Five East Bay Taco Shops To Guac Your World
Three years ago, my Dad and I, both dedicated foodies, embarked on an epic journey to discover the best tacos the Bay Area had to offer, visiting 24 separate locations in our broad survey. These are the long-awaited results of our meticulous study, condensed to focus on the East Bay for maximum accessibility to Athenian students. Enjoy!
Tacos El Paisa (Michelin Bib Gourmand award winner, 39 minutes from Athenian), Fruitvale: Serving thousands of delicious handmade tacos every day since 2008, the multigenerational operating family behind Tacos El Paisa has created an exceptional restaurant and community gathering space over the last sixteen years. It’s known for its impressive line, colorful, flower-festooned decor, and lively dining atmosphere complete with strolling local musicians on the weekends. Aside from their namesake tacos, Tacos El Paisa also offers a broad menu of non-taco-related Mexican food, including burritos, quesadillas, tortas, and enchiladas which are equally scrumptious. Specialty grilled cactus is provided on the side of most orders, which can be paired with any combination of their twelve(!) meat and two veggie bases. A truly special taco shop well worth a visit for adventurous Athenians who don’t mind committing to the substantial drive for an unforgettable meal.
Mi Grullense Taco Truck (30 minutes from Athenian), Fruitvale: Only eight minutes from Tacos El Paisa, Mi Grullense Tacos has established nearly uncontested dominance over its little corner of Fruitvale, operating a storefront restaurant, tequila bar, and two food trucks on the block it calls home, 925 International Blvd. Their wares are made street taco style—simple, small, and topped with fresh cilantro and roasted onion—and are served with a generous portion of aqua fresca to soothe the bite of their signature spicy salsas. This ambitious taco stronghold is an example of what makes Fruitvale special—when one of your taco shops gets too busy, just add a second (or third) to the mix.
Comelones Tacos (12 minutes from Athenian), Orinda: Okay, hear me out. No, this is not a joke—surprisingly enough, one can get a fabulous taco in Orinda. For Athenians uninitiated in the Orinda culinary scene, it can be best described as a pitiful food desert that caters to one of the whitest and oldest consumer bases in the Bay—naturally, Orinda restaurants aren’t known for their authentic cultural cuisine. Comelones Tacos is a rare (and singular) exception to the rule, a spinoff of the highly successful El Trompudo taco shop in El Sobrante (which narrowly missed the cut for this list). Comelones miraculously serves up a mean taco amidst its mediocre-to-just-depressing neighbors. Sauced precisely to complement each distinct taco meat and complete with fresh homemade cookies, refreshing aqua fresca, and yummy pickled veggies, Comelones breaks the mold and stands out as the lone outpost of culinary proficiency in Orinda’s food scene. A personal Comelones favorite of mine is their salmon taco special, which includes two fish tacos topped with salsa, coleslaw, and pico de gallo with a side of tasty rice and beans.
Tacos El Patron (16 minutes), Pleasant Hill: Nestled between two admittedly colorful establishments (a gas station and dingy lingerie store), Tacos El Patron nevertheless cooks up quality tacos despite its unfortunate location and makes up for it with a welcoming outdoor tent to eat them in, delicious salsas, and perhaps two liters of aqua fresca with your order. Cheesy tacos—Quesabirria—are their specialty, which are fried till crisp and traditionally dipped in a savory sauce/soup that’s so good you’ll want to save your excess for later.
Rico Rico Taco (25 minutes from Athenian), Oakland: A restaurant collaboration between two taco-loving families, this upscale Oakland restaurant is known for making its own tortillas on a rotating grill—fully visible to its customers through the windows of its bustling open kitchen. Tacos are typically filled with meat, but Rico Rico offers a wide variety of bases to suit diverse dietary needs, providing unique vegetarian and vegan options like sauteed mushrooms and grilled barbecue cactus. Located on a nice shopping street in Oakland and a favorite of former San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic, Soleil Ho, Rico Rico provides a tasty taco experience within a fun, lively neighborhood.
Bonus Side Quest:
Tacos Garcia (1 hour from Athenian), Yountville: Located an hour from the Athenian campus (on a good traffic day) the drive to Tacos Garcia is admittedly a long haul but offers simple, unparalleled tacos as a reward—well worth the journey to its unlikely location in the middle of Pancha dive bar’s dingy, potholed parking lot. You can’t go wrong with these four-dollar tacos, loaded with onion, cilantro, and quartered limes and served on a paper plate tightly wrapped in tin foil. While you could spend $1000 or more on a dinner in Yountville’s luxury wine-country dining scene, exemplified by Tacos Garcia’s triple Michelin star neighboring restaurant, the French Laundry, your stomach (and wallet) would be much better satisfied by walking down the street to grab one of the best tacos you might ever have the pleasure of tasting—for only $4.
