Taco Sal Restaurant — Restaurant in Albuquerque

I had to revise my review from a few years ago. This restaurant has been a favorite for my family for years. We don't live in Albuquerque anymore and had to go have lunch here today since we were in town. First off, the restaurant was sticky and just yucky feeling. Our table was super sticky. 🤢 We ordered Dr Pepper, chile con queso and a chicken quesadilla. The Dr Pepper was super flat and gross. The waitress explained that they forgot to connect the "gas" to the machine and offered to get new drinks. We assumed she meant the carbonation and took her up on her offer. 10 minutes later she showed up with new drinks, which somehow tasted worse than the first batch. She then brought the chile con queso and said the cook was still working on the quesadilla. The queso was inedible. It had a green tint, didn't look like cheese and did not taste like cheese. She came a few minutes later with the quesadilla. There was no chicken. It looked like they had used store bought tortillas, threw some cheddar cheese in it and microwaved it until the cheese melted. There were three tiny triangles. It was leaking grease from the melted cheese. We called the waitress over and explained that the soda was still flat, that the queso dip was inedible and that our quesadilla had no chicken. She just stood there staring at us. I asked to pay for what was on the table, uneaten, and to cancel our entree orders. She handed us a $26.00 ticket for food and drinks that were left untouched. We paid the ticket and left, very upset by the experience. We will never, ever, ever go back to this restaurant. It's sad. Their food used to be so good and they're an Albuquerque staple. As we were leaving, we noticed the table by the front door had untouched food and drinks. The customers had already left. Obviously we weren't the only ones who couldn't eat or drink what we ordered. I would have given 0 stars if I was able to do so.

Original Post (3 years ago): Omar was amazing. The food was absolutely delicious, as always. This place has been ago-to for our...

Another Albuquerque classic spot. You could call it a hole in the wall but it's actually quite large. The staff was friendly and the place was clean. The menu doesn't have midday lunch options (smaller portions) so if you're limited to a la carte or dinner portions. I opted for dinner and did receive a large portion.

I have to admit, I wasn't blown away by the food. The commentary chips and salsa were unremarkable. The salsa was pretty basic. I ordered steak tacos with refried beans and potatoes. The corn tortillas were mid-range, couldn't tell if they were fresh or not. The meat was VERY greasy and had a slight funky beef fat taste. I think that's because, oddly enough, the seasoning was very minimal. I didn't taste a lot of spices or salt. The beans were fine and the potatoes were actually quite good, probably my favorite part.

The sopapilla came at the beginning so it was cold by the time I got to it, but it had a good chew and flavor, not too greasy. I prefer them hot but I know quite a few places that bring them early.

Overall I can see the appeal in that it's an ABQ classic and had that local restaurant feel, but my meal wasn't...

I'm not sure why this place isn't busier than it is. The food is pretty good. The prices are great. The food has definitely improved tremendously since the last time I was here, which was probably about 20 years ago. The place is not the fanciest so I'm assuming that's why because the food is great.

The carne adovada and the beef enchiladas are my recommendations, or the combination plate. If you want to get whole beans, make sure you ask, otherwise they bring you refried beans. The chicken is okay, but I wouldn't recommend.

The red chili is really good but so is the green. The sopapillas were good and the chips and salsa were good.

They have several combination plates that give you a really good variety of their food and all of it is good.

The tamales are really good, the ground beef that you put in the enchiladas or tacos is good. The shredded brisket is also really good. The chili rellenos are delicious!

The staff is...