El Nopalito — Restaurant in Eugene

After 8 wasted trips to their food truck, we saw they have a brick n mortar now near Meraki. After another couple of false attempts at the brick n mortar, it seems their hours are now reliable. The tortillas here are the best we have seen in Eugene. Thin and pliant. After trying one of everything, the fish tacos are our go-to but consistency could be improved. 1st time was crispy, subsequent visits were soggy, last time 1st one was soggy but 2nd one was crispy. We appreciate the kick in the spicy mayo, but its too much for our taste, so we usually just ask for no sauce. Kitchen forgets toppings sometimes, so if you want that cilantro or radish for example, ask. The housemade flan was very dense and rich, lacking any jiggle, more like a pot de creme. Do check when ordering at counter as menu does not always list all ingredients, we found the guacamole sometimes has grasshoppers?(some kind of insect), and the pico de gallo is not tomato but mango (this is listed on menu). The fresh chopped pineapple on our al pastor wasnt to our liking, but others may appreciate the fresh fruit. Taquitos were stuffed full with chicken, but it was stringy (had to floss) and fried greasy so there were pools of oil in the salsa verde. Lettuce was yellowish and had brown spots but avocado was fresh and creamy. We thought overall presentation is nice, but flavors are on the mild side, much like Tacovore. Service is friendly, and its spacious inside, and while currently they are on a limited menu, they said they were planning on expanding their offerings, so there is plenty...

This seems to be the newest taco truck, though calling them simply a taco truck seems reductive, in Eugene and they are already positioning themselves as a go-to with little to no true competition in the area.

The daily specials are intriguing, but for our first visit, my wife and I stuck to tacos (one each of carne asada, al pastor, and carnitas—next time, I’ll be early to get the cochinita pibil) and a pambazo with tinga de pollo at the recommendation of the chef. For the uninitiated, without splitting hairs or attempting to strictly define it, a pambazo seems similar to a torta or cemita, with the main difference appearing to be that the pambazo’s bread is dipped in a guajillo sauce whereas the others are dry.

While I could go into great detail about all our food, the real star of the show was the freshly handmade-to-order tortillas. They were warm and perfectly chewy—standing up to the filling while providing a pleasant mouthfeel.

Although the tortillas were the star for me, the meats in the tacos and pambazo were well-seasoned and flavorful (not to be confused with seasoned); the salsa’s were fresh and appropriately spicy without being overwhelming; and the bread for the pambazo was light without getting soggy.

There will no doubt be growing pains and plenty of kinks to work out—good thing they opened the time of year they did…they won’t have time to address much when they really get going as the weather clears up—but this is my front runner for Best of Eugene and I suggest you run, not walk, there at your earliest...

We’ve been very excited to try this new restaurant as Claim 52 was our weekly go to spot for years while our daughter is at ballet class to grab a bite and wait. We walked into familiar surroundings as it’s the same physical space. We were immediately told they offer no bathroom ( even though there is one right where it always was when Claim was there . Ok no big deal I guess. Then we sat down and reviewed the menu. Interestingly - the tacos are only pork or fish. We don’t as a family eat pork at restaurants . I also didn’t necessarily desire fried fish trying to be healthy . I asked very nicely if an exception could be made as I could see that they make their quesadillas with chicken. I was told no. On the menu a quesadilla can be made as an option with chicken. I said - I’m trying to understand- you cannot make an exception for someone who doesn’t eat pork - put the same chicken that you put between one tortilla onto my tortilla ? I would have even paid extra. I was told no. They don’t do chicken tacos. I asked one more time if they could use the chicken they use for their quesadillas on my taco as an exception ? I was again told no. So we left. Unless the food is all pre made this didn’t make sense in that it’s putting meat on a tortilla either way. There are many in the Eugene community who don’t eat pork. I’m only writing this so someone else doesn’t take the time to go not knowing this. We’d have frequented every week otherwise, like we did claim , but now we...