EL SABOR DE GUERRERO Morro Bay ♦♦
CHAPALA MEXICAN GRILL  Morro Bay  ◊
TAQUERIA EL GUERO Morro Bay ⬨
LA KATRINA Morro Bay ♦♦
TACOS LOS COMPAS Morro Bay ♦
TACO DE MEXICO Morro Bay ◊
MI CASA Morro Bay ◊

TACO TEMPLE  Morro Bay   ◊◊
TACOS EL VIEJON Morro Bay ◊

HANNA’S STREET TACOS Los Osos ♦
LOS OSOS MEXICAN MARKET  Los Osos  ♦♦
SAN MIGUEL MARKET Los Osos  ◊

I have created this separate TAQUERIA LIST because people constantly ask me to recommend tacos and Central Coast taquerias get somewhat lost in the general list and also ratings comparative to casual or fine dining are not fair for numerous reasons.  First of all, I have ordered ONE ITEM at each of the preceding restaurants.  “Tacos al Pastor”, “Pastor Tacos”, “Tacos Adobada”, or “Marinated Pork Tacos”, depending on the location and individual Mexican provenance of the proprietors.  I have not had the gringo burritos, the refried beans, the tostadas, the taquitos, the tamales, the side salads, the ceviche, NOTHING ELSE on the menu but Tacos al Pastor.
This is what I eat at a taqueria and it makes the playing field very level.  Frequently, this grouping of taquerias is confused as a “Best Mexican Food” list.  It is NOT a ‘Best Mexican Food’ list.  It is a TACO LIST, period.  Secondly, NOTHING BUT THE FOOD is reflected in the score–this is quite the opposite of my regular restaurant scoring.  Cleanliness, Ambiance, Service, Price, Presentation, Communication, ALL ARE IGNORED in the judging of a taqueria.  I don’t care if cockroaches are falling off the ceiling, blaring music and TVs or has 10,000 bad YELPs about how rude they are or how sick you got or how there’s nothing vegetarian on the menu.  The only things considered are meat quality and preparation, tortilla source and texture and warming, sauces or salsa.  Nothing else matters.  I should add there are three basic methods of preparing “Tacos al Pastor” in a restaurant environment, and which method is used will play hard into the rating:

1.  A seasoning salt–typically bright red–is applied to chopped meat which is in a heated pan and may or may not be fried upon ordering.  HUNDREDS of sit-down

Mexican restaurants frequented by gringos serve it in this fashion.  It is disgraceful and almost ALWAYS miserably grainy and salty.

2.  The meat is chopped and soaked for long periods in a marinade and fried to order. The vast majority of the taquerias on this list prepare their “al pastor” in this fashion.

Basically all of the ♦  and ♦♦ taquerias on this list (and even a couple ♦♦♦) have meat prepared in this fashion. This is technically Adobada, though few taquerias label it as such.  There is a significant nuance of pineapple in the better versions of this method.  It is not *perfectly correct* “Al Pastor” but is realistic and often tasty.  The meat will be uniformly brown and often remnants of peppers or onions will be visible fried alongside.

3.  The meat is marinated and stacked tightly in slabs on a vertical spit revolving slowly against an infrared burner.  It is sliced off in thin layers as ordered. This is your classic *trompo* Al Pastor. Typically, large pineapple chunks are attached to the spit at the top so the juice flows

down over the meat and typically every taco gets a small chunk of

pineapple included.  The meat is brown top and bottom but still blond in between.

Taquerias preparing Al Pastor in this fashion are marked with an *.

Though some of these locations have stood for decades, many are ridiculously fluid, changing hands and names almost yearly–often within same families or groups.  Because of the La, Le, Los, Las, El and Taqueria prefixes and the issues involved with alphabetizing, I have sorted by TOWN, North-to-South.  Santa Maria is somewhat divided by major area.  As taquerias almost never have websites, I am using pins from GOOGLEMAPS for your locating pleasure. Oh, and don’t read the reviews. Just because some Barbie saw a cockroach  and nothing gluten-free was available is no reason to avoid a taqueria. In fact: go ahead, read the reviews!  I guarantee the WORSE the reviews run, the better the tacos.

◊◊   A complete Gringo dining experience, absolutely NOTHING on the menu resembles or comes close to an authentic taco.  Large soggy supermarket tortillas typically piled high with iceberg lettuce or cabbage, and topped with sour cream and grated cheese, portioned MASSIVELY and always with dry, bland, horrid meat.  To be avoided at all costs.
◊   An attempt to upsell a WPT (White People Taco) as *street* or authentic. Unpleasant off-flavors; weird preparation, bad seasoning, large tortillas, *stuff* in the tacos besides Onion, Cilantro, Salsa and Meat.  Bland sauces. Will never return.
♦   An entirely acceptible taco, authentic and can be rather delicious. Often a tiny neighborhood mom & pop situation or in the back of a carniceria or mercado. These taquerias ‘do in a pinch’ and lay the landscape for the next two categories. Tortillas usually unheated. Meat ranges from dry cubes with slight *dogfood* nuances to bright red salty marinades. These tacos are often people’s “absolute favorites in the world OMG they are such good tacos!!!” because they have low standards or just plain have NEVER experienced a truly great taco. I eat these tacos CONSTANTLY because they represent everything I love about tacos. And so should you.
♦♦   Excellent marinade of correct seasonings.  Good-textured meat with plenty of fat.  Greasy and not dry. Good size, quality tortillas, typically with a touch of flat-top oil.  Provided salsa or choices of salsa excellent.  A multitude of tiny criteria met, bringing the whole package above average. This is a taqueria I will return to over and over.
♦♦♦   An outstanding taco and one worth going quite out-of-one’s-way to experience.  Just stunning and earth-stopping, a lot of it just *feel*. Contrary to popular opinion: it does NOT have to be from rotisserie, but usually is. When you taste and feel it you know it.

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