El Cazador Taquería

This place is much better than most places in pdx… but still… really?
I would not even say it is good.
Tortilla’s are ok
Meats are ok
Salsa’s well… meh
Why can’t this town have actually more than one great taco spot?
WHY?

I have eaten some serious street food in my travels and consider myself fortunate to have lived in the two most food-​cart centric cities in the US — New York City and Portland, OR. While NYC may win in terms of variety, plenty may argue in Portland’s favor because of carts like El Cazador Taqueria.
It’s not the first Cazador to hit the scene of course (afterall it’s #3), but it’s certainly my favorite. El Cazador on Foster Road (
) is very good, but for some reason #3 happens to have won my heart for it’s super fast customer service and it’s foodgasmic tacos.
All tacos are $ 1.00 (except tongue and tripe @ $ 1.25), which is ½ the cost of tacos from most taco trucks around here in NYC. However, the tacos at El Cazador taste 200% better than anything I’ve been able to find out east. The tacos al pastor is tender, succulent, and full of flavor, as is the carnitas taco, which is was still steaming full of juices and garnished just perfectly.
Want more food? Not a problem. El Cazador sells some pretty portion-​rific combos from burritos to tortas. The Carne Asada is of a very generous portion for $ 7.99 and the burritos here are huge. A nice addition to their menu is their sopes, a mini antojito just bite sized enough to make a decent snack.
The people who operate this truck are awesome. Though Spanish is the preferred language of communication here, their English is perfectly adequate. This is one of the few taqueria trucks I’ve seen that has set up a designated eating area under a tent. Each table comfortable seats 4 people and has all of the hot sauce condiments one could want.
I should also add this truck is in a terrible location. Parking is a bit hard to find on the street and it’s located in one of the seediest areas in Portland. Nearby is the Gold Coin Lounge and a super dodgy hotel with street walkers and drug dealers to boot. Though I would totally be down for a new locale, seedy or not, the food is too good to pass up.

Add another rolling taquería cart to the ever-​growing list of tortilla-​slangin’ nomads out on 82^nd…
El Cazador #3 is a somewhat recent addition to my hood’s collection of taco carts. Sitting in the vacant lot on the corner of SE 82^nd and Brooklyn, this brightly-​colored, graphic-​adorned truck offers up pretty much a standard selection of truck-​based options, including tacos, burritos and tortas. The meat selection is also par for the course, with asada, cabeza, buche, lengua, tripas, carnitas, pollo, and the like. The prices are, again, average, with a burrito running about $ 4. There’s also a small impromptu covered seating area next to the truck that offers a sheltered area to slam down those piping got tacos you just scored from «the hunter.»
The food? Good, but nothing phenomenal. As far as flavor goes, it was pretty much standard for Portland taco carts. The standard burrito comes with rice, meat, onion, cilantro, and salsa. I dig that they don’t put lettuce in there. This adds to the number of spots where I can just order a burrito as-​is without trying to do any fancy menu maneuvering across the language barrier. The salsa is tasty but nothing overly special. Overall, a solid burrito that I wouldn’t hesitate to try again.
Between the price, location, and quality of food, I’d give this spot a high-​3 to low-​4 star accolade.