Los Tapatios Mexican Taqueria — Restaurant in Fircrest

Los Tapatios Mexican Taqueria Fircrest, WA 98466

If your driving along South Orchard alongside the old Tacoma dump (ie: Recovery & Transfer), at the intersection of Orchard and Emerson on you will come across the Emerson Courtyard Shopping Mall, housing the OMG Market (as in OMG more bars on the windows than a penitentiary), and some other non descript businesses including the Los Tapatios Mexican Taqueria located at the far end of the ‘upper’ (take note here) level of the parking lot/shopping mall. The place is not fancy and obviously a local family run operation that has been squeezed into a remodel of what was possibly an Espresso cafe in a prior incarnation. But I think it's the family aspect of the business that makes the food pretty amazing. The food items looked and tasted incredibly fresh, having been created in a small kitchen area fully visible from where you walk in and order. The items we ordered were individually and authentically flavourful, in addition to being served as quite generous portions.  The staff are very friendly and outgoing, you order from the overhead menus upon walking in, whereby it then passed to the grill master standing immediately behind, and then once quickly and efficiently plated brought out to you in the open seating area which consists of a number of booths and tables. On  nicer days they have an outdoor patio and seating which is probably quite nice on sunnier occasions.  On this visit we had a Three Enchilada Combo which consisted of (3) enchiladas filled with grilled chicken, each topped with cheese and a different sauce, crema sauce, green tomatillo crema sauce, and mild red roasted pepper sauce. Drizzled with sour cream and served with rice and beans. The crema sauce was outstanding as was both the red pepper and green tomatillo. In addition, we also ordered the Tacos De Alambre (3), served on 6" corn or flour tortillas filled with strips of carne asada, grilled green peppers, onions, bacon and melted Monterey jack and cheddar cheese. Served with rice and beans. Available beverages are your standard fountain drinks plus an assortment of bottled beers (good mexican) and Horchata. Now back to the ‘upper’ location note. The Emerson Shopping Mall uses the term ‘shopping’ and ‘mall’ very loosely. The parking access and design is a traffic safety nightmare which can be extremely dangerous on entering/exiting from Orchard street, and access to the ‘Mall’ from Emmerson is only one way (IN) to the lower level which provides zero access to the ‘Mall’ upper level where you need to be. So be very careful when trying to enter/exit this location as it's a train wreck...

Best Mexican Food In Tacoma!

Customer Service:

This restaurant earns high marks for outstanding consistent customer service. I have come to this location since 2020 and the service is always superb!

Atmosphere:

The resturant isn’t large or small. There are 4 tables which can accommodate 4 people, plus an outdoor patio to enjoy your food when Tacoma happens to have good weather! The resturant is consistently clean as well!

Food Quality:

I live in San Antonio so my standard for Mexican food is pretty high because there are so many great restaurants in SA! This restaurant has the best street tacos 🌮 you will find in Tacoma, hands down! The menu has multiple options to try for your enjoyment! Great small business! Below is the family street taco tray, with Carne Asada, Carnitas & Chicken street tacos! 🌮

If you are in Tacoma, and you have a craving for outstanding Mexican food, Los Tapatios is a Must Visit...

We read such rave reviews and we were really looking forward to trying this place out. We placed an order online (Sunday March 20, 2022), and it indicated the pick up time. But when we went to get it, the place was closed! Everything online indicated it was open, but no such luck. When we tried to call, we got an outgoing message saying you can’t leave a message on that line. So, I can’t review the food. I hope everything is okay and the family didn’t have an emergency of some kind. We’re from out of town but would certainly give it another try when we’re back.

Within a day of this experience, the management called us to apologize. There had been an emergency closing because the cook was sick and they had overlooked dealing with the online ordering system. They were very apologetic and we would definitely go there when we’re...