Rene’s Mexican Kitchen — Restaurant in Tampa

This Mexican food truck came highly recommended. It mostly lived up to the hype, but with two caveats.

First, what we got. I ordered two chicken tacos, one steak taco (a special), one octopus and shrimp taco (also a special), one chile relleno taco, and one steak and bacon taco.

The staff were polite, helpful, and kind and the service was quick.

As for the food... The steak taco was stellar. One of the most flavorful tacos I have ever had with rich, complex flavor (a combination of the steak and cheese). It really was amazing. The octopus and shrimp taco was also quite good with excellent seasoning. The steak and bacon taco was good, but the two flavors largely resulted in me tasting just steak and bacon without any other spices or flavors. My wife, son, and I all try all the tacos, but they didn't try the chile relleno taco because it was too spicy. It's not actually that spicy, but they like zero spice. I thought it was quite good.

Now, caveat number 1 - the chicken taco. It was quite a disappointment. I got two because chicken is generally the only meat my wife will eat. She took a couple of bites and decided she wasn't going to finish them. I wouldn't say they tasted bad, but they certainly did not taste amazing or perhaps even good. They were mediocre at best. I'm not sure what it was about them, but the combination of ingredients and spices resulted in a flavor that was kind of bland but also a little off-putting. Definitely not a winner. Don't get the chicken tacos. We may not even finish them. They are in the fridge as I write this waiting for me to decide whether they are worth finishing...

Caveat number 2 is the price. We've been comparing Mexican street tacos all around the Wellswood/Seminole Heights area. These tacos at Rene's are almost twice the price of most other places. I would pay that for the steak taco; maybe even the chile relleno taco. I'm not sure the others warrant the price.

All things considered, if I was looking for an inauthentic Mexican street taco that was filled with complex flavors, I'd give Rene's Mexican Kitchen a look. The steak taco is worth visiting alone - absolutely stellar and highly recommended. Just avoid the...

We actually attended the Pinellas Park Taco Fest this past Sunday and wanted to order from his food truck. (We had the opportunity to meet Rene upon ordering and we had seen him on HGTV).

We walked around looking at the menus of all the trucks and circled back to Rene's which did have the longest line. Rene had the most unique tacos offered: Octopus & shrimp, crab cake, ahi tuna, lamb, pork barbacoa, al pastor, spicy shrimp, and pork belly to name a few.

Friends had eaten from Rene's truck on Saturday and highly recommended both the lamb and octopus & shrimp (mentioned that the octopus & shrimp was soft as butter and juicy).

We decided on: *Beef Barbacoa de chacete on a flour tortilla. Tasty, a bit spicy and delicious. *Octopus & shrimp on a flour tortilla. Unfortunately, it was overcooked; the octopus was tough as a rubber band and the shrimp were chewy. (It was actually inedible.) The 5-stars are based on my friend's experience. I hope to try it again one day soon.

The truck was inviting, the service was fast and the staff was very friendly.

There was a $3 upcharge to use a credit card but it wasn't...

We just moved to the neighborhood and my youngest son is a big foodie, so he likes to try a lot of restaurants. We just happened upon Rene's and while the food was good, above average even... the only thing special about it was the RIDICULOUS prices. At Rene's, they charge you extra for rice and beans on a burrito (which is insane) AND the prices are about 30% over market value.. and for what? It's a food truck, their overhead while not non-existant isn't the overhead of a dine in restaurant where a delicious burrito will cost me anywhere from $9-$12.50. The prices for ingredients hasn't increased enough the justify the cost. I'm all for profit but when you start upcharging for something that should be standard in the food.. like rice and beans in a burrito, that's as much as a red flag as an Asian restaurant charging $3 for a bowl extra rice. So 2 burritos and 2 drinks cost me over $40 this evening... from a food truck. It was good, but not better than my 3 favorite Mexican restaurants in Tampa... so I will keep being a patron to them...