Great New Mexican GTA chain restaurant opened in place of a similar business in this location…read more Quite the spiffed up paint job with plenty of Mexican tropes looks more polished and unified throughout the space. The menu is standard Mexican items with some interesting meat options like beef tongue as well as beef head which would mean cheeks and snout. I had a steak burrito which was massive and we had the mango margarita special 2x $15 and they were tasty. Service was quick and knowledgeable with a friendly server. A nice improvement on the previous restaurant here and a welcome addition to the myriad of Mexican options available in kens.

Wanted to check out Kensington market over the long weekend. And of course we were going to grab…read moresome tacos! There are no shortage of taco places in the market, so it was a tough decision to make. We ended up choosing Taqueria El Pastorcito and we were so glad we did! For lunch, my husband and I ordered steak volcano taco, regular steak taco, regular pork taco and a chicken quesadilla to share. We skipped breakfast so I was anticipating that we had to order more food. So glad we held off, as the portions were bigger than expected. The volcano taco and quesadilla were loaded with meat! I love how they served so many different sauces from very spicy to non-spicy, and the server explained each one to us. As a person who can't take much heat, I had fun trying all the sauces. My favourite was the pineapple salsa - but be warned there is heat to it! The volcano taco was my favourite. It was piled high with shaved steak. Under the meat was a layer of pan fried (shredded) cheese on a corn tortilla. Their service was great - attentive and upbeat, a great start to our long weekend!

I'm trying to make sense of the pricing at Itacate…read more The sausage pambazo was massive--easily enough for two meals--and at $16, it felt like great value. On the other hand, the volcán and lengua tacos were quite small. While everything tasted fresh, the cuts didn't feel particularly premium, especially at $10 each. Prices are tax-included, which I appreciate--but the pricing across items feels inconsistent given the portion sizes and perceived quality.

Itacate located along St. Clair West near Appleton Ave (which is near Oakwood Ave) serves up…read moreauthentic Mexican eats. The mom and pop shop gives off hole in the wall vibes with it's no frills decor and homey atmosphere. There are 6 tables to dine in as well as a small patio but they also do take out as well. They have an extensive menu featuring a long list of tacos, quesadillas, and garnachas alongside some popular appetizers. I've heard many good things about Itacate and finally made my way to visit the eatery recently. I came by on a Saturday around 1pm. You have to order and pay at the counter before taking a seat if you do plan on dining in. It is cash or e-transfer only. Service was friendly and you could see all the tacos being made on the flat top behind the counter. I decided to order 3 tacos and had to wait 20-25 min for my order. I was able to walk around the neighbourhood instead of waiting inside the restaurant. When I was picking up my order, the staff mentioned to customers ordering that their orders would take 40 min to prepare! (you know everything is prepared fresh though!). For my tacos I opted to get: - Volcan (steak, onions, cheese) - Pastor (marinated pineapple, pork) - Choriqueso (sausage, cheese) All tacos come with onion, cilantro, and 2 types of hot sauce + a lime wedge on the side. Staff do ask if you want onion and cilantro on your tacos when ordering. I decided to get take out and went to a nearby park to eat my tacos. I didn't want to wait too long before eating them. The tacos came with 2 corn tortillas each and were still piping hot when I was eating them. The hot sauces tasted great. I enjoyed all the tacos I got but the volcan and the pastor tacos were standouts. Each taco were packed with meat and flavour. Three tacos were definitely a good portion for me and I was full afterwards. Overall, a longtime neighbourhood gem in the St. Clair Ave. W. area. Delicious authentic Mexican eats and friendly staff. Definitely do check out Itacate if you are in the area! I know I"ll definitely be back for more in the future!

¡Muy delicioso! What an amazing experience at Holi Taco! It was a bit of a trip to get here, but it…read morewas it worth it. Service is super friendly, sociable, and fast. The staff were generous to give me carnitas tacos on the house after seeing me salivate over the roasting carnitas for 15min after I finished my first round of tacos. I was incredibly touched by this, and this made the experience even better. Their tacos are SO DELICIOUS. First of all, the tortillas they use are fantastic - they hold the weight and juices of the taco fillings without needing to be double stacked. This keeps the taco structure without making the taco as starch-heavy. I find that other spots that double up on the tortillas in order to give the taco more structure can sometimes result in the taco being more effortful to chew, and the balance of meat to salsa to toppings to tortilla is a bit off. My favourite taco was the pescado (fish). Lightly battered white fish, topped with crunchy purple cabbage & pico de gallo. I also added cilantro, onions, and salsa verde from the DIY toppings bar. Such a bright, light taco to enjoy bursting with flavour! The carnitas (pork) landed in 2nd place for me - smoky paprika, salt, and charred carnitas being slowly roasted, paired with pineapple. The pineapple cuts the saltiness of the carnitas with its acidity and sweetness to balance out the flavours. Mmm so tasty... Last but not least, we tried the suadero (brisket), which is their best seller. Surprisingly, this wasn't my favourite because it didn't wow me as much. It was very juicy & tender, but overall just tasted like salty beef even with toppings added. Still a delicious taco, but I would go for the other 2 instead. Seating is quite limited, so be prepared to eat standing near the exit or wait a bit for counter/seating space to be available. The interior is decked out in Polaroid photos of locals who share their love of tacos, Latin-themed decor, and vibrant colours. Love the small local biz feel!

Had an amazing experience at Holi Taco the other day! It is a small establishment near History so…read moreit's a great spot to stop by before a concert there. There are a limited number of seats but people go in and out quickly, so you won't have to wait too long. The staff are kind and friendly, and will give you recommendations. Their most popular taco is the beef brisket, so I tried that and the sausage taco (longaniza). You can load your taco with the toppings in their side bar (4-5 different types of salsa, onions, cilantro and lime). The salsa verde is AMAZING! so i recommend loading your tacos with that :) The beef brisket taco was indeed delicious, soft and cooked very well. The sausage was also good but I think it could have slightly more flavour to compare to the beef brisket. All the toppings go very well with the meats. After I ate the two tacos, my friend and I were debating on getting a carnitas taco as well, and the owner surprised us with a two free carnitas tacos! It was such a wholesome and fun surprise and also super delicious. I would say my favourite was the beef brisket, then the carnitas and then the longaniza. My friend highly recommends the fish taco as well :) Overall, highly recommend and I can't wait to go back!

Walked in randomly for a quick bite…read more I ordered three tacos: Al Pastor, Steak and Shrimp. They accidentally gave me 2 shrimp tacos but I didn't mind at all. They were by far the best ones of the three by a lot. Service was quick and they give you a couple hot sauces which were good too. Great little taco shop to come to for a quick bite. Will be back for those shrimp tacos again. Not a lot of seating but was pretty empty when I went and comfortable.

Tacomania offers great variety of Mexican street food that goes beyond tacos. There are plenty of…read morechoices like al pastor, shrimp and crispy birria tacos, along with quesabirria, tortas, birria pizza, and Mexican drinks like mangonada. The place is always packed with customers enjoying their delicious food. It's on a first come first serve basis. The staff are friendly and helpful. We ordered "Guac & Chips", "Shrimp Tacos", "Sirloin Tacos", "Campechano Special Tacos", "Medium Birria Pizza", "Chicken Fajitas" and paired them with "Horchata". Every bite of every dish was delicious and full of flavours.

Their salads are everything. EVERYTHING!…read more I'm so obsessed. I was introduced to it by a coworker and I came back the next day again for lunch. They give you gauc and chips included, which is nice and both are delicious! Their hot sauce is phenomenal too! The salad is fresh, no limp lettuce, no sir. Their protein options are vast - they have fish too! I always get the chicken but might try something else next time. They're not as popular as they should be but it might be a good thing when I don't have to wait at lunch time :)

Best burritos downtown. Super fresh, authentic Mexican cuisine right at Richmond and Spadina…read more It gets super busy around lunch but they've managed an efficient production line to keep up with the lunch rush. The naked burrito is pretty amazing and comes with the standard: rice, refried beans, meat, lettuce, tomatoes, corn, pickled relish, jalapenos and guacamole at no extra charge! I would recommend the regular chicken and the chicken tinga. I'm sure I'll be back to try out the tacos and beef!

We started with "appetizers" including the K-Wings or Korean style wings in both flavours. I…read morepreferred the Oro K-wings ($20 for 6) the crispy chicken left neutral but having been marinated in arbol (type of chili pepper), soy, and oyster sauce was very flavourful. Juicy and crunchy this is what makes Korean fried chicken so good. The Rojo K-wings ($20 for 6) were too strong for me: the gochujang, ginger, soju, and oyster sauce base tasty on the first bite but overwhelming by the last. Rest assured, Tinga Kim doesn't baby their diners and makes these spicy. I'm glad we got the quesabirria ($18) for the table as the shredded beef saturated in consommé was so rich and salty that one is sufficient. They don't skimp of the cheese so it's nice and gooey but could use more raw onion and herbs to counteract the heaviness. Strangely this arrives with chili oil and a sour cream aioli instead of the beef consommé you'd expect to dip it in. It seemed more quesadilla than quesabirria. Their single order tacos are great for building your own main. Ideally, the chef should have left the shrimp in the pingo Coreano ($12) neutral rather than saturating it in soju, soy and oyster sauce. By this point, I was getting tired of this flavour combo and was looking forward to what the menu describes as shrimp, soju-based salsa, guacamole, cotija & Oaxaca cheese, and cilantro. No where did it mention soy and oyster sauce, which completely covered the sparse guacamole and cheese but did help soften the tostada, so it was foldable and easier to eat. I'm really reaching for the silver lining here. The maapo libre ($10) tasted the same since the main protein was Korean marinated galbi. Except this was topped with an overly salted citrusy red cabbage slaw. Quite frankly, by this time I'm not sure what on their menu doesn't contain soy sauce. After all that salt I was craving something sweet. The Mexican flan ($10) was calling and while it wasn't terrible, if the recipe includes white chocolate in the custard they really should have left the syrup thin rather than dousing it in a thick caramel that brought this to cloying sweet level. Moreover, the custard became too dense. The silver lining? At least each order contained two mini flans that makes it perfect for sharing. My perception is that the chefs at Tinga Kim create one sauce then use it on everything. That same caramel was drizzled onto the already sweet tres leches cake ($17), which means yes this is tooth achingly sweet as well. At least the cake was nice and moist. Even the cinnamon sugar dusted churros ($10) didn't escape the sauce, which needs to be served on the side. The actual pastry was a bit dense but at least freshly deep fried and hot.

Hands-down the best tacos in the East End! Tinga Kim serves up Korean-Mexican fusion dishes done…read moreexeptionally well, where flavour profiles are paired together with a purpose. We ordered the Sunny Ceviche (citrus cured sea bass, szechuan peppercorn, and coconut milk) to share, which came with crunchy fried tortilla chips. It had the perfect amount of acidity and spice without overpowering or taking away from the natural sweetness of the fish. For tacos, I ordered the pescado (fish) and spicy shrimp on a soft shell, while my partner had the Korean marinated galbi and pulpo (octopus). Despite the price tag on each taco ($10-11), the amount of toppings piled on make them worth it and you can be full with just two. I especially loved the guac that came with the crispy fish, and the spicy sauce that coated the shrimps. The octopus was decent, but the galbi was a bit too sweet. My main critique was that our drinks took a bit of time to arrive, with our apps & mains served before they came. The table next to us was also attended to first even though they came in after, but I understand that it was a busy night and the staff were working as fast as they could.

So I have tried them a few times and each time the quality and taste has been spot on…read more Located in the heart of Kensington market this is definitely a hidden gem tucked in a store with a few different eateries. So each time I have their shrimp and beef tacos. All tacos are served in corn tortilla freshly warmed and stuffed with your preference of meat topped with amazing sauces and vegetables. These tacos are super moist and flavorful. The best part is that they have maintained their quality so well over the time. Last time I got three tacos and they totaled to $12. Next time I definitely want to try their fish tacos. The staff is friendly and they make the order pretty quick. Lots of street paid parking in the area. Kudos to the team for creating such a following even though there are a few very popular taco joints close to them.

I thought this place would be good but what a let down honestly the tortilla were so tough, I got…read morethe three tacos fish beef and chicken it didn't taste like anything special, I will never come to this place, gus tacos is one of the best tacos I ever had and this is one of the worst, the meat was bland, no flavour, it was a big letdown, the fish taco was okay, but I had better at Wilbur mexicana, now I know this is one of the worst tacos 99.9 percent sure I won't be back here, because there are still better tacos to try on my checklist

Good tacos and loved the spread of salsas available. One of the few spots in Toronto I've found…read morewith a tamarind margarita, my favorite kind. The tres leches was delicious too. Great value overall, would recommend.

I love the colour flags on the ceiling but it's more of a hole in the wall vibe but I often find…read morethat means the food is amazing. And it was! The staff were friendly and around when you needed them. We have the horchata to drink and then got a selection of tacos, quesadillas and valcalnes (which reminded me of cheese tostadas). The pork ones were mind blowing and I really liked the tongue ones. Super tender. (And don't be scared, it just looks like diced meat) The items that come in the centre of the table are so nice so you can dress your items how you like. Lots of options and a variety of heat levels. I really liked the green salsa and diced pineapple with peppers. Yum!