La Taquisa — Restaurant in Victoria

I recently came here after short stay at Royal Jubilee to get some comfort food. I grew up in East Los Angeles with a Hispanic mom, and bean and cheese burritos have long been my favourite comfort food; so I was excited when I saw this was on the menu. A bit pricey at $13.99 but I was craving and the restaurant had good reviews. So I was rather surprised that what I received was a lukewarm tortilla, with what I later found to be a 1-mm layer of tepid refried beans, waaaaay more COLD cheese than is necessary, and about a cup of shredded cabbage. Still hopeful, I asked the cashier if she could warm it up. No problem, she said, and placed it on the grill for a bit then gave it back. It was definitely warmer, but not hot enough to heat the cheese in the middle, and I still couldn't taste the beans. So I cut the burrito open to see what was in there, which is in the pic. To be fair, the flavour of the beans was good; there just wasn't much of it. The cabbage, however, tasted off; and much of the cheese was still cold. And sadly, the meal was not helped by an order of chips and a side of guacamole, since the guacamole had the consistency and spicing of baby food. My partner had a mole burrito which he described as "okay, not great." I do see that a lot of people enjoy this restaurant, so to each their own. And I agree with the others that the employees are very nice. But if you're seeking a simple bean and cheese burrito, walk a block to Chipotle. (Or do what I usually do and should have done, which is just make your own.) In the end, the best thing I can say about this experience was that at least I wasn't...

I don't like to write negative reviews but my last meal at La Taquisa inspired this. I ask myself why I keep going back. It seems like every time I go I pay more than I expect and eat something worse than I expect. I go back because I like the location and I like to sit outside have a bite to eat and a beer. A few shrimp tacos and a Corona sitting outside on Saturday is a nice lunch. Unfortunately they stopped selling Corona because "covid." I have also gone back many times because I have eaten some very good food there mostly at the Vic west location but that was a long time ago. I can hardly remember the last time that I was happy I chose to eat at La Taquisa. My lunch today is a good example. I went for shrimp tacos even though they have been pretty poor the last few times I've ordered them but I decided to get a bean and cheese burrito because I've never had one there and it should be a cheap lunch option. I got guac and sour cream so with a tip it was $17. Hey money doesn't go as far as it did a couple years ago but if a bean and cheese burrito and water is a $17 lunch then it should be good and it wasn't. The 1st 3" were 100% bean, pure brown paste, and hard to choke down. The bottom 3" was falling apart when I got it it and that's where all the lettuce sour cream and I suppose guac was. I was trying to taste the guac the entire time I ate and I didn't take one bite that had the distinct flavor of guacamole. Who orders a bean and cheese burrito? I usually don't and I definitely won't order one again, not if it is a $17 lunch that I have to force...

I hate doing this, and I like the food and the staff I've gotten to know, but this location is gross.

I went for lunch at the downtown location and when the line cook was about to make my order they took out their phone and started texting, while still wearing their food preparation gloves. They walked over to the area where the shells are made, made them and carried them over touching the food with the contaminated gloves, and then made their way to the line to prepare my order and still did not change their gloves.

After seeing this I cancelled my order.

This is the second time I have seen this happen. The first time staff was handling cash and then preparing food wearing the same gloves. I emailed the company directly and told them the issue and they assured me that they would make sure the staff would be trained properly in regards to safe food handling. The ownership have obviously not done that.

I want to add that the person who took my order and processed my refund was great and understood that people preparing food shouldn't be handling materials that are not food related without washing their hands/changing their gloves, but the other two people who were working there at the time were laughing at the situation.

There are other places in the downtown area with equal quality food in the same price bracket who handle food safely, and I would recommend you try these other places...