Arrived a little before noon to avoid the lunch rush. grabbed a burrito to take on my hike at point lobos. I went for the fajita burrito with steak. A Decent burrito, id give a 3.5 out of 5. But it did make my stomach hurt. Casual interior in a cute shopping center. read more

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AI says this place serves large burritos, and for once, this is accurate information!! Fucking huge!!! Got the Mahi Mahi w pinto beans, pretty good flavor although a little muted. Salsa bar was chill, also nothing to write home about. Really the 4-stars is that it was very big for a good price, and quick and nice service. Perfect for after diving! read more

Island Taco - Mahi Mahi burrito - Mexican Near Me - Carmel, California

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Always great beach mini Tacos for the kids. The staff is very kind and the food is a good go to for the kids read more

After spending the better part of the day checking out the different vistas and overlooks down Highway 1, we found ourselves caught at a rather awkward time. That point in the afternoon when it's too late to have lunch without ruining our dinner plans yet far too hungry (hangry?) to skip eating. However, just as we were getting ready to leave The Crossroads after a caffeine pick-me-up, a solution appeared before our eyes - literally. Just as we turned the corner to head back to our car, Island Taco showed up right in front of us. No, it didn't come with an angelic aura or harps playing overhead, but having a taco joint show up just like that? It certainly felt more than a little serendipitous! Set back from the shopping complex's main "drive", Island Taco's chill vibes and outdoor tables actually appealed to us just as much as their food. Even though we had already spent a good amount of time sitting in the car, getting to relax outside with some tacos and beers on such a nice day was just too good to pass up! Of course, it didn't hurt that the menu isn't too shabby. While we were already set on what to order, it was nice to see there was some variety for us to choose from - regular/crispy, street, fish or shrimp. In the event we hadn't, though, there are plenty of options, including burritos, enchiladas, soups, salads, rice bowls, quesadillas, taquitos, tostadas, and nachos. -- BAJA-STYLE FISH TACO - Crispy Battered Fried Fish, Island Taco Aioli, Pico de Gallo, and Cilantro-Lime Slaw on a Corn Tortilla We were both super excited to try this and it didn't disappoint. Not only was the piece of fish huge, but it was crispy, the batter wasn't oily, and the inside was perfectly moist. The pico de gallo and house aioli complemented the fish really well, too. -- BEACH MINI TACOS - Three Classic Street-Style Tacos on Corn Tortillas with Choice of Meats (Two Carne Asada and one Carnitas) Admittedly, these looked a little weird without the cilantro (as we requested), but they were decent. The carnitas were flavorful and I liked how the carne asada had a bit of a char on them. Wrapped in the tortilla, both tasted a little dry, but nothing that their salsa couldn't fix. While we mostly liked both of our dishes, the thing that actually impressed me the most was the staff. The guy who initially helped us was very friendly and the girl who took our order/brought out our food was so nice and sweet. Plus, I liked their "cart" of salsas. We tried each type with our street tacos and thought the green salsa and the spicy salsa were the tastiest (can't go wrong with any of them, though). Although Island Taco may not be as "authentic" as other places out there, it doesn't change the fact that we still found it satisfying enough (the fact that we were so hungry might have had something to do with it). My favorite taquerias in the Bay Area certainly won't feel threatened, but for something small, quick, and convenient, this place checked all the boxes for what we needed. The food may be closer to a three than a four, but THREE AND A HALF STARS rounded up for the service, even if the food might be closer to a three. read more

Island Taco - Beach Mini Taco Trio (without Cilantro) - Carnitas (left) and Carne Asada (middle and right) - Mexican Near Me - Carmel, California

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Delicious fish tacos! The slaw inside is tangy and crunchy. The peices of fish are a great size and they are one big peice in each taco. Always get the beans and rice with your meal. Super tasty! The side is $4 and you get don't a big serving and that's disappointing. Beans and rice are not expensive to serve. The nachos are delicious and a big portion! Enough for 4 people as a side or enough for the next day. Yummy guac on to! Melted cheddar and Jack cheese on top. No matter what day of the week we never wait long for our order. Two Tostada plate was delicious, added carne asada and black beans. You have to eat here! read more

Cute lil place In a nook of the crossroads shopping area. Good service and decent food. Super cute and quiet. read more

Island Taco - Here with grandson. - Mexican Near Me - Carmel, California

No reason to add to my existing review except to send a shout out to the staff for always being willing to help me and serve my food at the table. Today I brought my mom who is new to using a walker and they were accomodating as usual. Good to know that in addition to their affordable pricing, hefty servings and fresh, delicious food, they have friendly, helpful staff. Extra touches like a salsa bar, beer & wine options, outdoor patio w/ or without an umbrella, and affordable addons (it's only $4 to add rice and beans to a taco order). I love passion fruit iced tea, which comes unsweetened, and dog watching on the patio. Nice to know my family likes it just as much. read more

Island Taco - Mexican Near Me - Carmel, California

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Great portions but rather tasteless. Unless you slather hot sauce all over things, do not expect much seasoning. Menu offered grilled chicken as a choice. Got it in a taco salad bowl. Once it arrived, it was obviously boiled chicken cubes. No detectable seasoning either. We also ordered a Carne Asada bowl that came with meat either canned or something "taco bell" level, but it certainly wasn't freshly grilled. Super disappointed. Besides the disappointing meats, portion size and ingredient quality wasn't bad. If I went back, I would order vegetarian only. Good service, nice outdoor courtyard type seating. Just not worth it for the price. Can't recommend. read more

Had the mini tacos, cheese enchilada and rice bowl. All were good, used some of the extra salsas to spice it up. Service was quick and service was great with a follow up from staff after food was delivered. Could use a bit more spice in the meats but for the price it was great. read more

Partially hidden from the street view, Island Taco is a great after beach lunch spot for some flavor blasting Mahi Mahi Tacos! Truthfully we've only had the fish tacos here but they are so good it's hard to order anything else! The people who work here also are very nice and always bring my dog a bowl for water. Island Taco is a recommended stop for high quality fish tacos in Carmel read more

Island Taco - Mahi Mahi Fish Taco - Mexican Near Me - Carmel, California

Ive seen this place & finally stopped in to try a fajita burrito, it was fresh & yummy, the chips were also fresh & crispy, it wasn't busy when i stopped in, its a cute place, i got my food to go & it wasn't a long wait, it hit the spot, it was a huge burrito, i'll have the rest later, i want to try other items so i'll be back read more

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Perfect outdoor seating in this sunny day, dog friendly. We ordered shrimp tacos, chicken enchiladas and Caesar salad. Everything was delicious. Great customer service. Very mellow place, indoor & outdoor seating. read more

We just wanted to share a little snack while we were out shopping. We got the taquitos, and I have a love hate relationship with them, I LOVE when they are homemade and good, I HATE the frozen kind. These were outstanding, kinda pricy for 4 of them, but they came covered in toppings of guac, sour cream and salsa. I could seriously have gotten 2 ordered. They had the right texture of crispy and chewy with a decent amount of filling. read more

Island Taco - Taquitos. Delish. Fresh not frozen with lots of toppings. $13.95 - Mexican Near Me - Carmel, California

Nice little place in a shopping center. The food took a while, 2 tacos & a burrito but they were ok. You order at the counter & they bring to you. Not sure if we'd come back. read more

Island Taco - Mexican Near Me - Carmel, California

Tuesday afternoon : Baja Fish Taco at $6.25 is such a steal! Get two for a super filling lunch under $15. Salsa is a bit goopy stored in the little cup packets so not sure about that, so some room to improve there, but enjoyed the outdoor seating and nice service. Thank you staff! read more

Island Taco - Baja Fish Tacos gone and giant carne asada burrito still being eaten - Mexican Near Me - Carmel, California

Omg whyyy do tacos still exist like this in California. Carne asada tastes and looks like dog food. Crispy taco shell is not crispy and falls apart immediately. Shrimp taco is okay. Service was nice. read more

Nothing fancy, good bang for the buck, quiet outside seating, good menu options, lacking Horchata (not a deal breaker)... On eating, fish batter was a little odd and somewhat difficult to even describe, burrito was massive, taco casing was about as good as I have ever had tbh, salsa's hot as hell but all seemed like a reasonable result except for the odd batter... by the evening, I had to pop a Tum and my wife also so its likely its ok for a drop in but won't be the regular we are still on the hunt for... read more

I've given this place multiple tries with various menu items. The last two times I ordered there, my stomach hurt afterwards. So I'd have to say this place is not for me. My Mom, however, loves Island Taco. So I'd give it 3 stars based on mixed reviews (hers and mine). read more

This place looks promising with the pictures and menu options.....heck it got my attention. The best place to description the food would be 90's elementary school cafeteria Mexican food. I was so disappointed. It was flavorless and if it had any flavor, it was just straight weird and the ingredients used did not coincide with each other. We are what we could stomach, thanked the nice girl at the counter and walked out politely but extremely disappointed. After $32 including tip I sat in my car, took a deep breath, and said "I would've been happier with Taco Bell." Things happen, oh well. read more

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I got this order to go on my way to Big Sur. It was quiet for a Friday night, but people started coming in after I placed my order. I ordered a fish taco and it was fine. In hindsight, I should have got something like a chicken taco or taquitos. There were two small pieces of fish in my taco. Service was good, the salsa is pre-packed to go, which is less mess. I didn't hate it but it was fine. read more

Stopped by this taco place before we head back to SanJose. They closed at 4pm so the restaurant was quite empty . We ordered fish taco and mini tacos . The fish tacos was pretty good , with grilled fish and not dry , but the mini taco was below average: beef so dry or even little cold . I may not consider to visit this restaurant again . read more

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I grew up in Los Angeles eating authentic Mexican food as a kid. This is not that food. Nope. My carne asada burrito had these teeny tiny nearly oblivious pieces of carne asada. It looked like very seriously like someone chopped up one single piece of thin sliced roast beef lunch meat (and not much of it) and tossed that in. If there were 2 tablespoons of meat in here, I'd be shocked. For all practcal purposes, I had a bean burrito. Salsas weren't great either. Chips that came with the burrito were totally lackluster. Not even a hint of salt. $11..95 for a carne asada burrito (without much meat that i could identify). $13.95 for a vegetarian burrito These guys are laughing at how they are selling this stuff to the Carmel crowd at ridiculous prices and for this quality. Will never order from here again and neither should you. read more

Food is good, value middle, as it is almost $10 for a bean burrito, comes with chips. Salsa is homemade.

Solid food, not amazingly excellent, but filling, good, and great for the price. Tacos were very good, stuffed full of meat. Sides were good. Burrito was huge and was shared. Chicken tortilla soup was very good. Enchiladas were okay. Indoor and outdoor seating. read more

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I love Island Taco . It's my favorite place to pickup dinner on my way home. Their menu has a little something for everyone. Their salsas are wonderful and range in spiciness. I always get the chicken tostada, it's huge too! They have the best tortilla chips and guacamole. read more

Extremely slow service. Waited in line for a long time to order and again waited a long time to get our food. Only one person at the counter. read more

Great place to grab a quick lunch after exploring Ocean Avenue in Caramel. Friendly staff, fresh food, and overall wonderful experience! Vegetarian options are limited but very accommodating staff. Also, as an added bonus, the rice and beans are vegan friendly. read more

Island Taco - tables and chairs in a restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Carmel, California

Very friendly dude working the counter. We got a carne asada burrito and a fish taco to go here. Nice ambience here, tv with basketball game on, but we wanted to chill back at our room. We asked for a big cup of ice to go, no prob. The burrito was excellent but the fish taco was amazing!! To die for. Best fish taco ever. I highly recommend this place to eat in or take out. read more

Island Taco - Excellent fish taco. - Mexican Near Me - Carmel, California

Very good food and pleasant service. Cute little establishment. Yelp requires that I write 85 characters so here are the rest.

worst tacos ive ever had. actually has zero flavor. salsa is frozen. no salt anywhere in the store. shredded chicken looks a month old. genuinely the worst Mexican food experience ive ever had do not come here. read more

Shrimp burritos with black beans are the ticket here. My wife got Baja style fish tacos and she loves it. The have great beers selection but unfortunately due to health restrictions I have not tried it. Salsa selection is excellent, from mild to hot. read more

So good! Best fish tacos! Go here, you won't regret it! I take everyone here! I'm don't know what else to say but I really wanted to give a good review read more

Okay, I'm a sucker for a good taco salad. I ordered the steak taco salad, and my friend ordered a burrito! Both dishes were pleasant. The girl who took our order was very polite and friendly. Stopped by during quarantine and everything was clean! Great food, and I mean, can't beat the location. Carmel by the sea is a gem! read more

Island Taco - Just 4 miles from Carmel by the sea and island taco! - Mexican Near Me - Carmel, California

I stumbled upon this place and am so glad that I did. I got the salad with mahi-mahi and I've since gone back for it again, within same week, it's my new favorite meal. So fresh and so good read more

Island Taco - Salad bowl with mahi-mahi, hold the sour cream. Sooo good - Mexican Near Me - Carmel, California

Their nachos tho. So good! Huge portions and friendly staff. They're always pretty quick when I order for pickup also. L

So yummy! The food was great. Good service to. Highly recommended. Cute place to eat.

There are quite a few Mexican style restaurants in the Montery Peninsula but there is only one Island Taco. Not a tourist trap not authentic Mexican atmosphere but the refreshing ambience of a little island getaway tucked away in the beautiful Carmel Crossroads. The family owned and operation is now getting even finer with Maxwell as your host. The food from quality to presentation is outstanding. Truly homemade cooking with delicious flavors. Get out of your local routine and try a truly relaxing experience. read more

I recently had the chance to travel to Carmel for a work trip. We didn't have much time, and lucky for us, Island Taco was close by. Our cashier/server was super helpful and friendly, they had Coke Zero (a definite plus in my book), and prices were reasonable. They have a ridiculously large selection of Jarritos... some flavors I've but seen before . I got a burrito with the chicken, and a fish taco. The burrito was... ok. The chicken had good flavor, the burrito was a good size, but the lettuce inside (I'm fine with lettuce in a burrito) coupled with the pico de gallo made the burrito a little soggy. Which is weird for a burrito. The flavor was good, but the resulting texture wasn't what I was expecting. So you might not want a burrito from here. There's a full salsa bar, although I didn't try any of them so I couldn't tell you if they're worth eating. On to something better: What you positively, absolutely DO want is the Baja style fish taco. One will suffice, it's ginormous and can split into two since you get two tortillas. Get it. Eat it. Love it. You can thank me later. Would I eat here again? Most definitely. Burrito? Maybe not, or maybe minus the lettuce and pico de gallo. read more

Island Taco - Baja style fish taco - Mexican Near Me - Carmel, California

great fish tacos and burritos, reasonable price. very happy we found this place while driving through town, would come back if we were in the area again. read more

Nice people and pretty cool spot. Of the things we ordered, chicken burrito, carne burrito and chicken quesadilla, everything was bland and burritos mostly just beans and rice, just not very good unfortunately. I love salsa and tried three of theirs, one was decent and the other two were tasteless. read more