Diego’s Taco Shop

This place is great for what it is: a basic burrito place. Even with a slight price increase, their $ 5.xx burrito is fantastic and prepared fresh every time. It tastes authentic and hell, it’s damn better than Taco Bell. And the employees are… At least Hispanic, if not Mexican.
Bottom line: this might be the best authentic burrito place in Hawaii.

I really liked this place before, but I think the quality has gone down a bit. The last time I got food from here was a bit of a disappointment. It just wasn’t as good. I also made a mistake of trying the taquitos and plain nachos. The taquitos were not good, I think it was a frozen pre-​made one that they just deep fry. But i may be wrong. Either way, it wasn’t any good, chewy and not much taste. I like the ones you can get at 7 – 11 better.
The (plain) nachos were bad too, it was just chips and cheese that they stuck on, like the kind you make at home with the microwave. It wasn’t even enough cheese on the chips! ¾ths of the chips had no cheese whatsoever! I’ve never tried the «deluxe» nachos, which I assume has all the fixings, but I’m just guessing… it’s got to be better than these nachos. I doubt i’ll be going back.

Okay, so the deal with Diego’s is this:
Once Upon a Time, I would got here all the time… yes, it’s dirty, but many mexican hole in the wall type restaurants are…
So we’d eat here. A lot. Horchata, good. Food, decent. Prices, also decent.
Then one day fateful day in September 2010… FOOD POISONING! Yes, it was me. Had to go to the ER. Doctor’s said I «probably» had E. Coli. E. Coli!!!
Never to Diego’s again.
The End.

I’m giving this three stars because really, I skewed it to the right. Mexican food, good Mexican food — like the kind you can find in So Cal, isn’t really available here in Hawaii. Let’s just be honest, Hawaii is an asian-​centric food state and that is fine. Until you have a craving for carne fries and posole.
We had moved to Hawaii from So Cal, had been living her for about 6 mos and were desperate for some good Mexican. Tacos Del Mar is ok, but it is about as authentic as Taco Bell. So we decide to try Diego’s, because, hey, it is just down the street from our house.
This place earns a point for having carne asada fries on the menu (think carne asada nachos, only instead of tortilla chips as the carb base, they use french fries. It is a decidedly So Cal expression of Mexican food). They lose a point for being run by Puerto Ricans. They earn another point for having homemade deep fried flour tortilla chips sprinkled with cinnamon sugar (whose Spanish name totally eludes me).
I ordered the carne fries and was moderately impressed. They weren’t the best I had ever had, but I can see coming here after a night of drinking, or the morning after for that matter, and ordering a plate to cure my hangover. The cinnamon tortilla chips were superb and to be quite honest, the quality of the chip itself makes me rethink that next time I will order carne nachos. It wasn’t the tastiest or best quality meat, but you know there is something authentic in that. Really good Mexican food, like all ethnic cuisine, is borne of the necessity to use all the parts of an animal. To season and marinate meat and make a little meat with quite a bit of gristle on it taste delicious and go a long way.
I enjoyed my meal here, even if it wasn’t the best Mexican food I have ever had (but let’s be real here, we are in Hawaii, not So Cal so for where it is and what it is, it is pretty good).

Wow what happened to this place. I remember when it first opened I was happy we finally had a great option for true Mexican food which served some huge burritos. Not sure its because of more options opened or my relationship with Unilocal but seems like there are a lot more options now. Don’t get me wrong I thought the burritos were pretty tasty. However my recent visit was really disappointing. Maybe I was blinded by the food and didn’t analyze the whole experience. This is definitely a «hole in the wall» but seriously I can eat out from a truck but this place just feels and looks dirty. The cook/​cashier was not the kind of guy I want to order food from. He wasn’t friendly at all and not sure if he understood English or he has selective hearing.
I like good food and I think the food here is okay but the décor ruin any chance of a positive experience. Definitely do take out or get ready to battle the flies.

I have been here a few times for lunch with some co-​workers and each time I am very much underwhelmed. The place is kind of a dive, but I don’t mind dives that much since the food is really good. However, the food never impresses. The taquitos are small and not that good. The beans were super runny, almost like a soup, and cold when I get them. The rice barely has any seasonings on them so they score a big meh.
The burritos aren’t bad, but nothing I can’t get elsewhere. Maybe next time I will just get some tacos.

If I can give it a negative rate I would. The worse Mexican food ever. I tried the asada burrito it was more of a all fat meat burrito. Salsa nasty everything there grossed me out. Never again. Don’t bother going!

Right after we ordered our burritos at the Diego’s Taco Shop counter, we got a call inviting us to meet some folks for dinner elsewhere. It was too late to cancel our order; but after a short debate, we decided to take up our dinner invite and get our burritos to-​go. We’d eat them for lunch the next day.
Everything other folks say in their reviews about the appearance Diego’s Taco Shop is true. If you’re a cleanliness freak, you might want to skip it, or send someone else to pick up your take-​out.
As for the food, I was impressed with my Chicken Asada Burrito. That’s saying something, since it spent the night in the fridge and the 90 seconds before I ate it in the microwave! Seriously, any burrito that withstands such abuse and is still tasty, has to be worthy. My daughter had the Carne Asada Burrito. It was still good too. The steak bits were a little tough but they were real steak bits.
I’ll go back to Diego’s Taco Shop; or if I’m feeling a little germiphopic, I might send someone else there to pick up my burrito.

My co-​workers and I used to order take out from here all the time. Carne asada nachos was my fave. Last night, I wanted a taco salad for dinner. I remembered Diego’s and thought… why not? Oh boy.
Why not:
1) Restaurant is VERY dirty. You can see right into the kitchen from the dining area. It’s nasty — like something out of that show, Kitchen Nightmares. Take wipes with you (if for some strange reason, you decide to eat here) — the tables are sticky-​icky.
2) I had the taco salad and BF had taquitos. Both NASTY. They must not be doing so well because the carne asade used to be cuts of beef. What I got was nasty, tasteless, shredded beef. When is carne asada shredded?
3) Taquitos were like something out of a frozen food box from Costco. I bet if they had a blind taste test, people would choose the Costco one over the ones they serve. Gross!
4) I’m sorry but I want the person who takes my order to look clean. This guy didn’t. He looked greasy. Like he hadn’t showered for a few days. Yuck.
5) I took three bites of the salad and stopped eating. Tried a bite of the tacquito and gagged. What a flipping waste of almost $ 20.
I was so hungry when I got home from dinner that I had to eat like, half a bag of beef jerky. AND!!! this put me over my ‘no eating after 7:30 p.m.’ rule so I had to bust out 50 sit-​ups. I hate you, Diego’s.

I don’t understand why this place gets such bad reviews… I love it for a quick munchie and I find the food pretty damn good for the most part!
Ok, so it’s not your fancy dining experience and the place could use a little fixer upper but when I visit my family in Juarez, MX a lot of the smaller diner’s are like this. Since I’ve moved here in January, I’ve only noticed they have one cook. But I’ve never had to wait more than 20 minutes for my meal (when I say 20 minutes I mean having 7 other people in front of me ordering large meals). The hours are incredible, the food is a decent price, and you get a good portion unless you eat like a fat kid. My favorite are the tostadas!!! My boyfriend always gets the Economy Burrito, which is friggin huge and delicious!
I took away one star for the appearance. It doesn’t really bother me but from a reviewing standpoint, it could be a little better. I took off another star just for inconsistency with food. Sometimes I order my food and it’s the most amazing thing I have ever eaten, while other times I order and it’s…okay. It should be awesome every time! Am I right?
So don’t shy away from this place just because of appearance. If you want to get yourself some decent mexican food, with decent portions, at a decent price, then try it out!

This place just sucks ass period.
I ordered a chicken enchilada plate. It was so small, like eating a frozen tv dinner thing.
It also seems dirty. Flies buzzing around, heavy metal music blaring. This is not a place for kids. Well, considering their portion sizes are so small, maybe it is good for kids.
Not a fan. Sorry.

The food here is amazing for what it is. Some people on Unilocal seem to have they’re hopes too high and want amazing Mexican food at a cheap price. Guess what? Its a two man operation with 5 tables… you aren’t going to get amazing service and a large variety.
So now that we know what it is (a taco stand with walls), I’ll give this place 5 stars. The Carne Asada burrito is absolutely delicious and I could eat it one everyday of the week. The beef is seasoned right and the flavor is all there. I will be going back there again and again.

It is sad to see a business that was so awesome become so sad and disgusting. I went there a lot when the wife was there running things. She quit coming after she had a baby, I think. They opened one on King St. which the husband ran. I don’t know if they still own them but, I am sorry to say I will never eat at the Pearl City location again.
The food quality has continuously gone down, the place doesn’t just look depressing, it looks dirty. The final straw was watching the employee stick his finger in something, lick it off, then do it again.
You would think the owners would notice the lack of customers and make some changes. I wish they would because it was my favorite Mexican, but I don’t know if they could repair the damage that has been done.

Oh Diego’s you so get a two thumbs down from me, and I was a very LOYAL customer…
Aside from the fact that every time I go into this establishment I am greeted by sweaty workers (they ain’t got no A. C up in here). I usually look past it and think of how wonderful the food is…
But oh how I will never go there again.
So I ordered an enchilda plate w/​a side of beans and rice and two TJ style tacos. While waiting for them to make my order, the cook/​cashier made some small talk asking how old my kid is etc. While I watched him warm up my enchiladas in the microwave and prepare my Tacos, I saw him eat a few pieces with his bare hands. OH SO GROSS. and then he forgot to give me my side of beans and rice until I asked him about it.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been standing there watching him make my food or I should have just looked out of the shop, but now I will have memories of his sweaty hands picking a few pieces of carne asada off of my TJ tacos ingrained in my head.
Got home and the enchiladas SUCKED big time. Could thell they weren’t prepared fresh… looked like they got nuked in the micro a few too many times. Had no flavor and was just awful.
As for the TJ Style Tacos, I can go to Taco Bell down the street and get some steak Cantina Tacos that are much better quality. I wouldn’t order those ever again.
Usually the food is good but I don’t know maybe they were having an off nite. With that said… I guess I won’t be frequenting that establishment period.

My ex-​coworker recommened the place. I thought she was my friend but now I know better.
What a stinky little S&%* hole! We went there around lunch time with our baby in the strolller. The place was empty and looked like a prison café. Grey cement walls with sad Mexican flags. My instinct screamed at me to walk across the street to Zippy’s but stupid me ignored it.
Flies everywhere. Their large soda was size of Costco fountain soda. I felt that the price was expensive compare to the size and quality of our food. My husband ordered quesadila. His quesadila was smaller than Taco Bell’s. I ordered some umimpressive burrito. We should have gone to Taco Bells instead.
I wouldn’t have cared if the place looked like a dive bar if the food tasted decent. They really need to work on cleaning their whole place. I’m surprised that the place isn’t shut down by the department of health. Ugh!

I happen to like dives. This place reminds me of the mexican joints in LA. The cooks are actually mexican. I may not be the expert at mexican food but I know all my mexican buddies love this place.
If you’re not hung up on ambience, and want some tasty mexican food, you’ll love this place.
bonus: the salsa is made fresh and you can take as much as you need.

«Dude??? Whoa…» I say as I exit this hmmm wha do you call it — OH!, a hole in the wall… I left in slight bewilderment as I pondered my whole experience.
I used to see people actually eating here and as I walk in at 12 noon it appears to be no one in sight. Wow i wonder, what went wrong or what is wrong or what’s going to happen that would be wrong.
Unfortunately for me I was helped by a guy who was the cashier/​cook/​whatever else needs to be done. I get greeted with a «what’s up Dude» and I’m like «what’s up»…I order the Carnitas burrito, I pay, I wait… no I watch in disbelief that the cashier after handling my MONEY is now the Cook and no hand wash, no gloves, no no no OMG I’m not blind… so I continue to watch in disbelief, he continues to make my food and as he fills the burrito he decides to sample the Carnitas himself, hey taste-​taste –taste right?
Well he rolls it up and gives it to me as he says“Yup” and I say «Thanks» –for touching my food with your freaking dirty ass hands and having a taste while you were at it. (in my head)
The cleanliness is real issue here… an the service, well, boy it’s really a mixed bag here, order and dig kinda feel.
Carnitas was tasty tho, with a lil extra flavor ya know what I mean

Yeah yeah, I’m originally from San Diego and can say you have not tried good «American-​Mexican» food until you have tried one of the many Lolita or «Al, Ro, Ei,”-Berto places we got over there.
I got their carne asada fries and must say NO BUENO. Fat fries, chunks of beef with bits of fat stuck here and there, chunky bits of tomato, and if you pay the extra $ 1 for the large you get the wad of guacamole in the corner of your tray. Hot sauce was not as fiery hot as I like it either. I was ready to say hire me and I’ll teach you to make some bomb carne asada fries.
Atleast I can’t blame getting fat on carne asada fries anymore.

My family came here a couple times before when we first heard about it from a friend and the food was pretty good. I remember ordering the chicken tacos and it was very moist and flavorful. But now, when we went for dinner the food seemed like it got worse, not only in food but service and cleanliness because my dad spotted a roach on the wall… EWWW!
As for the food i got the carne asada salad, my dad got the shredded beef burrito, my mom got the beef enchiladas and my sister got 3 chicken taquitos and we shared a side of chips. My salad was regular ice berg lettuce with a bit of cheese, cilantro, sour cream and fried tortilla strips. The beef had some chewy pieces but the flavor was there. My dad said his meat in the burrito was dry and some of the chips were kinda burnt tasting but it came hot to the table so you know they fry it fresh. The salsa was good though since it was fresh. The food definitely went downhill and upon leaving my dad could hear the noise of a tattoo machine in the back of the kitchen so idk whats going on there but we’re def not coming back.

I figure why not be the fifth person to review this place today.
Not terrible, not a place I’d crave
Better than Taco Bell, but we eat at Moe’s more often.
I like the hole in the wallness, yet always get take out.
The chips and salsa are decent, the Carne Asada burrito greasy and good.
It’s the type of place that I’d go back to, just not too often.