Taqueria Los Parados

Sooooooo good! The carne asada tacos are amazing the last 2 times I ate here I couldn’t take a picture because I ate the food to fast but now I made sure so I can post this yummy stuff for everyone to see! Plus it’s only $ 1 a taco!

Unilocal is becoming especially useful. Traveling to Vegas can have one spending a lot of money on relatively mediocre food. It is quite easy to make a lot of bad food choices on the Strip, and one can be outright clueless about what lies off of the Strip. With Unilocal though, I can actually find out about all of the amazing places in the city from people who actually live there. I am indebted to locals for finding out about the Pinball Hall of Fame. More so, I am indebted to them for finding out about Taqueria Los Parados which serves some of the best tacos I have ever had. Seriously delicious!
For a jaw dropping $ 3.85, I was able to have 3 tacos and freshly made horchata. That horchata was just lovely. The tacos, even more so with all of the supremely fresh ingredients which included diced onions, cilantro, fresh lime juice, and the like. I had the carne asada, carnitas, and the lengua and was at a loss to say which one I liked the best. The salsa bar included three different flavored salsas which were not too shy about the heat — I was in heaven. Be prepared to order in Spanish, and be prepared for an amazing meal at an incredible price. Highly recommend.

This place is El Tizon’s red-​headed stepchild. Better location though, and more variety on the menu. I’ve eaten there at least twenty times. Second-​best taqueria in Vegas.

This unassuming restaurant in the Food for Less parking lot on Sahara and Valley View has been around for two and a half years but I just found out about it a couple of weeks ago. This is noteworthy because it is only five minutes from my house. After my first bite into their taco al pastor I was terribly disheartened I’d never been to this authentic, inexpensive restaurant as it offers a LOT more than your average Mexican restaurant.
Taqueria Los Parados, meaning ‘taco joint of the unemployed,’ is probably named as such because the prices are affordable for everyone. Most tacos are only $ 1.19 and many of the more filling options range from just five to seven dollars. Besides the cheap factor, everything is made from scratch and the owner is omnipresent. She’s from Guadalajara and has put a lot of love and thought into each dish, salsa, and drink. The horchata, for example, is not made from a mix and is not overly sweet. Many dishes seem to have a little something special that makes you say, ‘Wow, why haven’t I see this done elsewhere.‘
It’s hard to pick a favorite dish but I’ve got some contenders. One is the shrimp taco, which consists of corn tortillas topped with six sauteed shrimp (yes, I counted), crunchy cabbage, pico, and a spicy yet cooling crema ($ 2.75). The ingredient that really puts this taco over the edge is the toasted cheese crisp buried under the deconstructed slaw. It adds great texture and a punch of flavor that is undeniably unique. I also love the al pastor taco ($ 1.19). The pork is marinated in spices then cooked on a gyro rotisserie to give it that great caramelized exterior. The unique touch in this dish is the addition of ripe pineapple strips that add a touch of sweetness to complement the pork and diced onions. Finally, you can’t go wrong with brocheta. It’s a hodgepodge of grilled meat (I had chicken), peppers, onions, bacon, and oozy cheese served with flavorful homemade beans and saffron colored rice. Since it is served with tortillas I’m inclined to liken it to fajitas… times ten.
Truly everything I’ve had has been delicious. The lengua (tongue) taco was simple and splendid, as was the carne asada. If you’ve never had tongue I’d recommend trying it here. Even if you don’t like it, and I doubt you won’t, you’ve only lost a mere $ 1.19. The ‘torta ahogada’ with al pastor was also interesting ($ 5.75). It consisted of al pastor and their wonderful beans stuffed inside a french baquette that was then dunked in a vat of tomato sauce (hence the meaning, ‘wet sandwich”). I’m not sure if I’d order this over other items, but it’s certainly not something you see on a lot of menus and was definitely tasty.
Whatever you do, don’t forget to visit the salsa bar. Each preparation is carefully balanced with clean flavors. I like to try every combination possible, but if you shy away from heat then use modestly. Make sure to get the authentic guacamole sauce. In Mexico guacamole isn’t generally prepared chunky but is rather more like a sauce. I love the pourable consistency that allows me to get an avocado taste in every bite without adding a lot of bulk to my meal. This is a place that foodies should support, as it is a little slice of real Mexico smack dab in the middle of our city.

Pretty solid tacos… the star is the Al Pastor here, paired with pineapple makes a great combination! I also ordered their Lengua, Carne Asada, and Tripas (intestine) fried up crispy with a squeeze of lime and salsa… Addicting! Bummer that the Horchata was instant, and not from scratch.
Los Parados also serves up other specialities like Menudo, and Tortas Ahogadas which gives me an excuse to return.
Los Parados gets my vote for Al Pastor and Tripas, but for Carne Asada and Lengua, Los Tacos (also on Sahara, next to Island Style) has the best… ALOHA!!!

This place is kind of a hole in the wall, cheap mexican place. Great food, i reccomend the al pastor tacos.

Pretty good tacos. I started with 2 carne asada tacos. The meat was very salty so I took one back and let them know. Instead of getting defensive they offered me another taco of my choice. They also said the would let the manger know and thanked me for letting them know. Wouldn’t be great if all restaurants had this attitude. The Restaurant is very clean and value priced. Thanks I’ll be back!

Thank you Clint and Keith and Blair! I saw my Unilocal homies love this spot so when I saw this was across the street from Herbs&Rye, I dropped in before the UYE. I was starving!
Got the super taco of al pastor and lengua and a horchata. Pretty legit.
I like that they toast on some cheese on the taco til its crispy. Lengua was super tender and the al pastor was nicely spiced… I thought I wouldnt like sour cream on it, but good that way. Just add a dab of lemon on al pastor and a little bit of the salsas on the lengua– perfecto.
Horchata was surprising. Most places its too sweet and here it was just lightly sweetened the way it should be. Most places it’s just smooth where here it was gritty and yes, that is a good thing. You go to Mexico or eat at my parents and this is how it is because it has real ground rice and cinnamon. Some people don’t like it, but this is the legit way. Gritty not gritty, I just wish most places don’t make it so sweet but they use a horchata mix.
I look around and noticed– some of the signs are ENTIRELY in Spanish. No English explanation what so ever on spots like the drink dispenser. Funny. but I guess adds to the «realness» of this spot.
Thank you Unilocalers. These are very much like back home like the stuff I would get when I would go to TJ for lunch with my parents.
I forgot to ask for the pineapple though like Keith mentioned!
Til next time.

Not going to lie but this place has some amazing carne asada… Granted, when I went here the other night with Reggie and Terri after the Speakeasy at Herb’s and Rye, I was a little leary of the place as they were about to close and just about packed everything up for the night.
Turns out the only thing they didn’t have was al pastor… which was a big let down since that was the main reason we all went. Alas… the carne asada was nothing short of amazing!
**TIP** :CARNE ASADA WAS AMAZING:

Amazing tacos! Their specialty is the al pastor, and that’s one of the first things you’ll notice when you walk in. Behind the counter you’ll see a huge slab of pork on a vertical rotisserie. They’ve got 2 different sizes of tacos, a regular size for a dollar or so and a super size for $ 2.45. The regular comes with your choice of meat with chopped onions and cilantro on top. The super size comes with the same plus sour cream. They double up on the tortillas for both sizes, but for the super size they’ll add a little bit of cheese to the tortillas and fry it up to get it a little crispy around the edges.
The al pastor is your best bet here. It’s tender, juicy, and has some intense flavors, especially if you get there early and get the outer sections of the pork that are heavily marinated and full of spices. The outer portion of the pork is red from the chile powders, I’m assuming. Their carne asada is excellent as well and the chicken isn’t bad either. They offer combo meals — for example 3 regular tacos, rice and beans and a soda for $ 6.99. Although I thought the beans were a little too runny and the rice wasn’t anything special. My suggestion is skip the rice and beans — that’s just filler — and get yourself another taco.
The interior is very clean and doesn’t have a ton of personality. Just a few pictures of their food hanging on the walls. They have a TV hanging from one corner that has played Spanish soap operas both times I’ve been there. The most bizarre thing about the décor is probably the sword that is hanging on the wall next to the cash register. I’m not sure what the story is behind that. But if they’re going to fight back if someone robs them, wouldn’t it be better to have a gun back there instead? Anyway, they’ve got great food. Go there and check it out, just don’t piss them off or else you might see that sword up close as it’s chopping off your arms.

Another bad habit in the making. Bust my ass for 12 hours at work, skip breakfast, skip lunch, off to the gym and i’m damn hungry — what’s a guy to do? Los Parados is on the way to the gym — how about a super taco? $ 2.50 for a nice jolt to the system — energize me baby !!
Give me a couple tortillas, melt some cheese on top, making the tortilla a lil crispy around the edges, nice lil heap of pork, some cilantro, some slices of juicy pineapple a dollop of sour cream. While they’re making my masterpiece, i’m at the salsa bar dipping carrots into some delicious salsas.
My kind of habit
pic added

The one thing I always get at this place are the shrimp tacos! they’re the bomb! Soooo good! I was a bit skeptic about shrimp and tortilla together, but oh boy were they good! Ths the inky thing i’ve tried in here and I always go back for more!!!

Thanks Philip! I randomly came across his review and decided to give it a try. The al pastor tacos were to die for, but we loved the carne asada as well. Philip’s description is spot on. Honestly the best taco I’ve had in Vegas! Warning: The place is in a grocery store strip mall, no atmosphere to speak of, and the people working there are not fluent in English. Get over the surface details — these tacos are awesome!

The pastor tacos are absolutely the best around. They put the pastor meat on a rotisserie and grill it throughout the day. I highly recommend the pastor tacos. They are open until 11pm daily and until 1am on Friday and Saturday. The tacos are $ 1.20 each and come with pineapple which is a surprisingly good match with the pastor.

By no means am I an expert on Mexican food nor do I have a trace of Mexican blood running through my veins… unless there’s something Grandma wants to tell me… but GODDAMN the al pastor here is amazing!!! Its almost got a Chinese bbq pork quality to it.
The supreme tacos are definitely the way to go for $ 2.45 each. 2 grilled tortillas with melted cheese in the middle w/​piles of al pastor, cilantro, sour cream and pineapple. I felt like I was on a vacation eating this thing. Heaven!!!