OBX Tortilleria y Panaderia

We had to stop back in the OBX Tortilleria before coming back to HRDS from our spring vacation. Picked up two dozen Tamales to bring home and hord in the freezer !! Chicken, with either green or red sauce. yupp, I’ll take a dozen of each please. By far the best tamales I’ve ever had.
Thanks Mr. Mexican store owner, your food is absolutely the best in OBX. can’t wait to
come back down and enjoy your authentic mexican again.
Be well,.many blessings. Namaste
Todd & Jose

The service was great and the food was excellent. Authentic Mexican food. We tried the fish tacos and quesadilla. The next time we’re in town we will definitely be back.

We eat a lot of Mexican food at a lot of Mexican restaurants from very humble taquerias to more upscale places. I really prefer the humble places with home cooking and when we found OBX Tortielleria I was very optimistic that we had a place for good tacos for lunch. I am very sorry to report disappointment. The basics are there but the execution is poor. For me this is not a matter of style, the style is exactly what I was looking for. It also was not a matter of ordering the wrong things, we sampled six different things and I would not go back for any of them.
While they will assemble burritos and quesadillas, these are places where you go for tacos. They offered carne asada, lengua, tripe, barbacoa, carne adobada and cheek. There may have been a couple more. Ms T ordered a fish taco and a taco de carne asada. I ordered one each; barbacoa, lengua and carne adobada. All of our tacos were ordered as single tortillas. They will serve them on double or single tortillas, your choice and they don’t pre-​mix the cilantro and onion so we did not have to pick the onion off. I also ordered black beans, which turned out to be a pint container.
Fish taco — Ms T reported the fish (mahi) to be tasteless and dry. No grill flavor, no salt, nothing. It was served with cabbage and cilantro.
Carne asada — the beef would have been good except that it was way oversalted. Assuming that this is done at the time it is grilled, perhaps it was just a bad day or you could ask them to go easy on the salt if it is systematic.
Carne adobada — as salty as the carne asada was, the carne adobada was even worse. One of us is usually reaching for a salt shaker. We don’t think we over-​salt, but don’t eat salt free either. This was excruciatingly salty. Since adobada is marinated and cooked ahead, this is the way they made it. The chile flavor was fine, but «wow», the salt.
Barbacoa — The barbacoa was unsalted, but aside from that it was extremely bitter. I have no idea what this could come from. Picture the bitterness in the hoppiest triple IPA you have ever drank, eliminate the citrus flavors and that would taste like sweet milk compared to this. I choked this down, just to get rid of it. Another bad day? I don’t know. I have never experienced anything quite like it.
Lengua — the lengua was also unsalted and tasteless. Tongue has a distinct flavor and this had none of that. It did not taste stale, but probably was not fresh. It just tasted like nothing. They fried it a little to give it a little crispness on the outside.
The black beans were OK, slightly mashed with good flavor, a little heat and modest salt. They were the best thing of the meal, by far. The salsa’s are decent, one red with some chile in a light tomato based sauce and one green based on tomatillo. Both had slight heat. I used them to help eat the tacos.
I am predisposed to like little taquerias like this and probably tend to over-​rate them. I think my two stars is a little bit generous for what we had on this day. The style shows authenticity, but authenticity is not a guarantee of good food.

I was headed south on 158 and decided to stop in for some lunch. I’m glad I did. I had a fish & a vegetarian taco. Full of great flavors — cilantro, lime, black beans, cheese, picante. I have no doubt I’ll go back again soon & try something different. Cool little lobby full of Mexican sodas, candies and even some baked goods. Good luck to the owners!

Authentic Mexican food. Looks dinky when you walk in, but it’s the real deal. We will be back…

I’ve been waiting for the right time to go to this very authentic spot. Today was the day! Got the special chicken taquitos. 6 large, hot, crispy, delicious taquitos with sides made a yummy appetizer at home for friends. Will go back again for something else.

Good authentic Mexican food. Great homemade baked good and juices. A must try is the fresh squeezed watermelon juice and the chicken tacos. Very reasonably priced for lunch or early dinner. Nice find

This place is fantastic. It’s a little shop with great food. I got two tacos: steak and cheek and they were incredible. I’m definitely going back there to have more before my vacation is over.

If you want a real honest fish or shrimp taco, this is the spot. No weirdness, just seafood, cabbage, pico, cilantro and lime on the side. Perfection