Tacos El Grullense

This is not for the hipster palate! El Grullense is your late night-​after drinks-​I-​want-​greasy food pit stop.
*SideStory” Growing up my brother and I joked how «El Grullense’s» were the McDonalds of Mexican food, because you found these little taco shops throughout Redwood City.
These shops are not the cleanest but personally I think it gives it character. But if you ask nicely they will wipe the table for you. The staff for the most part is awesome and quick. The place gets pretty packed at night so keep your cool and order an arroze con leche and wait for your food, not into spoiling your appetite write a Unilocal review *winky face*
What I love about this particular location is the simple menu. The simplicity ensures you will get freshly cooked meat as well as veggies.
My only peeve about this location and most El Grullense’s would be the parking, getting into the lot or out during their busy moments can be a bit of a nightmare.

You ask me mild or spicy. I state ‘no chili, salsa whatsoever’ and my husband ends up choking because either you failed to communicate or you figured… ‘eh screw these gringos!’ As for me who can handle any level of spice, it was just oddly hot with some funk something going on with the chicken.
Just bad business!

These guys are a sister store to the El Grullense at the gas station off 5^th and Spring. It’s pretty much the same just with the convenience of drive through but I love the customer service here. There is a rude woman over at the gas station location who I had to tell off one day, and always messes with our orders so I come here now and they always get it right. The only bone I have to pick with this place and the other is the normal salsa is SUPER SPICY! You need to ask for the MILD when getting tacos from these guys cause they don’t play when it comes to the heat. I eat here at least 1−3x a week for lunch. My favorite is their Pastor burrito –
!

Grossest breakfast burrito I’ve ever had, and I’ve had many. Super super dry, no sauce, no options for additional fillings, just rice/​chorizo/​beans. I crunched down on something hard that tasted super burnt, looked into the burrito and found whole pieces of char. Also, the chorizo had a lot of chewy/​hard pieces. Very disappointing, because this place is convenient for work and is open early, which is nice.

Update: It has been over two years since my last poor review and a friend who was on a burrito run happened to pick-​up food here without consulting me. Still terrible. He is no longer allowed to make decisions when it comes to something as important as burritos.
Side note: he thought they were terrible and promised to redeem himself.
PSS: Tacos El Grullense… you shouldn’t call yourself food

They take your order and they say yes to everything u ask for and then u get home with a completely wrong order smh

This is a group review. It’s not super detailed but rather just a few key notes that most of us agreed on.
–Like the fact that there’s a drive-​thru!
–Large and clean location
–Restrooms available
–Fast and friendly service
–Some of us thought the meet could use some more flavor especially the carne asada. Ask from cream on the el pastor tacos, yum!
–Red salsa can be pretty HOT

FOOD POISONING
Throwing up for a couple hours is a great way to learn where not to eat.
Got a chicken quesadilla that I’ll never forget.

Really, bad customer service, cashier Andrea started gossiping about my order. I had a simple question and she goes amd talks to the rest of the crew in the back I love coming to this place for the food how ever the service needs improve.

Love this place when I go visit my family there I eat breakfast lunch and dinner here, I am very picky with my tacos and these are the only one I will eat besides my moms

Great hole in the wall for Mexican food. Horchata is on point. Small location allowing for roughly 12 customers, dining in.
Fast and friendly service!

This is by far my new favorite little taqueria. I love that they have a drive thru, too. Everyone is very nice, especially with regards to my Spanish speaking skills, which are zero.

Wow, delicious and so cheap! What a great deal. Ordered the chorizo tacos ($ 1.25 each!!!) with a side of beans. Was astonished at the quality and portion size. Best deal in town!

The menu is loaded with options and all of the pictures look damn good. As we waited on line, we saw a lady chowing on tacos and that’s how I made my decision.
Side note, the pot full of roasted jalapenos should not be dismissed nor should they be taken lightly. Those peppers, on this day at least, were spicy!
We ordered up some tacos and this is how it’s supposed to be done. Two corn tortillas, heated up on the comal, meat, cilantro, raw onion, dab of salsa. That’s it! Carnitas was pretty solid, but the pastor was much much better. Flavors were on point and everything was solid.
We also had an order of taquitos and it lacked seasoning. I will give them credit for making them to order. The fry on this item was spectacular and clearly was not sitting under a heat lamp.
I’d definitely stop in again, but realistically, I wouldn’t drive all the way down here just to pop in. Enjoy!

It’s way too tempting having this place near my house. As others have mentioned, the drive thru is the killer feature of this location. Super convenient, and the tacos are top-​notch (as you would expect from an El Grullense joint).
My go-​to is the al pastor, but all of the meats are great and taste really authentic. I want to go there right now…

I love the drive thru here because… seriously at night, this area gets pretty sketch. This place also has its own parking lot if you feel inclined to eat inside. I absolutely dread finding street parking in this area. The sopes and tacos are both pretty good– at $ 1.25 a pop for tacos you get what you pay for. They are a bit greasy and tasty and are basic tacos.
This is the perfect place for when its late, you have a craving for mexican food, and you don’t want to change out of your PJs. The drive through only takes a couples of minutes. Don’t forget to ask for the hot sauce.
PS– they take credit cards! hooray!

I like this place a lot because it has great food and a drive thru but had to deduct some stars due to the following:
1. They run out of certain meats early… they never have any tripa after 8:00pm but they close at 12:00am.
2. Medium is their largest size for their Aguas frescas but you can buy a large fountain soda, doesn’t make sense.
3. Every time I am leaving their drive thru I fear for my life. Whoever built this restaurant did a very poor job on the visibility when you are exiting the drive thru. There are always cars blocking the view as you are about to enter a very busy street.

While there are what seems to be a Tacos El Grullense on every corner, there’s a lot to like about this establishment. It was listed in the SF Chronicle as a top Bargain Bites and I stopped by for an early snack.
Hours are fantastic, opening at 8 am daily and closing at 1 am. There is a roomy parking lot and they even have a drive through a la McDonald’s where they take your order and you drive up to a single window to pay and pick up your grub. It takes a few minutes as your order is made once put in, but it’s still convenient.
Finally, Tacos El Grullense accepts all credit cards, including American Express. Convenience.

Possibly the newest of the El Grullenses (there are a lot of them around here). With a drive thru. Pastor, Lengua, Cabeza and Tripa tacos sure hit the spot. $ 1.15 per taco is still a really good deal. They actually have their own fairly decent sized parking lot too and sizeable, fairly clean space inside. Birria also available but only on the weekends

The taco beast has been unleashed. Went here both nights this weekend and they still do not disappoint! DEEEELICIOUS. Their lightly toasted corn tortillas cradle perfectly seasoned meat with a sprinkle of cilantro and onion, drizzle of lime, and dash of hot sauce. But their horchata is getting extremely cinnamony. You actually get an entire mouthful of cinnamon in each sip. Guess it can double up as dessert!
The drive through is quick and convenient for late night taco runs. They also now accept credit/​debit cards if your order is more than $ 10! That is 9 tacos in case you’re wondering. Or 7 tacos and one horchata!