You can tell this place used to be a food truck, and that is not a compliment.
The food is unfortunately very bland, not due to lack of spice, just due to lack of interest and depth in the flavor. We went and tried the beef and the mushroom taquitos. The beef was...okay. Pretty flavorless, it needed some acidity or some distinguishable type of chile to make it distinctive.
The mushrooms were terrible. Sliced baby bellas pan cooked (which, it's a mushroom, so this means boiled!) and tossed in some similarly bland sauce. I'm begging to have either strips of portabello oiled and seasoned then baked (350 for 40 mins btw) to emulate a steak-like texture or to have them finely sliced to emulate more of a pulled pork. It would be so easy to make this dish bomb that it just feels lazy and indicative of a lack of creativity in the kitchen.
Speaking of bad kitchen decisions, why are all the taquitos just potato filled? Again, the food truck influence reads as laziness when it's done in a real kitchen. Take the time to fill the taquitos to order so every bite can have every part of the dish and you get that delicious blend of flavors.
The service is stony-faced and excruciatingly slow. We waited about 10 minutes to be seated while there were 5+ open tables in the joint. We then waited about 15 minutes to order. In both cases the entire service staff of 3 was mostly just chilling behind the counter.
To top it all off, the atmosphere is cookie-cutter minimalist restaurant cladding with a bad American top 40 indie hits playlist on. Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat in an ostensibly Mexican restaurant just felt wild. It didn't feel like a good value either, honestly just make a quick sauce and grab some microwave taquitos from Trader Joes (Titos doesn't fill 'em with meat, so this might actually be an upgrade) and save yourself the...
Ā Ā Ā Read moreTito's Taquitos is easily the best Mexican food I have found in Portland or Oregon! I grew up in Southern California and went to college in East LA and this rivals or surpasses what I grew up with ... Truly incredible!
Chef Anthony (yes a trained Chef!) brings the freshest ingredients together in a perfect symphony of taste. The flavor comes in waves.
If there is a National Salsa Competition then their salsa should enter and would certainly ribbon and possibly win. (if there isn't a National Salsa Competition can we please get that started?!? š)
Yes it is worth the wait.
Yes they sell out everyday ... So call ahead to place your order and ensure they are open. If it goes to voicemail just call back in a few minutes.
There is NO doubt that Chef Anthony will be opening a sit-down restaurant in the next year or two! So come eat here now so you can brag to your friends in a year or two about finding Tito's Taquitos when it was a food cart in a gas station parking lot ... They will think you are even cooler than you...
Ā Ā Ā Read moreGreat experience from the greeting on! Loved the hand painted signs and music. Ordering was straightforward and quick as the menu isn't overwhelming. We got our drinks right away and sat next to the counter. Our food came a few minutes after we ordered, but it wasn't too busy at the time. The food was excellent. Far exceeded my expectations. We got the beef and the shrimp taquitos along with a chicken taco. The plating was nice to look at and was generously portioned. The taquitos were crisp and not greasy at all. A perfect base for the toppings The shrimp was cooked perfectly and flavorful without being too heavy on the butter. The beef was tender and was a comfort to eat. The staff was attentive and we even spoke to the chef/owner and we were able to let him know how great the food was! A must try in...
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