Taqueria El Tarasco

The couple that runs this food truck are SO nice and you can’t beat the tacos (especially compared to the red taco truck down the road). $ 1.50 a pop. I typically get the carne asada and the carnitas. I prefer the former. I’ve also ordered burritos and enchiladas. Both very tasty, great portions and for a good price. Whenever I’m in this part of town and I need to grab dinner for the family, this is where I come! They do charge 50 cents for using credit cards, which I don’t mind since I never have cash on me.

Exceptional Mexican cuisine can be found at Taqueria El Tarasco. The cart is tucked away in a parking lot for a relaxed experience. Also, they have covered seating located in a tent. Their menu includes tacos, burritos, soaps, tamales, tortas along with many kinds of beverages.
I went into their lot having seen a sign for the place several times. After standing in line for just two minutes, I ordered one beef taco and one pork taco. It took about five minutes, but as I soon found out, it was well worth the wait. The meat was marinaded and the ingredients were synthesized with skill. I can’t wait to give them more money for their more expensive items. The tacos were just $ 1.50 each.
Taqueria El Tarasco is perfect for your inner cravings in the department of food south of the border.

The steak wasn’t quite grilled steak, more like cooked beef. They were ok. I had chorizo and el pastor too. Just ok.

Solid 4 stars for that Mole Burrito. Great balance of rice, meat and sauce. Two in there are super polite.
Keep an eye out while driving, cause you could fly by it’s parking lot and not realize it. It’s just ½ a block east of I-​5 (on Killingsworth, set back in the lot). Drivers can pull into the parking lot too, shared with the Asian market next door.

While the food here is excellent, tasty and swift to come to you, the real treasures are the owner/​operators who are super friendly, helpful, and welcome additions to the neighbourhood.
Stop in for a quick and inexpensive bite of tasty; but mind you, the salsa-​roja is SUPER spicy and SUPER flavourful!

My roommates and I eat here quite frequently, at least two times a week. My roommates always get the cactus burrito, which they love but I find has way too much cactus. I usually get the veggie tacos, or if I want meat, their pollo or carnitas burrito.
I love this cart! The couple who run it are very nice. The menu is pretty varied for a food cart, and the prices are standard. Everything I’ve gotten, besides the veggie burrito, has been yummy.
I have only eaten once at Gonzales, and was not impressed. I felt like I was intruding, and the woman taking my order was very rude. My burrito was bland and was mostly lettuce and rice.
I highly recommend El Tarasco.

Pretty good pollo burrito — decent sized with solid fillings, but maybe a touch more dry than I would like.
Problem is I ordered carnitas.
They still could have earned my future business with a really killer burrito, but «pretty good» isn’t enough for that. Too bad — it’s so conveniently close to home!

About 1 year ago I moved into the Humboldt neighborhood and was very excited to have a taco truck within 4 blocks of my house. While the food isn’t terrible or anything, the proximity to my front door is the main reason I come here so frequently.
My standard burrito here has been the veggie with avocado. It was in no way offensive, but I never leave feeling very satiated. The beans, rice, and avocado are all good, but it mostly consists of lots of boring lettuce and chopped flavorless tomatoes.
More recently I decided to try out some of their meat options and I can’t say it was a tremendous improvement. I tried the carnitas and the asada tacos, and while I’ve certainly had worse, they were nothing to write home about. The carnitas taco came topped with pico de gallo and while the flavor was good, the meat was fairly dry and required a generous dousing of verde salsa to make it adequately palatable. The cilantro & onion topped asada was dry like the carnitas, but unfortunately there wasn’t much flavor to it.
The tamales here aren’t too bad, for $ 2 a piece they’re pretty large and filling. With enough salsa drenching that masa I could probably eat two and be pretty satisfied.
The folks that run this cart are super nice. They’re always warm and welcoming, very appreciative of your patronage. I’ve never had a single order messed up here and can only say great things about their customer service. That fact alone makes up a big portion of why I continue to eat here.

This place is TERRIBLE. I ordered a burrito and about 5 times said «only steak, rice, and cheese». I was very clear. Even the cook came out to verify. What I ended up with was steak, rice, salsa, and sour cream. Not even close to what I ordered. Besides that it took about 20 minutes (there was no one else in line or anywhere near) and they got the wrong type of meat in my girlfriends burrito as well. She ordered chicken and ended up with steak. I will never go back here.

I love this burrito cart.
The tortillas are always moist and chewy, unlike the dry, flavorless cardboard served by most Mexican places in town. The ingredients are right on including fresh avocado.
I also like that there is some variety to the menu. You should try the huchepos. They are sweet corn tamales served with cream and salsa. They make a nice simple dessert or an awesome breakfast.
Plus the couple that owns this place are great — very friendly. It gives good energy to the experience.

Real Mexican says it all! Mmmmm Mmmmmm good. There are not very many good places to get good Mexican it Portland, so when you find one its a true relief.

I really don’t do food carts, but i make an exception for Mexican food and also that this place is so stupid close to my home. Marylena (sp?) and Augustino are such sweet & gracious people. I really like that the burritos never taste fatty or greasy and the meat is always tender, with an even texture. The mole burrito will warm you up on a cold day!

After a lovely ladies night, I had a terrible hangover and needed to get straight before going to class. I needed a carby, greasy, artery-​clogging taste bomb to soak up the previous evening’s libations. I pulled over at the Taqueria sign. I walked up to the window and was greeted by a charming man and women who were very smiley.
I picked a burrito at random without even reading ingredient list. It was their «Mole Burrito» ~ Filled with rice, pinto beans, luscious tender chicken, mole sauce and a sprinkle of cheese. The tortilla was grilled and warm and like a dream come true.
Granted, I was hung over and this was just what the doctor ordered. But I think it was fabulous. Good thing they are near school and not near my house because I am positive I would weigh 20 pounds more if the were nearby.
It had flavor, texture, and was just beautiful Mexican street food. Usually I am a salsa whore and use a ton of it… The mole sauce was so robust that for the first time in my life I ate a burrito without salsa. It had friendly, quick service. And the thing was so damn huge (as it typical of street food I suppose) that is was two meals and a snack worth of food and I only paid $ 5 for the delicious gut bomb and I made it through class and felt much better. :)
Who needs Mom’s chicken noodle? Not his girl.
(I read below that they don’t take credit cards, but they do. That must be new).

I“m also a loyal Gonzalez customer and will stick to Gonzalez given a choice between the two. This is a nice cart though and I wouldn’t mind going back to it. I just prefer the seasoning at Gonazalez (I had the carnitas and al pastor. i prefered Gonzalez in both instances).

Admittedly, I went to this place with a serious allegiance to Gonzalez Taqueria, which is just a few blocks away. That being said, I found myself comparing the two a lot.
On its own, El Tarasco has some interesting option, more than Gonzalez. It was nice for me as a vegan because they had tofu and cactus options, something that Gonzalez lacks. However, the additional ingredients did little to add the flavor. I ordered a tofu burrito, no cheese, no sour cream, but got some avocado salsa/​sauce to add. The food was okay. The burrito seemed significantly smaller than Gonzalez, however what makes Gonzalez’s so big are the rice and lettuce, which not all people are fond of in a burrito. They had sauteed peppers and onions inside, a little beans, and a little rice, a good amount of tofu. It looked exciting, however it tasted rather bland. It needed some sort of spice or seasoning, or cliantro (Gonzalez seems to use a lot of cilantro). The sauce also tasted like nothing… I don’t know why, but it was like I was adding a little water mixed with a tiny bit of avocado to my burrito.
So, I will stick to Gonzalez. It’s possible that maybe vegetarian options aren’t there thing, and perhaps the meat options are great. I might go back in a month or two to see if they’ve made some changes. It’s only been open a couple weeks now.

Not to shabby for a stationary taco truck tucked away in a parking lot of a market. Though due to the distance I can’t help but compare Tarasco to Gonzalez. I ordered the tofu burrito with avocado (minus cheese and sour cream) to go. When I got home I was eager to dive into this new found food cart food.
I noticed from the get go that the burrito was a bit smaller than Gonzalez, i brushed this off quickly. I was excited that they as opposed to Gonzalez had tofu in their burrito but was disappointed it wasn’t flavored that well. The additional veggies were a welcome sight and taste as well as the lesser amount of rice. The sauces were bland.
I feel like I need to give them a second chance. They just opened recently and am sure they are working on their food. I know vegans can be picky and I’m super stoked that they are accommodating. Perhaps the future will be promising.

I must dissagree With Andrew’s review and say that as a fellow loyal fan of Gonzalez I now am torn. They ARE different and I now find myself writing my first Unilocal review because I can’t wait to be hungry again and go back. First difference, they offer tostadas and encheladas. The tostada comes with a lovely chicken tinga and beany mixture. Some mexican fellows dining next to me oreded huge enchelada plates that were bean chese with chile. They looked amazing and that’s what I’m getting next. They also have huchepos which are like a mini sweet tamale. I tend to judge a place on it’s hot suace (which is why I love Gonzales so much), Tarasco was pretty standard in that dept. The asada was grilled so well and not greasy or fatty at all. I am so happy to have another taco truck in my neighborhood. If only I didn’t have to cross the pinche freeway.