Las Tarascas

According to the holy canon of the Spanish language, this word «Tarasca» has the following meanings:
1 — A monstrous snake with a very large mouth.
2 — A terrible person or thing that voraciously causes grave injury and damage.
3 — (slang) A fearsome woman with some other qualities that I don’t care to translate.
4 — (In Chile & Costa Rica) a big mouth.
While I am not 100% sure which meaning the owners were going for in naming this place, I am totally sure that this is a solid Mexican seafood joint in the heart of OKC’s Hispanic community.
Unilocal calls this place simply Las Tarascas but the sign actually reads Marisqueria Las Tarascas. That added word at the beginning, marginally pronounceable by a Spanish-​as-​a-​second-​language speaker like me, simply means seafood restaurant. This distinction is important. Do not order tacos, enchiladas nor burritos. There are hundreds of Tex-​Mex & taco places in the area to satisfy those tastes.
When it is cold outside this is a great place to get shrimp soup, fish soup, vuelve a la vida (after a rough night) and los siete mares. When the weather is warmer I find that the Mexican shrimp cocktail is satisfying.
If you absolutely cannot stomach the idea of eating seafood then you might want to order the sopes.
The chips, as mentioned by someone else, are made from thicker tortillas than the normal restaurant fare. They are served with a fresh pico de gallo in lieu of the traditional salsa.
The building seems to be a Captain D’s fast food restaurant cerca 1985. I doubt that Captain D’s ever served a fish as nice as Las Tarascas’ mojarra frita.

Best vuelve a la vida in the entire city!
The caldo de res is also decent, but I mostly go to Las Tarascas for the incredible Vuelve a la Vida (shrimp & oyster cocktail).
Well worth every penny.

The melon agua fresca is a must. Made fresh daily with juicy cantelope. If you dine in you get complimentary pico and chips. They are unique to say the least! The pico is so delicious unlike any other I’ve had. Made with fresh cilantro, onions and jalepenos it’s a fiesta in your mouth! The chips are also thicker than most and compliment the pico perfectly with a wonderful crispness. And remember this is all before you get your food! :) On this particular visit (and on most) I had the Ensalada with chicken. It’s got a bed of shredded lettuce with cheese, chicken, tomatoes and freshly sliced avacado. It comes with a side of ranch dressing but I like to top mine with the pico. It’s delicious! Looking for something out of the ordinary? I recommend trying this place.

Las Tarascas is a decent Taqueria, it’s very clean (even though it smelled weird inside), and the staff is friendly. The tacos are okay, but they aren’t my favorite. This place serves seafood items, including oysters on the half-​shell. I probably should’ve tried the seafood? Tacos here cost 20 cents more than tacos at other Taquerias nearby. They do fill the tacos with a bit more meat than the other Taquerias, which makes up for the extra cost. The bonus amount of taco meat threw me off a bit I must admit, but that’s not a bad thing (couldn’t eat it all). I tried the lengua, tripas, pollo, and asada tacos. None of them really stood out to me as far as taste and how it was cooked, and to my dismay tostadas aren’t on the menu :(This place did have good authentic mexican style thick tortilla chips and salsa (and as I recall, they were complimentary). They also served beer in a large glass goblet with crushed lime around the edges (looked delicious, too bad I came there at lunchtime). They have a wide selection of sodas and a few fountain drinks as well. They sell crispy cinnamon churros for dessert and they even have a drive-​thru window! There were about 4 other groups of patrons inside this restaurant during lunchtime while I was there, which is more customers than most other Taquerias I’ve been too during that time frame. So I could be wrong about this place, because I guess others seemed to like it? You be the judge. See their Youtube commercial here:
I’m going move on and try some other places.

Had a shrimp cerviche tostada here. It was OK. It wasn’t bad, just OK.
The place was clean, but empty except for the staff and I. I opted for take out. Staff was friendly
They have an assortment of fish and shrimp dishes that are not your normal Tex-​Mex fare. This is a real Mexican place.
It was good but I would have liked a shrimp taco, not carried. I don’t know how to eat a tostada without making a mess. If you know some secret technique let me in on it. Shrimp were rolling down my arm.
Anyhow don’t expect cheese and fajitas here. That’s not how they roll.