Beantown Taqueria

Good home feeling type place, nothing too special but it’s good Tex mex food. The food is fresh and made well, the heat level isn’t too hot so get a level higher than you normally would. It’s a good spot in a great city.

This place has a standard authentic Mexican-​style Burrito, meaning not your ‘Chipotle’ chain style. The chicken Tinga was flavorful and the Burrito itself was very good just bare-​bones, not over-​filled with cheese and sour cream, which I prefer. The Beantown style tacos were delicious, simple with cilantro and onion.
I would have given them a higher rating, except for the fact that they seem a little disorganized. They oddly discussed while I was on the phone– charging me a delivery fee (I’m not from Boston so perhaps this is standard, but the seemed to need to debate it) — then called me back to see if I was paying cash. The driver came 40 minutes later because they were very busy, but with no change for cash, which I find very odd since they specifically called about it.

I literally made a Unilocal account so that I could review this restaurant.
Today marked the SECOND time that I had attempted going to this restaurant to eat there, and was unable to do so, because of their being closed. For the record, I have never been ABLE to eat at the Western Ave location, but I’ve been to the Mass Ave location many times. Physically, Western Ave is closer to where I live.
As I write this, their website indicates that they’re open until 11 PM Sun-​Wed, and until 4 AM Thur-​Sat. However, both times that I attempted to go to Beantown during these time windows, they were closed without any reason as to why. And I know this restaurant isn’t closed permanently, because a) obviously people on Unilocal have eaten here and b) I’ve walked past it at times when it was open. I’m sorry Beantown, but as Boston and Cambridge begin to have more and more authentic Mexican restaurants moving into the area, you can’t afford to falsely advertise the times when you are open. It’s extremely rude and unacceptable, and you are leaving your customers high and dry when they walk all the way to your restaurant, only to find it closed!
And for the record, for anyone reading this, I don’t think their food is so good as to compel you to attempt to eat here — not if there is a chance that they might be closed, and you came all that way for nothing.

One of few authentic Mexican food restaurants in Cambridge. They have two sides to their menu: rex mex and authentic. Both are great. Since moving to the Boston area, I find that most Mexican food is bland or lacking spice. Not here at Beantown.
The only reason I’m not giving four stars is that they don’t have a bar. I often crave a margarita or a dos XX with my enchiladas.

Great place for lunch. I walk from work, walk for a mouth watering burrito– one which was actually spicy as advertised. When it says spicy and it doesn’t feel like going to the dentist I’m not happy. Another great value I have discovered in this bad lunch value hell (central square. You won’t be disappointed.

I’m giving them 5 stars because of all the terrible reviews!
I would rate them at 4 stars normally.
I’ve been here quite a few times and I’ve never been disappointed. The chipotle aioli is to die for. Ask for extra and put it all over everything.
My go to is the steak quesadilla. DELICIOUS.

I ordered using the online delivery site GrubHub, so my review is not focused on dining in. I placed an order it took nearly 3 hours for delivery. I receved a text when my meal left the restuarant that it should arrive within 10 min, but from there it took another hour and fifteen.
When the food arrived the flautas were soggy, mushy and of course, cold. Which is to be expected given the delivery time! The guac was brown, so clearly not fresh. The driver offered no apologies or rationale for the delay. I would have appreciated a phone call to let me know about the delay, I hate that I had to follow up myself.
The other reviews make it sound like the food is decent, but definitely don’t order online!!!

Quick, easy, cheap, and a great deal for delicious food! My dad and I go a lot for authentic Mexican food. We usually order in Spanish and love the lunch specials! I now live in Somerville but Beantown is still my go-​to when I’m in the neighborhood because the food is so amazing for the price. The inside also has a beautiful marine mural, so it isn’t a bad ambiance for a small in and out lunch joint. I also always have delicious leftovers to take home every time I come. I love this place! Better than Picante’s in central sq. Highly recommended.

Horchata was superb; fish enchiladas were pretty great. Black beans, rice, and pico de gallo were all up to par. Medium spice was a little mild — I will definitely bump up the heat when I return!

My wife and I are not from the Boston area, and have lived all over. Since leaving Chicago, we’ve nearly quested for authentic tacos, rarely finding them, but often finding disappointment instead. This place is the real deal. Tacos made in corn tortilla’s, with no flour offered because frankly that is about as authentic as ‘sweet and sour pork’ is authentic Chinese. I had three tacos, sampling the chicken, carnitas and steak, with refried beans. Delivered swiftly, the tacos featured fresh onion and cilantro with a slice of lime, truly, this is how they do it south of the border.
If food that arrives in fancy getup with perfectly uniform tacos lined up on your plate if your thing, don’t show up here, but don’t go to most restaurants in Mexico either.
These delicious tacos might not win any culinary beauty contests, but trust me, your mouth won’t care. The steak taco was my least favorite of the three, unusual overall as those are my favorite, but not unexpected, steak marinades and preparation vary greatly between even the best Mexican establishments, and despite placing third of three, you’d have been hard pressed to find even a morsel of taco remaining.
They offered homemade salsa when we arrived, complimentary and accompanied by a basket of chips clearly made in house, but without the pretentious overkill of whipping up a batch fresh. That can be a nice touch, but I’ve had them fresh at restaurants where overall the food paled in comparison to Beantown.
This place is a small restaurant, probably family owned and definitely focused on the food. If you are too, and you enjoy authentic Mexican food and can let a few aesthetic trivialities slide, swing by. Maybe you’ll leave as surprised as we were to have traveled long and far, only to find great, inexpensive Mexican food right here in Cambridge.

Just happy the coast has a serviceable-​to-​pretty good Mexican spot worth checking out. I did yesterday, had the fish taco, which was slightly larger than others I’ve found around the metro area, and the staff were good enough to accommodate my request for both beans which happened to be OUTSTANDING.
Between the great menu, great preparations and taste, location, and nook locale this is a solid addition for residents and well-​informed foodies looking for something other than Picante.
I’ll definitely be back!

I literally just downloaded this app for the sole purpose of exploiting the sheer audacity of this establishment. I cannot begin to explain my utter disgust with the lackluster performance displayed here tonight. Not only was my order completely wrong, generously room temperature, and three hours late… It tasted like lukewarm dinasour shit wrapped in a fucking wet-​nap. The used bandaid I found in my «burrito» tasted more like Mexico than the skid-​mark on a post-​it note they creatively deemed a «taquito». This place sucks a duffle bag full of dicks and makes them all cum twice. Don’t waste your precarious time, Unilocalers.

I bought a Groupon for this place and check it out. I’ve been three times now. The first time I ordered a soft taco of some variety, maybe fish, and it was very bland and certainly not worth going back for.
I went back because the Groupon was a set of four $ 10 coupons, and the next time I got a shrimp quesadilla and it was delicious. I love it and I’ve already gone back again to get another one. It’s super cheesy. The shrimp are well flavored and the quesadilla nice and toasted. The rice and beans were nicely flavored.
The chipotle sauce wasn’t that flavorful so it could be improved but red mayo is fine.
There’s outdoor seating!
Staff are relaxed and friendly and I like supporting them.

Sorry Beantown, you are in my ‘hood and I wanted to check you out, but I’m not sure I’ll go back. Service was very good, but the burrito was just «OK». Not bad, but not great. Lacked flavor and spice… needed some cilantro, lime juice, more sour cream…
The horchata was good, but again, underwhelmed by the burrito.

Meh. Hoping the meh taste was just from the dish I got and the fact that I ordered it with mild heat. Everything looks fresh and homemade– they even had a crate of tomatillos on the counter for their salsa verde. I will try going again because I had high hopes, so if it’s still not that good I’ll let you know. Their drinks (non alcoholic) were awesome though.

I’m with a few other reviewers here when I say I was apprehensive to go, just becasue of some of the other very negative reviews and the fact that it is almost always empty. Finally took the plunge and was so so happy that I did!
Went with my boyfriend and we were the only ones in the restaurant, so service was quick and very attentive. It looked like they were doing quite a few takeout orders but no one else ventured in to the actual building. It would seat likely three to five dining parties and is a little small, but quite pretty and has hand painted murals throughout.
The food was very good, spicy, and flavorful. I am always happy when a place 1.) has horchata and 2.) has good horchata, and this place fit both bills. The nachos were very good and the tortilla chips were on point, not too salty and very crispy. My boyfriend had a burrito and I had a torta. Both were very generously sized and very tasty! I left feeling very happy.
The only thing keeping me from giving 5 stars is that they are still putting the finishing touches on the bar area. Food was great, service was great, will definitely be back!

Let’s just say I was apprehensive about going to this place for two reasons. First, it use to be a hookah bar that was always empty. Second, it still isn’t all too popular of a location judging by its traffic. Still, though, I decided to give it a try.
The interior is very small and is serviced by one waitress, who was very friendly. She was very attentive to our needs and was happy to give recommendations. I ended up getting a shrimp quesadilla, which was right on point.
All in all, it’s definitely nothing fancy, but if you’re looking for a quick good eat, check it out.

Love this place.
I’m always pleased everytime. Ive only been here 2x, forgot what I got the first time, but the second time, I got a torta. I didn’t think I could get as good a torta as I had when I visited Tenoch in Medford, but this place was spot on.
I wasn’t totally blown away by the complimentary salsa at the table (Trader Joe’s’s roasted garlic salsa is still my all time fave) but I still enjoyed it. I didn’t think the chips were as stale as other reviewers have pointed out, but maybe I got a better batch.
The artwork of the place is really cool. Our waiter (who happens to be the owners uncle) told us it was made by a family friend out on Wisconsin and did the whole thing in two days. I thought that was pretty neat.

I cannot believe this place has four stars?! I live like a block away so I was excited to see this new location open on Western Ave. I came here one afternoon when there were like three people in the restaurant. Our server was fine, however she was inattentive and did not fill our waters once. The salsa they serve with their stale chips is runny and the heat from the habanero overwhelms the taste. Needless to say the spicy salsa made me consume all my water which was never refilled and I didn’t get another drink until the entrees arrived with the coke I ordered 10 minutes later. In fact while I was waiting for my server to refill my water, she was watching television and she poured herself a nice big glass of water and chugged it down while I was waiting for my own glass. Cute.
For lunch I had the tex-​mex tacos and ordered them mild after the spicy assault from the salsa. I ordered three different kinds of tacos and only received two kinds, two chicken tacos and what I can only assume was anemic pork taco. I don’t like to complain, being a server myself I understand the hassle and I’m easy going so I just let it slide. Unfortunately the tacos had zero flavor. I mean none. The chicken was stringy and chewy and disgusting. When i say no seasoning I mean I didn’t even taste salt. The refried beans were equally tasteless and disgusting (why are they whitish?!) and the rice was stiff and cold. My boyfriend got the burrito which was moderately better but still under seasoned and the meat was chewy and the burrito runny.
I love tex-​mex food and it seemed as if this place had never heard of cumin or cilantro before! I was really disappointed, I was hoping to find a nice alternative to Border Café but that is unfortunately not the case. I don’t recommend it.

Gonna have to get my weed-​whacker out ’cause there’s a suspicious number of very recent 5-​star reviews here, which kind of screams «Plants!»
This place’s Mexican food is the absolute worst. They use the term «authentic» extremely loosely. If you want authenticity on the menu some of Picante’s dishes deliver as do — naturally — most of Olé’s. And when you want to go hard-​core in that regard the 70 bus to Waltham runs right along Western Ave. If being solely exposed to Margaritas, Taco Hell, Anna’s, and Chipotle has bred a misconception of «authentic» you’ll be satisfied in that regard. But even somebody who has only ever «run for the border» will make Beantown Taqueria a one-​time mistake. Small, flavorless, squishy servings of un-​fresh food will do that to a person no matter what the (in)authentic cuisine is.
When Beantown Taqueria’s short-​lived (less than a year) predecessor Baba al Amoud Café occupied its space, the menu selections were also mashed-​potato bland and pretty far from «authentic.» And — strangely enough — the cash register receipts had printed across the top… Beantown Taqueria! Hmmmm… opening a mediocre «Middle Eastern» restaurant when several superior and well established ones already exist in the neighborhood… then opening a mediocre «Mexican» restaurant when several superior and well established ones aren’t too far distant… Aren’t there easier ways to declare losses at tax time, than to keep starting restaurants with planned obsolescence?
As for the art? Yeah, it’s very very cool. My favorite part of the back wall is the one where the painter drew a sea turtle so that the emergency generator lights form its eyes. :-) Since what’s on the walls is completely irrelevant to what’s on the menu, one can only hope this foretells a seafood restaurant taking over after this one inevitably folds.

Hand painted walls and home made corn tortillas tell you everything you need to know about this place. The restaurant is run with love, and that is an essential ingredient for good Mexican food. You can’t find authentic Mexican food like this anywhere else in the cambridge area.
For vegetarians, try the chile relleno. Stuffed with cheese and smothered in the most fresh red sauce you’ve ever had other than making it at home. Ask for extra corn tortillas, they are worth the calories!
While you are there, check out the adorable hand painted tortuga jutting out from the wall above you (a flood light of sorts). The details of the art are admirable.