El Corazón

Whoa. Seriously. Just find a place to park or walk here and order the Baja fish tacos or anything else on the menu and you won’t be disappointed. The prices are super reasonable, arrive early if you want to try the daily specials which usually sell out.

El Corazón is aptly named, as they’ve definitely stollen my heart (and may more). Beautiful, flavorful, fresh and authentic, this little food truck is doin’ it right when it comes to Mexican food.
Not to be missed: their fish taco. Also not to be missed: their chicken quesadilla. Between the perfect crunch from frying and the knee-​weakening meltiness of the cheese, I don’t know which one is better.
Also, you want the guac. Trust me.
Love you so, El Corazón. Keep on truckin’… and making that rad agua fresca, too :).

Best Mexican in town. I’ve had it all. If you don’t like it, awesome! More for me!

If there were an option for 3 ½ starts, that would have been better. But since their food is good, I’ll give ‘em the ½. TLDR at the bottom.
This review has less to do with the food that El Corazón serves and more to do with the experience. Their food is good. Not out-​of-​this world fantastic, but it’s tasty and a decent price. There is sometimes a bit of inconsistency with the food. For instance, the first time I went there, I had the baja fish burrito and I thought it was stellar, no complaints at all. Today, however, the fish wasn’t crispy at all, like it had barely spent any time being cooked, and the rice was a little burnt. These aren’t ruiners at all, but they’re the things that are keeping them from getting the extra star.
The bigger disappointment for me is the experience. Both times I have given them patronage, I have texted them my order, which they allow customers to do. Here’s the timeline:
I texted my order at 12:00 exactly.
They texted back ‘Ready in 20′ at 12:07.
I walked to them and stood waiting.
While I’m waiting, several people go to the window and order and get there food ~15 minutes later.
At 12:47, my food came out. I had to run back to my business for a 1:00 meeting, where there isn’t a great place to sit and eat unless you show up 10 minutes early, which I had missed by the time I got my food.
I had a similar experience the first time I ate there as well, where they told me it would be 15 minutes and I again waited closer to 35.
I was under the impression that food trucks were relatively quick. I was unsuccessful at eating their food on my hour-​long lunch break. They seriously need to work on the efficiency of their text-​to order system. Like I said, I watched at least four people walk up to the window and place their order there, pay for their food, be served and walk away within 15 minutes. I have literally driven 10 minutes both ways to Margaritas on St. John’s Street with my fiancée, been seated, ordered, ate, had dessert, left and made it back home in under an hour on a Saturday night. Under an hour was not accomplished today with a two minute walk and no dessert, and I completely missed out on my entire lunch break and then some because of it.
TLDR: If they just ramp up the consistency of their food quality a tiny bit and get their text-​to-​order system to be worth the time for the customers, the girls in this truck would take Portland by storm in one week.

While the food is inexpensive, the flavors just seem to miss for me, and waiting over 30 minutes to get a burrito is a bit crazy. Watching countless people stroll up and grab their online orders as the walk-​up crowd sulked further into the sidewalk with each passing minute, I couldn’t help but feel like were we all there making the same mistake, for the first time, for the last time. If I eat here again, I will definitely be ordering ahead.

Got to try some tacos during street eats and beats. I tried the Baja fish taco and the carnita taco. I still prefer flour tortillas to the corn they serve. The fish was flakey with crispy exterior and topped with a creamy spicy sauce. The first bite of the carnita was a chewy fatty piece of meat that I spit out. The rest was flavorful and tender, all topped with fresh veggies. I prefer a thicker salsa or a pick de gallo. They have multiple spice levels but was a pureed runny version. The food was good but not to my preferences.

Food: 4.0÷5.0
Service: 3.0÷5.0
Value: 3.5÷5.0
Décor: 2.5÷5.0
Overall: 3.5÷5.0
Grabbed a fish taco and an empanada while this truck was parked in front of the Rising Tide brewery on a Saturday afternoon. Both items were absolutely delicious and totally worth getting despite my not having been all that hungry. If I was, I probably would have re-​ordered a bunch of other stuff to try.

Having lived in Southern California … I know good Mexican food. El Corazon is the real deal! Their aioli sauce is refreshing. The fish tacos are bad ass. LOVE YOU GUYS! Keep up the good work!

What a great addition to Portland! The food is consistently good, tasty and I love their specials! I love when they whip up their pozole… some of the best I’ve tried and I’m mexican! This is truly a green and when I get a chance to stop by, my tummy thanks me. Try it!

Enjoyed some great craft beers at Rising Tide and discovered this gem. Ordered a chicken burrito that was out of this world. Great service, great food. Recommend to all my friends.

40 minute wait with 3 other people in line. Soggy burrito with lots of grease. Super lame experience for what is typically one of my favorite spots.

I so wanted to like this especially after all the reviews I’ve read /​heard from my colleagues. I finally tried it and whomp, whomp… I ordered the chicken burrito and was disappointed. The rice was crunchy almost like it had uncooked pieces in there? The breading on the chicken was soggy and there were some pieces of fat in there which made it slightly unappetizing. I am willing to give it another shot, but next time will try the tacos.

Ordered Lunch for the office today. Everything was fabulous. Fish taco, tamale, chicken and carnitas all well done! Great flavor! Glad you were at Alagash Street Fair!

My favorite food truck on the Portland scene. Super fresh ingredients and friendly owners make this high on my list for a quick bite. A standout among other pedestrian truck options. Try the fish tacos, or the fresh beverages.

Tried a little of everything.
Sonaran Hot Dog was the best hot dog I’ve ever had in my life.
The fish, chicken, carne asada & carnitas tacos was extremely flavorful by themselves. But the salsa adds a special kick.
The rice & beans are as home made as it gets! Delicious. I couldn’t stop eating.
A must try!
Strawberry fresca to wash it all down! Very natural not too sugary.

Who knew such deliciousness could come from a food truck?! I love that you can text your order in and April always responds when it will be ready so I don’t need to waste my lunch break waiting for my food! Wish it was around on Mondays!

I’ve tried the truck a couple of times and I think the food is good. The Mexican rice is a little greasy for me.
The burrito was good but I was told to try the fish tacos and I wouldn’t be disappointed. Perhaps b/​c I can’t have the chipotle crema they didn’t sing to me. They were adequate though. I actually mixed my mild green salsa with my rice and added some to my fish tacos and I thought it made them better.

Holy freshness batman. They had the longest line at the flea for all and it was worth the wait. Fish taco was super delicious.
And the guy at the window was Über friendly while serving like 3 dozen people. 5 stars all day, everyday.

My girlfriend and I were on our way up for a weekend away in Thomaston and decided to stop and walk around Portland for a little bit. Lunchtime came around and we decided we wanted to stop and grab something to eat. When we can’t make up our mind we usually default to Mexican, and I had heard great things about the Portland food truck and food cart scenes. Lo and behold, we happened to walk right by a couple food trucks and decided to pass on the Italian food in a cone truck, but saw one with with two tanks on the back that said «taco fuel» and «burrito fuel.»
We checked out the menu on the boards out front and noticed the small crowd in front of the truck and decided this would be a good place to stop. A couple people in front of us bought a raspberry mint agua fresca, and commented on how delicious it was so when ordering I decided to try the mango lime one. It was tasty and refreshing, perfect for the sunny summer day.
I ordered a couple of the carnitas tacos and she got a carne asada burrito. Ordering was quick and painless, and the smartphone credit card reader offered quick tip options and the ability to get a receipt via email.
The tacos were fantastic, with a perfect balance between the carnitas, cilantro, onion, lime and salsa (I went with the medium option) all in a corn tortilla.
The burrito was also delicious and packed to the brim with filling.
All in all, El Corazon is everything I would hope for in a lunch time food truck, and will definitely be looking for it again my next trip to Portland.

Have a few drinks down the street. Realize you are starving and on a tight schedule. Enter google search. Discover that El Corazon is parked down the street at the Rising Tide Brewery. Day saved.
Though I could have ordered one of everything, I went with a fish taco and the tamale of the day to split. I just cannot pass up a tamale. The fish taco was excellent (as was the super spicy salsa) and the tamale was good (perhaps a bit underfilled?) Nonetheless, I left happy and hoping our paths would cross again soon.
Also, have to add, sitting outside on a blazing hot day, having a beer from next door while I ate my taco didn’t hurt one bit.
(FYI, they take cards!)

A Sonoran hot dog in Portland, Maine! Yippee!
This gorgeous bacon wrapped dog comes on a wide crusty bun and topped with: guacamole, pico de gallo, refried beans and then cheese! Mmmmm, super-​duper yummy!
I also tried the mango-​lime agua fresca. It was full of fruit flavor quenching with just the right amount of sweet.

I feel like I see El Corazón everywhere — then again, it’s hard to miss that velvety red colored truck most frequently parked on Spring Street blasting tunes (today it was folksy 70’s stuff that made me want to sit right down on the grass and do nothing but drink). I have a preferred Mexican food street vendor so I’ve never felt compelled to check out El Corazón until today. Because nothing goes better with a 3.5 mile run in 70 degree weather than some fried food, eh?
It seems vegetarian options are pretty ordinary (read: boring). Beans and rice, beans and rice in a burrito, a vegetable burrito (filled with sweet potato, red pepper, jalapeños, rice, refried beans [not sure if these are the kind with lard in them or not, so you’ll wanna double check], lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole), or potato taquitos. Having only two $ 2 bills on me (*insert strip club joke here*) I decided to go with the last option. I was impressed with the overall quantity of food I got for just $ 3.75. And I was impressed that they were (and nearly everything here seems to be) made fresh. I was unimpressed, however, with the actual flavor. The fried-​ness of the taquitos themselves overwhelmed the potato and the guacamole tasted store-​bought. And not the good Whole Foods or Trader Joes’ kind, but like the ninety calorie green goo that comes in plastic baggies that has an indefinite shelf life kind.
The price points here are perfect for a food truck (in my opinion), the staff is informative and seem to like what they do, and the truck itself seems clean. But food wise? It just doesn’t do it for me. I’ll absolutely return though — I’d still like to try their agua fresca and horchata. Who knows? Maybe this can become my go-​to place for those things!
(SIDE NOTE: Listen, If I were you — and had no dietary restrictions — I would absolutely, without a doubt go to El Corazón EVERY CHANCE I GOT for the Baja fish tacos. I’ve heard that they are about the most authentic version you can get outside of southern California.)

I have a bone to pick with you, El Corazonians. I came to your little wayward truck for the first time two weeks ago, and I have a question. A very serious question. How the heck am I suppose to ever be able to order a fish burrito from any other establishment in the world, EVER, after this? You’ve officially ruined them for me. Well, at least as far as ordering them from someone else is concerned. Because I know that no matter how hard they try, they will never match up to the pure deliciousness that is your fish burrito. That they will never be able to infuse theirs with the same blissful glee that you pack into every tiny morsel. What is your secret ingredient, El Corazon? A sprinkle of babies laughter? A dash of unicorn whiney? A teaspoon of a sweet kitten’s frolic?!
My mouth is watering just writing this. Thanks a lot, El Corazon.