Taqueria Gonzalez

I originally went to a taqueria nearby but it turned out to be closed so I just walked a couple minutes down the street and stumbled upon this.
I went inside and waited for about 5 minutes for someone to notice me. Apparently, no one did so I just sat myself. An employee came out and gave me the menu. I asked him something and it looked like he didn’t speak English.
After scanning through the menu, I ordered the cheeseburger with fries. I know right? It’s weird ordering that at a taqueria but I was more surprised that they have it! Me being intrigued led me to order that. My meal came out about 10 minutes and I would say it was a pretty great burger. You could tell that it was freshly made and the vegetables were tasty. The fries were crunchy. Although, I had to sprinkle some salt in it.
Oh! Don’t forget the Mexican coke! I love the taste of Mexican come vs its American counterpart.

This is a group review. It’s not super detailed but rather just a few key notes that most of us agreed on.
–Liked that they made tortillas by hand at the front of the restaurant. However, the tortillas were a little dry. This may have had to do with the extreme heat on the day we were here.
–Large location compared to others in the ares but no air conditioning
–Lime and salsas provided on each table
–We all tried tacos of various meats. Meat had more fat then desired
–Beer by the bucket!

My boyfriend made us come back since he said the dark woman left on maternity leave and I am glad we did. The waitress, Rocio, was accommodating and came to check on us to see how we were enjoying our meal. I had the shrimp soup which had just enough spice and kick to it. Their micheladas are good and they have a variety of other plates that I wouldn’t mind trying when we come back, :) definitely will be back.

Omg! Best menudo in the Bay Area, and I’ve had my share all over in the past 5 years. Just the perfect amount and they add pigs feet if you like (which I do). All the extras like lime and spices are already at your table to add.

If you enjoy authentic Mexican food this is the place to eat Birria. I highly recommend this place for the Birria and the Menudo. The atmosphere is like stepping into Mexico right here in Redwood City it’s the next best thing to really being there. The tortillas are to die for so if you are a foodie eat here.

Tortilla is handmade, which is awesome; however, the tortillas taste a little doughy and floury, which is less awesome, as I prefer all-​corn tortillas to the alternative.
The meat is ample and tasty, especially the carne asada, which had a powerful roasted meaty flavor.
Lots of toppings to tweak the flavor to your liking.

I had the menudo and it had a weird taste to the broth. The meat wasn’t cleaned or they aren’t using good quality water and ingredients. My girl had the shrimp and it was super oily and the rice and beans sucked. The tortillas are not up to par. Never going to this place again!

This place has homemade tortillas. So freaking awesome. Bring cash though because the credit machine sometimes is down.

Pretty authentic spot.
Really like that tacos come with just meat (and tons of it!!) and you get to serve yourself toppings.
* Birria taco — excellent, tender, flavorful goat meat! Taco is a little thick & chewy for my liking. But you get all of the following at your table: onions, cilantro, spicy oil, spices, green & red sauce. Wish there was more fresh salsa though, like with fresh cut tomatoes and stuff. Comes with a little cup of soup that was a little sour, you could add all the toppings. All in all a great deal for just $ 1.85!
* Horchata — i was dying of thirst and this was so good. They add some sort of spice to it that gives it an extra boost of flavor. Really good.
* Huevos Rancheros — unfortunately not to many veggie options for my bf. This was a lot of food (eggs, red sauce, rice, beans, onions) but kind of bland. They also don’t have black beans =(. Comes on top of two crispy taco shells and with a whole bunch of soft taco shells.

Trying to go south of the border in the peninsula? And I mean down to the dirty south!
Look no further, mi amigo!
Taqueria Gonzalez offers the best authentic Michoacan-​style food around! If you don’t know, NOW you know!

Great birria not gamey at all!

i wasn’t feeling it here. maybe ordered the wrong things.
had chilaquiles rojo and carne asada and pollo tacos
homemade, including the tortillas, but sauces mild and i expected it to be spiced up more. guess it’s the birria i should have gone for.

Birria is great.
family owned and one of the realest mexican restaurant in the surronding area. Great service althought last time i went i noticed a new waitress that was a lil rude and unfriendly. but the family is great. wont be disappointed.

I think that I was the only one not with a large bowl of something in front of me while I was eating there, but it was too damned hot today for soup…
Good stuff, though…
Going to the bathroom is an adventure. Make sure all of your shots are current…

if you want authentic mexican food, this is the place to be. hands down. the best BIRRIA i’ve ever had. the bowl can feed two people and yes, even when ur starving from a night of drinking. well, at least for my tiny frame :) but seriously, OMG! it is soo filling all you wanna do after is take a nap. pair it down with a bottle of coke (yes, i said, bottle — not can!) and ur set! i snuck my spoon to my buddy’s menudo and that was really muy yummy as well. it’s one of those places where you don’t need to bother the usual stuff on the menu but just go for what it’s known for!

Complex, authentic Mexican food.
Birria is the best i’ve ever had. Order a taco instead of the whole bowl. It’s much too big for one person.
Fluffy home-​made tortillas.
The spicy pork stew was good over the sticky rice.
Good salsa, and my first pickled pigs foot. I liked the few morsels of meat in the gelatinous flesh, but there was a lot left on my plate when all was said and done. They didn’t have quail when we ordered it, but we heard her later refer to it as squab.
I wonder if they are keeping the local pigeon in check… Either way, i’ll be back to try it.

You must check out the current San Francisco Magazine for a lengthy and loving cover piece on regional Mexican food in the Bay Area. This is the reason I came in. Taqueria Gonzalez serves us some regular, traditional Mexican dishes of the tacos and enchiladas variety. However they also serve up specialties from the amazing state of Michoacan, kind of central and western part of Mexico. Along with Jalisco this is where extraordinary food culture resides in the country.
Food from Michoacan centers on many kinds of dishes, but at Taqueria Gonzalez you find a few gems that are somewhat hard to find at many Mexican spots, and certainly won’t be found at a Chevy’s or El Torito. The big draws are the birria, a fragrant and wonderful goat stew, and the pozole, also a hearty pork soup that has hominy grits mixed in with all sorts of other veggies like cabbage and radishes. Menudo is to be found here. In fact when you walk in they have a small booth where I suppose people come in on weekends and pick up a to-​go quart of either soup to take home!
The morisqueta was entirely new to me: a very spicy pork stew served atop a luscious layer of white rice and refried beans. And I mean the real stuff refried beans, not the kind that restaurants have to feel guilty about as they announce «no lard». Wrong. Refried beans not fried in lard, well, it isn’t the same. Ditto tamales.
The tacos dorados really hit the spot as well, as they were plentiful and well prepared and adorned with various goat cheeses and seasoning. Also, you can’t beat the prices here either.
The décor is absolutely nothing to write home about but then that’s not why you come. The menu is a bit small but realize that the dishes are not necessarily all the multi combinations you find at most Americanized Mexican restaurants. And that’s the point. This is stripped down, no frills stuff that you’re getting, just like you would in a neighborhood joint in central Michoacan.
Last…may I say that customers should be warned about paying with plastic. This place will accept it, but as you sign your receipt, you will notice that it reveals ALL of your credit card numbers, not just the usual last 4, like 99% of other places. This is shocking and so backwards, and, well, dangerous. I have just sent a letter to the manager in Spanish alerting him of this. Hopefully this will be corrected and I can update this info here on Unilocal

Gotta agree with Judy C. This place is killer. Not pretty to look at, being rundown inside and out but the the Birria and Menudo they say they specialize in is fantastic. Best Birria I’ve had in a long while. I also had a great carne asada taco which was a bit undersalted but very flavorful. A couple dashes of the shaker, problem solved. The other dish I tried which I’d never seen before, called morisqueta, is a plate of steamed rice topped with pork, beans and chili sauce. Pretty tasty but compared to the tenderness of the goat and asada, I’d recommend those first. My co-​worker had the garlic fish entrée which he also seemed to love. All this came with fresh hand made tortillas and an array of salsas and chilis that were all excellent. They also gave me a side of the Birria stock with my taco which was an unexpected but nice touch. 4.5 stars.

Crap-​Mex (aka Cal-​Mex) this is not. This is the authentic stuff, down to the soccer broadcasting in Spanish on the TV. First thing of note when you walk in is the woman making fresh corn tortillas & the guy with a big pot of stewed meat.
Here’s a run-​down of what we had:
Taco de Birria — Sizeable fresh tortilla with tender stewed goat meat. Served with the birria broth on the side.
Camarones a Diabla — this stuff was delish until it got too hot to handle. only downside to our meal was the reaction from our weak digestive tracts to the spiciness a couple hours later.
Huevos Rancheros — not your local diner’s overloaded huevos. Simple fried egg on a crisp tortilla shell and salsa on top.
All washed down with some refreshing agua fresca.