Taqueria El Mezcal

Seems they’ve cleaned up their act a bit. I decided to give it another go round (ok a few go rounds) and the angry girl I mentioned in my first review does not appear to be employed there any longer; there are other women who are there now and are quite nice and friendly. Food is still just ok but it’s convenient when you’re hungry and don’t wanna cook.

I’ve been wanting to try Taqueria El Mezcal since it opened a few years back. I was always intrigued by the fact this Taqueria had a DRIVE-THRU…I mean c’mon?! A Drive-​Thru. The convenience of the ability to get tacos, burritos, quesadillas, horchata, etc. just went up-​up-​and-​away!
My sister and I came for an early dinner. We got 6 regular carne asada (steak) tacos and a large Horchata. The total came to a little over $ 13. I forgot the exact amount. Heh heh heh. Anyway. Not too shabby for a meal for two. We were also given some chips, which we dipped in some of their salsa/​sauces! My personal favorite would have to be hands-​down, the green sauce! Mmmmm! The only major caveat I had with El Mezcal was that my carne asada had a lot of salt on it. I’m a definite fan of salt, as I do believe it enhances the flavors of noms but the saltiness felt overpowering to the flavors of the meat. However, at $ 1.70 each regular taco… I’m down for the cause! Next visit, I’ll probably try some of their other meats though!
I didn’t have any problems with customer service as other Unilocalers described. My order was taken in a timely and polite manner & I received my food the same way too. Plus, when I got my $ 1.00 refill on my Horchata, I was attended too quickly and I was super elated when the employee didn’t add more ice to my cup, which meant I had more Horchata goodness to enjoy and bring home!
Granted, these tacos weren’t anything too special or something you’d consider to be the best tacos in the East Bay. However, for the affordability and convenience (There’s a drive-thru…you don’t even need to go out of your car if you don’t want to), it’s a decent place to get your taco fix!

Not good. Al pastor tacos missing flavor. Same with the steak tacos, & steak enchiladas. Salsas were… just bad. Low quality ingredients=low quality recipes. Business needs to revamp their recipes to survive this economy.

I prefer the original location for it’s taste but this location has them beat for serve time!
In high school my friends and I would make the long trek from our side of town all the way to the original location by SLZ just to inhale those amaaazing steak fries, so we were extra excited when this location opened up just down the street from us.
Unfortunately this location does not serve steak fries (*crying*), but they still dish every other menu item out speedy quick and in big enough quantities to last me two days!

Customer service sucks, food sucks, everything pretty much sucks. Scared to know where they buy their meat from.

So disappointed, ordered a al pastor super burrito and go a carne asada quesadilla instead.

OMG! I always come here and I usually love it but when I went on Saturday night, it was horrible! I’m not sure if I will return?!! I ordered the #6– 3 asada taco, drink & chips, a regular asada burritto and a regular chicken burrito. The carne asada tacos and burrito was dry like the sahara desert! And there was no taste and the meat was hard! Gross! Taco Bell would have tasted better and cheaper!!! Not coming here for a while! Such a waste of money! The only think that was good was the fountain drink!

Absolutely disgusting and poor customer service!
I got the super burrito with chicken and I have never had such a nasty burrito before. The chicken was so hard it was like chewing through undercooked rice.
The chips tasted like burnt oil
The torta was wet and soggy
The associate working the drive through had a bad attitude and poor customer service.
Will never return.

Came back and got the Vegetarian Burrito. It is sooooo delicious! My fav so far.

Time: 3:42pm
Purpose: Needed to visit the bank across the street walking back to car notice that it use to be a Taco Bell.
Ambiance: Façade holds that same look of taco bell in the 90’s color brown&off white. Design like an old mission style Santa Fe architecture. New owners didn’t do much to the place just a painted to differentiate itself from TB. Even the seatings are the same from TB days. Says drive thru but drove around like a dummy looking for it finally gave up park and walk in. I think it’s a scam to get you as closed as possible once you’re there realize no drive-​thru no choice but to go since you’re there already.
Staff: All hispanic workers speaking their native tongue I didn’t mind wasn’t there to learn Spanish. The short girl with a bun collar shirt was so funny she brought me someone else order then realize what happen grabs the bag like I was going to run off with it. I had a water bottle with me that already has crystal light mixed into it the girl thought I was gonna run up and fills up the bottle without paying «oh pleeeeeeeeease»!
Cleanliness: Not too clean to me but to some it will do.
Eats/​Drinks: Shrimp burrito $ 7.99 worst so call seafood burrito I ever had even La Salsa would be consider gourmet specialty. Serving cold burrito is always a no-​no in my books the shrimp was like the frozen package type you can buy bulk warm up add flavor. Shrimp were the size of a iPhone earbud even when it cook. Ask for black beans and gave me a shitty attitude.
Products: Plate dishes, burritos, tacos, seafood, beef, steak, self service fountain drinks, nachos, flan, churros, horchata, juices.
Punch Line: Self service fountain dispenser,$ 5 any burrito Monday’s, $.99¢ taco Tuesday’s. Monday special are left over from weekend just need to sell it out before expiration at least a break even point.
Final Thoughts: I remember there was a thing about when a new owner takes over another eatery watch how they remodel. There’s a reason for that if less effort are put into remodeling it shows that they don’t care and therefore quality suffers as well.

There was a rubberband in my enchilada. Never going back.
Plus you can’t order everything through the drive thru. Only select items. You have to go inside for the full menu.

Awesome value for the amount of food you get, especially when you go on a Monday ($ 5 for ANY burrito, even the «Super» one) or Tuesday (99c for any Taco).
Minus one point for crummy décor.

This taqueria has a drive-​thru. A DRIVE-​THRU. That’s amazing in and of itself.
The next amazing thing is that all burritos are $ 5 on Mondays. This makes me a very happy woman. And Taco Tuesdays, with their $ 1 tacos, of course.
Their food is pretty decent too! Not up to par with Guadalajara, of course, but then not much comes close to it (not even the «authentic» port food I had in Puerto Vallarta in Mexico).
Honestly, when I don’t want to make the «really far» drive to Guadalajara, this is my next stop. They’re cheap, there’s a drive-​thru for convenience and they’re good for what they are. Get their lengua — it’s definitely the best meat on the menu :)

My new favorite go to place. Mostly because it’s so close to home.
Portions are great for sharing, seconds or really bad pregnancy cravings.
I like that they lightly grill the burritos for added crispiness.
+Super Burrito
+Super Quesadilla
+Nachos
+Torta
+Tacos

Portions are quite large. especially the nachos.
Basic, quick Mexican food place. I find that eat-​in is a bit better than the drive thru service for accuracy.
Eat in — orders are always correct. All you can eat salsa bar and drink refills– free.
Drive thru– always something missing on my order. Ordered a regular taco with cheese as it is stated on drive thru menu. lady always asks, «with everything?» I say yes, and the cheese is left off. go figure.
I have noticed, the meats can be a bit «iffy» at times. Sometimes they taste fresh, other times they taste a bit like they have been frozen for too long. Kinda hit and miss.
Carnitas nachos are always the best bet.
Sis loves the grilled chicken torta (sandwich). Said it was wonderful!
We’ll be back.

Its OKAY. I mean, for a spot being so close to me I have to learn to love it.
But the tacos are so-​so.
The burritos are better.
The chips and salsa is sooo boring.
The place is pretty damn clean (So far)
The drive thru is convenient
Average customer service
Food can be a bit pricey.
In my opinion, its for sure better than having a taco bell like before, and its great if you live close by! But I think no one should go out of their way to come here.
I repeat
I think no one should go out of their way to come here.
Instead, I recommend the mexican or Metero taqueria.
IN CONCLUSION
Is it amazing? no. Is it bad? not really. Is it worth a try? I say yeah. You might like it. But me, im just very picky with mexican food.

This place is very close to our house and has a drive thru. I had high hopes for this place and wanted it to be our new favorite place for quick takeout dinners. We LOVE authentic Mexican food.
We ordered nachos and a veggie burrito. The nachos were OK although the guacamole had no hint of avocado. I don’t think this was house made. It tasted and looked like it came prepackaged.
The veggie burrito. Ugh. Whole pinto beans and rice that had no flavor. Chunks of jalapenos in all sizes and shapes cut with no consistency. The burrito was very watery and not at all flavorful. Although it did have lettuce in it, which I like.
I probably will not be going back here. The food was barely mediocre at best. I appreciate the drive through and the easy to read menu board. The food came to the drive through window within a few minutes and chips and salsa (that was not good. had a weird sweet taste and was watery) came with the food. The food was just not good enough to make us want to come back. Bummer!

Thank you, Trippy, for dinner last night (my friend mailed me two lottery tickets, and one of them won me $ 10).
My wife and I took our food to go.
We only had to wait about 3 minutes for it.
Some cashiers are better than others (the woman last night seemed lethargic and disinterested– maybe she just couldn’t wait for me to leave).
I see a new one every time we go here. It’s kind of funny.
Regular Burrito: $ 5.60 ($ 6.10 with cheese).
Regular Taco with Cheese: $ 1.79.
My 4 carnitas tacos kind of fell apart in the box (it’s like the tortillas and carnitas got in a huge fight and had to be separated).
As usual, though, my tacos were quite delicious and left me wanting more.
My wife enjoyed her burrito.
Next time, though, she’ll order one without pico de gallo (her burrito last night was too «spicy»).
There are 5 tables outside (the seating capacity is 20).
I only talked about the seating inside earlier.
There are actually 2 TV’s inside (I initially thought that there was just 1).
There are also 2 entrances (I recently realized that I’m not always super observant).
When we came in one night, a telenovela was on (I think some guy was sleeping with 3 different women– it was hard to follow just how many).
The Taco Tuesday signs are now over the top (they’re so big and colorful that they basically grab you by the arms, shake you, and try to throw you inside).
The taqueria, unlike my fuc — - mouth, is always kept clean.
The parking lot can be a pain to deal with.
My wife and I go here more often now.
The food and service are consistently good.

Taqueria El Mezcal at it’s other locations always made great burritos. the menu here is simple: tacos (1.49), burritos (5ish), plates, seafood combos (10.28), aqua fresca. (, 1.89).
eats: camarones ala diabla (10.28)
–the in house plates were big, good portions off beans, rice
–take out had little salad, refried beans, refried rice.
–rice bland, beans bland, salad spicy with salsa
–12 shrimps had shell on, not so tasty
–sauce was chili hot, nothing else
–flour tortillas stale, chewy
2.5 stars, wouldn’t reorder
frijoles refritos:
–chips provided free, salsa bar
–salsa tasted different
–open grill, orders cooked to order
–would only stick to burritos here…

I’m sooooo HAPPY that this Taqueria took over what it used to be a TACO BELL.
Today, Monday October 8, 2012 is their Grand Opening Day!
The place was packed!
It can hold capacity of 34 people in the restaurant.
The prices are very reasonable.
I ordered the SUPER NACHOS with pollo — $ 5.99 and a SUPER TACO carnitas — $ 3.30
The Super Taco came with one taco and not two like I expected to be.
They have a salsa bar too.
All of their salsas are good. I tried them all with my nachos! hehee!
The food is DELISH.
The staffs are very friendly!
Overall, I would come back here again to try other menu items!