Juniors Taqueria

Not my usual area but thought I’d get tacos down in Salem. Apparently this place has been here 17 years and it’s great! House made corn tortillas! Ordered a buche and a tripas taco. I wanted to lick the plate!

I went to their little stand in front of El Ranchero Market. It’s pretty cool, the girl was friendly and they were fast making my food. The box they gave me was cool too actual useful. The Tacos are small for 2 bucks each but they were good so I let it slide. Overall I say a good place to eat when you want some quick tacos on the go.

They are not that bad. Pretty good. Better than fast food. Not as good as homemade (depending on who’s home it’s made at) I had a Pollo asada torta and a couple carnitas tacos. The tortillas were hand made decent price decent filling. The problem with carnitas is the further from mex you get the less authentic it gets. It’s just shredded pork roast flash fried here not the chunks fried in lard. But other than that taste was good. The torta… well it was a torta. Not bad little light on the filling but tasted good. Wasn’t packed with avacado or tomato or creama or queso fresco or had beans in it (I’m picky about tortas) so 1 – 10.tacos solid 6 and torta just above 4. That doesn’t say anything about the other menu items. the way I pick my go to spots is first order my go to foods if they nailed it I scour the rest of the menu. Unfortunately they didn’t impress me so I probably won’t return. But they might make other items that are fantastic. But I’ll never know cause I have my go to Taqueria I don’t know if it’s polite to say other restaurants names but I don’t care. Chula vista Taqueria. Not the restaurant the little shop in back of the market is my spot.

I eat here often. Food is made on site. Prep time is put in and it shows. Great authentic food. Try the tacos or the gorditas with any kind of meat you like. Love this place.

Quite possibly the best Mexican restaurant in Salem. The only one where you can taste the authenticity.

I feel like this is one of Salem’s hidden treasures. I have only eaten here a handful to times but it has never disappointed. If you like Mexican food and you like getting it hot and quickly and tasty then this is the place for you.

Nice people. Fast food style order at the counter. Overall the food was very bland. Similar to TV dinner Mexican food. Also a little more expensive than I thought the food warranted. Probably won’t be going back, but the place was clean and the service was fast.

Terrible, we’ve been here multiple times and the service and food have always been lackluster. My chicken torta had minimal chicken and was cold. My fiancé ordered a burrito «with steak» they made him a beef burrito with an actual side of steak. Maybe the language barrier contributed to this mishap. Another time I ordered a chicken burrito that tasted awful, I’m not sure if the meat was rancid or just old. We will NOT be back ever. If you looking for a quick Mexican bite head to Marcos you’ll be happy you did!

Great place for lunch. They have always been clean. And the food has always been excellent. Nice friendly faces, every one are really attentive. Customer service is there thing i guess. Ill be back!

Really good place with filling burritos. They are the only Mexican restaurant I have been to that serves fries with their orders, which is interesting!

Took about 20 minutes for the counter lady to get the order for a party of 4. Its been an hour since that and we’re still waiting for menudo and sopes.

Always good, fantastic carnitas.

Excluding a state capital, there isn’t a whole lot along the I-​5 corridor between Eugene and Portland with the exception of beer, Hungarian food and Jr’s Taqueria. On a hot tip, the future husband and I found Jr’s in a non-​commercial, but more industrial side of Salem. Clean and welcoming, we made quick-​decision orders and sat down to a booth accompanied by two bottles of righteous house made salsas to wait for our food.
The shrimp tostada came stacked with plump, sweet shrimp secured to its foundation with a slather of refried beans. The rest of the pile up did not disappoint — refreshing shredded lettuce, tomatoes and generous slices of avocado. I squeezed a heavy hand of smoky chipotle salsa on top and it was perfección.
Half filled with fresh pressurized-​dispensed crema, the bean gordita proved to be a mouthful of lusciousness. My thoughts conclude with «I wish I could eat one of these every day.»
The Mr. ordered a carne asada plate. I did not try the meat, but the guacamole was eye-​roll-​to-​the-​skull inducing. It seemed to be a pure blend of avocados, lime and salt. More perfección.
Although the future husband was not as impressed with Jr’s as I was, we were both ultra satisfied. If I found myself hungry in or near Salem again and with a strong hankering for Mexican food, you would surely find me here.
Horchata was standard as was the Mexican Coke (duh). House-​made tortillas are a MUST.

This is now my favorite place for Mexican in Salem! I went yesterday and had chicken tacos with rice… I went back today for huevos rancheros. It was all excellent, but the clinchers are the hand made corn tortillas and the red sauce. My partner had the fish tacos and bean cheese and rice burrito, in what seemed to be a hand made flour tortilla. All EXCELLENT!

Came here on a Saturday afternoon to try them out. I was not disappointed. The counter service was very good and the selection of authentic dishes was impressive. My meal was brought out by a friendly guy who, of course, spoke no english.
Price point was well within the parameters of a place like this, and I think I will frequent this establishment in the future.
Parking is limited though.

Incredible semi-​fast mexican, especially for Salem. The sauce on the tables here is amazing. I wish they sold it by the gallon.

I ordered the Pork Guisado: fairly large cubes of grilled pork cooked in a spicy salsa verde, served with rice, beans, and about 4 – 5 family-​made corn tortillas. It’s normally $ 6.50 (under the «JR’s Small Orders» section of the menu), but as the special that day, I paid just $ 5.50.
I enjoyed the pleasurable heat of the green salsa verde. Strips of green chile stewed in the verde, reinforcing the spice and adding texture to the entrée. The pork was cooked well on the flattop grill, but may have been better off stewing for a while in the salsa verde itself to break down and get even more tender. The rice and beans were good, but not mind-​blowing. As for the consistency of the salsa verde, I would have liked it chunkier instead of having it mainly liquid with the green chile strips.
The house-​made corn tortillas had just come out of the steamer. While they were a bit hot to handle at first, they were pliable, yet thick enough to make little pork tacos to nosh on. I always love anything made in-​house, and if a Mexican restaurant will go the extra mile to make their own corn tortillas, I really tip my cap to them.
By my standards, the Pork Guisado was a large appetizer portion. But then again, I have an abnormally huge appetite, so most people will get their fill from this place. Lunch specials are generally the way to go for a cheap, tasty meal. Overall, it was pretty much an average experience.

We loved this spot — we moved from the south, from a spot with a vibrant Hispanic community (and lotsssss of delicious grub) and have been disappointed in Salem Mexican food so far. Junior’s has been the best that we’ve had here so far. Don’t expect it to be that über Americanized, flavorless Mexican food (La Hacienda Real, anyone?) cuz you’ll be disappointed. The atmosphere is, y’know, fast food-​y, and there’s no booze, but the service is friendly and the food portions are generous and relatively inexpensive.
My husband and I both had sopes, with chips and salsa. The chips were freshly made, crispy and perfectly salted, and the salsa was really flavorful. The sopes were huge, and were $ 7 for three. They had a few choices of salsas. I tried the tomatillo and some kind of smoky chipotle. Both were tasty, but needed a bit of a kick, so I added some Tapatio for a little extra zing. Perfection! The meat (chicken) was flavorful and perfectly cooked, with just the perfect amount of sour cream and cotija. I was full after two. SO TASTY.
No beer or anything, but they have Jarritos, Real Coke, and homemade lemonade, as well as sodas and water.
For the both of us, our dinner was $ 17.50. The menu had all of the standards, but lots to choose from! We loved it — we’ll definitely be back.

Since my last review, Junior’s has added breakfast to their repertoire, including a huevos rancheros plate so good — so spicy and flavorful, and so enhanced by Junior’s already-​excellent homemade corn tortillas — that I’m giving them a whole extra star (although the fact that they now take credit cards at the register also helped. A little). Once again, Junior’s proves that Mexican food in Salem doesn’t have to be an Americanized plate-​mess.