Cariñito Tacos — Restaurant in Mexico City

A stand-up shop serving an interesting variety of tacos in the Roma neighborhood. Upon arrival, we were given menus, which featured a limited selection of tacos, divided between pork belly and vegetarian tacos. I ordered the cochinita thai and the berenjena laos taco, along with a Topo Chico. Service was a bit slow, and there wasn’t much explanation given about the concept of the shop, which would have been nice.

When our tacos arrived, they were served in corn husks, which was a very interesting way to present them. However, when I asked to wash my hands, I was told there was no water available and only hand sanitizer was provided. This felt a bit unsanitary for a restaurant. When I inquired about the salsas, I finally got an explanation of the restaurant’s concept, tacos are already prepared with salsa. It would have been better if this had been explained at the beginning of our visit.

The tacos themselves were quite interesting. I enjoyed the cochinita thai taco, which had a nice kick to it. The berenjena taco actually felt more Thai than the cochinita thai taco, with flavors that closely resembled traditional Thai cuisine. Finally, paying took quite a while, and although the tacos were excellent, the service left much to be desired.

The lack of an explanation about the concept from the start, the slow service, and the absence of a place to wash hands, combined with the high prices ($60 per taco), made it less than an ideal taco experience. Although the tacos were decent, the price doesn’t seem justified. This definitely feels like a taco shop oriented more toward foreigners than locals, which is...

Absolutely do not think this place deserves a Michelin Star. First, ordering was very bizarre as the workers just stood blocking the order area, talking, and on their phones. Second, after ordering where I was told they did not have a majority of their drinks available, a random guy shows up with an alcoholic beverage for the employees. He steps behind the counter and begins to place his items on many of the food preparation surfaces. The workers began to drink out of the same cup instead of continuing to make orders. Once he leaves, we notice that one of the workers is continuously picking his nose that has a HUGE booger in it. He is also coughing openly and using his phone while touching food. I told my partner I was absolutely not going to eat any food but they took a risk and ate the first taco. We ordered two but about 15 minutes in, the girl who took our order comes over and asks what else we got …. Ummm. The second taco took another 20 minutes but by that point we are already waiting for our uber to go. This place had AMAZING reviews across several social media platforms but appears to have gone significantly downhill. DO...

Beware: One of the staff will tip themselves 33% on a single taco.

This used to be my favorite taco place. I told everyone about it! I loved it so much that last year, I bought 10 tacos to share with friends, and the staff was very kind in helping me package everything for takeout.

I returned this year with my partner on Tuesday, 10/29, and we purchased tacos, paying with a credit card and leaving a tip. The tacos were just as delicious as I remembered!

Later, I ordered one more taco and paid with cash. Instead of giving me my full change, the man kept 33% of it as a tip(propina)! When I asked about the rest of my change, he simply said, "PROPINA…TIP!" I was in shock and just left.

I would have tipped him had he returned all of my change. It's inappropriate for him to take a 33% tip (propina) without permission for one taco.

If you read another review (David), he also mentioned this.l as it looks like it happened to him as well.

For this reason, I...