I haven’t counted lately, but there are probably well over 150 taquerias listed on my TACO PAGE and that is a LOT of information for all but the die-hard taco-freaks. I get emails, texts, DM’s almost daily, “HELP I’M IN _________ WHERE’S THE BEST TACOS??” Everyone wants a short-list. I’ve never made a TOP-10 or Top-ANYTHING taco list–my good friends KNOW where my loyalties lie–but this question comes up so often, I thought I might ATTEMPT to condense the list into manageable chunks town-to-town, roughly South-to-North across the core of the Central Coast, up through the 101, with some meanderings over on the 1.

SANTA BARBARA:
LILLY’S TACOS I’m making Lilly’s number one of the plethora in Santa Barbara because it is easy-to-find, consistent and VERY GOOD. Lots of seating, excellent salsas, fast service… all that. No, I’ve never had a good taco on Milpas Street. Burritos… ceviche… Julia Child… sure, but not tacos. Yes, I feel your glare. Go to that lime-green place if you like, but don’t expect real tacos. However, I am going to add another for the more adventurous:
MI FIESTA MARKET 4 in the back of a tiny grocería on Haley up almost to Milpas. Not gringo-friendly, awkward seating, limited English and menu. Worth it.

LOMPOC:
TACOS EL TIZON of course. True rotisserie al pastor and a blistering range of salsas.
No, I’m not even going to give you a runner-up in this town. Florianos is bullshit for the rice-n-beans burrito crowd.

SANTA MARIA-SOUTH-ORCUTT:
ANGELES DE PUEBLA is my current favorite in this ever-changing section of town–anything, say… below the Inn I call “south”. Real rotisserie al pastor and the only down-side is it is a sit-down restaurant, which usually spells doom for decent tacos. But go with it and you will be blown away. Runner up? Ohhh boy. Probably have to go with:
VALLARTA SUPERMARKET because believe it or not, the tacos they crank out at these supermarkets are really REALLY good.

GUADALUPE:
With Romo’s taking a massive recent dive into horribleness, I do not currently have a recommendation for good tacos in Guadalupe. This town has always been a fairly-fluid patchwork of taquerias, so–just like little places like Chualar or Gonzales up north–pop into someplace new and there’s a good chance you will not be disappointed.

SANTA MARIA-NORTH:
EL OAXAQUENO has to win the toss right now in this area just PACKED with taquerias–every corner, every street, tucked down in neighborhoods, at the back of every store, I’ll bet there’s 40 taquerias in North SM and I have eaten at all of them. And, you’re gonna want a backup, which is going to be hard because there are so many almost equal.  OK, how about:
MERCADO Y CARNICERIA SU MESA way over in the dirt-lot and tractor-land of Blosser and West Main, where white people are as rare as current car tags and there is an eatery LITERALLY every other door. Buckle-up, buttercup. Mercado is worth it.

NIPOMO:
A couple places in old-town have closed in the past few years, leaving a huge gap in all things “tacos” in Nipomo. LA PLACITA MARKET over on the far west side is all that is left worth eating.

OCEANO:
LA TAPATIA absolute no brainer, no contest, do not pass Go, end of conversation. THE best tacos anywhere on the central coast and no, the al pastor is not actual rotisserie–they are the marinated style–but OHHHH MAN.  This is the one down at the corner of Hwy 1 proper, not the one on 13th Street (HUGE difference). And no, you are not getting an Oceano back-up:  Don’t even talk to me about Chacho’s and Efren’s. They are far, far, FAR distant seconds catering to people who order quesadillas and nachos.

GROVER BEACH:
TAQUERIA GUERRERO does a decent job. Good quality, consistent, great salsas, easy location. There are no other tacos worth eating in Grover City. WAIT. Not so fast. There has been a recent COMPLETE REVERSAL of the little LA TAPATIA #2 on 13th Street. It is now full-rotisserie, outdoors. Don’t expect Lucy’s La Tapatia though. Tortilla’s different, meat’s (obviously) different, fat slabs of onions inserted, but Lucy’s sauce seems to be consistent. Very nice.

ARROYO GRANDE:
There are no tacos worth eating in Arroyo Grande.

PISMO BEACH:
There are no tacos worth eating in Pismo Beach. I mean–if you’re just absolutely DESPERATE, EL MIRADOR will do in a pinch down on the tourist strip next to Pancho’s Surf Shop. They’ve been there for decades, the people-watching from the front 2 tables is SPECTACULAR and the tacos aren’t *horrible*. You will not find al pastor on the pictures-for-tourists menu. They call it “Marinated Pork”.

AVILA BEACH:
There are no tacos worth eating in Avila Beach.

SAN LUIS OBISPO:
TACOS EL TIZON now reigns supreme in what has LOOOOOONG been the biggest waste-land of appropriate tacos on the Central Coast.
I know you want a back-up, but after that… it goes downhill FAST. Take your crapshoot between SANTA CRUZ EXPRESS (actual rotisserie al pastor and quite good. This is NOT the Taqueria Santa Cruz on Monterey Street. COMPLETELY different food, for some reason–and NOT recommended) SAN LUIS TAQUERIA or TONITAS. All solid ♦♦ places, you won’t go away hungry, but will not blow you away either. All three have mediocre al pastor meat and soggy tortillas. And all three have pink hab–a San Luis Obispo signature.

LOS OSOS:
There are no tacos worth eating in Los Osos. OK, I suppose LOS OSOS MEXICAN MARKET can get a mention because there are 2 places to get tacos in town and if you are way out there in the middle of nowhere, it wins by default. This place wouldn’t even crack the Top 40 though.

MORRO BAY:
ARIANNA’S downtown reigns–the handmade tortillas and sauces are above and beyond. The market next door offers great shopping for Mexican goodies way out here on the blistering-white coast.
Back-up: MORRO DELI inside the Sinclair gas station is literally the only other thing even vaguely palatable in this town of at least 10 or 12 Mexican spots. And there are some BAD ones out there. Gets a -1 because soggy tortillas but above-average tacos.

ATASCADERO:
NEW ADDITION, wiping a sad also-ran into 3rd place and OFF this *best of* list: LA PARRILLA blows literally everything away currently.
TAQUERIA DON JOSE has to get the nod in a vast field of mediocrity. Easily stands out among Atascadero’s multitude of horrid Mexican eateries.

PASO ROBLES:
LA REYNA MARKET hands down easy choice. Yes, there are a lot of taco-joints in Paso. Yes, you will hear several trotted out every time white-dude wants to talk about tacos. Don’t be fooled. I’d rather eat my shorts than Los Robles Cafe again, and Orale suffers from demographic. Here’s a couple back-ups in Paso:
I’d love to give you one across town, because it’s a big area, but I can’t. All 3 of these are literally a couple blocks apart. Tucked away in a funky little spot in the old A&W: PANADERIA MARTINEZ. It doesn’t suck. At ALL. OK and one more: (promise not to laugh) TORTILLA TOWN in that strip of horrid white-ville restaurants, this place is PACKED at lunchtime but despite the gringo name and location, check out the people eating there. Mmm-hmmm. The tortillas HOLY SHIT. It’s taken me a couple trips to learn how to order here, so be patient. These are good tacos.

CAYUCOS:
CAYUCOS GAS MINI MART DELI The gas station, duh. If you know, you know. No explanation necessary. And now everybody knows. This place has been slippin though. Really unsatisfied the last several trips. I’m using it ONLY because there’s nothing else up in here. And no! Taco Temple is not on this list! This is not accidental.

CAMBRIA:
There are no tacos worth eating in Cambria. OK, so if you are all the way up in Cambria and just HAVE to have tacos, you can play Are-They-Open-Roulette with BONI’S TACOS just be sure and take cash. No indoor seating. I’d sooner drive back to Cayucos, honestly.

KING CITY:
You’re going to have to stick to downtown–yes, the old part over on the east side. RESTAURANTE EL SINALOENSE is a colorful, crowded little spot and the tacos are GOOD. They come with a little smear of beans in them under the al pastor, just like some hardcore Oaxacan places.

SALINAS:
LOS GRULLENSES Big place, busy, lots of seating, practically UNDER the 101 and 99% of the queries I get for Salinas is from travelers-thru. OK, but there’s another barely a block away:
RESTAURANTE EL OAXAQUENO for the more adventurous, not very gringo-friendly, seating is rough, literally NO English spoken, and it gets a little rowdy during fútbol. They make their own sauce in a squeeze-bottle: ONLY USE ONE DROP.

There’s 200 miles of tacos. Obviously, there are a few more in this area–and I’ve been to most of them. This is just a hot-list of the majors and the FULL TAQUERIA LIST can always be referenced.

And before you comment “OMG HAVE YOU BEEN TO_________?” go to THE FULL TAQUERIA LIST and see if it is there. Because yes, I’ve been there. If your favorite taqueria is somehow miraculously NOT on that list, I’d LOVE to hear about it.

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