Nico´s Tacos Taqueria y Carniceria Mexicana — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

Being a fan of authentic California burritos in San Diego (shout out to Lolita's!) the struggle is real when trying to find something similar on the east coast. Strangely enough, carne asada burritos stuffed with fries and guacamole is a hard formula to nail just right.

So to my surprise Nico's serves up a version of the California burrito that I just had to try. In terms of authenticity, it gets a 7.5 out of 10. I felt the fries weren't as crispy as they should be, and while they had a pretty good red sauce, it isn't the same as what they serve up in San Diego. With that said, it was not a bad burrito by any means, and I thought it was delicious.

Other than the California burrito, they of course have a variety of tacosamd even soups. We haven't yet tried anything other than the burritos but how can you mess up a taco anyway?

Where Nico's loses points is quality of the interior and more importantly, service. At first it seemed like they just moved in and they decided to serve food before they settled in, but another visit a month later and the look wasn't improved much. At some point they have to clean up their establishment and make it presentable.

On our most recent visit, we were deliberately skipped over for someone else who went in after us, which was unacceptable. There was no good reason for that, we entered and waited for them to take our order like everyone else. I hope they can at least improve their quality of service, because I couldn't care less about the interior as long as service is on point. Hopefully the third time is the charm. These issues are fixable!

PROTIP: order to go

PROS: very good burrito, authentic Mexican cuisine

CONS: service needs work, overall cleanliness...

I stopped by Nico's Tacos for the first time last week and the food was excellent! I got 2 carne asada (beef) tacos, 2 carnitas (pork) tacos, a steak quesadilla and a side of quacamole to take home for dinner for 2 people. The tacos were only $2.50 each. What a deal!

It's just a tiny counter-service place, with 6 or 7 tables that fill up fast, but I was getting my food to go, so there was no problem for me.

I arrived around 2pm and there was a line waiting to order. That's always a good sign. I asked for my tortillas and taco ingredients to be separated, since I wasn't going to be eating until later and they were happy to accommodate my request.

You'll find a good variety of drinks and Mexican sodas, as well as chips and snacks from Mexico too. One tip, if you've never opened an old-fashioned bottle with a bottle opener. Use the rounded end of an opener like the one picture. The pointed end is for poking a hole in the top and you don't want to do that. I felt pretty ancient when I had to show the young (20-something) guy how to open his bottle of soda. :-)

Great place! I wish it was closer to home. I'll be going there whenever I'm in the...

I found a menu for this place in a drawer at work and asked my coworkers if they were any good. I was told they were good. Talk about an understatement.

I decided to check it out on my lunch break that day and since then I've been back at least twice a week for the past 6 months. During that time I've had a chance to try almost everything on the menu and I have to say this is hands down the best in Va Beach. Each of the protien choices for the tacos is delicious in it's own way. My personal favorites are the carne asada, el pastor, and chorizo (which I asked where he gets it because all of the storebought I've tried locally has never browned up right because is was all fat and filler, only to find out he makes it in house!)

The only down side is I ordered the cheese sauce once and it was a bit on the runny side. But everything else is top notch. The service can be slow if they're busy, because Nico mostly runs the FOH by himself, but he's friendly and has a good amount of energy.

%100 would (and have to anyone who'll...