Updated April, 2023

With dozens of food trucks, restaurants and cafes serving tacos in the city, it’s not hard to find a someone’s go-to guide, featuring the best Tacos in Austin. So with all due respect to BBQ pitmasters in central Texas, it looks like tacos is Austin’s favorite food.

Preparing a vast list of our favorite taco joints in Austin is no small feat. Doing the research (eating all the tacos) is a hell of a lot of fun, but finding the greatest tacos in town is seemingly endless task. Since there’s virtually a never ending shortage of excellent tacos in Austin, we’ll be continually adding dozens of tacos to this list each month until we pass out or die from taco fatigue. Until that day comes, check out volume one our list of Austin’s best spots for tacos.

Cuantos Tacos

Cuantos Tacos Cuantos Tacos specializes in Mexico City-style tacos, offering a variety of meat options, including suadero, cachete, and a mushroom option. Their small-sized tacos allow you to try different flavors, and don’t forget to try their champiñones quesadilla on flour tortillas.

Con Todo

Con Todo specializes in “comida frontera” inspired by the food in the Rio Grande Valley. Their small but delicious tacos, served on homemade corn tortillas, feature barbacoa, carne asada, alambre, queso flameado, and more. Don’t miss their intensely flavorful and spicy salsas.

Nixta Taqueria

Nixta is known for its nixtamalized blue corn tortillas and delicious duck carnitas tacos. What sets them apart is their vegetarian and vegan-friendly menu options. Don’t miss their roasted cauliflower taco with romesco or the beet “tartare” tostada with avocado crema and salsa macha.

Carnitas El Guero

8624 N Lamar Blvd | It might not be the fanciest spot in town, but this small taco shop offers the most authentic, Mexico City street-style carnitas in Austin.  Chef Gustavo Reyes, prepares each order by chopping the pork meat and skin and mixing them together, giving each taco an explosion of authentic Mexican flavor you won’t experience anywhere else in town.  Go for Barbacoa on Saturdays and Sunday, but hurry because they sell out with-in a few hours of opening.

Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ

Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ combines the best of Tex-Mex and barbecue. Their smoked brisket taco with guacamole and tomato serrano salsa is a must-try. For breakfast, try the Real Deal Holyfield taco with smoked brisket, fried egg, potatoes, and refried beans.

Discada

1319 Rosewood Avenue | Discada has managed to become one of the most impressive taco trucks in town.  Using their traditional method based out of Northern Mexico which has been used for generations, Discada prepares their tacos using a “Cowboy-wok”, which is a tractor plow disc providing even heat displacement to all of the ingredients during the cooking process. After all of the ingredients are prepared they’re placed in eight small corn tortillas topped with chopped pineapple, cilantro and onions.

Este

Prepare to embark on a culinary journey like no other at Este, an exceptional seafood-focused Mexican restaurant nestled in East Austin. Here, you’ll uncover a true gem—their legendary fish tacos, widely regarded as some of the city’s absolute best. Elevating the art of taco-making, Este crafts these delectable creations using their supple, house-made corn tortillas as a canvas. What awaits within is a revelation—a delicate yet perfectly crispy strip of swordfish, lovingly battered with masa and fried to perfection. As you lift these tacos, you’ll be astonished by their seemingly weightless and airy nature, defying the conventional laws of fish, fry, and gravity. Brace yourself for a fiery encounter as the habanero-piquin hot sauce adds a tantalizing heat, making it essential to have a refreshing cocktail within reach.

Suerte

El Primo

2001 S. First St.  For a little food truck sitting on S. 1st, El Primo produces some of the finest tacos this side of the Colorado River.  Boasting about migas anywhere else would normally be a formality, but El Primo crushes it.

Paprika ATX

Paprika ATX, located in Central Austin’s Michi Ramen parking lot, offers a blend of contemporary techniques and traditional flavors. Their sous vide carnitas, lentil refried beans, and variety of salsa options make for a unique taco experience. Don’t miss their bistec, carnitas, and nopalitos tacos. Photo credit – Paprika ATX Facebook.

Asador

405 E 7th St | When you dream of crispy, griddled brisket tacos, Asada’s tacos is there to cater to post-bar clientele. Each taco boasts delightful fillings, like mouthwatering brisket with smoked chile morita and black sesame, or fibrous veggies, like cauliflower only helps to contribute to its popularity downtown. Since its opening in 2018, the taco truck rapidly expanded to three downtown locations with indoor and outdoor seating.

Autenticos Michoacanos

807 EAST 4TH STREET | This spot is a great little food trailer that serves traditional Michoacan-style tacos. Their menu features unique options like birria de res (beef stew), carnitas estilo Michoacan (Michoacan-style carnitas), and suadero (brisket). Don’t miss their handmade corn tortillas and flavorful salsas.

Texsueño

Texsueño offers a contemporary and innovative twist on Tex-Mex cuisine, with a stronger emphasis on Texan flavors. Their menu revolves around freshly made corn tortillas, prepared using the traditional nixtamalization process. The standout is the sweet potato taco, which is roasted, puréed and crispy fried. It’s served with a tantalizing salsa macha made with spicy pecans and golden raisins. Additionally, their crispy tacos, a throwback to the old-school style, are highly recommended.

Pueblo Viejo

121 Pickle Rd | Pueblo Viejo, the renowned taco truck boasts six locations throughout the city. The location at Cosmic Coffee + Beer in South Austin stands out as a must-visit destination. Indulge in their mouthwatering street tacos and gorditas along with other classic options for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Pueblo Viejo has you covered with their usual operating hours. For convenience, most locations offer online ordering, while in-person orders are also welcome.

Granny’s Tacos

This is what happens when your Mexican grandmother creates tacos using her classic family recipes. The chilaquiles taco combines crispy corn chips nestled within a fluffy flour tortilla, topped with a flavorful and spicy homemade mole sauce, cotija cheese, onion, and pickled jalapeno. Unlike its well-known breakfast counterpart, migas, this taco doesn’t feature eggs. However, with each savory and satisfyingly crunchy bite, the absence of eggs becomes inconsequential as you indulge in its delightful flavors.

Veracruz All Natural Food Truck

1704 East Cesar Chavez | What started as a modest sno-cone stand in 1989, eventually lead to the empire of Austin’s most exceptional taco truck we love today.  Their famous Migas Taco features a flour-dusted tortilla filled with a mishmashed medley of soft-scrambled eggs, melted cheese and sliced avocado and your choice of salsa.  Hint – go for the green stuff and thank me later.  If you’re a true taco lover you won’t limit yourself the migas only.  You’ll probably wait in a long line, so make the experience worth the wait.

Smokin’ Rose Taco Joint

1308 E 6th Street | The Smokin’ Rose Taco Joint serves up homestyle Tex-Mex tacos made with a few old school family recipes using quality proteins and toppings.  If you’re a fan of doughy, fluffy homemade flour tortillas, you’ll immediately find romance in heart and bulk of Smokin’ Rose’s hearty tacos.  If you’re normally prepared to crush two or three tacos, fair warning, you might only be able to eat one.  These babies are huge and will likely crush you first.  Go for the Puerca Roja Taco – Pork shoulder slow simmered in guajillo and citrus, with cheese and serrano cream.

Taco Deli

Multiple Locations in Austin | Not only are the Taco Deli’s tacos on point, but that green (D sauce!  Since opening in 1999, Taco Deli has been one of Austin’s most prolific spots for tacos that one could truly blame on the success of it’s infamous creamy Doña sauce as well as their incredible best selling Cowboy taco (made with beef tenderloin, grilled corn, onions, roasted poblano, guacamole, and queso fresco) and Frontera Fundido taco as well as over a dozen daily and weekly specials loaded with beef, pork and seafood.  Vegetarians and vegans will also find solace in over half-dozen options, just don’t forget about that green sauce!

Cosmic Taco

1106 E 11th St | Located in the heart of East Austin, Cosmic Taco is a friendly neighborhood trailer taco stand serving up deliciously simple tacos made from scratch, prepared by a mother and son duo and arguably the best breakfast tacos in the east 11th street neighborhood.

Joann’s

1220 S Congress Ave | Joann’s Fine Foods is a hip South Congress neighborhood spot produced from the team that brought us Perla’s and June’s All Day, with their new take on a classic American diner.  The menu is a testimate and a tribute to the retro diner culture and the vibe of a road trip vacation, featuring healthy Tex-Mex and California inspired favorites.  The tacos are made on daily house-made corn and flour tortillas filled with locally sourced fresh ingredients, featuring barbacoa, beef picadillo, chicken tinga, grilled grouper, migas and avocado tacos.

Joe’s Bakery & Coffee Shop

Joe’s is an East Side staple since 1962, serves excellent Tex-Mex and Mexican diner food. Their fluffy house-made flour tortillas are the highlight of their breakfast tacos. Try their miga taco con todo, bacon, egg, and cheese taco, and carne guisada taco.

OneTaco

Multiple Locations – With breakfast, lunch and dinner items, ONETACO. offers a wide assortment of authentic options including fresh ingredients served on either flour or corn tortillas. From classic breakfast tacos like Migas and “El Clásico” to street taco staples like Carne Asada and Al Pastor, the menu is flavorful yet simple with its traditional approach to Mexican fare. The chain also offers vegetarian options like the Relax with black beans and avocado as well as the Liflower that incoporates grilled cauliflower and crispy onions.

Thai Fresh

909 W Mary St. | Not long ago, Chef/Owner Jam Sanitchat created her spin on a classic breakfast taco with some of the same ingredients she uses in her lunch and dinner menus, in the form of an omelette between a pair of tortillas.  The only problem I have is deciding on on my favorite, out of the Spicy Shrimp Omelet taco or the Pork Belly and Eggs taco.  Then again, there’s always the Curried Potatoes & Eggs taco or the Pork Thai Omelet taco