Changos Taqueria

The location on Guadalupe is not closed. It is a favorite of mine because they serve Mahi Mahi instead of the cheap Tilapia most places serve and there meats are hormone and antibiotic free. I recommend it!

Look to the left. Look to the right. Make a mental picture because we are never coming back here.
Stale ‘chip’ remnants for $ 2.95
Fish tacos with fish that simply was not ‘fresh’
Adiós, Changos.

This is one of the very best family lunch restaurants. We get the whole rotisserie chicken meal which comes with tortillas and beans and rice. The whole thing costs something like $ 12 and feeds a family of four with really tasty spit-​roasted chicken tacos.
My kids are wild about the agua fresca and I love the fact that all the food is natural, hormone and antibiotic-​free. They also have a commitment to sustainability– minimizing waste and maximizing recycling. A very wholesome and eco-​friendly family lunch spot.

Changos was entirely underwhelming. I ordered the burrito without meat, and my boyfriend had the burrito with meat, we also ordered a appetizer of guacamole and chips. When asked which hot sauce we would like on our burrito, we requested the spiciest choice from the selection of about 5 other options. The casheir girl was very friendly and helpful. We got our drinks, and they had a semi-​tasty hibiscus tea.
SO:
The guacamole was bland
The chips were nothing special
The burrito, also sadly bland and we could not even taste the hot sauce!
I would definitely recommend anyone venturing to this place to go elsewhere. $ 25 for two, not worth it at Changos.

Good news is, the food’s excellent. I’m particularly hooked on the al pastor tacos, agua frescas, and ceviche.
Bad news is the website sucks; no hours, no breakfast menu, no edress; pfui.

Best Breakfast Tacos in Austin. Try them and you will agree, just make sure you order them on corn tortillas that they make fresh right when you order the taco. Find me another place in town that does that and Ill go there with ya !

Love the Chango’s… Has been a favorite since I was in UT back in the day and still is. The burritos and tacos are fast, fresh and made with quality ingredients. For a reasonably priced, quick lunch or dinner that’s pretty healthy (i.e. quality, wholesome ingredients) head over to Chango’s on the Drag or South Lamar. It’s the same peeps as Manuel’s…and same quality food… just in quick service format w/​lower prices… gotta love that.

I got a free burrito coupon for this place about six months ago, and if I hadn’t got that, I never would have heard of this place.
So I walks in and orders, making sure I ask for NO RICE on the thing, and what do you know, the really angry looking woman who was filling my order started to put rice on there. I said, in a very polite fashion, No Rice, Please, and she looked back at me with a death stare.
Then she put some other stuff on it, and disappeared behind a thing where you couldn’t see what the deuce she was doing, and then handed me the burrito at the other end. I mean, I’ll bet a thousand dollars she spit into it while she was behind there. At any rate, I’ll never go back there. I ate most of the thing because I was hungry, but it had no flavor, the salsa I put on it added nothing, and now I know why there were absolutely no customers in the place while I was there: THIS PLACE IS CRAP! There are a thousand other places in Austin to get a decent burrito. Go to any one of them, but not this place.

After living in the neighborhood for most of my ten years in Austin, today I finally gave Changos a chance. It was a quick lunch date, and she picked Changos because she works nearby. Something about the place (was it the strip-​mall locale? the name?) had made me not too keen on checking out this particular taqueria. But, like Natalie D., I’m happy to report I was pleasantly surprised.
I had only one thing: the al pastor taco. My total, with tax, was $ 2.76. And it was the perfect-​sized lunch. (I’ve never been a big lunch eater, since I usually wake up around noon and have my first meal around 5 p.m.)
Was the al pastor taco «authentic»? I don’t know. I don’t care. It was extremely good; that’s all I care about.
Several reviews called this place «overpriced.» I haven’t looked over the rest of the menu, but from what my date and I got for our money I’d say that if you think this is expensive, you don’t get out much.
The worst thing I can say about Chango’s? The inside feels like a Subway restaurant, all yellow and garish. Whatever. I’ll get my food to go next time. But I’ll be back, for sure.

Went to Changos for the first time the other day, and I wasn’t impressed. I ordered two tacos, one pork and the other chicken. Both were extremely bland, a little dry, and totally uneventful. A friend had a shrimp taco that I had a taste of, and that was a lot better, but still had a lingering fishy taste that I did not appreciate.
It did seem like they used fresh ingredients, but the flavors didn’t add up to greatness.

Like Allison, gimmee more of that delicious Al Pastor! There’s nothing to not love about that little taco of porky goodness. I also had the grilled Mahi Mahi taco and a side of black beans. All for under $ 10 (2 tacos, drink and beans, + tip), and healthy as well. I’d call that a good deal.
Since this is right around the corner from my house, I’ll be there more often for sure. It was nice to rediscover this little gem today!

Hellllllooooo Al Pastor taco!
Pork, pineapple, onion, cilantro, lime and salsa? Serve me up two please!
I had forgotten about Changos and was so happy with my order today. My lunch (including a buck in the tip jar) was under $ 8. Now, I am back at work, full, but not so uncomfortably full that I want to take a nap instead of work. I am so happy to have rediscovered this tasty little lunch spot.

In Austin, you could throw a stick and hit a decent taco. But Changos is disappointing. It looks like a Kalifornian vommed up a restaurant pitch to put in an empty strip mall spot. Ooooh– I got it, this is the Zen of Tacos, or maybe the Pei Wei of Tacos. Chain gimmicks, mall taste, and a very un-​authentic taco.
Those who have commented liking the Al Pastor, have never really eaten a Taco Al Pastor, it’s not even close.

Changos honestly gets three stars for their high prices and small quantities. Their food is fresh though and tasty. They get 5 stars for their pecan bars and watermelon agua fresca. I always get their large burrito. It is good but no better than taco cabanas per se.
I like the south location for parking advantage.

I’m not going to pan this, but I’m not going to rave either. Over Priced for too little, Over cooked for too long, Overly hot sitting next to the rotisserie. Tried the chicken and I think $ 11 bucks for 2 tacos and a drink a bit much for Austin with the abundance of Tex-​Mex. I’ve had better and I’ve had worse… but I’ve never paid this much for so mediocre a meal. Maybe I just ordered the wrong thing. I priced out the rotisserie chicken and I think that $ 7 buck for a quarter bird outrageous!
No thanks, I’ll pass… I can get better for less.

I hate to harsh a fellow Unilocaler’s vibe — but FOUR stars for Chango’s!!! This place sucks. It’s in my neighborhood where there are TONS of other taquerias that serve better/​cheaper food than Chango’s. The Guadalupe location seems — perhaps — a bit less sucky.
The al pastor tacos generally are scooped from the steam table — never have I been ‘blessed’ with the karma to get the pork sliced off of the upright grill. Some of the other ingredients seem less than fresh, too. The chile con queso is OK but the chips are only a bit tastier than cardboard. Caesar salad: BLEH! The horchata and other aqua frescas are a nice plus. The margaritas are OK but no better than Taco Cabana down the street.
Gringo-​ized Tex-​Mex food served in a yuppie-​friendly setting (i.e, ‘clean’ surroundings yielding sterile chow without ‘flava’). One star for parking free of pesky valet ‘service’ (and better than average interior design). Save your $$ for any of the other, tastier tacquerias in the area — such as Borrego de Oro or Torchy’s. Good place for Rudy’s corp-​o-​cue sycophants to experiment with «Mexican» food. You’ve been warned.

«Hi, my name is Doug and I’m a changoholic.
I had my fist taco here about a year and a half ago. It was all pretty innocent at first. I would only go on weekends. I would usually get two Del Pueblos and one of their cool beverages. I thought I was in control. Then I started mixing tacos. That’s when things got bad. I’d order a Del Pueblo and a Del Mar (grilled). Sometimes I’d get chips n salsa and throw in a side of guacamole. I was racking up pretty hefty tabs too. The bill topped fifteen bucks on one of my benders.
I knew I had a problem. I would drive down South Lamar and they would be callin me man, they just be callin me.
I’ll just have one I’d think to myself. I’ll just go in and get an Al Pastor with the fresh cilantro and those roasted pineapples and that’s it. You FOOL! I ‘d believe the Devil’s lie and really start acting out my addiction.
I’ve been clean three days now and I feel horrible. I feel a relapse coming on. It may be too late for me, but maybe my story can help someone else. The only protection besides sheer abstinence is to eat at Changos responsibly.
Thanks for letting me share.»

I was very pleasantly surprised by Changos. The menu seems rather small (though parts of it are mix and match with meats and salsas so combinations do abound). I had two tacos — the al pastor and an black bean taco (i forget its name). They were both very good with the al pastor leaning towards greatness — the pork was well flavored and there were bits of pineapple that had been warmed with it on the grill and then it was topped with onions and cilantro and a lime to squeeze on (love that!). And the corn tortillas for the tacos were fabulous! Yum!
I also had some chips and queso. While their queso was quite good — creamy white cheese with peppers… Mmmmmmmm… — the chips were just okay. Fine, but could be a lot better.
I liked that they had agua fresca available at the beverage station. I don’t know how authentic these agua frescas are, but they were tasty and a nice change of pace from tea and soda.
I will be back to Changos!

On the corner of a non-​distinct strip mall, Changos features charbroiled meats, fresh veggies and tortillas. The inside is full of light and color — and while they keep it a little on the cool side — it’s almost always a comfortable, casual dining experience.
I appreciate the simplicity of the ingredients which are not overwhelming like other burrito/​taco places. Fresh beans, rice, meat, mellow sauce and veggies make it a pleasing and refreshing experience.
The only complaint I have is once I went there and the coke machine exploded on me and my white shirt and instead of apologizing, they gave me a new cup. You could see through my white shirt, that was soaked with sticky Diet Coke and THEY GAVE ME A NEW CUP?!?
Bastard.

I went here for lunch sometimes in the past semester. One time, their credit card machine couldn’t connect and it look about ten minutes to run my card. I wish I’d had cash but didn’t. The lady was still nice, though.
I get the guacamole burrito. It’s decent. I’d choose Freebirds over Changos any day, though.
If you go in, check out the red tile mosaic fireplace. It’s awesome.