The Best Tacos in Raleigh

bartaco North Hills

★★★★☆ 4.3 (664) • $$

"It's been a while since I've written a review on Yelp, mostly because I have Celiac and once I've found a good 5 or 6 restaurants, I have just stuck with them to preserve my health. That said, I was in Raleigh for a weekend and wasn't feeling my usual options, and I love tacos, so decided to give it a go.--Food: I ordered delivery twice and ate in once. I ordered a crispy shrimp taco kit and a chorizo taco kit the first night and was blown away at how flavorful everything was. Having Celiac, eating Fried food is almost impossible, but their entire menu minus quesadillas and desserts are gluten free, and you couldn't tell. The shrimp had an amazing crispy corn breading and the slaw was super flavorful. I think the Chorizo was my favorite with a great spice and made it into my second take out order along with Baja Fish. The Baja fish was so crispy as well, a little spicy, and the lemon slaw amazing. Flavorwise, for sure 5/5 for all of them.If you eat in, you can order just one taco (you can't do this take out, you can only order 4 or 8 pack tacos), so I tried most of the ones I hadn't tried. The duck was good, but perhaps my least favorite of the lot. Still excellent though. Lobster, while tasty, was confusing as a taco filling (and a bit expensive, but it's lobster so yeah.) I really liked the Pork Belly and was way crispier than expected. The shrimp and chorizo tacos still probably my favorite, but it's fun to have a myriad of tacos to choose from.If someone is looking for advice on how many to get, I say probably 4 (or more!), even if you usually can't eat more than 2 or 3 tacos. I say this because they're not normal corn tortillas, they are small and are 2/3 bite tacos.They also have rice bowls, which I meant to try, but was too obsessed with their tacos that I never got around to it!--Price: A little on the pricier side, but it's upscale cuisine I feel. The lobster taco was $8, but the rest were around $4 a taco I think. For something so delicious *and* safe for me to eat though, I would (and did!) happily pay it.--Service: Everyone is super helpful, super nice, and inviting.--Environment: Feels a bit upscale in a really fancy shopping area. Parking was difficult, but I'm not a fan of those kind of complexes. If I go to Raleigh again I'm tipping even more for delivery because for someone not great at driving, it's difficult. Very nice area though.--Overall: Hmmm... Probably my new favorite restaurant. It might not be the most cost efficient, I can't vouch for group orders, and I haven't tried the non taco items, but I absolutely loved everything I ordered. Will be getting bartaco anywhere I go that has one, and I'm crossing my fingers for a Richmond VA location to open."

Chido Taco

★★★★☆ 4.3 (293) • $$

"Returned for dinner and had another great experience. Forget the fish tacos - the new move is the braised beef quesabirria. Queso is still fire, too."

Taqueria La Vaquita

★★★★☆ 4.3 (273)

"Awesome place in Durham. Great place to set outside and enjoy the weather. Food is authentic and great. $3 tacos"

Catrinas Tequila & Taco Bar

★★★★☆ 4.2 (265) • $$

"When you walk into the restaurant the first impression is, there is lots of decorative details. They have an alter and decor for Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, the celebration of life and death. There are Latin celebrities on walls, Mexican decorations that entertain you as you wait for a server to take your order.The food is as detailed as the decor. I had the best plantains ever. The guacamole was very different, not bad, but surprisingly different. The street tacos had developed authentic taste. Everything was good, except our server. She could be a bit more curtious.Since I have had worse servers and much worse food, I will just hope she was having a bad day.Will I be back? You betcha!"

Habañero's Taqueria

★★★★☆ 4.4 (176) • $

"Fast and friendly service, came for dinner on a Friday night and got seated immediately. Got a taco platter with 3 different tacos and a burrito. Both dishes were really good and the salsa that came with the meals had some heat. Overall a good place to have Mexican food. Decor was pretty cool with lots of pictures on the wall that have Mexican themes."

Que Chula

★★★★☆ 4.1 (107) • $$

"Great outdoor patio. Nice indoor area. Service was OK. They have a late brunch menu on weekends. Ordered the Chiliquielles which had corn chips, 2 eggs, pappas bravado and some sauces. A nice meal."

Don Ramon's Taco Shop

★★★★☆ 3.6 (121) • $$

"Absolutely awesome, real Mom & Pop southern Mexican style food! Their homemade tamales are like no place in town, various taco are plenty full and great too . Pasole, awesome soup and my go to place!"

Taco Bamba Raleigh

★★★★☆ 4.2 (81) • $$

"So I just started a new job in town and it happens to be 2 minutes away from Taco Bamba. My boss took me there on my first day and wow! From the outdoor seating, to the salsa bar, to the creativity in tacos, it was such a cool experience.I had to get a carne asada taco, one of them had to be simple. It had steak, cilantro, and onion on a corn tortilla, nothing fancy needed. I was so impressed with the steak, the meat wasn't too small or too stringy. You could see it was actually cooked medium rare, not just to the point of being done. The Queen Bee with the spicy fried chicken, house slaw, hot honey, pickled onions, etc was an awesome blend of flavors. And I loved the Sweet Baby Jesus with Cheerwine bacon carnitas, pickled fresnos, crispy onions, crispy pork skins, etc etc. I don't know how they came up with these combinations, and yes, it's a lot of ingredients, but they are amazing tacos that you can't find at just any taqueria.The chips were fine too, just a little salt, thin cut and hot. They also have a small, but nice bar, I just hope they have Casamigo Reposado. I'll definitely be coming back, I want to try more!"

Street Tacos Cantina

★★★★★ 4.6 (64)

"I really wanted to like this place because the ambience is cool. Ordered take out before but never been inside thought I would give it a go . They play Spanish music. It's all fun and colorful with lots of art and an outside patio in the front. However, I've tried plenty of tacos in my life and these did not hit the spot. The meat was great. It was just missing a glob of good guacamole and sour cream. It was missing flavor. The nachos supreme were $14 and they were trash cold cheese and not enough of anything my kids left it .chimichanga was huge worth the money according to my husband . The service was a bit slow waited 10 min for our drink because they had to make a new batch of horchata The cashier was nice and the system asks you for a tip in advance . The restroom is for 1 person and it had pee all over the seat . To close at $5 a taco I expected more and the nachos could have gone to Taco Bell for more ."

Las Marias Tacos Y Pupusas

★★★★☆ 3.7 (89)

"If you're up for some Mexican and Central-American eats, Las Marias Tacos y Pupusas should fit the bill! This authentic eatery off of Wake Forest Road is doing a lot of things right. Bright and cheery dining room, check. Great and prompt service, check. Authentic Latin-American eats ranging from tacos, burritos and much more, check. Reasonable prices, check. You really can't go wrong eating here, I've done their tacos, carnitas plates and more, the portions are substantial and great home cooking! If you go at night, enjoy a beer or margarita with your meal, nice! And from what I understand, they sometimes have a mariachi band or live music on the weekends. Las Marias is not for everyone. If you're looking for an Americanized Mexican option, you may not enjoy this place. But if you appreciate delicious, authentic Latin American eats, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by this hidden gem next to Wal*mart!"

Dank Burrito

★★★★☆ 3.9 (78)

"I had a bowl with pork belly and chicken. The food at Dank is delicious. Very fresh. The staff is welcoming and does a great job fulfilling orders quickly without interfering with the freshness. The ordering counter was clean and well stocked with items needed for your order."

Crazy Tacos

★★★★☆ 4.3 (61) • $

"Ok, I hope you're ready about the deliciousness I'm about to share with you. This place knows exactly what they are doing! This delicious creation you are looking at is a Cuban Torta. I didn't realize how packed full this giant sucker was. What's in this mouth watering monstrosity you ask? I'm not even completely sure. There was a hot dog, chorizo, ham, jalapeños, lettuce, tomato, avocado, sour cream (I think), and some other things. But let me tell you, ever bite was phenomenal! This little shack got it going on!Unfortunately, I didn't get to try the tacos. A certain boyfriend got to them before I did, but I heard they were delicious as well!Don't let the appearance of this little place fool you, they know exactly what they are doing!"

Tacos Abarca

★★★★☆ 4.4 (36)

"Located off of Glenwood Ave in Raleigh! Per usual, I got 3 tacos: Asada, Barbacoa, and Pastor! I also got their agua de Jamaica (hibiscus) Tacos were good, Jamaica came in a giant cup, and the salsa roja was lowkey fire"

Lobos Tacos y Pupusas

★★★★★ 4.5 (25)

"I've been here twice in the past two weeks and have not regretted coming. These tacos are authentic, fresh, and tasty. The workers are nice and they get your food to you fairly quickly. The chipotle sauce is shwae with a capital S. My favorite tacos are the steak and barbacoa. The cherry on top is that the prices are veryyy reasonable!"

El Chapin - Wake Forest

★★★★★ 4.9 (18)

"This place was great. As soon as we walked in we were immediately greeted. The menu had many options. The food came out and it looked phenomenal. The portion sizes are big, come hungry. I had chorizo sausages with rice beans and a salad. Hubby got steak with the same sides. Our toddler got corn dogs and french fries. The food was amazing. Even the rice. Yes, the rice. It was so flavorful. The beans as well. The steak and sausages were flavorful. You can tell hard work and talent went into preparing these meals. They also have a store inside and we tried Guatemalan snacks. We will be back."

Tacos Azteca

★★★★☆ 4.4 (22)

"Great place! This is a great spot for authentic Mexican food. The tortillas on the tacos are handmade and the guacamole & salsa are freshly made. The aguas frescas are huge and delicious. The agua de Fresa tasted unnatural but the agua de tamarindo was definitely natural. Birria tacos, asada tacos, tripas tacos and al pastor tacos etc. the cubana torta was very yummy! I definitely would return. The staff seemed friendly and answered all our questions respectfully."

Chido Taco

★★★★☆ 4 (26)

"If you're in the mood for tacos (and when am I not), this taco place on the corner of Chido St. and Taco Ave. fits the bill. Ok, maybe that's not the name of the intersection, but it's close to the theater and the downtown hotels on the south end of the city. Or just use Maps to find it.The tacos came out pretty plain, but I later found out they have a fixin's bar like Roy Rogers had back in the day. I loaded up my chorizo and Al Pastor tacos with onions and cilantro for a classic street taco style.The Shrimp Tacos were odd, but good. They had a corn tortilla laid flat with shrimp, then they melted cheese on top almost like an open face quesadilla. Sounds amazing, but eating it was a challenge.Free drink refills were available which is always a plus. Seating was a bit limited and it got crowded during the noon hour. I'd probably go again if I could beat the lunch crowds."

The Pickled Pub

★★★★☆ 4 (24)

"I found it strange that one of the Pickled Onion locations was so close to The Pickled Pub. We decided to stop in here to watch a game and to grab food and beers. It was a round of beers and the fried pickles and philly cheese steak egg rolls to start for our party. For our entrees it was the mile high man burger with fries for my husband and 9 boneless wings in the bourbon BBQ sauce for me. Our friend ordered the wings in the buffalo hot sauce but the sauce was lacking. I really wanted carrot sticks with the wings but we only got celery. The table favorite was the egg rolls, the rest of the food was just okay."

Farmers and Merchants

★★★★☆ 4.1 (21)

"Happy to see Farmers and Merchants reopen! Daily special today was tacos and margarita for $12. We had the brisket and fish tacos, both were delicious. Tacos came with queso with corn, guacamole that we ordered be placed on the side, and chips. You have your option of margaritas, we started with a classic and then tried the pineapple and blueberry flavors. All very good. This is a cute restaurant with exposed brick and large windows. Staff was attentive and helpful . Welcome back F&M!"

Don Beto El Poblano

★★★★☆ 4.4 (17)

"I have been here countless times and everytime the quality level remains the same no matter what type of tacos I get. The carne Asada, al pastor and chorizo are standbys. I really need to try sopes next time im there. Its a bit of an odd setup with a small dining room in what looks to be an old car garage that is kind of in the open so expect it to be hot in the summer or cold in the winter because youre essentially eating outside. Parking is limited but I have never had a problem."

Costa Azul Restaurant & Bar

★★★★☆ 3.9 (20) • $$

"Ok, boys and girls. Are you hungry? Are you looking for a refuge from so-so-tex-mex. Arrive here. I went today and ordered takeout, since I live in Chapel Hill and work here in Durham (NCSSM), and my wife does not drive. We got a beef entree and a shrimp entree. Wow. Incredibly tasty. Yeah, you want to try this place. Surprising tip: wine to accompany was a nice Macon, a white burg. It stood up well and complemented this very tasty food. Want to step out of the ordinary? come to this place and be very pleased. I shall return.Now get going and give it a whirl."

Taquiza la Guadalupana

★★★★☆ 4 (7)

"We discovered that this delicious food truck was coming to Zebulon on Cinco de Mayo. We wanted fresh authentic tacos. They had delicious tacos for $2 and a yummy quesadilla for $10. It was easy to call ahead our order and we picked it up. Great presentation. I hope to try them again soon."

Tacos Paraíso

★★★★☆ 4.3 (6)

"Ordered from the food truck when it was at Havoc Brewing. The red truck with a pretty extensive menu had a nice ambiance. I walked up and they took my order right away and said come back in 10 or 15, one or the other.It was ready after I got a beer, sat down with friends and walked back out. The salsa comes in teeny tiny cups. Good thing you get two. Unfortunately, they were out of the red sauce, so I got two of the green. The Pollo gringo which came with a bag of chips tasted pretty good if a little bland, glad I had the salsa to pour on top. A bit disappointed with the amount I got for the price. The chips I had left over went in the trash b/c they were not that good. An average Mexican food truck but worth a try."

Taqueria & Pupuseria, Fiorentine Cafe

★★★★★ 4.7 (3)

"On my was from VA to FL, wanted a taco and stopped for lunch! Much to my delight, they had lingua! I ordered one lingua, one beef and one pork. So good I had to order more food - got a pork and cheese papusa. Delicious! Super friendly owner and very affordable. Turns out They weren't even open to the public on Sundays but served me anyhow! What a great place! Highly recommend! :)"