La Torre Taqueria — Restaurant in Ypsilanti

I'm very homesick for SoCal today & La Torre Taqueria's delicious tacos helped to ease that a little bit.

It's a really small spot as other reviews have noted, but that only adds to the home vibes for me. During these pandemic restriction times, there is no sit down seating. Only three people are allowed in at a time and the cashier is separated by a bit of distance+plexiglass.

We had the following tacos. It looks like the prices have gone up to $2.49 - $2.99 per taco but these aren't street tacos! 2-3 tacos will have you VERY satiated. They also come with two different salsas -- they pack a nice punch!

*Carnitas: Tasty but this one was the most tame of them all for me. I would've loved a bit of crispiness on the carnitas but I'm not complaining. If you need a "safe" option, this is a good one!

*Carne Asada: Tender, generous pieces of steak. This is also a great safe option!

*Cueritos: I ordered this because other reviews said this was delicious. The flavors were so rich and deliciously unctuous BUT the texture got me. It was just a bit too much fatty gelatinousness for me. If it were crispy as other reviews have mentioned, I think this would be a knock out. I did get mine to-go so it's possible that it got soggy on the way home. I'm going to try this again when we can dine-in again!

*Pastor: Nothing is going to beat Al Pastor for me (in SoCal, pork is grilled upright on a spit -- from the influence of Lebanese immigrants to Mexico!) BUT this was really dang good. Very nicely seasoned with pieces of pineapple and a wonderful balance of savory and just a touch of sweet.

*Huevos/Chorizo: I LOVE breakfast tacos so I couldn't resist. These were like Texas breakfast tacos good. I'm going to sneak one as my guilty pleasure moving forward or...come for some brunch tacos since La Torre opens at 10am!

I also ordered some chips & guac - good chips (entire takeout box!!), solid guac. No complaints.

La Torre is a bit further from me, but I'm going to make the drive from now on because...

The one time I went here with my friend, I had a $100 bill stolen from me.

We sat in to dine. I had a $100 bill in my pocket that day and specifically remember playing with it in my pocket as I was eating. I was wearing a new pair of paints which I did not know at the time were dysfunctional and would "spit" contents out when you stand up.

Within 3 minutes of leaving the restaurant by car, I went to feel the bill again and realized it was gone. We immediately turned around and went back to the restaurant. When I walked inside, the owner and waitress were visibly giggling and high-fiving as if over some inside joke.

I looked under and everywhere around the table. No bill. I went up to the owner, who I had ordered from previously, and had explained several dishes. When I asked about seeing the bill, he suddenly couldn't understand English and was very obviously acting out being shocked about the lost bill. The waitress who had to have been the one to clean the table and find it was acting very sheepish and giggling. He asked her if she had seen it and honestly while biting her lip to hide a big grin she shook her head "no."

That's the only time I lost a $100 bill in my life, and couldn't recover it within 5 minutes of losing it because of some dishonest lowlifes.

Thankfully we have a wall now.

For the food, it wasn't much better than the service. And we were hassled for refilling a soda, which is by the way, the norm for any US restaurant (especially a cheap...

Good mexican food, street style tacos with popular American style meats and true Mexican style meats as well so something for everyone. Slightly more expensive than what some people expect to pay for bland "Taco Tuesday" offerings from other places but this is a better product than that and in that regard it's a good price. Only once did I have some corn tortillas that I felt where a bit dried out but that was late on a Sunday so I'll keep the 5 stars until I see signs of repeat offences. Only other thing to note is they can run out of tamales late in the day but that's par for the course, so no knock against them for that.

So five stars because: It's good quality at a fair price, it's better than other Mexican places in the area (have not been to all of them, but I have been to a fair amount and will update this review if I find a better spot within a reasonable distance), it's reasonably quick to get food (ten minute wait at times, not fast food quick but not slow for sure) and for a small place has great balance of variery. It is not trying to be gourmet, it's not importing exotic organic meats from isolated villages, nor is it a full blown replication of the entire range of Mexican cuisine.. it's just really good food. Also, spanish speakers are welcome! Also should note that this place has been renovating, honing in it's operation a bit and improving over time and this reflects where I think they...