Tacos Joven — Restaurant in Cincinnati

Tacos were not the greatest but okay. Be aware of their failure to disclose extra charge information when using a credit card. The food truck attendant told me one price but then charged me a different price (without informing me) a whole freaking $1 just to swipe my card. I believe she may have intentionally over charged extra for the sour cream, lettuce etc, too. Although the menu is listed, there's no signage that informs customer of the (additional/extra) charge. So make sure you look at the card reader for total price before you swipe.

The service was not friendly! The store (which may be family owned and next to truck) also charges a fee of $.25. To my surprise the clerk informed me before she swipped my card of the charge and for her doing so I appreciate that. The store check out experience was much better, although while in there they weren't as friendly either.

Overall I would have love to give them a better rating but honestly we did not feel welcomed and the vibes were unpleasant at the truck and store next to it. Below I give more details of our experience if you care to read.

Friday afternoon my daughter and I decided to do lunch. We were in the Westwood area near queen city. I googled restaurants nearby and Tacos El Joven popped up along with a couple other restaurants. Because of the better rating/review (I only looked at the stars, 4.4⭐) compared to the surrounding restaurants and my taste for authentic tacos I selected this place. I must admit this was a quick search and I didn't realize it was a food truck but honestly that shouldn't matter.

Nevertheless, we pulled up and noticed a group of guys sitting at a table near the truck. By the way there's not much of a seating area and the parking lot area is very uneven and unmarked with lines. It's more of an gravel uneven payment. This food truck is also stationed aside a small store front building. Through observation I notice every customer and workers at this time were of Mexican descent. Unaware of payment accepted I sent my daughter over to inquire if they accept credit cards. My daughter returned with the answer of yes. However, she failed to share with me how rude the lady was at the window. So we approached the truck to view its menu. Everything was in Spanish but it didn't bother me because I knew what I wanted, and I also know how to read and speak very little spanish.

While placing the order the lady at the window was not friendly at all! She looked tired and hesitated to serve me. Eventually she did ask in a dry manner what we wanted on the tacis. I told her everything. The tacos were $2.50 each and we ordered 4. She charged me a total of $12 dollars. She sat the card reader on the counter and on the screen it showed $13. So I asked, "you charge a $1 to use a credit card?" She replied in English, "yes." I politely expressed to her how she suppose and need to share that with customers. So as I walked away to wait on our food I decided to go in the store to get us something to drink. When I walked in the door I immediately felt not welcome. The looks of the customer reminded me of the quote "if looks could kill." In other words the look of the customers to me were as if they wanted to say; how dare you come into our place of business, or you're not welcomed here, or we don't service your descent. I even made eye contact with a store associate and said hello and she gave an odd smurk and just walked pass me. Puzzled by this experience I remained humble and friendly. While during checkout I thanked the cashier for letting me know about the credit charge and shared with her how this was our first visit and why I stopped there. After sharing this the lady, the same one who somewhat ignored me earlier when I said hello, she finally smiled and then asked how my...

This order was incredibly low quality. I would expect the order to come as advertised, and it wasn't even close. As a quick tip, if someone asks for something "Extra Crispy," that doesn't mean "as soggy as you can possibly get it, short of pouring water over the dish." Both tortillas were so soggy, that I couldn't even lift it up without the entire thing falling apart. Yes, I do realize delivery can do that, which is why I specifically requested extra crispy. It was pretty clear they either didn't care whatsoever, or they didn't take the time to read the instructions (what's the point of asking for special instructions if you're not going to honor such a simple request?). No other Mexican restaurant has had an issue understanding what that means. Furthermore, I'd say about 80% of the meat was in one taco, and the other 20% divided amongst the remaining two tacos, with the beans smothered all over all three. A SIDE of rice and beans typically mean rice and beans on the side, not covering your main portion of the meal and ruining the whole dish. It seriously looked like a child made it and in the microwave at that. Their mild sauce was definitely not mild. The rice was cold and the beans tasted like they were made from a box. Overall, there was absolutely nothing that was satisfying about this order. Why have a business if you clearly don't know how to run it? I get the same product from a taco truck twice the distance away and it's 10x better. I am just baffled that a place can mess something up so bad. Customers should save themselves the grief and go anywhere but Tacos El Joven - even Taco Time can do better Mexican food and that's really saying something. I'm not looking for a refund or for them to make it right, as I heavily doubt their ability to make anything at this point and they've already had their chance - I doubt they could make a quesadilla without messing it up. The whole point of my review is to ensure the management of this place works a little on the way they make food, follow instructions, and do business. This was completely unacceptable and neither the restaurant, nor doordash provided any resolution. Thanks for absolutely nothing and yet another night of having to order from a second restaurant due to lack of experience or care from the staff at this facility. Update: After a little pushing and photos of the monstrosity send out by this business, Doordash actually made it right and refunded all but the tip, as I wanted to ensure those who did their job correctly were paid. I would definitely still see this review as a fair warning that this place is...

Keeping in mind, I rate restaurants to their peers, and this is a food truck parked next to a convenience store. It was excellent! Large, inexpensive tacos that come with lime, cilantro, and a couple slices of radish and cucumber. Great sauces: a red hot salsa and a green avocado crema sauce. We had chorizo, asada, carnitas, and pescado (fish). I'd need to try the fish again. It was a good sized filet (maybe 1.5 to 2 oz) but it was grilled, not fried. So it just wasn't what I was expecting. Definitely good. Chorizo had a great smokiness. We took our food takeout.

Note that they WILL take credit cards if you take the ticket...