Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Ely’s Taco

    4.5 (50 reviews)
    ModerateFood Trucks, Tacos
    Closed 6:30 pm - 11:30 PM
    Updated over 3 months ago

    Ely’s Taco Photos

    ELY’S TACO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - Ely’s Taco

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Hours
    Ray H.

    **CASH ONLY** Good tacos but nothing particularly special. The feel just slightly smaller than other street tacos, but the base price is $2. The Al pastor was my favorite. Make sure to request grilled onions on the side. You can park in the bank parking lot and enjoy them. There is no outside tables so its either to go or eat in the car. Very nice and friendly people running the location here! Food Rating 8.7/10 for the el pastor tacos 8.5/10 for the asada tacos

    Had to eat only the Chicken and that was even dried up and refried YUCK
    Teresa

    Tonight ordered chicken tacos many all were rehashed fried over again meat was not fresh and the shells were hard and not edible . Won't be coming here anymore don't want to get Salmonella poisoning .Wouldn't even give it one Star

    Menu 06/2024
    Thy V.

    Great food truck for Mexican food! The tacos are bit smaller but not bad for $2.00 (Lengua is $3.5). Meat flavor is great and lengua is soft. The truck is by Dale Way and Harbor Blvd.

    Asada quesadilla
    Erwin R.

    Another great taco truck with some quality meat! I definitely recommend getting the lengua if you can spare some more dollars. They got lots of options for protein and great sauce too. Service is quick and nice.

    Menu - specials sheet on window
    Simon K.

    Pretty good taco truck. It seems to always be there, especially on Taco Tuesdays, right on the corner of Dale and Harbor (just south of Baker). But they have a sign saying closed on Mondays. There's a specials sheet on the window that has some extra taco options such as a ChoriQueso taco. That one is my favorite having a nice blend of Chorizo and melted cheese mixed together. The Al Pastor taco and the Carne Asada (steak) taco were also good. The rice was good. The beans were great. They have three different kinds of salsa, Green (mild, my favorite), Red (spicy, average), Habanero (very spicy but great flavor and preferred over the red). They also have Enchiladas and Burritos that I'd like to try next time. They even have a hamburger and a chicken sandwich.

    Carne asada and el pastor tacos with a cheese quesadilla.
    Chris L.

    **CASH ONLY** Located on a small side street right in front of the Express 5 Carwash, taco trailer sharing the street with another taco truck. I got the carne asada and el pastor tacos along with a cheese quesadilla and a side of refried beans. Probably the most decent street vendor tacos you can find south of Santa Ana. The tacos are small, but for a $1.50 each, they dice up the carne asada small enough so they can fit a good amount on the tortilla. The carne asada was tender and not overly cooked where you get those hard, crispy edges like how some places do it. The el pastor was also tender with enough of the pineapple just so you get a little sweetness. Not a whole lot of seasoning if any, but they cook the meat just right, and not greasy. Their cheese quesadilla has a good amount of cheese; nothing over the top, but any 5 year old would be happy with it. Their refried beans were good, and they give you a good portion for the price. I like how the beans are mixed and broken down with a thick texture. Nice compliment to the tacos. Service takes a little long as it appears as if they make each individual order one at a time as they receive it. Plenty of parking in the neighboring business. The trailer is located near a lot of businesses, so very convenient place to stop at if you're out doing some errands. I will definitely be coming back.

    Neighborhood food truck hits the spot! Stop by nearest Wells Fargo Bank on Off Harbor Blvd. By the entrance of Fast 5 Carwash!
    Richard T.

    Excellent food! Salsa Verde just right on the enchiladas and it's a plateful which will fill you up! Chicken has savory flavor..the tacos topped everything off..it's a must to stop by in the evening.

    pastor tacos
    Colton G.

    Best tacos in town hands down, no debate. I go more often than I'd like to admit for the pastor and pineapple god bless it's delicious. Make sure you tip and support our neighbors

    Ely's!
    Ashley D.

    Ely's is the bomb! I'm from the Midwest so carne asada is all new to me. I tried Ely's street tacos for the first time and can't get enough. Not only are the tacos super fresh and delicious. We also love to get the cheese quesadillas as well. Enchiladas are top notch and made with green sauce. Their green salsa is superior. They have original coke in a bottle. I mean, how can you really go wrong? Their hours say they open at 6:30 but they don't open their trailer until around 6:50pm and closed Mondays. Stop by and give them your business. No place better!!

    B. Z.

    So delicious!! So nice to have a taco truck in Costa Mesa by my house, everyone's really nice and the food is amazing!! Thank you guys!! Most delicious burrito ever'!!

    Tailgating Taco Party
    Irma B.

    So good!!!! Must add this to your rotation. Perfect street tacos. Everything we ordered was so flavorful. The family running this truck is as nice as can be. We want to make sure we try everything in the menu. We have an allergy to raw onions. So they dug around until they found a clean bunch of cilantro and chopped it for us so we had no onion oil on it. I know they didn't have to do it. But they insisted. We had so much fun doing our social distancing tailgating

    Menu
    Sergio C.

    This taco place is by far the best in Costa Mesa. Tacos al pastor are my favorite. I have tried their tacos de lengua, asada, and chorizo. Delicious.

    Bean and cheese burrito

    See all

    6 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Good tacos for a good price, I tried carne asada. Cash only. Smaller tacos but plenty of meat.

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Delicious, flavorful and fresh! Can't wait to go back! Highly recommend the pastor tacos and barbacoa quesadilla. High quality food truck!

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    al pastor tacos are super yummy and so are the salsas! i get mine with no pineapple though. very affordable too

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Page 2 of 2

    Ely’s Taco Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Ely’s Taco

    You might also consider

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Food Trucks 13,724 times last month within 10 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Mercado Gonzalez - Carne Asada Burrito and Tortilla Chips

    Mercado Gonzalez

    4.3(1k reviews)
    1.5 mi
    $$

    The Menudo from the Birrieria La Menuderia place inside Mercado Gonzalez is so good!…read more They always sell out before noon, so come early in the morning! They offer the rojo (red) and blanco (white) versions of Menudo. I love that it comes with a lot of meat and fresh tortillas to eat it with. There is so much flavor in the soup. They went up in price ($17.99) as of 2026, and although I think it's pretty pricey, if you're already shopping here and have a craving for menudo, I think it's worth splurging. People who work here are always super nice and friendly - I just love coming to this place for my menudo fix!

    Our building had a catered event from them, and it was well received overall with a successful…read moreconclusion after some initial challenges. I will use mostly my names for what I tried: "ELEPHANT EAR" BREAD: -- light beige color -- very sweet -- honey taste very pronounced and sticky texture -- great with hot Mexican chocolate or hot coffee with no sugar to offset the sweet RATING = A- "PINKIE LA RUE" (aka Polvorone Rojas): -- semi-crumbly texture -- buttery shortbread -- large size -- dusted w/white table sugar on top which I scraped off to reduce the sweet -- medium sweet or tad more -- not dry nor moist -- very nice tasting, especially w/milk or hot coffee RATING = A "RHINO HORN" bread: -- has some color variance with light brown -- semi-firm texture -- lightly sweet -- best for dipping in hot Mexican chocolate or hot coffee; not ideal to eat plain -- not buttery -- I am not a big "dipper" of cookies or bread into coffee so this is not of much interest to me -- it's okay RATING = B- CUCUMBER/LIME AQUA FRESCA: -- I poured into my water bottle and added half water to get the sweet down. Way too sweet for my palate but nice once I got the ratio right. -- up to medium sweet initially RATING = A- PINEAPPLE/SPINACH AQUA FRESCA: -- above medium sweet but expected for pineapple -- the pineapple defeated anything rough about the spinach for me which was a good thing...not chalky tongue syndrome RATING = B+ WATERMELON AQUA FRESCA: -- medium towards high sweet -- I did 50/50 with water again to get it right -- tasted pretty close to fresh watermelon juice when I did that RATING = A

    Photos
    Mercado Gonzalez - Great packaged foods, snacks and Mexican candy.

    Great packaged foods, snacks and Mexican candy.

    Mercado Gonzalez - Time to eat churros

    Time to eat churros

    Mercado Gonzalez - Menu As of 6/8/25

    See all

    Menu As of 6/8/25

    Playa Mesa - A house favorite: Taco Combination with our Spicy Cucmber Margarita

    Playa Mesa

    4.4(3.4k reviews)
    3.3 mi
    $$
    Takes reservations
    Happy hour specials

    What a great find. I had not eaten at this place before, but it came highly recommended from a…read morefriend of mine so I thought hey I'm going to check this out. I am so glad I did, especially since it was happy hour. The place definitely has a great vibe to it. Plenty of seating throughout the restaurant. I recommend sitting at the bar as that's where all the action happens. You definitely want to make sure you get there for happy hour and Taco Tuesday especially, $10 Margaritas $4 tacos and these are not cheap tacos. These are like serious tacos that will fill you up. Their salsa is great, not super spicy and makes great for munching while you're talking with friends. The margaritas are definitely strong, which is nice, as some places tend to water them down for happy hour. I would say that this is a great choice to go check out and have a taco or two or three or four. I had the carne asada, the carnitas, and the pastor, every single one of them was perfect and the salsa that they came with was out of this world. Bottom line? This is a great place for Taco Tuesday as well as just a hangout and have a drink after work. Whenever I am in Costa Mesa. I am definitely coming here again.

    This was a huge disappointment on Mothers Day. We made reservations for 4 and asked for a basic…read moredetached table. When we arrived, we were shocked to see they were going to squeeze us into someone else's table filled with people that could not comfortably seat four additional people next to them . Horrified we requested what we originally booked and they said NOTHING accept they were REALLY BUSY and pointed us to the outdoor fire pits with no proper chairs or seating just a firepit to put a child to sit in front of. At this point zero management came to address this and zero servers as we asked for one . We were completely ignored . We were so hungry we just sat down desperate and starving. There was no omlette bar. (I was told on the phone there was an omlette bar before booking ) No sauces to go with any food. Dried up scrambled eggs and just a few dishes to choose from this 'buffet'. The ONLY salad dressings they had (2) were super sweet (no ranch) nothing . No flavor . Their non meat dishes were just one horrible dried up bean and grain pattie obviously frozen out of a box even an animal would never eat . It was that bad . Their 'replacement ' for almost zero dishes was a pancake ststion obviously to cut costs even more . The food was horrible . When you anticipate a special Mother's Day brunch that is horribly overpriced and get this in return its so disappointing and apalling .We were prepared to walk out after our bad news of no proper seating and terrible start but by then obviously we couldn't just go to another brunch on Mother's Day . Plus our other two guests were parking with a child so we were stuck. This was our only option or nothing. Its unbelievabke how am estsblishment can treat people like this especially on a soecial day like Mother's Day amd can command their pricing with no proper and safe seating for 4 with safe and healthy distancing with a fire pit as a SEAT. No apologies , no manager , nothing . just a terrible high bill, very little options and poor food quality . At best we should get a refund as this was false advertising and did not get a table for up to 4 . What an awful Mother's Day Brunch . We go out to eat EVERYWHERE around here but can't believe sonething like this can exist . So sad . This part of the day was ruined .

    Photos
    Playa Mesa - Margarita flights!

    Margarita flights!

    Playa Mesa
    Playa Mesa - Weekend Brunch served Sat - Sun, 9am-2pm.

    See all

    Weekend Brunch served Sat - Sun, 9am-2pm.

    Tacos Madre - Tacos madre Costa mesa

    Tacos Madre

    4.3(545 reviews)
    0.7 mi
    $$
    Family-owned & operated
    Free parking

    This place came up on a collection to follow of best tacos in Orange County.. We are working our…read moreway through the entire collection.. this did not disappoint! Home made shells are a big draw for me. Tried a few things.. Carnitas taco was the winner with the green sauce they give you on the side.. The Carne Asada taco was a close second place and that is great on its own but if you add the red sauce they give you on the side it takes it to a new level. Fish taco came in 3rd place but not by much. Very good, lightly fried and crispy... better than most. Order the chips and salsa.. that is sooo worth it... They have fresh Iced Tea which is nice as most places just go the easy route with powdered tea from A soda machine.. this is much nicer than that. Parking in front or in back.. just be aware of signs and don't park in apartments behind restaurant. Highly recommended place to try.

    I'm giving 2 stars because the food itself is actually pretty good. I really wanted to like Tacos…read moreMadre, which makes the overall experience even more disappointing. My first visit should've been a warning sign tbh.. I waited 40 minutes for 5 tacos. The complaints about this place are true: dine-in customers don't seem to be prioritized, parking is a hassle, and the food takes an extremely long time to come out. I decided to give them another chance today, and somehow the service was even worse. I only had one person ahead of me in line, yet they still managed to give my order to a large group behind me because another customer ordered similar items. When I brought it up, they couldn't even find my receipt and had to ask me all over again what I ordered. What bothered me most wasn't the mistake because mistakes happen. It was the complete lack of accountability or basic customer service. No apology, no explanation, no urgency. They just told me to sit back down and I waited another 10 minutes. When my food finally came out, the employee dropped it on the table and walked away without saying a word. Good food can only carry a place so far. The lack of communication, attentiveness, and simple human decency completely ruined the experience for me.

    Photos
    Tacos Madre - QUESABIRRIA WITH CONSOME

    QUESABIRRIA WITH CONSOME

    Tacos Madre - BIRRIA SLIDERS

    BIRRIA SLIDERS

    Tacos Madre - CHILE RELLENO & HARDSHELL TACO COMBINATION

    See all

    CHILE RELLENO & HARDSHELL TACO COMBINATION

    Ely’s Taco - foodtrucks - Updated May 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...