Street Tacos — Restaurant in Oakland

They have great food and we've eaten here several times since we moved to Oakland. I did want to put on internet record an incident that I just got mad about all over again. I had ordered a small chicken quesadilla and went home to find it was a cheese quesadilla. I called up there to inform them, brought the food back (I had taken a bite while working, thinking it was smaller than expected), and it became a small back and forth about the fact that the guy put in "cheese" quesadilla because that's what he though he heard and charged me for it, and considering the fact that I had bitten out of it and paid the lesser amount (other food was ordered and I didn't bother to count the total), I should keep it and pay for another quesadilla. After I explained that I didn't realize it and I'm not trying to get over on him, he finally decided to remake the quesadilla but I had to go to my car to dig out $.50 change to pay the difference (because swiping my card would cost him more than the $.50 needed). I understand customer service very well from an business and customer perspective, and I accept that perhaps I didn't hear him correctly if he repeated the order back, but this is simply NOT how you handle the situation. He was more focused on being right (and making sure I understood it was my fault) than he was resolving a minor customer issue in a manner that would leave the customer feeling positive. I wasn't loud or angry about it and I acknowledged the disconnect in communication. I'm not saying to boycott the place and I'll probably go back at some point, but this unpleasant experience has definitely made take my money elsewhere a few times since, and they've missed out on much more than the 50 cents that...

Edit: Love the food here, manager is very kind. Prices are fair. But I would love to be able to place an order online in a way that wasn't overwhelming. I want to go to an actual website and place an order easily. Also, when I want to place an order over the phone, someone should pick up the phone. So I would knock down one star for that. Food is great but their menu is confusing and very difficult to get to. Girl at counter seems like she doesn't care.

This was the first time I'd been to Street Taco. They originally had started in a truck. I heard some pretty good things about their food. (Also, Oakland does not have any good food! All we have out here is fast food.) my experience was very pleasurable. I walked in to some very interesting and lively decor. The owner of the restaurant greeted me and I asked him about the menu and he gave me a few options as to how to look up their items. Really nice guy. I can tell he's worked hard to build this place. He told me about the fish tacos that I was looking at. He told me the snapper would be better so that's what I got. Keep in mind that this is not Tex-Mex, this is traditional Hispanic food. My food was ready within 10 minutes and someone brought it out to me. I actually decided to sit there and eat. There is a nice speaker system so you can sit enjoy a little bit of music while you eat. I think this would be a good spot for a family or just an individual trying to get a quick...

Different, to say the least. Not bad. Different. The fried flour tortilla chips are an odd texture, thought not offensive and seemingly as addicting as any corn chip elsewhere. The rice filled "chicken" burrito left me feeling a bit confused. Is this a hibachi place or Mexican? Additionally, for a "chicken" burrito, I had exactly 3 pieces of chicken inside mine. The cheese dip was good, as it is hard to screw that up (not that it cannot be done... 🤣). Staff was less than enthusiastic and seemed put out by the fact that I was placing an order. Hmm... Absolutely disgusting water delivery method. IYKYK. I don't want to touch the same thing everyone else in the building is touching. Gross. Gotta be a better way. Allowing patrons to wait at tables for to go orders seems like a bad plan. I know the place is small and the evening I went, it was freezing outside. However, not having ample seating room for dine-in patrons is absurd.

All that to say this: The elote! The Mexican street corn! Insert chef's kiss! What an otherworldly delight! Perfectly cooked and coated with magical, flavor explosion of cheese and spice. THIS is why the line is out the door.

Also, shout out to Patron X who told me about the Mexican pizza that is not available online, only in the shop. That's next...