OneTaco Taqueria @ Research Blvd — Restaurant in Austin

I recently made my first visit to One Taco (on Research Blvd.) on a Sunday afternoon. A solid "4 Star" experience. A bit of confusion upon ordering, part language issue and part paying attention issue. We didn't get everything we ordered. We selected the only table open, but the table wasn't clean, so we couldn't sit down. One of the ladies noticed immediately and rushed over to clean the table. One of the other ladies noticed our puzzled look at the food delivered to our table, and she immediately came over to inquire and remedied the situation in about 2 minutes. High marks for being on the ball, and realizing the things amiss at our table and fixing them right away!

We selected tacos so we could try each of there meat selections, taco carne asada (beef), taco norte (different beef), taco al pastor (pork) and taco bandera (chicken). The chicken was amazing, both beef preparations were very good, and the pork was just oaky. The pork was not bad, just not as flavorful as the chicken and the beefs. Freshly made flour tortillas were sublime, made to order, soft, fluffy, and melt in your mouth. I suspect an old family recipe at play with the tortillas, they were great!

One Taco has a variety of salsas, tailored to your preferred level of heat. Red, green, orange, in that order. All of the salsas were very good, my preference turned out to be a blend of the red and green, a great combination of fresh salsa ingredients with a little pop from the addition of a splash of green.

Things weren't spinning like a top at One Taco that day. But, I attribute that to everyone still being in the weirdness of the the post-COVID breach of the time-space continuum. So, the folks at One Taco get high marks, even with some slight missteps. All the workers there seemed to be "family" and all were working hard. High marks for that as well. So, stop by and check out One Taco, but have...

Recently moved to Austin for work. My hotel is 2 blocks away. Saw the reviews and gave it a go. I will not be a repeat customer. I ordered sirloin tacos with cilantro and onions. I was charged the carne asada price at $4.95/taco that was supposed to come with avocado sauce instead. I asked the difference between sirloin and carne asada and she said they’re the same thing. I’m guessing the sauce made it a $1.50 difference in price? I didn’t get sauce. She just upsold me without the complete version of the carne asada taco.

As I complete my order the cook comes out the bathroom and heads to the grill. She tells him my order in Spanish. He begins my order with no gloves and is constantly wiping his hands on his apron. I head into the bathroom to wash my hands. She gives me the code. The smell was unbearable. Understood because it’s a bathroom. But it’s no way the cook washed and dried his hands because it was no paper towels and the drier wasn’t working. I’m into my 4th taco and he’s working on another order for the couple that came in after me in which I see he’s pulling the meat apart with his bare hands over the grill. That was enough for me. I was damn near done already and left.

Not only was the carne asada over cooked, dry, and tasteless, I paid double what I should have. $4.95 x 4 opposed to $2.75 x 4 for tacos in which the host said were the same. But hey, it’s Austin and I’m sure it’s other taco options out...

OneTaco is a welcome addition to the small scattering of truly good taquerias in the northwest Austin area, joining ranks with El Amigo and Papalote. The tacos are very good without any need to get too avant-garde in their construction (e.g. Torchy's). They also offer a delightful house-made horchata, which is always path to my heart.

That being said, there are some nits to pick. There is very limited indoor seating and the only other option is family-style picnic tables located in the inferno that some people refer to as "outside".

You will apply salsa to your taco by pouring it out of a sanitary jug. While there may be nothing wrong with that in a utilitarian sense, it doesn't send a message that salsa is anything more than an afterthought at OneTaco. You get 3 salsa choices. They don't even bother to label them. One is red and the other two are different shades of green. Good luck!

Lastly, I feel that they could be more generous with the actual taco filling for what they're charging. When I'm spending $10 to $12 for two very tasty but also undeniably anemic tacos, I can't help but think that I could have gone to many other places around town and gotten tacos that are two or maybe even three times the size of these with rice, beans, and - if I get really lucky - a dollop of guac for just a couple...