Poppo's Taqueria — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

Very highly recommended casual taqueria in St. Pete’s Edge District!

Walked in on a Sunday a bit before 1pm. We were almost immediately greeted by Kyle, the general manager, who introduced himself and then proceeded to explain Poppo’s approach to food and ingredients. Hormone-free and grass-fed meats (if appropriate for the animal), organic vegetable ingredients with a focus on local sourcing. Avocado and palm oil instead of seed oils for frying. Cane sugar based sodas in the fountain machine. Tortillas made fresh and cooked per order. Tortilla chips made in house, and to order as well. House made pico de gallo, guacamole, and salsas.

All of the food and condiments were clearly freshly made with fresh ingredients. Kyle explained that generally everything is made fresh daily (although the pickled onions may take more than a day, which would be natural for the pickling process).

We ordered The Dutch Fox tacos, along with guacamole, chips, and pico de gallo salsa. Everything was excellently prepared and very tasty. The carnitas in the tacos was nicely seasoned and moist, with feta cheese, pickled red onions, and pineapple habanero salsa, in a fresh corn tortilla. Portion size was excellent - proportioned to the tortilla so that you could easily pick it up and eat out of hand without losing any of the filling.

The chips were delicious, crisp, well-seasoned, and not oily or greasy. The fresh salsa had an excellent blend of tomato, onion, chile, cilantro, and lime juice. All of the flavors played a note in the whole. The guacamole was creamy, properly seasoned, with just a hint of fresh cilantro.

The staff is very friendly, and essentially all of them greeted us. Conversation with one staffer revealed that they staff all enjoys working there and definitely enjoys the family-run business ethos.

In addition to greeting us and explaining the menu and food to us, Kyle the GM stopped by our table during the meal to check on our enjoyment. This is definitely above and beyond what to expect in a casual dining venue that does not have table service.

That said, the restaurant is a casual taqueria, with both indoor and outdoor seating. The dining area was clean and airy, with sufficient room between the tables to sit comfortably. Furniture was functional and comfortable, and was a common casual downtown eatery style.

Overall, Poppo’s is an excellent choice for high quality, very fresh and tasty...

FOOD: I am on a diet. The man behind the counter was very accommodating to my needs. I had a salad with no rice, no beans, romain AND arugla, chicken, cheese, pico, and guac (guac costs extra). The salad was fresh and crunchy but my chicken was neither exceptionally juicy nor tender. To be fair, it is made in advance and sits in a warmer until they serve you (they don't reheat meat for salad but it would probably wilt it anyways). My husband had some sort of meal that came with three tacos and he tried each one if the meats (chicken/pork/steak). They grilled his tortillas fresh as he ordered and his meat did go onto the tortillas while they were on the grill to re-heat it. He got a glass bottled soda. I tried to opt for a diet soda but they don't offer any so I tried to get a water instead. The soda machine wasn't name brand which was fine by me; but it ONLY offers carbonated water... that was a surprise to me. I just got ice and poured my water bottle into the cup instead.

VIBE: The place was clean and modern. No straws, but the cups and covers are plastic. If you dine in, they give you either a basket lined with wax paper or a stainless steel bowl. The smells of cooking meat (in the morning) while we were working next door brought us in.

PRICE: It was $30.16 for 3 tacos, a SMALL diabetic/keto friendly salad (filled up just over half the small bowl but you could have set a book on top without concern of your book getting dirty), a single bottled soda ($3?), and guac. We did not recieve nor were we offered a reciept so I can't give a breakdown of the charges. We missed the sign on the door when we walked in that states they do NOT ACCEPT CASH.

I know some people love it.. but I don't shop regularly at places that don't accept cash. Will...

First off the food is great and their chips are better than you could imagen I think they make them in house? Atleast they taste like it. Depending on who you get making your food, there are different portions. Second don’t get your food to eat in the resturant because they use these silver bowls that look like dog bowls and honestly kinda felt dirty eating out of it but maybe that’s just me. Also the tables are normally dirty, it doesn’t seem they clean the tables after people finish eating. I thought they were gonna mix my bowl together in the silver bowl then put it into the to go container but I was wrong. Third for the most part the service is great iv had a couple of guys with great attitudes greet me nicely and help me order. However when I came today sadly the girl with blue hair had an awful attitude I was honestly taken back. I greeted her nicely as I work in the food industry and understand how important it is to greet someone with a positive attitude. Very disapointed she even tried to charge me for chips that I had already bought. No apology just a bad attitude which sucks cause I really like this place. Again the food is great but some of their employees need to work on respect and how to correctly greet a customer and make them feel welcome cause I can tell you I will be ordering online from now on or at the left side computer...