everything and took leftovers home.
I will be back for sure

Don’t let the three stars turn you away. This is a restaurant trying to figure things out.
First, I was on a mission to eat here for dinner. I knew where the place was at, found it but it looked closed. It was not. The parking is minimal.
Walking in, you’ll be lost. Many tables but if nobody sees you, you’ll have the deer in the headlight look. I did.
Friendly staff, quickly got dinner (6 tacos).
The tacos came with chips and
Salsa. The chips were seasoned well and the salsa was tasty.
I ordered spicy pork, chicken and beef tacos. The spicy pork was great! The chicken and beef could use some work but this place is new and I’m a taco lover.
Super fresh ingredients.
Cost $ 1.75 per taco
The sauce bar was plenty full and with many good sauces.
I’d like to see better signing, lighting so this place can get up and running.
I see them getting a 4 – 5 star after a while.