Stopped here again. Had the pollo con mole again. Excellent as usual. My wife had the posole and it looked great. We also ordered jalapeños

You want authentic, here it is. I used to live in Mexico so I feel confident saying this is truly authentic. Not just tacos, there is pozole, real enchiladas, flan, carnitas, and more! The style is fantastic and the colors are loud. Fun Place. People come from Portland and Seattle to eat here. It truly is different and well worth the stop. If you want cheese covered tasteless enchiladas, go to Casa Ramos. You will only get the real thing at La Tarasca, not that "americanized" Mexican food soaked in grease and globbed with cheese. The owner has the best personality, she is a real kick to listen to and promotes all the food like a true salesperson. It's great to see an entire family invested in making a successful restaurant. read more

My favorite restaurant! Delicious home style Mexican food that you can tell is prepared with love, owned and operated by a sweet and friendly family, and it's easy on the pocketbook. I like to order off the a la carte menu and pig out in adobado taco bliss. read more

La Tarasca - Adobado!! - Mexican Near Me - Centralia, Washington

Pickled veggies to start......yes!! and you can't stop eating the carnitas....so good!! This is a must if you find yourself hungry and near Centralia. ENJOY read more

Little family restaurant with wonderfully authentic mom and daughter cuisine. No chips. No WiFi. Lots of love.

My absolute favorite Mexican place in Washington! Food is so fresh and delicious. The adobada tacos are amazing. Love the intimate feel, family run business! read more

I've been eating here with my family for the past 22 years, since they opened the restaurant. Always amazing food. The family who owns and works at the restaurant have always been super friendly. I've never had a bad experience here in 22 years! read more

Among the best authentic Mexican food in the PNW (my wife is Hispanic she would know). The food was melt in your mouth good, the staff friendly and engaging. If you're visiting Great Wolf Lodge and like Mexican food, it is worth the 5 min drive. On a scale of 1-5 -- 1 being Muchas Gracias/Taco Bell, this is a very solid 5 stars. read more

First time here and can't wait to go back! Excellent all the way through. Very authentic and delicious. I had the tostadas and they tasted so much like my grandmas recipe. read more

Yelp reviews lead us here, and we were not disappointed! The tamales, pork and chicken, were delicious, the carnitas were excellent. Highly recommended for authentic Mexican food. read more

Amazing food and staff. Tastes exactly like it's supposed to. Coming from Southern California, I've found it difficult to find good Mexican Food. The hospitality of this place felt like being in my Nana's kitchen again. Thank you for giving me a little slice of home and a full panza. read more

The food is fresh but lacked flavor. I ordered the carne asada plate. It had a thin sauce that had sweetness, which was a surprise to me because I never ate Mexican food with a thin, sweet sauce. Interesting. The rice and beans lacked flavor. Again, interesting. Definitely nothing to rave about. read more

Such incredible food. I had the taquitos and they were deliciously spicy. The molè was so perfect. We were promised amazing flan, and they delivered. Service was excellent too. They were so kind to our daughter and attentive to our needs. I could tell from overhearing the waitress at other tables that they really know their regulars. read more

Any time we are coming down I5 we make sure to stop in at La Tarasca. Vibrant colors greet you in this cute, authentic establishment. The food is some of the best Mexican I've ever had. The service is great, the owers are friendly and the food comes quickly. Try the adobado, best I've ever had! read more

The real deal! Best Mexican food around by far! This is authentic - no Tex-Mex here - it's Michoacán style, real food. Handmade tortillas, great chile verde and carnitas. Family owned, too. Just don't expect chips at your table like so many places. As the owner says, they don't serve chips in Mexico. One of our favorites. read more

This place was amazing!!! I saw this on Yelp and read all the reviews so we decided to try... Best Mexican food that I've tried so far and I'm from Bellevue. Home made tortillas were delicious, I ordered the carnitas and it was so yummy! I will defiantly come back here :) read more

La Tarasca is our favorite Mexican eatery in the NW! We plan our drive from Portland to Seattle so that we can stop at the tarasca for lunch. Their food is absolutely outstanding, particularly the carnitas. Love their homemade tortillas as well. We have never had a bad meal and the family that runs it is famously warm and friendly! Ya gotta try it, if you love Michoacan cuisine. It's a "10"!!!! read more

We are from Tokeland and we had a Dr's appointment so we decided to check La Tarasca out and by the time I left I already felt like I was part of the family. It was the best Mexican food I have ever had. I came home and told my husband all about them and we needed a date day and I want to take them there. I WILL be coming back for more!! read more

I had their taco and tostada and they were a little too salty for me. My husband had had a tostada and a tamale . He really liked the tamale. For us, we are from Calif., it was not as good as what we are use to. Very pleasant waitress and good service. read more

Delicious and very authentic, I love their food and their hand made tortillas are the best!

The best food between Portland and Seattle ! I'm not kidding ! Decor is wonderful too.

Stopped here on the way to Portland from Seattle, totally worth it. Looks quaint, family run, and the special dish for lunch was beef strips cooked with onions and peppers, beans and rice. Don't forget to get the side order of fried jalapenos, so delicious :) we also tried the tamales and the tacos, and the flan at the end was a great ending to the meal! read more

So glad I trusted the reviews & went for it. My husband & brother in law weren't sold until they walked in & saw the food. I had a pork taco & a tamale, my husband had the chile colorado & my brother in law had the carnitas. It was all exceptional. And those carrots!! Holy cow they are good. The tortillas are fresh & handmade. This will be our go to stop off of I-5 when the traffic gets stacked up heading back to Seattle. Good excuse to stop & have dinner & relax a bit before finishing the drive home. read more

This is about the best Mexican food I've had outside of Mexico. This is NOT what you expect from your average taco/burrito/a-bunch-of-crap-sitting-on-a-steam-table-doused-in-cheese-and goo Mexican restaurant. How do you know you're in for something good at La Tarasca? It might be the delicious and fresh pickled carrots. It might be the other patrons zoned out in food coma bliss. OR it might be your server comes to you and describes today's special with the words, "Today, my mother is making..." The chicken chile verde is tender and delicious, in a pleasantly spicy, slightly sour sauce. The Mole? Awesome. The Carnitas? Shut your mouth, I am NOT sharing good. Adobado tacos? My husband fell in love with these... awesome. Now here's something you don't hear... THE BEANS! Their beans are made with angel tears or something... If the other food weren't so amazing and I would feel I was missing out I would order a plate of beans and rice and be happy... creamy, slightly salty, soooo good (insert Homer Simpson noise here). The other bonus is their handmade corn tortillas. Sweet jeebus they're good. I could make a little nest of them and drift off to blissful slumber while nom nom nomming them as I sleep. Go here. You will eat well and authentic Michoacan Mexican food. Not the cheapest you'll ever have, but you can get out with about $10 - $15 per person. You can spend more, but you don't have to... unless you keep ordering extra tortillas and refills on their home made Horchata... Oh, and if you're some foodie hipster traveling the I-5 corridor and read about this place and "just had to try it" because of the awesome reviews, for god's sake don't polish your fork. It makes you look like a douche. read more

We were looking for a place to eat after shopping at the outlets and found this on Yelp. We're so glad we discovered this place. The food is just tasty! Not salty at all, like some other Mexican restaurants we've tried. Even my 5 and 7 year old kids finished their food and that doesn't happen very often. We had the Enchiladas plate, tacos, and flan. We would definitely recommend this place and will come back again. read more

Excellent home style food. Like eating at abulitas. Carnitas were flavorful and plentiful. Steak tacos were great. My mom loved the chili rellano. We will be back. read more

Warning to vegetarians and vegans: the owner told me their rice is cooked in chicken broth. So we basically had giant plates of beans for dinner, but got charged full price for a regular meal. (Their beans are not cooked in lard.) We went with a couple carnivores who love this place, and didn't realize it wasn't vegetarian friendly because it looked like we could have tacos and chile relleno platters from reading the menu online. Turns out the chile relleno is very small, and pretty ordinary (not the amazingness other reviewers claimed). The potato tacos were only ok as well--I ordered the bean tacos but I'm assuming when the owner ascertained that we couldn't eat the rice because it was cooked in chicken broth, she changed my order to potato tacos because I otherwise just had a plate full of beans to go with it. I really didn't think the mole sauce was very good, so I guess that's a personal taste issue as other people on yelp loved it. And that's where the tacos got their flavor, so I didn't find them exciting. I liked their salsa verde, and making a taco with a lot of spoons of salsa verde and some of the beans with one of their fresh tortillas was good, but still not worth the experience. My husband and I left extremely disappointed, so I just want to let others know who might be thinking about checking this place out. read more

This restaurant gets high marks for service, the waitress came right away and stayed to explain the menu, brought our drinks right away, and the food came quickly... oh yeah, the food, well.. I ordered the signature dish the pork carnitas which is a pork roast, didn't have a lot of flavor, and not a good portion either, with rice and beans, nothing to brag about, I also got a chile relleno that was soggy, with of all things carrots and potatoes on top..meh.. my husband ordered a chicken taco that came with rice and beans and was over $6.. overall, I wish we had gone to taco bell and saved about $20.. bottom line, barely ok. read more

The best Mexican restaurant I have ever been to. Authentic food of Michoacán in West Central Mexico. Owned and operated by the Ayala family. Relaxed atmosphere. Easy parking. read more

The food is just really good. I got the pork tacos with rice and beans and the pork was so juicy and flavorful. This is not your typical burrito/taco place but an authentic central Mexican cuisine. read more

Let me start by saying that if you do not live in Centralia, and find yourself driving through, make a point of stopping here. This is possibly the best Mexican food I have eaten in Washington. I live over an hour away, so eating here is a rare treat for me. La Tarasca is remarkably delicious. The tacos are the best I've eaten in the state. The tortillas are homemade and wonderful. Even the beans are very good. read more

When I told people in Seattle that I was moving to Centralia I actually had a couple of people say, "Centralia? Oh, you have to check out La Tarasca." The food is so good that people come out of their way to eat here or make a point to stop when their passing through. Everything is authentic and the family that owns it is always friendly. I love the pickled carrots with salsa and have tried and love just about anything on the menu. I especially like to order the special or whatever "mamma" has cooked up for the day. read more

Good. Carnitas and Mole were delish. Wish we'd ordered the Pozole. Great ambience. Perfect pit stop en route to Portland from Seattle.

This place is seriously the best mexican food you will find in the Olympia area. My sister-in-law is from Michoacan so we took them here when they came to visit last year. We went back 2 times in the short time they stayed because she said it was just like her mom's food. Myself being half mexican and having travelled many times in Mexico I grew up eating REAL mexican food and also think this is the best. Fresh, spicy and delicous! Definitely worth the drive down to Centralia! read more

Solid Mexican restaurant. Family run and friendly. Very clean. Food is simple but homemade. Had their specialty, carnitas, which were good. Wife had chile relleno which was very good. Tamale was homemade but a little doughy. Worth the stop off the freeway. read more

So going to meet the girlfriend's parents in Centralia and turned to Yelp for a good dinner spot. This was the choice hands down because of the rating. It is a nice little spot, and by little I mean little. Luckily we got there before the crowd as after we were seated a line quickly developed. The waitress was the cook's daughter. She informed us where their food originated in Mexico, what her mother had prepared for the special that day, and a little about the menu. That was awesome, though I was concerned about a little old lady working her fingers to the bone in the back so I could have handmade tortillas. We opted for the special of the day, which was steak cooked in tomatoes and onions. We were assured it wasn't spicy, but it was. It was really flavorful though, and the homemade corn tortillas were awesome. Apparently the carnitas were also good, but the chile relleno was average. No chips through us off...pickeled carrots instead. I would have preferred chips. Would give 4 stars but it seemed pricey...four people and it was $60 before tip. I've had better in Seattle for less...you would think because it is a small town it wouldn't be so high. read more

So, so good! Small quaint little place with colorful decor and delicious, traditional food.

The owner here is amazing. She is actually there, talking with customers about her food, passionate about her cooking, and where her recipes come from/where she is from. She will tell you what her best stuff on the menu is, and it's all made fresh! She has a wonderful personality, and it's so amazing to get that kind of care when it comes to your food in this day and age. If you have a food allergy, she will tell you what's in something. She doesn't use lard in anything except her beans, but she has vegitarian beans as well. We tried the chicken mole, a chicken tamale, pork tamale, adobada tacos, chorizo taco, and the pozole all to go. It was $40 and at first we were like whoa that's expensive, but it was a ton of food!! Everything was exceptional. She makes the tortillas from scratch, everything from scratch, and you can tell!! The mole was incredible, I'd say that was my favorite, but it's hard to say because everything was phenomenal. Her pickled carrots are great too. I can't complain about any of the food, even down to the rice, it was all fantastic, and definitely worth the money. To address any downsides, no she doesn't have chips, but her tortillas are amazing, just ask for some tortillas! She gives a generous amount of them with the mole and pozole. She doesn't do avocado/guacamole, but I don't think her food needs it, it's that good. I wish we could have gotten more of her delicious salsa, in our to go order we only had 1 red cup and 2 green cups, wish we could have had way more, it's very good, so maybe you can ask for more, but those were sparse, and you're going to want more. We will definitely be back anytime we are in town! read more

Delicioso, delicioso, delicioso!!! Authentic. Family friendly and family owned. Super darling waitresses (one of them is the owner's daughter.) I will make it a point to come in here EVERY time we are in the area. :) read more

Saw the Sunset Magazine write up the day we arrived in Olympia. Left immediately for dinner! Great spot. Extremely friendly, family atmosphere. Not too noisy, but cheerful ambiance. Food was great. I had the Chile Verde - not too spicy - just hot enough to reach for the Pacifico! My husband had the Carnitas very tender and not greasy at all. Homemade corn tortillas alone have made me want to go back again and again. read more