Red Star Taco Bar

Best margs in Fremont!
Waitress was über nice too.
Great atmosphere + music.
Long live the red star!

I’ve gone here twice and couldn’t have had different experiences. The first time was GREAT! The waitress was amazing, food delicious, and everything was incredibly affordable. Of course I went and raved to my friends and we went back on Saturday night. This time our waitress was awful (short in tone, unapologetic, and lacked in service all together) then she very nonchalantly let us know that they were out of tortilla chips, no guac, no taco salad bowls and no sweet potato beans (on a Saturday at 6:00pm?!)…and then didn’t bring our food order for 2 hours despite others who arrived after us getting and finishing their meals before we ever received them… all in all we were very disappointed.
With that said I will go back, I’m just hopeful the experience mimics my first go at Red Star and Saturday was a fluke. Fingers crossed!

Monday night trivia compliments of Sporcle! Come in early and grab a table. While you wait, you can try every flavor or original margarita for only $ 5. The cheap drinks alone will keep you coming back to trivia every week, and don’t worry you get smarter with every drink.
If you’re in the mood for Taco Bell-​esque fair, you’ll be better off sticking with «your mom’s taco» or «your dad’s taco.» Besides these two unoriginal tacos, you’ve got plenty of options to pick from that put new spins on your favorite classics.

Amazing tacos, great atmosphere, and great service. (Sat at the bar). Would definitely recommend.

Atmos: Very group heavy — only about 2 tables for 2 people, the rest are all giant 8 person tables. Outside of that, your average pub.
Food: It was ok — I had the sweet potato tacos — they were spicy and the potato wasn’t cooked all the way through. I didn’t realize everything on their menu (including bean cheese dip and chips) would be so spicy — I have ulcers (and love and eat non-​spicy Mexican food all the time) so this was not a fun adventure for me.
I’ll be steering clear because they don’t have any non-​spicy options.

Let’s take a minute to talk about the people that work here. First off I’m from philly so I know mean people. But both Elise and Scott were the most welcoming people I have ever met. They truly wanted me to feel at home. They both cared about my drink and my food. I’m so thankful I got the opportunity to go this place. I’m only here for five days, and this is my third time here. As well as, the food is amazing. The nachos and lunch bowl are to die for. Hope you get the opportunity meet both of this wonderful people soon enough and try their amazing food!

Decent prices and spicyyyyyyy!
I was craving some late-​night tacos and couldn’t stomach the idea of fast food or something else sub-​par. Checked the menu and reviews on Unilocal for Red Star Taco Bar and decided to give it a try.
There’s only street parking, as Red Star is located on a very popular street in Fremont, but if you go late on a week night, parking shouldn’t be an issue.
My friend and I arrived on a Monday night, which is apparently Trivia Night, and it was fun to hear the excitement and commotion. I tried the Korean BBQ spare rib taco and the shredded beef taco (both without cotija). Both were absolutely excellent but SUPER SPICY. I really enjoy spicy food, and even these tacos were a bit over-​the-​top for me. But, they had really good flavor (especially the korean BBQ spare rib taco), and they were decently priced. I think I paid $ 11 between the two tacos and a basket of chips with salsa.
They were offering $ 5 margaritas, but since I’m not a drinker, I did not partake. But still, very cool!
This is primarily a bar atmosphere, but I enjoyed having a large booth to sit and satisfy my taco craving late at night.

Stopped in during happy hour. Good beer, ordered two vegetarian tacos: a black bean/​sweet potato and a tofu taco. Tasty but those couple tacos were $ 5, not big portions. My brother got the better deal for the price. He ordered the $ 6 nachos: a huge mound of chips and tasty toppings!

Went to Red Star Taco Bar before a concert at the High Dive next door. It’s a seat your self type place with lots of a space. The menu is pretty great, like the name may lead you to believe, they have a lot of different tacos. For those indecisive taco eaters you can pick one of whatever you want, or go for more. My personal favorite was the tofu taco with pineapple. They also had a great bar menu, and they made Margarita slushies. The wait staff was super nice and helpful with recommendations for both drinks and grub. Everyone was nice and friendly. We actually ended up coming back here after stopping at the high dive for a quick drink at the bar since their drinks were so much better than the high dive. I have been craving their tacos!!! We cant wait to get back here!

Food was excellent!
Ordered the carnita taco and the breakfast taco and some chips and guac
Service was great
Good atmosphere, good music.

My friend lived in Fremont for a brief period so we frequented this bar a lot. She’s a big fan of Taco Tuesday and football and good excuses to drink alcohol. This place has 2 $ tacos on tuesday, some tvs and some tasty slushy drinks. I don’t like football, but I do love Mexican food and alcohol. Happy hour is pretty good on other days of the week as well.
I do not enjoy typical bar food, so this is a preferable place to meet up than some of the other bars in the area. I enjoy this place as they do have a couple vegetarian tacos and some pretty tasty guacamole. Its strangely hard to find a taco place that has tofu as an option, but they do here, they also make a sweet potato and black bean taco. Bartenders are always super friendly and keep both our waters and our drinks filled.

It’s disappointing that there is no Taco Tuesday culture in Seattle!!! As a native Californian, I was hoping that there might be somewhere I could enjoy the tradition, but alas Red Start Taco was the only place that came close.
I ended up getting the House Margarita and two carnitas tacos. The margaritas were strong and delicious — you can’t really go wrong with margs. The carnitas were anticlimactic and definitely not something I’d come back to Red Star Taco Bar for. I’m still on the search for Taco Tuesday spots if anyone has recommendations.

I loved my carne asada taco here! And that it was topped off with a bit of sour cream was awesome.
The only thing is that it was completely cold — the tortilla and meat — basically the whole shebang. Maybe it was because there was a Seahawks game on.
Oh and another thing is that they have happy hour from 4 – 6 where two tacos are $ 5. I wasn’t offered two when I ordered my one for $ 4.38. Kinda weird.
I liked it enough to where I’ll be back.

I live in Texas, so I eat a lot of Mexican food. Hell, my Mom is Mexican, so I learned how to cook a lot of Mexican food, too. This… this was hardly what I’d call Mexican.
We went here during happy hour and I was already wary of eating Mexican food in Seattle. (Do you know how many Mexican people I saw in Seattle? Hardly any. Seattle has a ton of Asian restaurants and they are all wonderful, but I have yet to find some solid Mexican food, and I don’t mean Tex-​Mex.) I wasn’t going to get my hopes up about authentic flavors or anything like that because we’re a long way from the border, but even with a forgiving palate I was disappointed.
The experience wasn’t entirely awful — I want to make that clear. Our waitress was awesome and I swear she was the only waitress for the entire restaurant. I really wish I remembered her name because she was great and I could clearly tell she was busting ass trying to serve everybody. Kudos to her for being kick ass. Side note: their Halloween decorations were pretty great, too.
Everybody at the table, except me, ordered a beer-​rita. They serve the margarita in a glass mug and they have these amazingly nifty devices that hold the beer in place for you so you can easily lift it up and pour some more beer in. Those gadgets were so cool! I wish every restaurant used those. I have never seen them in Texas and y’all know we drink a lot of beer-​ritas.
I ordered a Coke and received a Pepsi. Pepsi is the worst thing ever created, but I figured that was just how they do things in Seattle. Maybe Washington is a Pepsi state, which would be a god awful decision, but we’re all allowed to make mistakes. I drank my Pepsi without complaint because it’s dumb to complain over soda, even when it’s Pepsi. (Also, if they just don’t have Coke, whatever. Honestly not a big deal. I just wanted a little pick me up and any soda will do.)
The food is where I was really let down. I got a «Your Dad’s» taco, which is a double decker taco — beef taco on the inside, then a tortilla with refried beans is wrapped around the outside. It was like $ 2.50 on the happy hour menu and that sounded great. I got some rice and beans to go with it because rice and beans are my two favorite foods.
The taco itself was only okay. The beef was dry and lacked the flavor you’d expect from taco meat. The toppings were adequate and didn’t spill every which way each time I took a bite, so that’s a plus. There were hardly any refried beans in the tortilla — I don’t expect a lot of beans, because then that would get messy, but I would expect a little more than a hint. It’s called Your Dad’s taco — I think most people’s dads would load up on some refried beans because then think of all the fart jokes he can make later on. It’s brilliant — dad jokes meets fart jokes and they intermingled to make all the kids laugh and groan. Red Star, ya gotta give all the dads of the world something to work with. Only a little beans means probably not very many farts means dads can’t amuse and embarrass their children everywhere.
The beans were actually pretty decent. Exactly what I would expect to find in Seattle and they used the right spices, so good for them. The rice was just not good. I don’t know what angle they’re going for, but here’s what I do know, growing up in a Mexican household and eating Mexican rice my entire life — if that’s what they were going for, then what in the world happened. There were no tomatoes, no spices, no rich, smoky flavor. It was just… bland vegetable rice. If that is what they wanted to produce, then they succeeded and I can’t fault them. If Mexican or Spanish rice was the goal, then they failed miserably. It’s Seattle and I honestly don’t know what they wanted — maybe people up here like that kind of rice better? Who knows.
Red Star wasn’t my favorite, but I also sincerely doubt I’m the target audience. Their reviews are positive and that clearly means something — they’ve succeeded in finding that target audience who enjoys their product. I’m just pretty sure that person is not me and that is a-​okay. Keep doing you, Red Star, because it’s working and who cares about some silly girl’s opinion on Unilocal,anyway?

They tacos are good. I order the chips and bean dip. The margaritas are great. I love coming in for happy hour. But any other time I feel prices are too high, and the music is too loud. But a lot of others must disagree with me because the place is popping. The atmosphere is lively, and it really is a good time.

I’m going to start with 4 stars and update as I eat more of their menu. I plan to become a regular because I’m missing my taco truck in Philly. So far so good. Tacos around the corner from my apartment for $ 3 are my dream come true. Loved the tequila line chicken taco, like seriously how was that so delicious? The chorizo was good but not great as it was on the dry side. Frozen margs for $ 6 hit the spot.
Shout out to the bartender for perfect timing, complimenting my friend on how young she looks for her age (in a non creepy way, honest, no shade here), remembering me, and being an overall cool person.

That happy hour tho!
Highly recommend the «dad’s taco» which is a double decker like you’ve never had one. One of the best tacos I’ve had in a long time, and cheap during happy hour and tuesdays! (2.50 per taco).
Also had their cucumber and roasted pineapple margaritas, both were perfectly strong without being overpowering.
Service was really friendly and they were quick with getting food out.
We’ll definitely be back!

Since writing my previous review, Red Star has become the hang out for me and all my coworkers after work. It’s great to just snuggle up to the bar, get their two tacos with rice and beans for $ 10.50 (or opt for their three tacos for $ 8 from the $ 3 taco options, or three tacos for $ 11 from the $ 4 taco options), sip a slushie margarita or house sangria, and watch tv — either yelling at the Mariners for sucking so terribly or laughing at Portlandia or Archer or whatever television show they’re playing (Padraic and his staff have excellent taste in television shows).
Other than their delicious taco options (the catfish are definitely my favorite, once I get over the fact that a catfish is a ground feeder, but the other tacos are seriously to die for. The sweet potato and the chorizo are my runners up for favorites), their gorditas are a good choice, or the taquitos– which are advertised as «pre-​taco» but can easily be a meal themselves. The nachos are also a good way to go, especially if you and a friend have a big appetite. A coworker and I demolished a plate of nachos with picadillo.
Whatever you do, make sure you order chips and salsa or pico. Both are fantastic choices, and quite affordable. That isn’t to say that the guac isn’t good, because the guac is awesome. Their salsa however is the perfect mix of spice and veggies.
Everyone that I’ve met who works there is so nice and kind and thoughtful, and you can’t go wrong sitting at the bar, seriously. They’re busy, but they’ll take care of you. I’m glad that people are starting to find out about Red Star, they’re a gem.

Three friends and I came here for dinner and drinks last night, and we all expected great things based on other people’s experiences here. The evening started out strong, with drinks and an appetizer. Margarita Monday is a great deal, with all the stiff house margaritas available for $ 5. I had the roasted pineapple margarita, and it was quite delicious. We also ordered chips with guac and salsa ($ 5 if you get it during happy hour). I wish there were more chips, or that the chips were bottomless. The guac and salsa were on point, and I was pretty pleased with those.
Then we ordered our tacos, and things went downhill from there. I got the sriracha honey shrimp taco and catfish taco with rice and beans. My tacos contained mere specks of meat, and their corn tortillas were hard and cold. My rice was also cold. My friends tried some of the other taco options (adobo pork, carnitas, Korean short rib, chicken, and rockfish), and everyone had a similarly disappointing experience with dry meat in tiny quantities. We were really quite disappointed with all the different tacos. I’d come back here for drinks if I was in Fremont, but I will not be back for dinner.

Only been in once before for the Troll Stroll and during that event pretty much every bar has terrible service because there are SO many people you will have a hard time moving through the crowd.
Since I had never eaten here before, I asked how big the tacos were and was told they were a little bigger than a «street taco» like you’d find up the block at the taco truck. Since I was told they were bigger than a street taco, I’d be okay with paying twice the price and I decided to try my luck with the Tequila Lime Chicken tacos. We also ordered some more chips and salsa for $ 2. Seriously. They charge you for chips and salsa. It’s not included with a meal, you’re paying for it. This was my first red flag that my «bigger than street tacos» we’re actually going to be street tacos and that I may as well have been at a picnic table up the street by the taco truck.
After the server finished gathering everyone’s order it took her about six minutes to come back with my $ 2 chips and a little cup of salsa. I don’t know about anyone else, but that just seems like an inordinate amount of time to put chips in a bowl and scoop salsa. She also brought the same thing to the table next to us; I fear how long they waited for those. This theme continued throughout the evening.
After we all sat there staring at the kitchen door for about nine minutes wondering where our food was it finally showed up around the 14 minute mark. We all ordered tacos. HOW HARD IS THAT?! In total there were ~20 tacos. Even the truck up the street would have had me out of there in no more than eight minutes, so how is it that a full kitchen with support staff has trouble. When our meals did finally arrive, there was quite a gap in between everyone’s food, maybe a minute or two. Oh, and you all remember a few lines back when I said that the server told me the tacos were bigger than a street taco, well guess what. These tacos are not bigger than a street taco. They are the exact same size! Maybe she goes somewhere that sells novelty size tacos.
Once I was done with my shock of how small these things «large» tacos were, the server came back and told ME that the kitchen missed two orders on the ticket. Why would you tell me this?! I have my small tacos already, go tell the people who’s orders were missed that they are on the way and it should just be a moment. Being the person I am, I opted to wait for the other meals to appear before I began eating. I waited a while. Again, it’s a TACO! Heat tortilla, scoop meat, apply toppings. Unless they are making it WAY more complicated than it needs to be.
Well, now that we finally have our tacos, my girlfriend commented that they felt cold.
What. A. Shocker.
I picked mine up to investigate and they were barely warm. Kind of like they put them onto a cold plate and made no effort to keep them warm. *insert un-​shocked expression*
By the time that our last two orders came out, it was another server, finally! They are helping each other out! I turn my head to talk to the person to my left and WHY IS THERE A TACO IN MY FACE?! This lady REACHED across the table to hand someone their food. The recipient was ON A CORNER! She could have just as easily walked around to the other side of the table and served appropriately but hey, that’s too much to as at this place.
I also can help but notice that someone who looks like the manager, maybe the owner, is out having drinks with customers. Okay, cool. He’s schmoozing, that’s good. Maybe he cares about how his business is run. The next time I see him, he’s behind the bar! Now maybe the laws have changed, but when I was a bartender, you were NOT supposed to be under the influence while working in food service. But, it does explain why this place is so terrible.