Holy Taco — Restaurant in Lake Oswego

My partner and I recently moved into the neighborhood and Holy Taco came highly recommended by a local acquaintance of hers. It was getting late one night, recently and we were hungry, trying to figure out where to go. Our expectations of Holy Taco weren't especially high, but after seeing the happy hour menu, and quickly running out of options, we pulled the trigger on what seemed like some good deals. Overall, it was a decent experience for a last minute happy hour drop-in. The food was pretty good for the value.

We ordered the brussel sprouts, nachos, tacos and margaritas to drink.

The margarita didn't exactly stand out as anything special. Pretty standard. I imagine it was made with a mixer and well liquor. I'm not a big drinker, so one drink usually goes a long way, anyway.

I would say the highlight of the meal were the two appetizers. The brussel sprouts with pork belly was actually quite enjoyable. The sprouts were cooked really well, tossed generously with large, tender chunks of pork belly and dressed with a balsamic glaze and chopped green apple. No complaints.

The nachos were perfect for $7. We each proclaimed a different preference for bean topping (black or pinto) when asked by our server, and she promptly offered the possibility of "doing both", which quickly put the debate to rest. It was a generous portion of well topped and dressed nachos, with the beans partitioned to either side of the tray so we could easily snack from our preferred choice of bean. Again, no complaints.

The tacos left a little something to be desired. I wasn't sure if the happy hour tacos were perhaps prepared differently from the regular menu tacos, but I would assume from the portion sizes of the happy hour small plates that this wasn't the case. My main gripe with the tacos is that the tortillas (we both ordered corn) were quite thin, and served as a single layer, and while this might not normally be a huge problem, both our tacos (chorizo and carnitas) were both quite wet. Both had pineapple chunks included in the toppings, which clearly added a significant juiciness to the contents. The carnitas was of the stewed variety, and did not seem to have the trademark fried crispiness that would help accommodate wetter toppings like pineapple chunks.

Lastly, I was slightly disappointed with the service. It wasn't a huge problem, but considering the volume of customers, I didn't quite feel like the casual service was justified. We arrived about an hour before closing, and the place wasn't exactly empty, but it certainly wasn't packed, but we were seated at a small table that was somewhat pressed between two other tables against a wall. Maybe they were expecting a last minute rush? The only other noticeable issue was that no one ever brought water to the table and we had to ask for it once our food started arriving.

Overall, I wouldn't say it was the most amazing taco experience I've had, but I will definitely keep this place in mind for the happy hour deals when it's getting late and we're having trouble deciding what to do and we want to stay...

Have been wanting to try this place for a while, but have been hesitant because I love Mexican food (Texas transient here) and also the prices seem a bit high after reading some reviews. Food is decent, tastes good and overall yummy, but the portions are borderline insulting. A taco that’s $5 provides a single chicken tender that’s short than my finger. Like an actual tiny piece of meat that, if not normal, should’ve been stopped when I returned my food for getting the wrong tortillas; and if normal, is a reason to never return. If the portions were actually decent, this would’ve been delicious. Chicken “dirty bird” taco is what my hand is next to, and the $6 ribeye taco I took one bite out of before snapping the picture.

The service is mediocre, my servers (I had two, maybe three?stayed during shift change) were both very pleasant and polite, but I guess sitting outside doing work on my laptop, though consistently ordering alcohol beverages, justifies being ignored and disregarded.

So overall, servers are very pleasant and food tastes good. But overpriced for what you get and pretty slow inattentive service. Might return for drinks and an appetizer, solely because I found the staff very friendly to be around, but not a place I’ll be bringing friends that come to town to visit. If you’re looking for actual quality Mexican food (very hard to find around Oregon), taco trucks around Beaverton and especially Hawthorne Asylum blow this place out of the water both in...

Honestly, I have been here multiple times and have tried to like this place because the location is great and the options are somewhat limited in the Lake Oswego area. Unfortunately their cocktails and food completely disappoint everytime.

I feel as though they try to present as though they are offering delicious food, however as soon as you bite in, you immediately realize everything is rudimentary. The flavors are lacking and many times the meat (fried chicken tacos most recently) are way overcooked (the chicken in my tacos was so overcooked, the chicken had actually dissappeared in the breading leaving just the fried up crumbs of the breading-like getting the bottom of the fry basket containing just the burnt ends and nothing in the middle). For the same price (and less) there are many other wonderful options for tacos and this style of food.

The cocktails are also super basic and not well balanced. Once again, the cocktail prices are comparable to some fine crafted cocktails bars in the city, which makes their cocktails terrible overpriced for what ypu get. (read my other reviews for excellent recommendations in town)

All of this really makes Holy Taco have no competitive advantage in the PDX area. The best thing Holy Taco has going for them is their location and outdoor seating in downtown...