Sal Y Limón — Restaurant in Richmond

I saw the overwhelmingly negative reviews but chose to eat here anyway because I was more in the mood for underwhelming tacos than any of the other options in the US terminal, and then was pleasantly surprised to receive actual good tacos. I had one each of the Fish, Shrimp, and Tinga Vegetariana. They were all flavourful and seemingly fresh. The fish and veggie tacos were overflowing with filling (the fish taco had two pieces of fish that were each almost as long as the taco itself). The shrimp taco looked skimpier relative to the other two with just two pieces of shrimp, but it’s really more that the first two were overfilled and the shrimp taco had an appropriate amount of filling - the shrimp were decently sized and after I pried them apart (they’d gotten stuck together in frying), I was able to get some shrimp in each bite. Three tacos were only $12 before tax and tip which is nearly unheard of for an airport. The business has a takeout counter and a small “restaurant” area. I went to the restaurant since I was planning on eating right away, but I wish I’d just done takeout since even when you order food at the restaurant it’s still served in a takeout box with disposable cutlery, and I then had to deal with trying to get the single waiter/bartender’s attention when I wanted to pay. He was very nice, just had a few too many people to take care of. So I would only recommend eating in the restaurant if you want drinks, since there’s abundant seating elsewhere and ordering takeout seems like it would streamline...

While the service was great, the food left a lot to be desired. I had the Al Pastor burrito and the meat was juicy but not particularly flavorful. The rest of the burrito was filled out with rice, a couple scattered slices of jalapeno, and very coarsely chopped crunchy cabbage. The jalapeno at least feels like an attempt (although dicing and mixing in would be a big improvement), but the cabbage could be so easily replaced white onion and/or lettuce for better flavor and less off-putting texture. The encapsulating whole wheat tortilla seems representative of the contents: ostensibly inspired by Mexican cuisine, but not particularly authentic or tasty.

For what it's worth, the salsa was decent and a heavy dose redeemed the flavor profile somewhat. I found the medium noticably spicy, but on the mild end for folks who like spice. This and the kind, fast service earns back to three stars for...

Mucho Buenos! I'm stoked that YVR is finally upping' it's game and bolstering some edible grub with Vancouver-based businesses. I've never been to Sal Y Limón before, but rate this pretty good grub and a yummy experience, this is easily the best food available so be prepared to potentially wait in line. For airport standards, your in for a treat with this street food esque Mexican experience. We snagged two Tinga Vegetariana Burrito's and a separate bag of chips to share (4 bucks extra) which was a tasty and plentiful portion! It'd be rad if they had some hot sauce options for the Burrito and chips, as they can be quite dry, or even some salsa/guacamole options. My friends did get jalapeños on the side for me to devour, but found a few lurking in the bottom of her Burrito and made her struggle, which was quite frustrating. Adios and support...