Taqueria Jalisco Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Vancouver

🌮 A Hidden Mexican Gem in Vancouver 🇲🇽

Tucked above The Shamrock ☘️ Irish Pub on Denman, Taqueria Jalisco is one of those rare hidden gems that makes you feel like you just stumbled into a taco joint in Guadalajara. The vibe? Super chill. The decor? Authentic and low-key cool. The smell? Mouthwatering from the second you walk in.

We ordered 3 golden tacos and the mega quesabirria, and whew — flavor bomb. Each bite was like a quick round-trip ticket to Mexico. It’s the kind of food that makes you close your eyes and hum a little. You know the one.

Pro move? Get a michelada with Modelo Especial. Mine was perfectly spicy, refreshing, and hit all the right notes. A total must if you’re into bold, zesty drinks.

Just a heads-up — there’s no traditional table service here. You order at the counter, pay, grab a seat, and the staff brings your food when it’s ready. Honestly? Kinda love it. It keeps things simple, casual, and somehow… it makes the food taste even better when it hits your table.

Only small surprise was the chips and salsa situation — you’ve gotta order each item separately, which caught me off guard since most taquerias throw those in as a starter. But once that food lands, all is forgiven.

✨ Final verdict: Authentic food, relaxed atmosphere, and zero fluff. I’ll 100% be back — and next time, I’m bringing friends....

Came for the hype. Food was pretty good, but service made us feel very uncomfortable. We are first admitted into the restaurant after waiting for 10+ min when there is clearly space and empty tables in the restaurant. The male server brought us in, and right away told us we order and pay upfront, because I didn’t really feel welcomed from the begging and was scared they would do something funny with our food, I gave 15% tip upfront. We sat down and waited for the food and noticed all the tables had sauces, including the customer who came in after us, who sat next to us. It was very obvious the male server was very nice to our neighbouring tables and asked how the food was, but didn’t give us a min of his time to even check on us. When I gave another 5 min after all our food was served hoping he would the bring the sauces, he didn’t. So I asked how come we didn’t get sauces, I was slight annoyed at the point, and his response was a very dismissive “yeah yeah” and quickly slapped the sauces on our table, not even a sorry or anything. I hate to drop the race card but we were the only two asian customers there, and felt a very obvious unwelcomed attitude towards us the whole time from the male server. The girl server was very friendly and polite though, so the two star for service...

Sunday night. Nachos and tacos. Ordered 2 beef and 2 pork. Waitress could not tell the difference when asked what was what. We think we got 4 of the same.

Meat was the same colour. Flavour was identical.

Nachos were cold when they arrived. No seasoning on the chips. Chips were thick and oily.

Only top dressed, no layering.

Would recommend sal y limon nachos over these.

Hibiscus tea was nice, but employee described it as flower tea... So if you're expecting something floral.... It's hibiscus, which tastes like cranberry juice. (Not mad about it, just noting that she didn't know how to accurately describe it)

I think the rating is inflated because they bribe people for ratings with a free dessert.

Also, it's cafeteria style service. You order immediately and then they bring you the food and clean up when you're done.

No "service" like in a restaurant. Very Vancouver.

That said, there are much better Mexican places in Vancouver.

Los sapos...