Gringo Tacos y Cantina — Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City

Absolutely love the server with dreads, I'll get his name next time.

First thing they told me was they were out of guacamole because the market's avocados were not up to par. There's a saying of don't put all your eggs in one basket and rely on one market. I came in at 2:31pm and I figure morning prep should've alerted the manager of this.

I ordered chips and the salsa and both salsas were very tasty especially the bright orange mild one. Resembling pumpkin puree, it was smoky, bright and flavorful. I also got the fish taco and it was nearly perfect, except the tortilla was a little too thick which made it a little chewy. The flaky fish had the lightest and crunchiest batter even after lying underneath the slaw.

Lastly, I ate the Carne asada quesadilla and steak was flavorful and cooked well. The crema was complemented the dish but I did not enjoy the cheese that was used. It didn't add anything to the dish except that it made the tortilla feel thicker than it was. In the beginning I thought I was eating a really thick tortilla but it was just the cheese. I don't know but the cheese became firm quick. Definitely be back for the fish taco and hopefully the guac.

*edit The chips had a few that were stale, not the entire chip but only parts of the chip which struck me as odd. Maybe the tortilla is too thick and uneven or maybe the tortillas are stuck together in certain areas during the frying process. I would definitely seperate first and limit my batches to ensure even frying-just a hunch tho.

Edit 3: I've been here now four times and it gets better each time. They won't have guacamole until avocados are in season. Chips are handmade so random chips will have lack of crunch due to frying process(some chips aren't submerged long enough).

Thickness of tortilla is because I was used to two thin tortillas and here they use one thicker(I still prefer the two thinner ones). I can't praise them enough on service, the balance of attention(to detail and to guest) and leaving me the fudge alone is perfect.

Best fish taco not only in Saigon...

Not a large place (3 tables inside, one was reserved and the other two occupied when I came; 4 tables outside and by the time my food came all 3 other tables filled up).

Initially I was thinking this was more expensive than Tacos Fuego (nearby), but the prices are comparable. I believe they have more 200K+ menu items here, though.

Because it's small, it's kind of cramped eating. I kind of like quiet places. With only foreigners here (at least outside when I ate and more that went inside while I ate), it's about as noisy as you can get - I ate quickly.

I will say this is a "cuter" place than Tacos Fuego and one girl next to me (I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, I just.. have ears, and I didn't have my buds to listen to anything) stated she's a regular. If you're Vietnamese and want to meet a non-Vietnamese, this might be the place... and then go to Khoai down the street from Tacos Fuego for drinks - another pretty much ex-pat only place.

Apparently (according to the same girl next to me), the jackfruit burritos and tacos are "amazing..." The burrito (carnitas) and quesadilla (chicken) I tried were both pretty average. After looking at my review of Tacos Fuego, I enjoyed that burrito much more than this one. But it wasn't terrible here, just alright. I had it with salsa verde sauce. Maybe that was part of the problem... maybe it was the rice and/or beans... all of which were an option. I think the sauces they give at Tacos Fuego were better (4 options, if I remember correctly). The quesadilla here was more average than good. Maybe it wasn't crispy enough. Maybe it was the cheese or sour cream?

The burritos here range from 150K-ish to 220K-ish.. the carnitas was 175K ($7.15), and the chicken quesadilla was 130K ($5.30). I did not have to pay a service fee, which was nice.

They do have a happy hour here. I arrived towards the end of it. I think...

Delicious! We have eaten here and had delivery also.

We went in for lunch yesterday and we both had the vegetarian taco & the jackfruit taco. They were both really good. We, of course, also had to have chips and salsa.

We have also ordered delivery of their BRC burrito and chips & salsa. They have numerous kinds of salsa. Our favorites were the tomatillo and the hot salsa (it was not too hot so don’t worry).

The chips come out hot! The food is all well prepared and even on delivery everything was hot and good.

The ambiance of the store is very fun, comfortable, and reminds you of a Mexican restaurant in the states. Which is exactly what we were craving.

Obviously, we love Mexican food and have eaten here twice now and we have only been in Saigon for 4 days, lol.

The server when we came in was not pleasant at all. No smiles - nothing. She may have been having a bad day. Hope that she smiles soon.

Thank you Gringo Tacos y Cantina for satisfying our Mexican food cravings! We will probably order again before we leave Saigon.

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