El Taco Tote

When a coworker said he’s taking us to an authentic, family-​owned taco place, El Taco Tote, wasn’t what I had in mind. But I was very glad we went!
Atmosphere: A great fusion of American fast food dining with the homely feel of a local taco joint. The dining area is clean and spacious. The cooking area is easily seen across the counter and is well-​maintained. A guitar man came in while we were dining and sang live. Another man selling nuts also came in to sell his produce. Great for a quick lunch or dinner.
Food and drinks: Taste tested as much of the tacos as I could: barbacoa, pork and chicken adobado, and bistek. Garnished the meat with onions, cilantro, and lime. Topped it off with the guacamole salsa and pico de gallo. The barbacoa was a little gamey, tender, and sweet. Ate it with both salsas and tasted better with the pico de gallo. The pork adobado tasted better than the chicken with the guacamole salsa. Not a big fan of the bistek. It was very basic and a little tough. Ended my taste teste with the flan. It was great; sweet and creamy.
Service: The cashier was helpful with suggestions. Although she rung me up with the wrong order, they quickly rectified it. The salsa bar was missing cilantro so the manager got me some thus I didn’t have to wait.
Overall: Despite the fast food joint feel, the food is definitely authentic and delicious. Although it was a bit expensive for tacos; $ 4 – 5 per taco, I can see them becoming the nationwide go-​to taco place. I’m completely sold on the barbacoa and am already craving it again!

i liked the food, so flavorish, their wheat tortilla so good, adobado was delicious

Wow, don’t be fooled by the fast food appearance. Really good authentic tacos and food, and very reasonable. Makes me feel like I’m at the taco truck in California.

The taco plates seem the most popular here. A bunch of meat and 8 tortillas. A la carte tacos are highly enjoyable also — sirloin, barbacoa, shrimp.
Salsa bar is really good.
One of those lucky finds we keep having while driving across country from Memphis. We are starved. We don’t know El Paso. Most everything off the 10 is a chain. Then we see this place is a taco place and mobbed with cars and people on a Monday night. Another one of those places mostly in the south and southwest where you immediately notice that all the customers are happy when you walk in.
When in the hell is Southern California going to get El Taco Tote? They would crush it out here!
We have no decent match in the fast/​casual market.

The service was fast and friendly. I ordered A sirloin steak taco and a Shrimp taco. The sirloin was too salty, but the shrimp taco was perfect and amazing! Will buy some moreshrimp tacos for sure.

Love the tacos & especially the salsa bar! A little on the pricey side, but worth it. Definitely a must if you are in El Paso.

Always amazing food, but even better since there is now a veggie option for us non meat eaters! Prices are outstanding and I will keep coming back

My dad and I are driving across country, and we stopped here for a quick dinner and get a taste of Texas. This place was perfect for a taste of Tex Mex food for travelers.
Right off the highway (10)
Friendly staff
Plenty of seating
Friendly atmosphere

Stopped here on our way through town. It was actually better then expected, my husband liked it and he’s pretty picky with his Mexican food. It’s a bit pricy but you get what you pay for.

I love coming here for their sizzling meat entrée’s, homemade tortillas and fresh salsa and salad bar!
If you’re ever in El Paso and are looking for some quick but delicious food, this place is a must! Great for families or parties with a large room to seat plenty! There’s also a glass room area that over looks El Paso and Juarez as well– very beautiful!
Prices are a little bit expensive but all their food is cooked with their special marinade and all homemade and fresh. If you get the platter entrées, it runs around $ 21.00 for ¾ of a lb with 6 piping hot tortillas, rice and their charro beans or baked potatoes. You think it’s not a lot but wait until you dress it and eat it! Will definitely come back here like I always do!

I have had the best customer service from the management crew, especially Manuel. Awesome job and delicious food. Came home for a few weeks after being in New York for awhile, first place I come to and was pleasantly surprised. Will come again before I head back to New York. :)

They use to have this and houston and now they are all gone. It makes me sad. But I was passing through El paso and just had to make a stop. This place is solid when is comes to tacos and the people here are always quick and efficient. The tacos are pricer than most but nothing you can’t afford. The best part of this place is that they have a salsa garnish bar with all kinds of salsas and pickled veggies. It also has a serve yourself chips station. Barbacoa is everything just get it if you wanna die happy. This will be my go to El paso stop every time.

Wasn’t sure what to expect at first but hell… not bad… really not bad…
Landed here sort of by mistake/​necessary detour when trying to find another joint.
No complaints… just took a few minutes to get my bearing…
Good chow!

I always hated this place when i was younger because as a Mexican growing up i ate stuff like this everyday. Yet everyone felt the need to pay a lot of money for a couple of tacos. However, as an adult i can now appreciate the convenience that Taco Tote offers through their variety of menu options. You can’t go wrong with the Taco Tote pack: 2 tacos, baked potato, and a drink. I always stay away from the potato though since it just really fills you up quickly. I always get the chicken adobado and substitute the potato with rice. One of the most famous aspects of Taco Tote, I would say, is the topping bar. It is truly beautiful to gaze upon. Different styles of salsa, fresh chopped veggies, but in particular my favorite: the pink pickled onions. I feel like the topping bar is 50% of your meal because most people really gorge themselves on everything from the cucumbers to the tostadas more than once. The only problem i have with Taco Tote is the prices. The Taco Tote Pack can cost you as much as $ 13 depending on what kind of meat you choose. However every once in a while it is an expense worth making.

Pretty good. It’s a fast food place with naked tacos and a «salad bar» of toppings like lettuce, onions, salsa, etc. Free chips to go with the free salsa is cool. Priced a lot higher than average fast food places like TB or chipotle but good ingredients.

Awesome tacos the barbacoa was great. Friendly service and very clean restaurant. I love that they have apple soda my fav. Definitely will be coming back when I come back to El Paso.

Ahhhh the tote! One of my favorite spots to eat for years! Good choice of meats and a cool salad bar to make the ultimate taco!
Unfortunately the quality of el taco tote went downhill once they started getting popular. This most recent time the meat was ok but the rice was over cooked. I’m sorry but if you can’t make decent rice, you will lose stars lol

I have passed this place several times on I-​10 and hadn’t ever had a chance to try it out. Finally got the chance today.
Definitely has more of a fast food feel than most taco shops around here. The unlimited salsa bar was definitely a big plus for this place. I tried three of the five or so salsas. The pico was delicious, but the «guacamole» sauce was a little too soupy for my liking. I don’t think it is intended to be like your standard guac but I’m thinking if you are going for guacamole shouldn’t it be so thick it almost breaks your chip?
I ordered the two taco combo with beans and rice. One of my favorite things about Mexican food is Mexican rice and decried beans, and these were ok but not great. Got the sirloin and pork tacos. I opened up the pork taco and the whole outside of the tortilla was covered in sauce. A little messy but still delicious. The sirloin taco was cleaner but I didn’t taste much seasoning on the meat. I didn’t notice it, but toppings for the tacos are on the other side of the salsa bar. Since I didn’t see it I had the tacos without any toppings. That being said they held up on their own really well.
Definitely a good place to grab some tacos, but if you want something more authentic you may want to check some other restaurants. However, you will not be upset with what this place has to offer.

Cualquiera imaginaria que la corta distancia con la frontera marcaria una diferencia en la calidad de la comida, este no es el caso, pero a pesar de no ser autenticos, claro, que se puede esperar de una cadena de franquicias, definitivamente aun asi vale la pena, esta sucursal esta un poco mas comercializada que la primera locacion que visite en Tucson, Arizona, al grado que dispensan sus bebidas con una maquina automatizada digital con la que puedes hacer tus propias mezclas personalizadas si asi lo deseas ya que tienen bases de refrescos que no he visto en ningun otro lado.
Los tacos por si mismos no son diferentes de la mayoria que podrias encontrar en cualquier otro lado, lo que los distingue es su barra de salsa, con tanta variedad es muy probable que encuentres algo a tu gusto para hacer la experiencia mas agradable, las cebollitas en escabeche son mis favoritas.
A pesar de que se puede llenar esta locación debido a su cercania a una base militar y la plaza de compras tienen bastantes mesas y sillas para acomodar a sus clientes.

It is not a bad place for quick fix of taco cravings. The open salad bar can jazz up your tacos making it look way better than it taste. I ordered the meat plate with steak and pastor mix. It was decent but not awesome good.
This place is clean and well franchised. I would say this is the «gringo» version of taqueria (taco joint). For the same kind of food, even same open salad bar, and about the same price but with more local flares and flavors, I highly suggest you to go to El Cometa, it is couple of miles down, exit Viscount. That place is definitely more flavorful in all ways!

El Taco Tote is my guilty pleasure. As a kid, we spent a lot of time in Juarez and I was always ecstatic when we were going to El Taco Tote. And now we have at least one ETT on each side of town!
Now before you out-​of-​town naysayers start judging me when there’s 1,687 authentic Mexican restaurants I could eat at, just remember this is a chain, fast food joint that occasionally we all crave. So no, I’m not comparing this to places like L&J’s or Kiki’s…I’m comparing it to places like Chipotle and Taco Cabana.
I’ve had almost everything here, but I’m addicted to the Pork tacos! Always with the flour tortillas (I wish they sold them) and the onions. Let’s have a moment of silence while we drool over the delicious, little things…
Oh man and the salsa bar! The Avocado salsa is the best I’ve had anywhere. There’s at least 6 different options and then you can grab limes, cilantro or onions. The Pico de Gallo is pretty good too. At the front you’ll find a self serve ‘chip bar’, but they only give you these rinky dink paper bowls to fill up. I always grab like four. I also use the bowls for the salsa. Ya I know the plastic cups are for the salsa, but I need more than a shot of that stuff.
It’s a chain so you know the staff is continually changing. You might have to place you’re order in Spanglish, but who cares? It’s good eats!