Taqueria La Familia — Restaurant in Berkeley

This was my first time here. It's an unseasonably chilly eve and I find being inside here is warm, cheerful and welcoming.

I know this place is known for their fish tacos, but I have certain dishes I use as benchmarks. So I decided to go with one I use for this cuisine - the "wet" Chile Verde Burrito. It passed with flying colors.

Served filling the length of a large platter and swimming in tangy chile verde sprinkled with cheese and a dollop of sour creme, it looked as tasty as it turned out to be. And filling. Good price, too.

How can it get any better than that combo?

Plus, they have now earned a place on my 'to do' list, to come back and try those fish tacos P.S. - Now I'm back for my second visit and am having a fish taco and a shrimp taco. Others have criticized for small meat portions. I'm afraid I have to agree this time. But--not bad at the price. I'm just disappointed I didn't see a 'grande' option for those if us inclined.

Yet, the food is tasty and I...

I got the nachos supreme with steak. Food was mediocre, they just grated some mozzarella cheese on top with a scoop of guac and sour cream + beans of choice. The chips were okay, I always prefer thick chips for my nachos and the ones they had were thicker than thin (not thick enough for my taste though). The cheese could have been heavier, or they could have had their own in-house nacho sauce.

What really leads me to rate this place as 2/5 is how slow it can be. I went during lunch and called in advance to ask how long it would take for my food to be ready. Guy said 5-10 minutes, cool. I get there and there are only two people ahead of me, I don't think it will take long. About half an hour later... finally I get my food. I don't understand why it took so long to get my food ready, or why they told me it wouldn't take long. I ended up rushing to scarf it down since my lunch break was almost done.

Honestly at the pace they go it's better to...

Taqueria La Familia exceeded my expectations and was delicious! I got the Calazbaza burrito (rice, pinto beans, salsa, zucchini, and onion) and it was delicious! The zucchini was really well spiced and cooked. I was nervous it might be large pieces of steamed and poorly spiced zucchini (common in veggie burritos), but it was SO tasty. The burrito wasn't massive, but definitely big enough and worth it for the price--getting a quality burrito for under $10 is more and more difficult to find. I have only been here once and gotten the one burrito, but I'd definitely go back! It was nice to have an outdoor dining option even though Ashby and Shattuck isn't the best ambiance. Staff were friendly and helpful and the service was...