Love this place, all the people are always so friendly. They normally open from 5pm -12 am so this is always a great place to stop by after class or for a quick snacks. The tables and seats are outside so it's a little cold during the winter, but overall pretty chill area My goto order is Quesadilla de Lengua and ifs the best thing in the world. Al pastor and Birria taco is also good! read more

El Tako Nako - quesadilla de Lengua Quesadilla - Mexican Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Most authentic tacos in Charlottesville. They have a few options: carne asada, chorizo, campechano, birria, cabeza, lengua, pollo and al pastor. I think I've tried all of them save the birria and maybe the cabeza. All are great. Pollo and carne asada are good the campechano, al pastor and lengua are the bomb. Get the corn tortillas with cilantro onion and some cheese. It's so good. Their quesadillas are also fine, I do carmelized onion with chicken and it's really good. They will give you some sauces and lime on the side. Overall when it's fresh these are the best tacos in cville for no frills just good authentic tacos. Yum! read more

Some of the best tacos I've ever had, and fairly affordable too. Chorizo, lengua and tripa are my faves

I would argue this place has THE BEST street tacos in all of cville. I've been going to this spot since 2018. I always get the carne asada tacos with the roasted Serrano pepper on the side. Absolutely fire! The guys working there are amazing and they usually recognize me and are extremely friendly. The area where the truck is located isn't the "best" and there isn't a lot of seating, but don't let that deter you from getting an amazing taco! My wife and I have tried most of the trucks and restaurants in the area and I promise you, these are some of the best around. read more

The food is good. The location works when I am in the area. The employees are friendly. Be careful on Hydraulic Road. Between construction issues and crazy drivers, it is better being safe. read more

So good!! Do yourself a favor and stop by this food truck. Eating these and sipping on a Mexican soda is *chefs kiss* read more

El Tako Nako - Tacos - Mexican Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

The food and service at this food truck is always the best. This food truck has been a life saver for when I've been busy working late at night, no food at home, and I need something delicious and not a fast food chain restaurant. El Tako Nako delivers everytime with delicious food. For anyone reading this review, my go to is 3 cabeza tacos, everything on it, and a steak quesadilla, everything on it. Awesome place! read more

By far the best place in Charlottesville. The food truck is the best! We moved from Texas and this place is our favorite. We have their quesadillas and tacos once a week!! Highly recommend read more

Awesome authentic Tacos, staff is really nice and they have Mexican Coke with real sugar.

Great food, great prices, quick and easy can't go wrong. No need to say anything more but there's a minimum word count for reviews

Delicious and authentic. We stop by every time we are in town. They have two locations and both are equally delicious

If you're looking for legit, authentic Mexican tacos look no further. Pros: - all the meats were cooked well. - each taco had the right amount of meat and good flavors. Cons: - if anything, maybe the price? Slightly high but given the times it is what it is. Overall: If you're in Charlottesville and want some legit tacos this is the place to go. It's a food truck located in front of a laundromat. This place won't disappoint. read more

El Tako Nako - Menu - Mexican Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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This is a food truck if you didn't know from the other photos. Came here with my fiancé, we got 2 tacos each and split the quesadilla and were very satisfied. These are VERY authentic Mexican tacos. I'm a heathen and kind of prefer Americanized tacos but these were still very solid. When we go back (which we will) I will get the quesadilla because it was delicious. The tacos were reasonably priced ($3 each) and the service was speedy. The parking lot was completely full so it was kind of tough to find somewhere to park but this is a solid joint. read more

El Tako Nako - Birria tacos - Mexican Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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This is some incredible food. If You Know You Know and folks the verdict is out: A. and I know. I got a steak taco and chicken taco (don't remember what A. got) and it rocked me all night long. The tortillas are cooked to perfection and every bite had me thinking about how I didn't want the moment to end. The people work the truck are friendly and cool. God bless this town and my brother, A. I'm ready to stop drop and roll because this food was Fire! Somebody call the fire department because this food is that good. read more

El Tako Nako - Super tired but feeling good in my belly - Mexican Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

An unassuming location for some damn good tacos! $3 per taco. Homemade corn tortillas and salsa. The hot salsa is a wicked slow burn. Absolutely delicious! I had three cabeza (cheek meat) tacos and 2 azada (steak) tacos. Finished off with a Tamarind Jarritos soda. One caveat: they are only open after 5 p.m. Just wish they still had lengua. read more

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If you want some of the best street tacos in cville then look no further. Always yummy and consistent and reminds me of home. Owners/cooks always very friendly and remember their regulars. read more

Fantastic cabeza taco. Might be the best one I've had. Wish there were more meat but it's absolutely delightful. The pastor was not that great. Would definitely go back! read more

Amazing tacos and the staff is super friendly. Easily one of the best taco trucks, if not the best one in Charlottesville.

El Tako Nako was a good experience. I highly recommend you give them a try. The menu is quite limited even for a food truck, and I would like them to source their ingredients someplace other than where they are getting them. The Cilantro lacked flavor like Walmart Cilantro, and the meat was tougher than I like to see in a good food truck. Also the Al Pastor did not have a true spit roasted flavor to it, but it was still good. They put caramelized onions and fresh onions on some of their tacos. This little creative twist and effort impresses me. The sauces impressed me too. There is another taco place in Charlottesville that I like a lot, but for a straight up taco, this is probably the best taco in Charlottesville. read more

El Tako Nako - The sauces are classic and good. - Mexican Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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Chicken tacos with spicy sauce and guacamole sauce were so good. They topped them off with cilantro and onions.

After a long search, I think I've finally found my favorite taco place in Charlottesville! A frequenter of large cities like DC and LA, I admit I can be a bit of a snob when it comes to tacos. But El Tako Nako is perfect. Don't be fooled by the fact it is a food truck - that's often where you find the best tacos. The owners are super friendly, and they offer quality fresh-made tacos which are reasonably priced at $2.50 a piece. (with no tax!) They are very efficient, even when we place large orders, it doesn't take long for us to get our hot tacos at all! Would definitely recommend the cabeza (cheek meat), lengua (beef tongue), and campechano (steak and chorizo) tacos. The meats are tender and cooked to perfection (cabeza melts in your mouth!), the chorizo is not overly salty. There are three types of salsa to choose from (spicy, medium, mild), all of which complement the tacos perfectly, and the limes add the perfect tinge of freshness. read more

El Tako Nako - campechano (steak and chorizo) - Mexican Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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There is a reason this place has 5 stars!! 3$ tacos that taste better than any other taco in this area. The workers are all so kind and they don't charge extra for sauces or extra things like more limes or cheese. I HIGHLY suggest getting the cheek meat, that is by far the best one they have and the red sauce is so good and perfect level of hot. read more

El Tako Nako - Cheek meat tacos (added cheese) - Mexican Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Love the tacos! I'm their loyal customer, been eating there my entire pregnancy! That was definitely a great place for something you want spicy and fresh tacos ! They always make sure I have my favorite red sauce too ! read more

This place is definitely a hidden gem in Charlottesville! It's located next to a laundromat near Stonefield shopping center. I decided to try this place out after seeing it featured on so many snap chats. It definitely did not disappoint! I got a variety of tacos to try a bit of everything. I got the steak, steak/charizo, and chicken tacos. My favorite was definitely the chicken tacos. It was flavorful and it complemented the herbs nicely. The steak and steak/charizo tacos were good but not as good as the chicken tacos. I'm not sure what kind of steak they use or what quality of steak they use, but the meat is a bit tough. It's still good though! In addition, they give you various salsas to go with the tacos. The red salsa is a bit too spicy for me, but if you like spicy food, you'll love this one! I personally liked the green one- it has a splash of lime and a strong citrus aroma. At around $2/taco, this place gives you the bang for your buck. read more

El Tako Nako - steak, steak/charizo, and chicken tacos - Mexican Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Stopped by while visit from out of town Tacos were delicious pastor was my favorite Great service Super fast Highly recommended read more

Amazing authentic tacos!! Nice staff and easily the best place to get a genuine Mexican taco experience in Cville

Super delicious at great prices. Me and my kids have been ordering from here for years. Definitely our favorite taco spot.

Best tacos in town! Great service too. Super friendly. I often get the steak and chorizo, but love the Birria tacos too, especially with the broth. read more

Authentic, fresh tacos for a bargain! Probably my favorite taco spot in Charlottesville. I love that they have lengua (beef tongue meat) and chorizo. The lengua is so tender and juicy, absolutely recommend it. Each taco is piled with a ton of cilantro, radish, and other traditional toppings. The salsa and the guacamole sauce is also fantastic. Service is quick and the taco food truck people are always so nice and friendly. This taco truck also takes credit card! There's one table and bench for those who want to eat here. Definitely recommend if you're looking for authentic tacos in Charlottesville. read more

The tacos here are as good as any others in town and stand toe-to-toe with other great taco trucks around the country. They arrive double wrapped in soft corn tortillas and topped with an ample portion of fresh cilantro, crisp raw onion, and sweet sauteed onion. These toppings complement the generally fatty meats quite well. We sampled the al pastor, chorizo, chicken, lengua, and cabeza tacos on a recent visit. Well-marinated al pastor and aromatically spiced, crisp chorizo ranked among our favorites. The chicken, usually a dry dud on taqueria menus, actually tasted juicy. Beef lengua and cabeza ones were just fine and had little going on other than fattiness. The fresh salsas enhance rather than overshadow the flavors of the meats, and we loved the spicy red and more mild verde salsas on our tacos. Tacos here run $2.50 a pop and you'll need 3-4 to fill up if you have a normal appetite. Note that parking here can pose a challenge as the truck is located in the parking lot of a very busy laundromat. Seating is limited to a few stools by the truck and one bench. Those issues won't stop me from returning soon for some flavorful, cheap, double-wrapped goodness. read more

Cabeza tacos are literally the best tacos I've ever had. The avacado salsa is delicious too

Holy shit its so good the people there are great, and the food is just as good. The steak is buttery and everything is well seasoned. the sauces are great too! Easily the best taco place in the state. read more

If you want to eat authentic tacos, this truck is it. The tacos are pretty simple, your two tortillas (flour or corn), meat of choice, cilantro and onions. You can also get some salsas on the side after you order. I got the steak, al pastor, and cabeza ("cow head" which is actually beef cheek). I loved all three - I felt like the simplicity made for the perfect flavor combination. In fact I liked them a lot more than any other tacos I've had, even ones with fancy and unusual toppings. The cabeza was my favorite because it was the most flavorful and the meat was extremely tender. Al pastor was great too, and I found steak to still be good but the least flavorful. 3 was the perfect number for me, by the way. The man we ordered from suggested that I get 3 if I was pretty hungry and maybe 4-5 if I wanted to eat a lot. There's one picnic table beside the truck, if you're looking to eat immediately! read more

So fast, fresh, and flavorful. We shared one quesadilla and got 2 tacos each and it was perfect for us. Love this place!

I got 2 campechano, chicken, and the al pastor. The tacos were super tasty at $2.50 a piece. The food truck is near a laundromat and is definitely busy on the weekends. Definitely worth the wait and would come back again. I heard there's a second truck on the UVA campus but sells at $3 a piece. Miss college town food instead of DC, where you get constantly jacked at high prices and low quality. read more

Wowow I am so happy this trucks exists in Cville!!!They serve up late-night, no frills tacos at $3 ea. Birria, cabeza, and al pastor have been consistently delicious and come with three types of hot sauces that are full of flavor and pack a lot of heat. Solid spot! read more

El Tako Nako - El tako nako truck rules!! - Mexican Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Here's another one of Charlottesville's best authentic-ish Mexican taco trucks. I only say "authentic-ish" because you normally don't see caramelized onions on a Mexican street style taco in addition to the raw onions, cilantro, corn tortilla, and the meat. The meats were cooked and seasoned well (I think I ordered lengua, al pastor, campechano, and asada). Out of all the Mexicans in Charlottesville, they probably had some of the best lengua. Their mild salsa was an excellent addition to put on top of the tacos as well. It is a taco truck, so you may want to pick up your tacos to go - but they do have two 6-foot tables that you'd be able to eat at outside of the laundromat. read more

My favorite place for authentic Mexican tacos. Very delicious, open late, friendly and quick. They even have the harder to find stuff like cow's head and tongue... I know I know, just try it and you won't regret it. Every order comes with salt, limes and choice of red, green and habanero sauces as well as guacamole but I mean real guacamole not that chunky Americanized stuff. The truck is always located in the parking lot of Hydraulic Wash Laundromat. read more

El Tako Nako - Azada (Steak) and Al Pastor (Pork). - Mexican Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Perhaps the best tacos here in Charlottesville, and there's a lot of competition. The tacos are authentic and they keep it simple with corn tortillas (double wrapped), cilantro, and onions. There's a few salsa options (a hot one, a cilantro one, and a green salsa one) as well as limes for people to add to their tacos. I usually get the steak or al pastor, both of which have the perfect amounts of fat. The al pastor is definitely more flavorful but both were good. I would say I eat a good amount and I'd suggest 2-3 for someone who is pretty hungry. Because they're double wrapped, they're really filling. I've only ever eaten them when the truck is on UVA grounds so I can't tell you what it's like where it usually is! read more

I love tacos and had heard great reviews about this place from a friend, so I wanted to check it out. It's situated in the corner of a parking lot with a table next to it and some chairs at a counter. I got the chorizo, cabeza, and campechano, and we sat at the counter. I liked the corn tortilla and the spicy sauce (which was pretty spicy, coming from a Korean person). I did not like the cabeza meat - I thought it was too chunky and kind of chewy. I liked the chorizo and campechano, but overall I didn't think the tacos were out of this world. I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to come back here. read more

El Tako Nako - Mexican Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia