Taco Mama - Winston-Salem — Restaurant in Winston-Salem

service would get 4.5 stars (-.5 because proper mask wearing among staff was not quite as consistent as i’d love to see), everyone was incredibly kind and helpful and speed of service was amazing! the quest, chips, & salsa was great.

we had the judge burrito with a side of street corn. the burrito was... lacking. the chicken was severely underseasoned and dry, and i think saying it’s “marinated” is... a stretch. the burrito was constructed so that all of the chicken was on one end and all of the veggies/toppings were on the other, which created a really unbalanced flavor (it’s a cheap taco place so I’m not mad at the kitchen staff by any means, but when the chicken is not good, it makes it hard to eat when that’s all you get for half the burrito). the other ingredients were fresh and tasted fine, though there wasn’t a whole lot of flavor there, either.

the flavor of the street corn was great, but the corn was very over cooked so in combo with the cheese, you didn’t have much textural difference. i think it could have more corn and a little less of the other ingredients as well. This was definitely the best part of the meal flavor-wise, if the corn had not been over cooked, it would’ve been really, really good.

i’ve seen some reviews that said the portion size was not enough and i disagree (at least on the burrito). my partner and i split 1 judge burrito (+ street corn) and we added the small size of queso to the complimentary chips + salsa and it was the perfect amount of food for us, especially for the price.

the actual location is cute, i like the mesh screen dividing indoor and outdoor seating, and the decor is what you’d expect for this type of place. things looked & felt clean and staff was super attentive (seriously, no complaints on any staff here).

i knew this would be a very americanized taco place but i didn’t expect it to be this level of bland and...

I was not expecting authentic Mexican cuisine. I knew this place offered americanized street tacos. That was what I was in the mood for. Unfortunately this establishment produced by far the worst version of that kind of food that I have ever had. I ordered the cheesy beef taco basket with street corn as my side. When it comes to the tacos, I don't necessarily blame the cook. I blame whoever put together the recipes that they had to follow. It was significantly more bland than I had anticipated, and the fact that they were delivered in a cold flour tortilla made that even more noticeable. To make the dish better, offering corn tortillas, adding a more pronounced citrus component, and a side of Chiles would have fixed the dish. If these were options, the staff did not let me know which is why I knocked off a star in the service category. Otherwise the staff were friendly and the service was speedy. The street corn was average, though im pretty sure they used cilantro instead of epazote which definitely made it taste a little off. The chips that accompanied the meal tasted stale, which is disappointing because i came in during the lunch rush so I didnt think i would be eating something that tasted like it was left out, and freshly frying them takes 2 seconds and would have made a huge improvement. Over all I would suggest skipping Taco Mama. If you want americanized street tacos, there are a number of food trucks in Winston that do a better job at that. If you want specifically Mexican food there are several spots near by that...

1 star for mostly bland & flavorless food, but a clean restaurant & polite staff.

My girlfriend & I both enjoyed the chroizo con queso appetizer, which was served with a generous amount of pale tortilla chips. 👍 However, that was the only food from Taco Mama that appealed to us.

We both ordered tacos: I tried the Mama's Chorizo & The Sizzler tacos; unfortunately, both tasted bland. The queso fresco in them didn't taste fresh or feel moist, & the grilled steak in The Sizzler lacked any flavor/seasoning. Furthermore, the corn tortillas crumbed & fell apart: it seems like they used the corn tortillas that are meant to be fried into hard shells & just didn't fry them, instead of using actual soft corn tortillas; so, they didn't hold together.

My girlfriend's "Build Your Own" tacos with chicken on one & steak on the other similarly lacked flavor: the chicken didn't seem seasoned or flavored at all, & the salsa that came with both of our meals just tasted like mashed tomatoes without anything else.

We didn't like the street corn side & black beans side either: the former lacked any flavor, but did have a nice texture, whereas the latter tasted like canned black beans just smashed.

For better prices AND better flavor from a more authentic Hispanic restaurant, I recommend eating at El Taco Shop...