Taqueria Cardenas

Outstanding quality ingredients.I ordered chicken tortilla soup!Very tasty and fresh

Had to run an errand at the Supreme Court in Modesto and decided to grab some Mexican food nearby. I found Taqueria Cardenas on Yelp -- it was just a short walk away. The bright, colorful exterior caught my eye -- always a good sign at a Mexican spot.The place was small but packed, with a fast-moving line despite only three employees working. They handled DoorDash, takeout, and dine-in orders efficiently. I placed my order, used the restroom (immaculately clean -- rare for small spots), and found a seat. They brought the food straight to my table without needing a number.Carne Asada Plate:The meat was thicker than most places but very flavorful. The rice, beans, and salad were well-seasoned, making the plate a hearty, satisfying meal on its own.Crispy Shrimp Taco:Good flavor but overpriced at $9. It only had about three shrimp -- not worth the extra $3.50 compared to a regular crispy taco.Overall, I'd definitely recommend Taqueria Cardenas when in the area. They handle rush hour well, the food is tasty, and the salsa bar is a great bonus.

Time for some pre-show dinner. Tonight? The Temptations & The Four Tops!We had time to kill, needed dinner and didn't want to lose our excellent parking space close to the Gallo Center. We did a minor bit of walking and looked at yelp as we walked. This led us to Taqueria Cardenas. Honestly, it wasn't much to look at. Small store front with an enclosed patio area in front with maybe two or three small tables. It was a little wider inside than I had expected. There was one person placing an order to go, otherwise it was empty. The menu is behind and above the counter. We waited our turn and placed our order. We each got an entree, and I ordered an extra Chile Relleno to share. We grabbed a Diet Pepsi from the self-service fridge. There were fountain drinks as well, but we didn't ask about them. We did have our Gallo Center cup with us, and our order taker/server was kind enough to fill it with ice for us. We paid for our food, received some napkins, flatware and a plastic basket of tortilla chips and went to choose a table. There was a Salsa Bar for salsas, limes, and radishes.There is a public restroom for guests. You do have to ask the cashier to open it for you. That's a good thing because that meant that the restroom was very clean. The order taker/server brought our food to our table and checked with us a couple of times to make sure that we were happy and didn't need anything else. It was a small wait for our food from ordering to serving but it was a wait worth waiting for. The rice and beans were as expected. The Chile Rellenos were perfect! Excellent temperature, texture and flavor. She got an Al Pastor Enchilada with Green Sauce and a Carnitas Street Taco. Both were devoured in no time. We have four more shows to attend at the Gallo this season. No doubt, we will be returning.

Cockroaches...first sign was the sticky salt shaker, much bigger issue was when the couple at the salsa bar had a cockroach crawl on one of their hands from the chip basket and then multiple others crawl out as well. Immediately requested a refund, which was given, and walked out, never again.

Great location. Plenty of seating and a kitchen area had a ton of taco toppings choices. The pollo taco was ok and the the Chile Colorado didn't have a ton of flavor. Perhaps I didn't choose the right toppings. The "mild" salsa was pretty spicy but didn't add much to the taste.

The Yelp rating is legit. Nice little family run restaurant. The food was fresh, served fast, and delicious.

So I really liked Cardenas and I wanted to bring my wife to enjoy their food. I am going to soon realize this was a bad idea. We arrived at the restaurant to find no one enjoying dinner. No biggie right. I ordered the quesabirra taco plate, the wife went with the enchiladas. My little brother also ordered his meal. He too got the quesabiria taco plate. The food came out and it was time to eat. First impressions, the rice was mush. I had a feeling this dinner was going south quick. I grabbed my first taco and instead of being firm and crisp, my taco was soft and flimsy. I took my first bite and i knew this was not the same meal I had a couple of weeks ago. What a bummer. Lack of flavor even with the dipping juice. I actually regret coming here now because this dinner wasn't what I had weeks prior. The wife said her enchiladas were ok but the rice was mushy and the beans were no bueno. I totally agreed. My brother wasn't impressed either. He too has had a great meal here in the past but tonight's meal fell really short. My original score was five stars a few weeks ago but this meal dropped it to three stars. Should be a two and a half star really.

I ALWAYS eat lunch here with my good friend and husband. Very friendly staff. The music they play is ON POINT! Love the food.

Felt the food was pretty skimpy. Ordered carna asada fries but felt the fry to topping ratio was off. Definitely should have had more fries for the dish. Definitely not worth the $15.Could have been a busy night so they were rushing thru and were trying to spread their fries across several dishes instead of making enough for all their orders.

Super rude couldn't even tell me what they had on the menu and I had to ask for a refund because of how rude and racist they were to me and my son