Maskadores Taco Shop — Restaurant in Scottsdale

Maskadores in south Scottsdale is now under new management and there are a ton of changes. Starting with the good: They added a salsa bar, the new management/employees seem very friendly and some of the prices have gone down . Unfortunately there's been a lot of negative changes too. The carne asada is no longer cooked to order - it's precooked and they just heat it up on the griddle, additionally the shrimp is not nearly as fresh and it seems like they try to cover it up by cooking it with a ton of sauce. They also changed the method of cooking the shrimp which negatively impacts it's texture. The old cook used to toss it on the griddle with peppers and onions(turned up to a much higher setting than they were using today) with a spoonful of water and then quickly cover it with a stainless steel dome. Today they threw it on the griddle and just doused it with some sauce(that didn't have all that much flavor) and cooked it for quite a long time. This left me with rubbery shrimp that didn't have much flavor aside from the flavor shrimp starts to pick up as it gets older. It wasn't rotten or bad or anything, it just doesn't compare to the masterfully prepared shrimp of the old chef. They also used to make a kids quesadilla for $4(perfect for my little one) but when I ordered a kids quesadilla today, they made a full sized one and charged me $9.50 for it. It did not have very much cheese and the chicken inside it was extremely salty (to the point where my kiddo refused to eat it and I certainly can't blame him for it). The wet chimi my wife usually orders was reportedly just as good as usual 👍. I found the rice very different and much more bland, the corn was burnt(to the point where the inside of most kernals was dried out) and the large horchata was less than half the size it used to be and it tasted like it was from a mix and not hand made. As for prices, the wet chimi went up up in price by $4. The surf and turf burrito went down in price by $2, the horchata went down by $1(but was no longer family sharing size). I'm hoping that some of these things are just growing pains as the business changes hands, but I'm not holding my breath that it will ever go back to the...

Great spot for some amazing food! I've heard of Maskadores from a few friends, but have never lived close enough to enjoy their delicious food before. Now that I'm a lot closer, decidedly to stop in for a quick 'I'm hungry before dinner' snack after work. While all the menu offerings looked amazing, I ordered 5 street tacos (3 al pastor/2 carne asada) and WOW was I impressed! Normally, most taco shops are a little bland to say the least. NOT here!! Amazing, highly impressive flavors came through even though I went with a 'standard dress' (cilantro/onion) on the tacos only. Those al pastor ones were so on point, I think I've only had better in Puebla itself! Ordered a second set for the S/O on my way out the door, but had to -1 star as cook shorted me on some delicious meat. They were not as full as my original order which made me sad. Girl was happy as hell still, but oh...

Regretfully I have to lower my review from 5 stars to 3. The food here is my favorite order at the counter Mexican around, however, you get overcharged every time or at least I do not understand the pricing structure. Today I ordered a burrito that said 7.25 on the menu, I got charged 10.80 with tax. This has happened with everything I've ever gotten here. I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they are not doing this on purpose but it should be clarified. I probably will keep looking for a new favorite due to it.

Update 2/6/2024. After not coming here for years because they always overcharged I thought I would try it again and sure enough I got overcharged again. Unreal. Lowered to one star and going to look into reporting this business to whoever I can...