Str8 Up Tacos — Restaurant in Lakewood

"Straight up now tell me, do you really want to love meat forever, oh, oh, oh, or, am I only a fake vega-aaa-aaan?

Straight up now tell me, is it gonna be jackfruit & cauli together, oh, oh, oh, or, are we just eatin' vegan 'cause we ca--aaa-aaan?" - parody of "Straight up", Paula Abdul

I've been hearing the scuttlebutt in regards to jackfruit, black bean & other assorted vegetarian tacos proudly served from a small taqueria located in a service station. During lunch time on a Saturday, my stomach led me to Str8 Up Tacos for my inaugural visit.

The exterior order window was closed, with signage directing customers to order inside.

The menu has both meat & vegetarian tacos. However, Str8 Up Tacos's claim to fame are their inspired vegetarian tacos, so naturally I had to go with those.

Taco flight (crispy potato, black bean, cauliflower, hibiscus & jackfruit, in handmade tortillas)- Very good! Different flavors & textures intrigued my palate. The hibiscus taco had an extra charge, and reminded me of caramelized onions. My 2 favorite were the crispy potato & cauliflower, because of the crunchy mouthfeel. I found the taco flight filling, new & delicious.

Service was fine. I ordered promptly, and had my food brought out to me within a few minutes. Being inside a carwash, there is a minimal amount of dining tables, both interiorly & exteriorly. Ditto for the parking. I parked at the school lot next door, with street parking also an option.

Str8 up, these tacos are legit! If I'm eating vegetarian, it's gotta be bold & daring vegetarian, and Str8 Up Tacos nails it in that department. Unpretentious, low-key, with very good food, Str8 Up Tacos is a great taqueria that I'm excited to return to when the taco hunger pangs surface in my gut.

Highly...

An excellent albeit different kind of taco shop than what you would typically find in Southern California.

This taco shop is better described as a taco window, which is connected to a carwash. There is very little parking for those looking to just get some tacos and there is very little seating for those who might like to eat their tacos as they wait for their car.

This restaurant specializes in vegetarian (not vegan except in special cases) tacos but also has chicken, beef, pork and shrimp. That said, they are known for their vegetarian.

When I visited I chose one of each of the meat tacos on their homemade tortillas and a vegan horchata. The meat tacos are also not what one would expect. You aren't going to get Al Pastor or Carne Asada here. All of the meat tacos with the exception of the shrimp are braised and pulled meats. They are delicious for what they are, but if you prefer a grilled and chopped taco, this is not the place for you.

None of the meat tacos were particularly memorable but they were still very good. The vegan horchata tasted exactly like a regular horchata to me (maybe that's a good thing?). The salsas, which I think are probably the number two most important thing at any taco shop, were only so-so and were definitely nothing special. The tacos were honestly better without the salsa.

I would recommend this restaurant but only if you're looking for vegetarian tacos, which I will have to try on my next visit. Perhaps it is the vegetarian items that are really as mindblowing as the current rating suggests. In the end, this is a good taco window, but I'm not sure it is quite up to the standard of my 4.7+100...

I love Mexican food. I grew up in the area but moved. While visiting this summer, I've decided to load up on Mexican food. Let's just say I live a bit far from the border, and Mexican food is nearly nonexistent where I currently reside.

Yesterday, I google Mexican restaurants in the area and find this place with a 4.9 star rating. My favorite place in the area has a 4.3 star rating, so this has me pretty excited.

I get here around 2:10pm for a late lunch. But as I hadn't eaten anything all day, I end up ordering a lot. I got 2 beef and 2 pork tacos, 1 shrimp burrito, 1 beef burrito, and 1 chicken nachos. Figured that would also give me a good sample of their flavors.

First, the good. The ingredients seemed good and fresh. Chips were nice and crispy, as if they had just fried them. Their red hot sauce has a nice smokey flavor and their green hot sauce is flavorful as well. I just wish the red sauce was a bit spicier. But what killed it for me, was that the meats were all way too salty. Totally over powered all the other flavors.

I know they slow cook their meat, so maybe it got saltier as it was later in the afternoon? Who knows, but sad to say, it didn't leave a good...