Island Taco — Restaurant in Monterey

Ordered a chicken rice bowl. Portion is generous but also a bit pricer compared to a "burrito bowl" you can get at another location.

I called my lunch order in a head of time and was a bit surprised when I was told it would be ready in 5 minutes. While the rice, beans, and chicken were all warm, I could assume that the chicken was already precooked, versus grilled fresh based on the short prep time. It was also a bit dry. Overall flavor of everything was okay.

They have a chilled salsa bar with prepacked cups of a few different types of salsas you can take. These do help add a bit more flavor.

The location is small with limited seating indoors and outside. Parking around the Crossroads shopping area can be difficult as well during peak lunch time.

For many of us workers in Carmel with a short lunch break, there isn't very many inexpensive quick bite options in the immediate area so while I could say, I've had better elsewhere this spot isn't all that bad and do like having it here...

My husband went there today for lunch and was discriminated be the waitress she was rude and didn't care to give him a menu and didn't want to take his order just because he was in his work uniform and is Mexican... And yes I do believe that was the factor cuz white people would come in and she would be very kind and helpful with them my husband after wasting twenty minutes of his lunch break ended up leaving without ordering cuz the waitress never helped him... I well not be recommending this restaurant anytime soon with this bad service... P.s. she is lucky I was not there cuz I would have reported her...

I was reading the lower reviews on Island Taco and it became evident to me that this restaurant has made a lot of improvements over the years. My family and I all got different dishes and all of them were fresh and delicious. Island Taco does not deserve any of these bad ratings and it’s nice to see a restaurant develop and make improvements. The service was excellent and the employees were very friendly. Island taco is truly a hidden gem and I would love visiting again. I highly recommend trying this restaurant as it is truly a...