Howling Wolf Taqueria — Restaurant in Salem

4/28/25 gave it another shot because the other go to was closed and I wanted tacos. My experience two years ago stands, this place lost the touch and I'm so bummed. Service was quicker this time and they were very friendly. The Margarita I had with blood orange was delectable though a bit weak, and I haven't had alcohol in months.

The tacos however, those were my main reason going and I can't say it nicely, they were terrible.

The tortillas were practically uncooked. They were soft and pliable but so bad. The filling was okay. The other friend got shrimp tacos and the presentation wasn't great either. The filling was okay, the topping was a huge miss.

The nachos and salsa were okay but the chips were stale. I ended up using them to eat the filling from my taco. If you follow my reviews I hate wasting food, but these were just a huge miss.

To top it off we weren't warned that trivia DJ was going to be setting up next to our table essentially killing the night for us.

I gave it another shot but this is not the place from 10 years ago no more. Too bad.

6/7/23: what a frustrating experience this was. The food was okay but it took forever. I can see they were busy but other people were getting served before us. A person who looked like the manager in a T-shirt and shorts who didn't even welcome us, just waved us around and sat us down in a hidden spot. The servers looked overworked as it was way busier for the number of people actually working the tables. It took nearly 15 minutes for someone to talk to us just to get our order. Thank goodness there was room temperature water at the table. Avoid the chili con queso, it's American cheese with no other flavors. Burrito was fine but the meat was dry. After a frustrating day for a frustrating experience I'm out. Thanks for the 10+ years howling Wolf but you've really gone downhill these past few. If it's under new management it would explain a...

LUNCH REVIEW

HUGE Portions, good prices. Consider that this was on a weekend in October.

On our first trip to Salem, our girlfriend and I wanted to go on a weekend in October because of all the Halloween events happening. What we didn't really internalize until we got there was how PACKED it was going to be. This city is tiny and is not built to accommodate the sheer number of people who come in on weekends in October. It took 45 minutes to finally park. Take the train if you can.

I say all this because like Salem, the Howling Wolf was PACKED. When we initially arrived, they quoted us a 1 hour and 45-minute wait. We went back after finding parking and they seated us immediately which was a nice surprise. This probably wouldn't be your experience if you go on a random weekend so take what I say with a grain of salt.

I asked the waiter what the biggest thing on the menu was as I was HUNGRY and one of the things he said was the fajitas...and he was not wrong. Look at the picture below. A full plate of sizzling steak, onions, and peppers and then another full plate of rice, beans, cheese, lettuce, and pico de gallo. For $15, that's one heck of a deal! The food wasn't the best Mexican I've ever had but it was good and there was a lot of it. That's what you want at a Tex-Mex type place like this.

One negative that I need to call out...the bathroom situation. There are only 2 individual bathrooms for the entire restaurant. When I went, there was a line of 6 people and I had to wait 10 minutes which really interrupted my meal. When my girlfriend went to go wash her hands, there were 10 people in line and she had to wait even longer. I will admit that it was a busy day but this was a really big negative to the experience at the restaurant.

Overall, great experience! Maybe go to the bathroom...

We stopped here because of all the positive reviews and was hoping this wasn’t just an run of mill restaurant trying to just turn and burn tables. Sadly that’s all it seemed to be. They where quick to drop water and a stack of glasses. Which we appreciated from all the walking we had been doing. Then chips followed extremely quickly. Would of been amazing but they where burnt ti a crisp. I know they are free but that doesn’t set a customer up to be excited for the rest of the experience. As we where waiting for our server to stop by we witnessed customers coming in and quickly leaving before ordering, which should of been a red flag but we figured we are already here let’s give it a try. Honestly we should of ran. The server was awful he had no personality. Didnt smile not once looked like he hated life. I get it I work In the industry it’s hard but at least fake it. We tried ordering a frozen drink and was quickly told they are out??? Ummm what? Ok so we got our drinks on the rocks which where good. Then we ordered the food and each of us got a burrito and was asked what kind of beans we would like? We all asked for refried. Out of four of us only two of us got beans and one was black beans. As for the burritos, I’ve had better at Taco Bell. They where cold, dry, tasteless, no cheese and lacked the beans we asked for. I sent mine back and let the server know it wasn’t edible. We took the food and never returned until it was time to drop the check which he did nothing to make the situation right. He could of asked if I would like something else but instead was left to Munch on the burnt chips . As for the atmosphere place was dirty, floor bathrooms, tables and menus could use a wipe down. There has to be better options. Do yourself and...