Taquería María — Restaurant in Richmond

Adequate but over priced taqueria. As of November 2020, $10.89 for a super burrito, $11.89 super nachos and $3.69 per soft taco. My family bypassed several taquerias with the hope that Maria’s 4 and a quarter out of 5 star would be the spot.

Service was okay. No plastic partition between cashier and customer, six feet markers on the floor or other COVID-19 signage during height of pandemic. Cashier/waitress was speedy but not helpful. She did not explain the choices of beans. She continued to announce “what kind of beans?” with my burritos and nacho orders and waited until I was able to rely on my familiarity with taqueria and recall the available options on my own.

The order came out wrong in-spite of electronic system. One of my burrito came with beef, carne asada, instead of marinated pork, el pastor. Tacos had way too much onions and grilled chicken was no grilled. Guacamole was too blended, sour and did not taste fresh made. No great...

Okay peeps, here we go. My first vist to Taqueria Maria was on a Saturday, about 11 am. I ordered the Menudo. When you see this item on the menu, I think AUTHENTIC place. The real deal. The soup arrived and it was large, hot and smelled so good, very beefy. The chile broth was just right: not bland but not overly spicy. The condiments added to the whole fullfilling experience. Fresh cilantro (which I think is totally Cali-Mex because you would not get this in New Mexico, Arizona nor in Texas) and fried red chile pods, oregano, and chopped onions. All this into the witches magic cauldron and YUM, YUM, YUM! Animal, herbs, and spices. Blessed be. Even the warm tortillas were delicious. The small restaurant was clean, and service is quick. Aplausos 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 I will return to Taqueria Maria at...

The prices are great; I got two tacos a side of rice chips and salsa and a large drink for less than $11. One tacos was shredded chicken and the other was steak, I got it with the hot salsa right on it. Both were fantastic.

As far as the restaurant itself goes, the food came out quickly, the staff was courteous, and one very nice thing to see, the whole time I was there someone was cleaning something. Whether it was wiping down the glass, wiping counters, or the obvious cleaning the tables, they wanted to make sure the place was clean, and it was.

If you are looking for a fancy, sit down restaurant, that's not what this is. But if you want really tasty food in a clean setting with good prices, you won't be disappointed.

Oh - and their homemade hot salsa...