El Charrito Taqueria

This is definitely the best Mexican food in Calgary. No Tex-​Mex here, this is truly authentic Mexican food. Staff is very charming and friendly. Oh, and awesome guacamole!

We had a pozole and Chile Relleno with two tacos. Pozole had a big chunk of meat and tasted very good. Tasted good Mexican foods. My wife says it taste like home made Mexican dish. I agree. it doesn’t look like very fancy restaurant. However prices is not that reasonable. Our total came to somehow around «nice dinner» price. If I had to pay this much I’d prefer to go to other nice mexican restaurants which takes care of their service and dishes a bit better.

Found this place through Unilocal and chose it because of the 4 star rating… I have no idea why it has such a high rating. The only thing I can figure is that it must have been from a while ago.
Needless to say my experience wasn’t so great. I ordered the tacos and chips. Tacos were just soggy, doughy taco shells with a tiny bit of steak and lots of onion as filler. It had next to no flavour and I ordered them medium hot. The chips tasted greasy and really old. Yuck! I won’t go back.

Great authentic tacos. No fillers. We ordered 57 assorted tacos for our office and they were very accommodating. Prices are also great. I will for sure be a returning customer!

We came here based on the reviews, while visiting Calgary, and completely regret it! How on earth does this place have an overall 4 stars?! The lady and the guy who took our orders and made them were nice, but the food was absolutely horrible. First of all, the «salsa» had no tomatoes and was 95% onion. The rest was lettuce and water. The onions and lettuce were just floating around in the water. Worst salsa EVER. The nachos were good though.
I don’t recall the name of what I ordered, but it was basically meat with bread. The bread was SO soggy, unbelievably soggy that it was falling apart. The meat was nothing special, but I hate soggy bread. My mom ordered a quesadilla, and didn’t want the meat. She got a pile of lettuce and cilantro, a pile of onion, and some cheese. The onion was overwhelming that she couldn’t eat it without taking out half the filling. She also thought it had no taste, I mean some lettuce and onions? Really? So, she ordered rice and beans. The beans were okay, but the rice was inedible.
Its ironic because we didn’t want to spend much that day on dinner, and wanted good food, so we came here. We ended up spending more than what we would have spend at other places plus forcing ourselves to finish the food. Never again.

Excellent authentic Mexican food, what a find. Landed into town, and had to have lunch before starting. Found this place. The owners are from Jalisco, Mexico and they serve some very authentic Mexican fare.
I had the Chorizo Burritto and it was very fat and tasty. I added 2 Beef Tacos and I was set for the afternoon.

Been here a few times in hopes that something may click in regards to quality… Unfortunately I cant get past the salsa that drowns everything. It makes the tacos and tortillas super soggy. I usually get as far as one bite and everything just falls apart. I feel like breaking out a scuba mask and snorkel whenever Im swimming in this salsa. I understand upholding traditional recipes and maintaining certain elements of authenticity, but in this modern foodie era you are allowed to incorporate higher quality ingredients into this traditional mexican fare. I really really want to walk a few blocks away and grab some decent mexican food from El Charrito but inevitably I drive way out to Crossroads and Kingsland Farmers markets to get my Mexican because the market fresh quality is impossible to beat… And the tacos and tortillas stay intact until the last bite.

I never thought it would be so convenient living around the block from a Mexican restaurant, but when you get the craving it’s amazing. Firstly, the location and signage might cause you to miss it completely so you have to open your eyes and look for this hidden treasure.
I ordered the enchiladas which were served with refried beans and rice. They were very tasty and packed with flavour especially when you add their house hot sauce (salsa verde?).
For some of their items like the tacos, burritos, and enchiladas, you can pick your meat (beef, chicken, pork, chorizo, or lengua (tongue)). So many good choices, but I find the chorizo and lengua are my favourites. Another awesome choice is the tomales, which are pork/​chicken suffed masa wrapped and prepared in the corn husk. Bursting with corn flavour they are one of my go-​tos.
They do a great job with the menu that they have. My only negative is that the menu is smaller and sometimes I just want Mexican seafood (which they don’t have).

Great authentic Mexican cuisine. Real Mexican Coca Cola. Great Tacos.

Let me preface this review by admitting I have eaten some great tacos in my life. I’ve eaten great tacos in Texas and in New York City and in Mexico.
This is a shame but I feel Calgary gets really excited about mediocre food sometimes. Perhaps this place had some great times last year or maybe the year before and hence the glowing reviews? Maybe I went at the wrong time. I don’t know. All I can do is document my own experience here.
I had heard good things from other people so when the question of where to go for something good to eat came up I thought my girlfriend and I should try this place Friday night. I tried ordering tamales but they were all out. I tried ordering Horchata but none left. I love Chile Riano but I didn’t see it on the menu.
I’m not a fan of beef tongue so I would never order that.
I ate three tacos. The doubled corn tortilla is always a treat. I asked for spicy. There was some spice to it. Nothing exciting. Very unnecessarily soggy for some reason? I take small bites and I finished one taco in three bites, it was tiny. It wasn’t bad but this is nothing to get excited about. In fact, for what I ordered in addition to the ambience and service I would say it wasn’t worth it.

I am always looking for my next favorite, unknown food establishment… and this one was added to my list as soon as I got to their counter.
The menu is very clear-​cut, down to the point, this is what we have, and how we serve it.
Out of the two of us, we tried all the different Taco fillings, and I tell you, they all were amazing.
We loved the ambiance, and the little store in the back, and now it is on our regular stops list.

Yummy authentic Mexican food made by friendly authentic Mexican people! Pretty simple presentation and choices, which is a good indicator the authentic taste hasn’t been messed with. If you love the food in Mexico (actual Mexico, not resorty Mexico) than odds are good you will be happy with this!

A couple of takeout visits and another eat-​in supper later and El Charitto is landing squarely in the ‘meh’ column for me.
Cheese filled tamale was great and a solid deal when bought as a single ($ 3.75) rather than the 2pc meal ($ 13.50). Chile relleno was tasty, though the single, soggy, medium-​sized chile on the $ 13.50 platter left me wanting more. $ 2.25 tacos continue to be priced great, but are sadly, mostly bland. Earlier criticisms still stand: Watery steam tray al pastor featured some nice sweet chunks of pineapple but no discernible acid or achiote kick; chorizo is decent, but not outstanding; and strangely the overall mildness of the shredded chicken isn’t necessarily a bad thing, becoming a decent backdrop for cilantro, onion and green salsa. Guacamole is soupy and tasted mostly of underripe avocados. I’ve ordered it a few times now with the same results. I wouldn’t order it again.
So, where do we stand with El Charrito? You could do much worse if you’re in the neighborhood, but I absolutely wouldn’t make a special trip to come here.

El Charrito Taqueria is a pretty good value. That being said, their food is fresh, service great and location is very central. They are open late so if you’re fishing for a late night snack or missed dinner then it is a viable option.
It is certainly not a place to bring someone on your first date or someone you need to impress. The food is simple and straightforward, fresh ingredients, but nothing spectacular here. If only they served fish tacos (I know they aren’t traditional)… but they would do so well selling them.
I’ll definitely return…

The mole sauce is NOT GLUTEN FREE!
We were driving home after Russel Peters looking for a Vietnamese place as I was craving noodles. Anyway we spotted this place headed north on Edmonton Trail. It was 1130 pm and was super surprised to find they are open until 1 am Friday and Saturday. They had a very authentic menu. They serve Menudo beef tripe stew and a protein you have the option of chicken, steak, pork chorizo & Lengua (google it). we decided to have the enchiladas and got one pork, chicken and steak. The chicken was the best out of the 3. The beans were very tastey but the rice was a lil dry and sticky. I have had better Mexican food but this would be great if I’m craving Mexican late night. would try it again.

Ok this is a review only of their tacos. If you want really great, authentic Mexican tacos (which are only two corn tortillas, delicious meat, cilantro, and onions) then you will LOVE this place. The other items on the menu looked ok, but we were specifically looking for authentic Mexican street-​style tacos.
This is a good size space (with about 10 tables) but it’s not really a sit-​down restaurant. It’s a very casual little place with yummy, yummy tacos. I don’t think I would recommend this for a ‘dinner’ but rather a great place to stop to buy tacos, some corn tortillas, and assorted sauces. The tongue, sausage, beef, and chicken tacos are about $ 3 while the barbacoa is about $ 4. This is a little steep for tacos, but that seems to be par for the course around here. The barbacoa is a little more expensive due to the fact that the tortillas fried and the meat is a little more involved. However, the cheaper tacos are delicious as well.
To me, this really seems like the sort of place that you stick to the menu items that are the most recommended. Like I said, I cannot vouch for the rice/​beans/​tamales/​quesadillas, but they didn’t seem that appetizing to me. Honestly, the next time we go we will probably still only get the tacos, but we would definitely drive across town just for the tacos.

Ok. I happened to drag my family here so that I didn’t have to suffer an Earls moment.
Regrettable.
I was so stoked for real Mexican food. I ordered a chile relleno, DH ordered 3 hard beef tacos, kids split a chicken burrito.
Burrito went down ok, looked plain but edible. DH said the tacos weren’t spicy as he as ordered them however, the last one had a kick.
I was served a pepper run over by a truck, un-​stuffed, topped with what I think was cheese, served with thin bean diarrhea and old, dry orange, flavourless rice.
I asked for hot sauce — which was AWESOME — but this couldn’t help the rest of my meal… I ate none of the sides and ¾’s of the other thing.
The kids said the burrito wasn’t so good but they were hungry.
I don’t care about the atmosphere, it was actually very authentically Mexican street corner which I liked… but never again.

This is a Taqueria. Don’t expect the ambiance of a 5* restaurant. It’s a hole in the wall. no lie, but the prices are good, service prompt.
What you WILL find is friendly folks, and fantastic tacos. We loooooove the Tacos de Lengua. After eating those, the rest are bland. Try it. C’mon, it’s not what you think it’ll taste like. Just have ONE.
They use corn tortillas, and I haven’t had any cross-​contamination issues so far.
Posole soup — only on Saturdays you say? Well, I think that’s the day. They make it once a week. Maybe call ahead if that’s what you want.
There’s also torta — sandwiches, but not gluten-​free. The other half had one, and said it was good.
Parking… a little tight. Street in the neighbourhood, but, if you’re on a scooter, that won’t matter.

Everything from my previous review stands, but they get bumped up to 4 stars for the substantial, tasty and reasonably priced pozole available weekends only. Soup as a meal! A good amount of salt, rustic large-​yet-​fall-​apart pieces of meat that are balanced off nicely with the crunch of the greens and the toothsome gargantuan grits. It’s served with lime and a side dish of chili sauce, so you can make it as sour and spicy as you like.

The idea of having a dinner party with no one cooking or bringing anything is a weird idea. In fact if you’re just going to someone’s house, cheek-​to-​cheek greeting in fancy fashion, then driving over to a taco joint to pick up food, then it isn’t a dinner party, it’s JUST HANGING OUT.
Alright so I maaayyybe exaggerated, my friend did make an amazing black bean dessert and I made spiked horchata that made everyone all warm and gooey.
Anyways kudos to Steph W who recommended this place to me. I’m getting more and more impressed with Calgary’s taco scene, with places El Charrito that pop up in the city.
Their menu is interesting, they offer your traditional street tacos, but also other mexican dishes (which I’m hoping to try at a later visit) like menudo, torta, and releno.
I settled with four tacos, two beef tongue and two chorizo. Wham bam thank you mam. The beef tongue was done well and I could have downed another two. But then again beef tongue isn’t that intimidating at all to sell, it just takes a lot of time to cook but def worth drawing taco aficionados. The chorizo was also just as amazing. Well season chorizo is also tricky but often because people can’t leave that shit alone. Let the spices and the meat speak for itself for crying out loud!
Sometimes I’m lucky to have my tank-​like frame because it means I can EAT MORE. Yes, there was room. So I ordered their chicken and beef tamales. Equally amazing, the fillings were subtle in seasoning and I could tell good masa was used in the wrapping.
Lastly, I find the place quite charming. It’s not a fancy restaurant but more so a quick-​on-​the-​go eatery with various mexican goods to pick up on the side.
Oh edmonton trail, stop being awesome, you already have my fav brunch spots, why you gotta host a taqueira like that? WHY?! Jerkface.