Taco Palenque NW Austin — Restaurant in Austin

Best Tacos to have with an Existential Crisis.

Monday, after work and with the sun soon to set, I was craving Taco Palenque so I stopped by their drive thru. As I'm waiting for my #2 combo with a diet Coke, I see 3 workers step out onto the drive thru and stop at the edge of the building. Oh, a smoke break? How normal, I think to myself. I'm given my food, they step back onto the sidewalk and I roll my window up. As I'm slowly driving past them, I start creeping up on 2 feet sticking out from around the corner. I stop. I was now a witness to a Hispanic man in his 40s or 50s, eyes closed and laying motionless utop the decorative rocks. I roll back down my window, look back at the 3 workers who are still on the sidewalk, and ask them if he's okay. Silently, the man with the phone to his ear and an emotionless expression simply nods. I give a thumbs up and drive away.

Now these tacos are always amazing. The beans, rice and sirloin cooked to perfection stuffed full in the perfect tortilla? Unmatched. The salsa, this mysterious creamy verde deliciousness, I must resist myself from buying it in bulk or else I might earn myself a Guinness World Record.

So I was left sitting at home, watching a YouTuber commentate about celebrity nose jobs and enjoying these tacos. I cannot stop thinking about this man. Why was he laying there? Did he have a medical emergency? Did he drink too much and pass out? .... Was he dead? ... If he was simply drunk and passed out, is ICE going to come storming in to deport him? Can anyone declare the US is a free country still if one cannot enjoy a little too much, pass out and hit a rock bottom behind the Taco Palenque with the threat of being deported to Guantanamo or a Salvadoran prison?! These are all questions I'm never going to find the answers to because I am a simple bystander, and these questions will sneak up and haunt me for the rest of my days.

All I wanted were some damn good tacos...

Went for the first time today. Got to the register and it seems one of the managers took our order. It was obvious we had never been there before. He was zero helpful. We order our food and discover they have a salsa bar! Got some stuff off there while we waited for our food. Food came out and it was pretty good. Great portions. Here’s where it went downhill: A methed out homeless lady comes in and starts touching everything! She puts her own personal cup on the ice lever to get ice. Touching the cup all over the mouth of the ice dispenser. She shakes back to her table and then goes straight to the salsa bar and starts touching all of the ladles. Back and forth from table to salsa bar. I don’t think she ordered anything. The managers didn’t seem to care in the least. We are ready to go and I ask the manager who just got there, very politely, if I could have two to-go boxes and a bag. She seemed to not be happy about being there and is short with me and rude. I tell her thank you and she has already dismissed me. So, long story long: Good food. Salsa bar was awesome. Seeming unfriendly staff and no desire to keep everyone’s dining experience pleasant. We were in Austin running errands. We will try the one closer to us next time. However, we will avoid this location :( Last note: we were sitting where I was facing the drive-thru. Multiple people stopping at the door requesting items that were missed. So, if you go through there...

I went through the drive thru today and like many other times I've visited this location there was a super long waiting time.. took almost 30 minutes to get my food and I only ordered a #3 Combo Matamoros with a side salad. There were only two cars in front of me and they didn't seem to have particularly large orders so not sure what exactly took so long.. at the time of ordering I specifically asked for ranch with my salad. And I wasn't surprised when I finally got my order that it was forgotten.. I kindly waved the cashier back over and she rolled her eyes at me and slowly approached the window.. I simply asked "may I please have some ranch for my salad." She just stared at me blank faced and then rolled her eyes again and proceeded to get the ranch with an attitude.. I don't understand some people.. don't work in customer service if your not a people person.. or just simply give the same service as you would like to receive.. I will not be visiting this location again.. it's just not worth it. There are plenty of other places with better food and much...