Taqueria El Sabor — Restaurant in Shoreline

Worst experience ever. Disrespectful staff, I'll never go back. I went down there with my wife to get some late night Mexican food. They had great reviews and were close so we decided to check them out. I ordered a simple "bean and cheese burrito". We get back home and I take a bite into a burrito with rice, lettuce, tomatoes and no trace of beans. Wrong order, that's fine, things happen. I go back and politely ask for another burrito with only beans and cheese. I wait for about 15-20 while the cashier and cooks speak in Spanish joking about situation. They apparently didn't know I speak Spanish fluently and could understand everything being said. The cook refused to make my burrito and made sure that there were no customers in the restaurant until they started working on my order. The cashier even said, "do you want me to go back there and make it?", since the cook was refusing to fix my order. I finally get my burrito and I get one about 40% the size of the original one. Even the cashier asked in Spanish "what size tortilla did you use." as she cringed and put it in the bag. Then the cook simple said in Spanish, "all he wanted was beans and cheese." then glared and smirked at me. Final note, I get home and open my burrito since I assumed that there would be something left in it maliciously and I find a green pepper the size of a grape tucked under the tortilla. I'm not even mad, just amazed at how spiteful and disrespectful an establishment can be to a paying customer. Especially one that was polite and understanding. There people should be...

I honestly dont get the high ratings and the hype behind this place. I've been here atleast 4 times in the last couple of years and I held off on writing a review thinking maybe the next dish and visit would be better. But it wasnt. so here we are. This place is housed in an old Taco bell location and it has quite a lot of parking available. It's right on Aurora Ave so very easy to see from the road. Coming to the food, I've tried their tacos with a variety of meats, enchilada, carne asada plate, soups etc. The meat, especially the shredded ones in taco/enchilada has always been sketchy and no that flavorful, imo. The carne asada was decent but then for the price, they dont give a lot. The beans are greasy and meh tasting so skip that but the rice is decent. The only thing which I really liked about the place was the salsa/pickled veggies bar which has a huge variety of mild and spicy salsas so everyone can choose what they like. The food has always been flavorless for me so the salsa bar has been a savior and I've basically eaten everything drenched in salsas/pickles. For cheap eats, I guess it's okay and I may be coming back to give a couple of other dishes a try (seriously their menu is huge!) but wont...

TLDR: affordable, fresh, filling. Get the salad from salad bar.

Tip: use the radish slices like chips and treat the salad like salsa.

Gave this place another shot and have been coming back ever since.

Service: order and pay at the register--you are given a number for your table; gather what you want from the salad bar, and seat yourself. Depending on peak hours, your table will be bused before you leave or you can bus it yourself as you leave.

I find that a little boat of radish slices, salad from the bar, 6 tacos and a side rice split between two people is filling. Super affordable too!

Salad Bar: free sides with purchase of any meal. The salad is a bit on the salty side and can get pretty spicy with the minced jalapeño--but trust me, the pain is worth it. Especially if you use the radishes as "chips" for salad and scoop it up. Yummy healthy side dish! Watch out the pickled carrots are spicy! I found out the hard way.

Carnitas Tacos: yummy carnitas with a gentle spice kick from a toddler. The meat is tender but can be dry on some parts.

Side rice: tasty--a good compliment to tacos. It's not too salty and helps neutralize the salt from the tacos. The rice is on the dry side--grains don't...