El Asadero Mexican Food

I haven’t been back since a terrible experience we had here a few years back.
First, I got food poisoning here that lasted a week, possibly from their nasty salsa bar. Second, a cockroach was running all over the dining room while we ate, until we told the owner who chased it all over and finally smashed it. And before that the owner got all racial on us and called our baby daughter «very gringo».
Still to this day the worst meal we’ve had out. If I could I’d give zero stars.

Homemade tortilla umm yes please! Their tacos are great. I also had the torta which I wasn’t a fan of. It had yellow American cheese instead of queso fresco and it lacked other ingredients authentic tortas have. They chicken soup was very tasty but too oily since they cook the chicken WITH the skin in there. Yuck. I like the flavor but couldn’t get past the greasiness of the soup so I only had a couple of spoons. I think this place is great for the tacos and definitely better than Red Iguana.

I wish Unilocal would allow fractions of stars for a rating. I would give this place 3.5 or 3.6. Which barely makes it a 4 star for me. (I am an engineer so I like precision. Lol.) But I just don’t get the near-​5 star rating it has of the day of this review.
It has quite good Mexican food for cheap. I like their tacos and get them frequently. The al pastor tacos are usually excellent. The asada and shrimp plate is excellent also. But I didn’t care for the enchiladas. They tasted too plain and not authentic Mexican to me. Also their smothered burritos are not with the green chili verde sauce but are with an orange sauce that is a step below the good chili verde in my opinion. See some the photos to see what I mean.
Anyway the salsa bar is quite small but they are all good and spicy. Also they have Pico do Gallo which is a big plus for me and frequently lacking at other small Mexican places. So the salsa bar is a plus. I must have a salsa bar when I eat Mexican food or I don’t go no matter how good it might be so kudos to El Asadero for this.

We got 3 combination plates — chicken mole, carnitas, and chiles rellenos. All very good, hot salsa indeed hot, and lovely fresh tortillas. Service very pleasant and quick!

Ok this is the second time I’ve been here so im not a one time ranter. I grew up in San Diego but I try to keep my expectations limited in salty dust bowl of a city. The first time I came here was a month ago because It had a lot of great reviews on here and its close to my work. I went with the 3 cheese enchilada combination at I think $ 7.95. These were the tiniest enchiladas ever lol. Even the bean and rice parts of the container were barely filled half way up with 3… count em 3 tiny specs of crumbled cheese. Flavors were bland at best. Not worth the money. So today I go in thinking maybe I just didnt get the right thing. This time I went with the classic carne asada burrito. Can’t mess this up right? Wrong… Upon opening up the container to the lightest burrito known to exist, I attempt picking it up as it explodes into a pile in my container. I get an instant whiff which reminded me of feeding my dog as a kid. Beans? Rice? Flavorless chunks of fat? A puffy gordita style burrito? Come on El Asadero!!! #carneasada #picodegallo #guacamole

WOW! Handmade tortillas made right as you order. Light, tender and fluffy. The open air kitchen will make you feel at ease since you can see them cooking up your order immediately. Speaking of fresh, this place also makes their own salsas and aquas frescas every day.
For $ 7.50 I got 4 tacos and some chips and salsa. Since they have a giant sign out front advertising Pastor… how could I not try their version? It turned out to be A-​OK. They served their pastor with freshly sauteed onions. The Pastor was not too spicy or too sweet (Chungas I am looking at you) and there was plentiful strips of pork. I also tried a Lengua and a Tripa. The Tripa was outstanding, very crispy & clean and came complete with some crispy onion bits. I really loved the salsas too, which have spice and flavor! The tacos here are bigger then what you get in most places in the area. I was struggling to eat four tacos and wound up leaving some tortilla (which killed me because they were so good) and just eating the fillings.
I wasn’t expecting chips and salsa and I did not order them, they just brought them to the table. I am not entirely sure, but I think I was charged for the chips since the price of the tacos are $ 1.50 each and I think it should have been $ 6. My meal was a bit more expensive then I was planning, but overall the quality was very good.
Food was served on real plates and there were real cups and silverware. Always a bonus for being conscious of your waste stream and making dining a pleasure. The service from the sweet Senoritas was very good. They were extremely helpful and brought the food to the table and bused everything too. The older guy who rang me up was not so kind. He actually gave me a weird vibe compared to how nice the other employees were.
This place has plenty of off-​street parking in a lot, a drive-​thru window, large dining room and a small area for outdoor seating. Looking around the place, I noticed it is very clean and filled with 100% gringos. I would imagine that the prices keep it that way.

The al pastor tacos are as good as it gets and buried in the menu is their shrimp ceviche plate. It’s really good! I’m from LA and haven’t found decent ceviche until now. Almost forgot… The tortillas are fresh and hand made to order. I highly recommend!

Best authentic Mexican food on North Temple! I rather come here than the red iguana. The chicken is super white taste so good makes you wanna slap somebody’s mama

Dont get all the hype here. Does anyone else find the whole ordering process confusing? They cant decide if its fast food or a dining establishment.
You order your food up front and then you sit down and they bring it to you. They had chips and salsa sitting out and wasnt sure if uou just take one or??? I asked the guy if i could have some and he looked at me kind of confused and said «sure, if you need some». ??? So… do they usually bring them with the meal or? My son and i kind of looked at each other puzzled.
The food. We had to wait about 25 mins for our food. They had maybe 3 tables. Thought the food could be quicker. We had the chile rellanos combo and 6 tacos. 2 carnitas, pastor, and asada. The meats were… meh. After they bring you your food to have to make your way back to the front of the restaurant to get your condiments, again just seemed not setup right. The rellanos combo was good. They used real cheese, not the tofu looking cheese other places use and its not queso fresco.
THE ONLY THING SAVING THIS REVIEW FROM 1 STAR IS THE HANDMADE CORN TORTILLAS. THEY ARE PUFFY AND FRESSSSSSHHHH AND REALLY GOOD. Its just too bad everything else about this place is meh… and confusing.
We spent $ 25 between the two if us. If you want tacos, the taco stand in the century landromat are better, at least the meat, and cheaper. Rancho Market and rancheritos have better food.

I sort of thought this would be like a molcasalsa, but no, it’s more or less a regular Mexican restaurant. Inside seems to be very authentic and the people running it are utterly fantastic, easily one of the best parts of the experience, so much so that even though they kind of pooched the order a bit, I didn’t mind.
The food, however, didn’t quite make it all the way to that sort of rich promise and it has a lot to do with the sauces. All of them, visually and texturally, seemed to be sort of odd. Some were good tasting, but seemed to really miss that rich sort of punch that one comes to expect, know and love from this style of food. Menu could also use a bit of re-​doing as the arrangement can be a bit trying to parse. They also have the Mexican sodas and a soda fountain featuring a fairly pedestrian selection.
To that food, the chile rellenos are among the best I’ve ever had. I wound up scraping most of the sauce off, as it really didn’t need that. Oddly, you can’t break this out of the combination, for whatever reason. I also had a variety of tacos. Al Pastor, let me just say it, is now a full-​on trendy buzzword and when that happens, it largely begins to mean nothing. The largest thing on the outside street sign is Al Pastor (although I think they spell it «El Pastor») and I cannot, in good conscience, give them much regard on that note. Honestly, I found the Al Pastor to be a significant step down from either Chunga’s or especially Angelito’s, who is still running circles around everyone else in the city.
The refried and carne asada were acceptable, but not much more. They definitely were suffering from a lack of seasoning. Rice was a touch above average. Carnitas were definitely the best of the lot and though fairly dry, were the only meat I’d order again, though they could have also used more flavor. This was also the case with the chips and salsa and nearly every other food item, except those Chile Rellenos. So, definitely this place is the spot to go if you’re a fan of Chile Rellenos. You could go to dozens on places and not find one better. Everything else… just not quite there. Not outright bad, but given the competition in the city, let alone in the immediate area, they have some more work to do to be a viable choice, wonderful staff notwithstanding.

Great portions. Great prices. Great food with authentic Mexican flavor profiles. The hand made tortillas are some of my favorite. They could be more generous with the salsa.

I got Mole chicken and tacos and they were really good. The owners are super nice and the food came super quick.

My boyfriend and I have been here a couple of times now. I’ve had the smothered chicken burrito and the chicken enchiladas and they are wonderful! I would recommend this place to everyone! Don’t let the building fool you. Great food in this building! Chips and salsa are also great!

I went here because of the rave reviews saying this tastes authentic. If this is what authentic Mexican food tastes like, I feel very disappointed. I ordered beef chimichanga, taco, and something else I forgot, but all of them are not that good. Even the chips and salsa. Also, we went in when they didn’t have enough people to serve. We ended up waiting for our food for 1.5 hours and we even helped them clean up cos they were so slammed with only 2 people in the kitchen. Anyway we didn’t expect anything back, just good food. But the food is rather bland. If that’s what you like, go for it. As for me, the beef chimichanga reminds me of wet dog food. I’m not trying to offend anyone but this place is just overrated and pricey. I really wanted to like this place cos the lady who’s working there is nice. But it’s just not good. Sorry.

Friendly, Full of Flavor, Fabulous fixings of Caritas… feeling like in Mexico!
Great lil place to eat

It’s nice to find taqueria style Mexican food available for a reasonable price anywhere. In Salt Lake City, it was surprising.
The tacos al pastor are shaved off the traditional trompo, and the tortas I’ve had there have been excellent.

This place looks like a colorful fast food joint on the outside but don’t let that fool you. Inside is quite the gem.
Wonderful tacos with homemade corn tortillas. Tamales are also great. And the best part is the salsa bar complete with roasted hot peppers (jalapenos when I visited). There is a great spice kick with the salsa and peppers but also very flavorful.
The process of ordering/​paying is a little bit different. You order at the counter and then go sit down. Your food will either be brought to you or you go pick it up when you are called. If you are still hungry you can go and order some more. When you are done you go to the cash register at the counter and tell them what you ordered and then pay.
The menu is in both Spanish and English and when I was there most of the patrons were speaking Spanish. But as an English speaker and gringo I did not feel out of place as was certainly welcomed.
Food seems to be made to order and it took maybe 10 minutes for the food to be ready. Tortillas were made by hand from fresh masa. Chips and salsa were complimentary while we waited.
The only complaint was the drink fountain mixture (coke) seemed to be off. I believe they have Mexican coke in bottles so if you want a soft drink that would be the way to go. They also have horchata with a nice cinnamon kick to it.
There is also a drive through but I’m not sure how well that works with the timing of food cooked to order and all.

Everything is delicious — homade tortillas with every order. Love the asada Tacos, including the salsa bar with many great salsa varieties. Friendly and helpful staff! Definitely try you will not be sorry!

Came here because Chungas was way too busy. I’m a fan. Good tacos (asada was the best, but the lengua and al pastor were pretty good as well), condiments, chips and salsa at a killer price. If you’re on North Temple headed to the airport, try this place out.

Ok, I admit it. I wouldn’t have gone to this place if some friends hadn’t invited my husband and I here for lunch one snowier than expected Spring afternoon. It’s not too far from my work, and I’ve driven by it many times. This location has been three or four different restaurants over the years, and I assumed this was just another in that rotating cycle of generic Mexican food.
My first impression was so wrong.
We walked in and checked out the menu. There’s a lot more here than cheese covered tortillas: moles, caldos, even molcajete. This is the real deal. I ordered the caldo de pollo, a dish I love that is unexpectedly hard to find here. My husband ordered the mole and our friends ordered carnitas and quesadillas. It took a bit to get our food because two large parties were seated ahead of us, something the owner apologized for multiple times. Probably too many times, but I appreciate his eagerness to please. The caldo was just about perfect: tender chicken, just crisp enough vegetables, wonderful broth. All plates at the table were cleaned, and the others seemed quite pleased with what they ordered.
And now I have a spot for caldo de pollo. You can’t go wrong with that.