Heights Taco & Tamale Co. — Restaurant in Little Rock

Oh yeah...tacos. I mean, who doesn't like them some tacos. So, let's get to it.

I came to know this place and the wonderment of their fine establishment, through my Dad and Stepmom. They live in the Leawood area. One evening as I was visiting, my Stepmom who is a good hostess, suggested Heights Taco (she failed to mention they also have tamales).

She doesn't eat much, and is approximately 78% vegetarian. But, I digress. She told me of this pickle fried taco, and I just looked at her. She laughed and said, "No, trust me on this, they're very good." So I took a chance. She also reappeared with cheese dip. And chips. And extra cilantro (I had asked ahead of time if she could make that happen).

And, wow. Just, wow. All of it was amazing.

So, I've continued to enjoy Heights Taco (and something about tamales) as often as I could. I don't live in Little Rock, but I work there and do see my Dad and Stepmom on occasion. I kept eating it. And everytime, wow.

Fast forward on the DVR of life. I met this lady on a dating site (that literally had no pictures on her profile), and she wrote in a way that was intriguing. Thought to myself: "Hey, you, she sounds like you...funny, interesting to be around, intelligent with a hint of sarcasm." Fast forward on the DVR of life again, and here we are.

One of the first dates I took my wife on was a full day of fun. We started off with The Edge's Chili Cookoff (where I introduced her to that and some of my friends). That was pretty fun. Then, I took her to see some leaves in north central Arkansas. You see, she hails from the greater Georgia-lina area. You know the place, where they really love golf and pine trees. She hadn't ever experienced the beautiful leaves and scenery our awesome state has to offer. She absolutely loved it.

We ended it with Heights Taco (and I've heard they make tamales, too). She was in awe, and not just of the tacos. ;)

We ended up getting married and have since shared our love for the great and amazing Heights Taco (and tamales?) with so many people, including our children. And not one time have we heard anyone say anything but, "Oh my God, that was amazing."

They offer a military discount, must show ID. Eating in is fun, but can be a little noisy at times. Until all of their staff is fully vaccinated, you must wear a mask until served. And, besides the amazing food, the staff - and I mean literally all of them - are wonderful. Great personalities and very friendly and accommodating. I've never had a bad experience.

So go enjoy some queso and some great chips (remember, folks, cheese dip was invented in Arkansas, by the way). Get some tacos...they're all great choices. And, do like what I did, ask them if they make...

I’ve been vegan for 8 years. Visiting family and ate here for lunch on 5/25 at 1pm. Ordered vegan queso and vegan sweet potato tamales. Ate half of my tamales before suspecting that they weren’t vegan. Asked our waitress (tatted white woman with strawberry blonde hair) if they were the vegan tamales and she very apathetically said that no they were pork and beef. I bit my tongue but was visibly upset and she offered no sympathy or understanding of the gravity of the situation. Didn’t offer to take it off the bill, didn’t offer anything. Only said, and I quote: “at least you haven’t thrown up yet.” She’s who took my order and she didn’t even attempt to damage control. I’m only here for the weekend to visit my mom and now I feel awful and disgusting. I’ve been here before and I know that tacos and tamales and local lime are local treasures and the experience should have been different. In my eyes, it’s the waitress’ fault. She should have been rational and pragmatic enough to think if we ordered vegan queso, maybe someone at the table is vegan. Not to mention, I plainly ordered the sweet potato tamales. I shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to ensure my order is correct. My fault is that I’m too trusting and I trusted my order was correct and ate half of it without concern. However, I’m not the one getting paid. This woman collected a paycheck today (plus a fat tip from us) for having carte blanche to basically wreck my mental and physical well-being within the first hour of my only vacation of the year. In reality she’s collecting a check to go get more forearm tats, but that’s beside the point. The point is she didn’t have the wherewithal to comp the order when I looked at her and said I’ve been vegan for 8 years and just ate pork and beef. I work in service myself and would have been like, “im endlessly sorry how can I try to rectify this for you? Comps, meal credits, apologies, etc.” She did none of that. I get none of this was her intention, but it was a careless mistake and her response… ha unprofessional is an understatement. If she did this at a comparably successful spot in Philly she’d be fired....

Very amazing restaurant. Previously, the only place I'd been able to acquire high quality tamales was in large ziploc bags from the trunk of a Mexican woman's car at Walmart. I will continue to buy those tamales whenever possible, but Heights Taco & Tamale is a great option for the other times I'm craving them. My last visit was with another person, and her vegetarian enchiladas also looked very good. Additionally, our server was top-notch, and the atmosphere is neat.

I am removing 1 star though, for another recent visit in which the service was horrible. There was only one other table that was occupied, so they were not busy. It took 8 minutes for the server to even come ask me what I wanted to drink. He was talking to the people at the other table, and looked at me multiple times, but did not come to serve me. His excuse was that he didn't know I hadn't been helped. As he was the only server I saw during my entire visit, I find this hard to believe. Aside from that, as a former server myself, I know that when I see a table unassisted, I take their order myself, then let their section's server know so s/he can take over.

Anyway, 1 bad experience is nothing that should keep me, or anybody else, away....