Taqueria La Estacion

My gf had the pork burrito and I had the chorizo. They were fantastic, plenty of flavour and at a really good price. Even better was the staff who was genuinely friendly.

Got the steak burrito and was really surprised how tasty it was. Great lunch break from work and I’ll definitely be back. Just make sure you bring cash!

I came here because I read the reviews and it seemed alright. Plus the picture of the sopes looked great so that’s what I got. I get home and open in up, it’s nothing like what I expected. Tastes alright but no cheese or avocado, old tomatoes. I was pretty bummed, I guess I’ll have to ask for it next time. The burrito was also a huge bummer, really bland

This place is so hit and miss and lately it has been miss! So of the numerous times we’ve been there they have never had tamales. not on the weekends, not for the holidays not at any time but they always promise that upon return there will be tamales. There are other items that they tend to mostly be out of and since they are so small we get that however to keep business they are going to have to supply what they say that the sell at some point, yes? Today did it for us though. Out of stuff, then had the gall to try to over charge. When my adult daughter explained that the math wasn’t adding up the guy at the register (who is usually the cook) tried to argue her down. When she showed him the math he tried to say that he added extra toppings! We did not ask for extra toppings so those extras were his to eat, so to speak. We wanted this little place to take off because they are in our neighborhood (ish) and the staff used to be so friendly. There will be no next time this go round…

For those of you who are raving about this place, you obviously arent used to great mexican food. I’ll admit that the conchinita had good flavor (because of the marinated onions), but it’s still missing something. I’ve been going to a place in West Covina, CA in LA county called Boca del Rio, since 1989. Whenever I’m within 20 miles of the place, I don’t miss it! I have been judging every taco on this standard, and maybe one or two have only come close. Their recipe for perfection: Carne asada or carnitas with cabbage (awesome and not easy to find), onions and cilantro, freshly grated Monterey Jack cheese, guac & sour cream. But the icing on the cake is this amazing tomatillo sauce that they make from scratch. Sorry to dis your taco place, but if you had Boca del Rio, you’d feel the same.

I have now gone here about three times with my boyfriend (who is a HUGE fan) and I have to say, the food is incredible. Best thing on the menu hands down is the cochinita tacos. OMG — so simple, but oh so good! Prices are cheap, staff is friendly, and food is always good, so we will keep coming back for more. Last visit we just got the cochinita (still my fav) and chicken tacos, and those were amazing too. If you want good, cheap Mexican food, try this place. Don’t judge it on how it looks from the outside (next to the sketchy Sugar Shack) — give this place a try. You will not be disappointed!

I would’ve never even stepped out of my car into this place if it weren’t for Don/​Yelp. We’d passed Sugar Shack with their creepy manequinn in «sexy poses» window displays many a times, but I would’ve never thought there’d be any good food to be had. This place is run out of a bus that’s attached/​running through the building and it’s actually kind of awesome to hang out at. I feel like I’m in Mexico or at least California.
A and I both had a hankering for huarches so A got one with chicken and I went with Don’s suggestion of cochinita. OMG. That meat is so crazy good! It just melts in your mouth (and thankfully not in your hand). The thing was cheap and huge too. We will definitely be headed here if we’re in the area next time. It seems to be a trend that some of my fave places share parking lots with adult stores/​strip clubs (Pupuseria & Area 69 on 82^nd). I guess I’ll be headed to a strip club near you!

If you want incredible flavor at low low prices– booyah! This place is flavor explosions in your mouth. We got multiple things. The pastor tacos, the beef tacos-​very good. The staff was also very nice.
And we made sure to try the Conchinita based on the reviews (in tacos this time) and this WAS the flagship meat. Just perfectly done. Succulent taste.
I cannot wait to return for this meat. In fact, writing this review a few days later– I realize a trip TODAY is paramount!
I really want to try it in a torta or a burrito next.
Oh, and I almost forgot– the hot sauces are freakin’ awesome here. A couple of your standard reds and greens that were really good.
And then there was one sauce in a really unusual color. It looked like a beigey, kinda Italian dressing kinda color. I actually thought it might BE dressing. I put some in a little plastic cup and sniffed it, Mmmmm, smells good. I put it to my lips and took the tiniest of sips-​when it hit my tongue. FIRE!!! Ahhhhhh!!! The burning! Instant flop sweat on my brow and I’m reaching for any kind of liquid available to put out this fire in my mouth. This stuff should not be underestimated! (Research on web indicates this is their habenero sauce)
Don’t get me wrong… it is really really good on the food– have your drink ready.
Just don’t go chugging this stuff.

I need a f@#$%^G Burrito now!
OK, OK calm down. Where are you? Hawthorne. Plenty of joints here.
Look at the line at Por Que No. Really? Sheep.
Gotta run to NE. Damn! I still need a burrito. Hey, there is usually a truck at Burger Island (better know as Taqueria La Estacion. Hum, No truck. Better go inside. Hummm that looks kind of shady. Wait, I’m kind of shady. I’ll go in.
Oh man, I love this place. Great feel, nice people. I feel like I’ve been transported out of Portland for a brief moment and it feels good
Food Great. This will be my go to for burrito’s even if I’m not in this hood.
See Don B. for a more concise well written review.

Great Tacos! Great flavor and great prices.

My husband loves this place. As a Texan, I expect a lot from this type or restaurants.
Good value and there are open late.

It was late, and the Taqueria was open — even though it would mean eating Mexican for the second time that day, we decided to give it a try.
This was the right thing to do. This is real food — huge chunks of meat, solid burritos and rice and beans, no frills, no fancy restaurant, just a hole-​in-​the-​wall place with food that tastes way better than anything that cheap should have a right to taste.
Cheap food that’s open late and is worth eating can be tricky to find in Portland… and this one now occupies an enviable position on my short-​list.

The cochinita pibil torta (not listed on the menu) is hands down the best torta I’ve had since living in Portland. Delicious tortas are a way of life in my hometown of San Diego. This thing was like a taste of home.
The meat was flavorful, tender and moist without being greasy or gristley. The birrote (bread) was soft and toasted and not overly mayo-​ed. I LOVED the pickled veggies too. So good and a great deal at $ 4.50 considering it made 2 meals for me (ate the 2^nd half a few hours later).
Luckily this place isn’t in my hood, otherwise I’d eat there way too often.
I would recommend taking your food to go since the place is lacking in ambiance. It’s not dirty or gross there, just not a spectacular setting.

I go to different taquerias all over the neighborhood, and La Estacion is on of my favorites. They make great food in a double decker bus. I go here mostly for the tortas which are perfect. I mostly order the torta de milanesa or espacial. Today I ordered the cubana and it had evrything in it and was sooo good. I normal judge a place by the pastor they make and this place has some good stuff. Burritos and tacos are tasty as well. They even have a few flavors of ice cream to have on a cone or cup after for dessert. The only thing I dont like is that it is cash only. Other than that, I highly recommend this place.
Also just to let you all know, they also have a truck just a few hundred feet east that is open late.

11/​14/​2010 Review Update: Okay since my first visit I have had to decrease the stars because of the inconsistency of this place. 8 times out of 10 I go there and they are out of something, salsa, jalapenos, limes and in one case the other day beans, they were out of beans. It depends a lot on who is cooking, the lady cook is better than the guy cook (shocking). For the most part I have stuck to Tortas, and they are always good, it’s just that sometimes they are amazing and other times they are just good.
First of all I just want to say that it is a given that the location of this place really stinks. The other Unilocalers who have given a lot of space in their reviews of the taqueria to the location and adjacent businesses are sort of being silly… your there for the food, get over it.
Okay, this is a CASH ONLY taqueria, in case you are the type (like me) who almost never carries cash. I live right up the street so I have been meaning to try this place since I read all the glowing reviews. I was really hungry so I decided to stop and grab something to take home and eat while listening to the baseball game…
I wanted a Torta, I decided to go out on a limb and order the Al Pastor. I had given up on Pastor in Portland because the half a dozen times I have had it here it has been HORRIBLE. I sat down and waited for my order, so I had a chance to look around at the seating area. I am not sure what people expect but to me this place looked pretty clean. Tables, chairs and floor all seemed very clean to me. I will not hesitate to go back and get food to eat in with a friend the next time. Only bummer, no beer, but i am going to see if they mind brown bagging it, you would be surprised how many places are okay with that as long as you ask first.
Okay — the Torta. I got home and dug in.
First the bun probably one of the most important features of a good torta is the bun. This bun was pretty close to perfect, soft, slightly sweet but sturdy enough no not get soaked or be messy. And then there was the Pastor.
There are 2 basic types of pastor that I have noticed in my eating history. The really greasy bright orange kind where the meat seems almost ground, and the drier type that actually is recognisable as meat and is rubbed with orangeish spices and slow roasted. The greasy orange type can be good, but more often it is nasty. This was the drier meaty kind. It was so freaking good! And not too dry at all. I was eating at 1pm on a Sunday afternoon and they were not particularly busy, but the meat was perfect.
The overall texture of the torta was near perfect, just the right amount of cheese to glue everything together, a couple good big hunks of avocado, grilled onions here and there, meat, lettuce, beans sour cream… YUMMY. Make sure to grab some pickled jalapenos cause they don’t put them inside the torta, and a couple limes because that always makes everything taste better.
$ 4.50 for the torta, a buck for the coke. Pretty good for a really tasty torta. I am really looking forward to going back and trying all the menu items (except tongue) because I am betting they are going to be super freaking good too! Yahoo, there is hope for me after all.

Yes it is a little shit-​hole-​in-​the-​wall. Authentic.
Cash ONLY!
No water except in bottles! but good honest Mexican food.
The sope (which is my new obsession) was large and well topped with chicken etc.
The pachuco with pork asado was delish! (Pachuco are filled tortillas)
and cheeeeep.

After reading these 5 star Unilocal reviews I thought I was going to have a delicious lunch. I have driven by this place over the years and was always curious about this seedy shopping center and the surrounding businesses. There is a big sign that says «burger island» and the entire compound looks like a post apocalyptic 50’s diner. I went with my buddy Cher and we were really excited about the fucked up double decker bus and super budget décor that is usually a sign of a quality taqueria. Unfortunately we only had debit cards so our host told us to go next store to the bar and get cash out of the atm. As we were walking by the multiple adult entertainment businesses we saw a gaggle of exotic entertainers smoking and screaming at each other. They seemed to be agitated due to either a lack of clientele or methamphetamine or a little of both. While grabbing cash out of the ridiculously expensive atm (3.95 charge???), we intererupted a chubby dancer grooving on stage solo. She looked at us and abruptly covered her breasts realizing we were not there for her sugar and were both after the same thing, fast cash. We took our money back to the taqueria, meanwhile dodging silver haired horny gentlemen and a creepy tweenager bumming cigarettes.
Now on to the meal! Both us ordered burritos and I believe this is where we made the mistake. I got Pastor and my buddy Cher ordered vegetarian. The burritos were huge! But unfortunately it was filled with shredded iceberg lettuce gringo style. The pastor was really disappointing, super dry and bland. I tried to douse it in hot sauce but the sauce was so mediocre i gave up half way through the burrito. Borderline gross. My friend Cher loved her veggie burrito and killed the whole thing. I was very impressed. I haven’t given up completely on this place and I want to go back and try the cohinita pibi and the tortas looked great. Also just sitting there and people watching was worth at least 2 stars.

The food was real good, Had cochinita Burrito and having lived in Arizona for 20 years I am used to good Mex food. But the location sucks big time and the cleanliness was below average. Otherwise 4stars. Got my change in 1 dollar bills{13}and since its next to a strip club really didnt want to touch my food before washing. Old guys checking out my wife in parking lot after they exited club.

Whatever you are doing right now, stop doing that. Wait, no… you’re reading this review right now. Ok, read this review, then stop what you’re doing, put your pants on, walk out the door, hop in your car/​bike/​Tri-​Met bus, and make tracks for Taquería La Estacion up on Killingsworth. The cohinita pibil is calling you, and you must listen.
Taqueria La Estacion is this little shit-​hole-​in-​the-​wall taquería attached to the infamous Sugar Shack complex. (don’t get confused by the Taquería La Estacion #2 taco truck in the driveway, go to the actual brick and mortar location, it’s better) It used to be the Gargoyle’s den, and features a double-​decker bus built into the building. Inside, 2 nice ladies serve up some of the most amazing slow-​cooked pork I’ve had in a grip.
Cochinita is a delicacy I’ve had in Mexico but not in the US. It’s something you simply don’t see a lot of around here. It consists of pig slow cooked in magical fairy juice and simmered in love, and it’s downright delicious.
For $ 4.75 I got an amazingly delicious burrito that consisted of HUGE chunks of the most tender, juicy pork, rice, and crema. Way more meat that you’ll usually get for that amount of $, and way better. I was not expecting it to be as good as it was. The depth of flavor and succulence of the meat were surprising. I was literally making «mmmmm» sounds as I devoured my prize. I was dining alone, so the guy sitting at the table next to me probably thought I was crazy. Rounded out with a $ 2 Mexican Coke, my lunch today could not have gotten any better.
So seriously, stop reading. Go get some cochinita from La Estacion before I eat it all.

Swinophobia may be the fear of pork but what is the fear of pork deficiency or even worse, the absence of pork? My nightmares are usually fairly humdrum, more an exercise in frustration than unadulterated terror. Trying to make a deposit in my junior high school gymnasium during basketball practice, being chased through caves by a gaggle of muppets, giving a powerpoint talk on evidence-​based management of pulmonary embolism with a possessed computer. Oh right, been there done that.
Anyhoo, my personal porky odyssey in PDX continues compliments of Michael Q & my first foray into Yucatán cuisine. Let me just say, «[slurp. snarfle. chomp.] Yum!» Cochinita pibil may be slow-​roasted pork marinated in citrus juice & the orangey tint may bear a disturbing resemblance to Cheetos® but it really means melt-​in-​your-​mouth-​smooth-​savory-​swine that will turn any swinophobe into a swinophile. Love the piquant pickled red onion slices which sets off the lush taste of the pork. $ 1.25/taco, which are tiny roach coach size, available in pollo, carne asada, al pastor, cochinita, & some others my food coma’d mind can’t remember. The al pastor was salty spiced goodness with little gristle. The corn tortillas are fairly standard fare & make a good vehicle to bring all that porky goodness to your mouth. Unless you’re harboring an alien or have voracious friends the $ 7 cochinita pibil platter will provide your weekly protein intake. The tender pork comes swimming in its own bowl of orangey oily broth (achiote seeds + fat from slow-​cooking the pork with its skin on) topped with pickled red onions & corn tacos on the side.
So which side of the equation do you land on? Recurring nightmares or fulfilled fantasies? Turn your swinophobia into swinophilia. [chomp!] Don’t worry about the surreal British pub décor or red & black 80’s video colors, you haven’t stepped into a Cher video. The guys manning the place are a little shy but just ask them for their recommendations & you be eating high on the hog. A word to the wise, the salsa bar is correctly labeled. When they say «very hot» don’t touch with any part of your body that you might miss. Oh, & the Sugar Shack next door does not have pastries although you might be able to find some pasties…

I’ve got some friends who live on 49^th, just north of Hawthorne, and just about every time I go to and fro for a visit, I pass by Por Que No? on Hawthorne and most times see long lines streaming out the door of dumb-​happy white folk queued up for what I consider pretty mediocre Mexican chow (I’m a Texan and have traveled extensively in Mexico) sold at terrifically inflated prices. I giggle each time because these ill-​informed diners could be experiencing Mexican food Nirvana at a modest, even dumpy, joint a few miles north on Killingsworth: La Estacion.
The folks who run this place are from the Yucatan, so their menu, in part, reflects that region’s cuisine, especially weekends when they augment the basic offerings of tacos, sopes, huaraches, enchiladas and panuchos (what are those???) with things like cochinita pibil, banana leaf wrapped tamales and relleno negro (a delicious stew of turkey in a spicy, burnt/​black chile broth). Oh, panuchos? They are a Yucatecan variant on tostadas in which the tortilla is opened up like a pita and the interior spread with a black bean paste, then fried in yummy lard or oil… the «shell» is then topped with the meat of choice (turkey and chicken are traditional, sometimes they’ll do turkey on the weekends), and the meat topped with the ubiquitous Yucatecan pickled red onions. I love these with cochinita on weekends, but the carne al pastor is a good choice too. I think the high end version of the panucho is a whopping $ 1.50, add aguacate for a quarter.
The flavors in this place are bright, strong (without being over bearing) and very satisfying and may be the best in town, far better than the hip joints, and at half the price. Their salsas are all great and range from a rather tame salsa verda to a rocket-​lifting, orange habanero which is very flavorful, but hot as the ever-​lovin’ dickens. Tread lightly, but DO tread. Oh, don’t forget to squeeze some lime on those tacos, panuchos, etc.
Downside? No beer. No restroom. (oh, maybe those two go hand in hand, or hand in something…) And they don’t always have the surprise goodies on the weekend, so it can be a gamble if yer jonesin’ for tamales or turkey in black chile stew. However, there is always entertainment in the parking lot which they share with the Sugar Shack Triple XXX Empire… try to be there at a shift change! Ha. And, I forgot, you can get a banana split or ice cream cone for dessert, the flavors look good, but diabetes keeps my wandering eye in check.
For five or six bucks you can eat like el rey or la reina and leave knowing you have eaten the real deal for a tiny pittance. Use the money you save on Hawthorne: there’s a great world music CD shop more or less across the street from some really mediocre Mexican food, you know the one…