Picoso Taqueria

It’s been 2 years and I still miss Picoso. 2 restaurants have come and gone in their food court spot… and now another Mexican restaurant is there. I was so excited to try them out yesterday, but after having their food, I miss Picoso even more! The owners of Picoso closed shop because they were having a baby, NOT because business was bad. EVERYONE ATE THERE! THEY WERE THE BEST MEXICAN RESTAURANT and even I, who think Mexican food is ok, LOVED THEM!
so sad.
PLEASE REOPEN SOME WHERE PLEASE!!!

Tried to escape the hell that is downtown Berkeley, so I hoofed it up to Picoso today for one of their grilled veggie burritos.
And they were closed… as in closed down.
I’m sad… and hungry.

WHY DID YOU CLOSE DOWN!!! It seemed like a solid, successful business.
I almost cried when I discovered that the ONLY taqueria in the gourmet ghetto is no longer! Where am I going to get my family’s dinner/​lunch at least 2x per week.
This is a huge bummer and loss.
It is how I felt when we lost our only bookstore too.
Lame.

Ok, the food is good. The reason for the one star is the mysterious extra dollar they always charge. 3 times I’ve gone, and each time there’s an extra dollar tacked on to my bill. And that’s on top of tax. Once I went with a friend and we both got ‘extra dollar fee’. This last time I asked for a receipt (they don’t give them with your order) and everyone behind the counter acted as if the apocalypse was upon us. They couldn’t get my receipt for whatever reason, so they just made a whole new receipt. I’ve never asked what the mysterious extra dollar is. I don’t mind paying it, I mind not being told that I’m going to pay it.
UPDATE: after reading through other reviews, I noticed one girl said she was charged an extra dollar for salsa. I’ve always gotten mine with salsa, so that could be where that extra dollar comes in, but seriously? They don’t say ‘hey, you want some salsa? It costs a buck”, they just ask if you want it or not.

Went here and had a carne asada super burrito. It was standard. The filling and tortia’s were great but were offset by the horribly cooked meat. The meat tasted like nothing. I would have given the average 3 starts but paid $ 10+ for this burrito which is way above normal so am giving them a 2. In there defense it’s hard to find good mexican food in Berkeley.

steak quesadilla.
Go there. get it.
Huge (fed 3 people). Filling. Juicy, juicy steak. nommmss

This place is quick, convenient and cheap! Food is always good — their chips are the BEST! Thick and crispy and hot.
The staff here are always friendly too.

My boyfriend got the shrimp super burrito, which I didnt love. It was good, but lacked that wow factor that I’ve come to expect after living in California my whole life. It was fast though! Unfortunately, there arent many taco/​burrito places in this part of Berkeley, so Picoso is what we have to work with.
I think the moral of the story here was not to order a shrimp burrito. I am sure that something like the carnitas would have been better.

It’s hard to stray from your neighborhood burrito place, but I did so in order to try Picoso’s. Super solid veggie burrito — a lot of places don’t put in lettuce and I LOVE that they put that in! I also like that you can choose from a number of tortillas, and that the beans are made with organic ingredients.
If you like clean-​tasting burritos (not authenic greasy like Gordos), then you’ll like Picoso.

Yum yum yum! My brother-​in-​law took us here on our most recent trip to the Bay Area for lunch and I was instantly jealous since we don’t have any great burrito places walking distance from our house in LA. I got the veggie burrito with all the fixin’s and it really hit the spot– just the right size, with the right ingredients. I was a little sad that taco chips cost extra (why do places do that?), especially since their salsa is delicious and just begging to be slathered on totopos. Friendly service, too, and a great outdoor seating area around back.

Boring buritos. For ten bucks for a regular carnitas burito and a small horchata, especially here in the gourmet ghetto, you expect more than mushy pork, over cooked black beans. When the only textural note in a bite is the difference between the cooked onions and the rest of the undiffentiated goo, that is a bad thing. Add to that a hot salsa (the last hope of bad taquerria) that has no heat in it at all, and you have possibly the most boring burrito I have had in the bay area. The folks behind the counter are very nice, but I would rather have surly service and great flavors.

That’s some spicy Mole sauce. And I dig it. I think this place is a little to clean looking for me to grab a burrito here, but I will constantly be tempted to enjoy two enchiladas swimming in a smoky, complex Mole sauce. Throw in some decent rice and blacks beans too. Solid value and it is, oh, about 2 minutes from my front door.

I went here for lunch and had the Caldo de Pollo and the Guacamole. Both were kind of bland and nothing exciting. The chips that came with the soup were probably the best part. The spicy salsa wasn’t that spicy and also not that flavorful. If I’m in the area again I may have to try a burrito sometime because other reviewers have mention they had gotten corn tortillas. When I asked what kind of tortillas the burritos were at the counter the person working there said they were flour, but didn’t mention any other options.
One good thing about the location is there are some seats outside so I was able to eat with my dog. There are only a couple and they are shared by all the restaurants, so I can see them filling up pretty quickly.

Was craving buenolitos but alas, they are out until next week. The owner explained that they used to make them (they made some last time for me) but now they are at the mercy of their supplier, etc. Anyway, ordered my customary veggie tacos — 2. J ordered a grilled chicken taco & picoso (stewed) chicken taco. Everything was delicious. I didn’t eat the corn tortillas, though, and so was still hungry afterwards. I wish I could have more black beans in my tacos, but will just have to order a side dish of beans next time.
You can order a «super taco» for any veggie/​meat taco and get guacamole, sour cream, cheese, rice with your taco.
The service is terrific and there seems to be more seating now.
The bathroom in the building is very clean and nice tiles on the wall — more like a bathroom at a 3 star restaurant than a mini mall bathroom.
We got lucky with parking — a kind person gave us his ticket with one hour left. :)

Really, really nice manager. we chatted for a bit and I think he had them put extra shrimp on my taco =).
Shrimp Taco — The shrimp itself was delicious (fairly fresh, and there were like 6 of them). However I found the taco a little stale — not quite crunchy but not quite soft either. Also there was just a bad distribution of toppings — it was a little overflowing and difficult to eat. I wasn’t a big fan of the cabbage they used — it’s the type that’s hard and rubbery rather than light and crunchy. There was way too much and I think it took away from the shrimp. I should’ve added the extra salsas as it only came with a little bit of an orange sauce (possibly spicy mayo?) and a couple slices of avocado.

«SO FULL offa $ 2!!!»
Of all the times I have been to The Epicurious Garden, I have only eaten at Picoso once.
I was waiting for my «Tekka Don» sashimi bowl to be made at Kirala 2, and my tummy was GROWLING. It was NOT helping that my friend was chowing down this big olé burritto while we sat at the only chairs inside Epi, in front of Picoso.
The chef saw the mad look of hunger in my eyes! haha
He asked if I wanted him to make me something, I said «No, its ok. I’m on this diet… I can’t eat any wheat and I don’t eat meat and I’m sure the fish you have is probably breaded…»
He said, «Oh! I can make for you! Fish with no bread!»
We conversed, not so much in words, but in ideas, I NOW realize, about how the lady who runs Epi is ALL ABOUT specialty food and that that has kinda tuned him onto how to cook for people with food allergies. So I asked him, «so you know how its like not suppose to touch the same places and stuff then???» Starting to get excited…
I LOVE ethnic food! But sometimes it is VERY hard to explain everything that must be gone through to make your food truly G-​F without a language barrier, let alone WITH one!
So he said he would make sure the grill was clean and all that and make me a fish taco, Gluten-​Free! It was only TWO dollars and came with TWO tortillas and a crapload of MANGO Salsa!!! (The ONLY kind of salsa I’ll eat since Tomatoes play havoc on my digestive system!) It was an ENTIRE filet in my taco and I broke it into two pieces and made two tacos with my two tortillas! I had salsa leftover to take home with me! I LOVED it that much! :-) And I was SO full, I couldn’t eat my $ 20 sashimi bowl till like 6 hours later!!!
Off a $ 2 Taco!!! What!!! This place is CRAZY GOOD!!!
My only regret, is for MYSELF because I have cut corn out of my diet and can no longer eat TACOS!!! wahhhhhhhh!
But I am going to visit Epi soon and see if Picoso would be kind enough to make me a special plate without tortillas…
They do not have plates on the menu, but HEY the non-​breaded fish filet was not on the menu either!!!
The menu pictured on here and other reviewers say that they have a Vegan option, so that leads me to believe that their rice and beans are Vegan, which is GREAT, cuz that is my other new dietary restriction, no meat products!!! (Except my fish! I LOVE my fish!!!)
So my Vegan AND Gluten-​Free friends, FEEL FREE!!!
These people love us! ;-D

Had a Chile Verde Quesadilla. Flavor of the Chile Verde was awesome. A little on the pricey side for food in Berkeley, but it is in the Gourmet Ghetto, AND there’s a 10% student discount if you show your Student ID. The quality of the meat was very good and there was a generous helping of Guac that came with my quesadilla.
I’ll definitely go back again if I show up at Cheeseboard on a Monday (they’re closed on mondays) like I did this time.

Got a huge tray of delicious nachos — sized to share. The carnitas were moist, well flavored and heaped on my chips. I made a mess and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
They have 3 seats along their counter which is where I sat and people watched. Cal students are looking younger and younger these days and I’m not sure I can pull off the «mention Unilocal and get 10% off special».

The carne asada taco was very good with the refried beans. I got to try a Mexican Coca Cola with real sugar as the sign says, was good too. Makes you wonder what they put in the Coca Cola here???
Check out the 3D jello that they have in the freezer. It is a work of Art! I have been on a Mexican food binge recently and this is definitely up there. The cashier was very patient and helpful and explained some of their dishes which I did know about like «Rajas with cream». Again as with the places in the gourmet ghetto, it is pretty cheap.

My review may be a bit biased because I had a discount certificate.
The food is good and fresh, but like other have said a little bland. I just use the salsas that they have to flavor things up.
At regular price I would never go to this place, b/​c it is too expensive for my taste.
The employees here are very nice and helpful and I enjoy the pleasant attitudes.
They offer Chipotle or Spinach tortillas for burritos which I like! The chips are so so and could definitely be improved.
I have had several items here all of which were good. Burrito, Taco, nachos, and tostadas.
Parking is a bit tough if you are driving, so take out might be the way to go.