Taco Libre — Restaurant in West St. Paul

You should ALWAYS listen to your Mexican co-workers when asking about Mexican restaurants to check out around the Twin Cities. I did not this time and I wish I had! Advertising authentic street tacos, I couldn't help, but want to try this place out, but my co-worker told me to stay away...

I walked in to a packed place and all I could think was, "my co-worker must be crazy, this place is packed, foods has to be good...." After my first bite, I quickly thought, "These people must not be aware of all the other places far more superior than this place and not that far away either..."

I ordered 4 tacos; Asada, Cabez (beef cheek), Pastor (marinated roasted pork) and Cecina Enchilada (adobo marinated pork) with some medium salsa verde and a side of chips and salsa. As I started digging into the chips and salsa waiting for my food to arrive, I quickly became unsatisfied.

The chips seemed to be far too salty for my liking and not as light and crispy as some of my favorite spots. As for the salsa that came with my chips - my wife can make better salsa! This salsa was tasting just like store bought Pace and I pushed that all to the side.

My tacos came out and I became uninterested in eating immediately. The Asata looked like a piece of jerky and dry. after just one bite, it was basically that exact thing. The difference between jerky and Libre's Asata, jerky has flavor (you're going to see a trend here). The cheek was the moistest thing on my plate, but again, no flavor. The Pastor was dry and should be full of great flavor, again, it was not. Finally, the Cecina, my last hope for a tasty lunch and it was bland and boring like the rest of it! Thankfully, I had that somewhat tasty salsa verde to help with flavoring or I probably would have just tossed my whole meal.

I heard lots of people saying things like, "This is the offices go to place for Mexican.", "My co-workers won't go anywhere else..." My thought.... "They must not get out much!" There are so many more places to check out that make this place look foolish for opening up. Check out; Catrina's in Oakdale, Las Tortillas in Rosemount, Cien Taco in Woodbury, La Palma in St. Paul or just down the road from Taco Libre - El Tequito Taco Shop.

Good luck in your search for authentic Mexican cuisine. This place will not be added to my to my list of Twin Cities Best Tacos. If you do happen to stop by and have the same experience as I did, at least you have some cool decor to look at!

TRIP #2

Against my better judgement, I decided to give this place another try and this time listening to a crazy white guy who's been all over the world and has tried all kinds of great food. He follows my reviews quite a bit and always has great insight into my experiences and we both think we have well-rounded palettes.

He convinced me enough to go back and try their staple item - the Machete! A giant taco/open burrito/it's own monstrosity of a creation and you get to pick what meat you want added to it. Starts with a fried corn tortilla, lettuce, salsa, sour cream and Oaxaca cheese.

I was as honest as I could be with him... This experience was better than my first one, but again, nothing to really do cartwheels over! Yes, it was actually pretty good, but again, I can think of so many other places I would rather stop for some awesome Mexican food and actual Street Tacos. What they're serving, isn't even close to my favorite places!

There are a lot of reviews for this place saying how bomb' this place is, but I think they need to do some venturing...

Pregnant woman here, who loves food and isn't all too picky. Now, this might seem a bit harsh of a review. But I genuinely feel robbed of my money. The "Bowl" is advertised as a base of rice loaded with beans, corn, pico, and salsa, with whatever protein you pick. They charge 14$, which sounds reasonable granted the food is generous and good quality. My impression this was more of an 'authentic' Mexican restaurant. But instead I got a bowl that was 80% wet over-cooked rice. Maybe 12% beans, 3% corn, 3% pico and 1% chicken. No salsa! :) Talk about enshittification. Money is harder to come by more than ever, and you're going to charge me 14$ for capitalist profit. Crazy! I can make better quality, fluffy spanish rice at home for significantly less money! Either this establishment needs to have higher standards for what food it sends out or it needs to charge half as much. Genuinely bad. I could literally get a better taco bowl for less money at Taco Bell. My husband got the quesadillas and it had no flavor other than salt over salt over salt. Enough to drastically raise anybody's blood pressure. Spanish/Mexican cooking is some of the most seasoned and flavorful food. It's embarrassing the main flavor profile here is wet and ridiculously over salty. First time trying Taco Libre and will be the...

EDIT - 2023: What happened here? So sad, this place has gone down hill. The food is really inconsistent, sometimes you get what you order with the food prepared well and good taste. But lately the food has been prepared sloppy, the tortillas fall apart, the meat is super greasy and I've had a handful of times that I've ordered takeout only to find out at home that my order was completely messed up. I really miss the 2019 Taco Libre when they had pastor from El Trompo, now the pastor is greasy and lacks flavor. 2019: Where to begin? I absolutely love this place! It has great Mexican street food. Their tacos and filling choices are excellent! The pastor is probably the best pastor I have had in the Twin Cities. When I go there, I usually get their tacos, machete or bowls. I have had their tortas, which are also good but a little too carb/calorie rich for me. I love their churros, which are accompanied by a caramel/cajeta side dip and it is delicious. One of the great perks of eating here is the complementary salsa bar, which is also excellent; they range from mild to extra hot and are always fresh - a delicious way to spice...