When I asked a personal friend of mine of Mexican origin what special restaurant she and her…read morefamily went to eat at to celebrate Easter, she replied: "Our usual place. My husband took us to El Costeño Mexican Grill." This triggered a desire to go try it out. She also told me, and our server later confirmed, that the owners were from Veracruz, Mexico. After doing some research I found out that Veracruz cuisine is known for its unique blend of indigenous, Spanish, and Afro-Caribbean influences resulting in a rich and flavorful mix of flavors. So with this background, you can imagine why I immediately made plans to go have dinner there with a friend who also appreciates good Mexican cuisine. When we arrived to the restaurant on Peter Creek Rd NW Roanoke, Virginia, it was located in a small strip mall of two businesses shared by a gas station. Yet surprisingly it also had a brick outdoor patio dining area as well, with outdoor seating. Inside, the restaurant was clean and organized, simple decor, some very unique style framed Mexican paintings on its walls all around. As soon as we entered a young lady host came out and gave us a warm welcome with a big smile and took us to one of the tables to be seated and gave us a copy of the menu. Our server, a young, friendly lady greeted us, brought us a basket of tortilla chips with a couple of bowls with salsa, and took our drink order. To drink we both just had Iced water, although they had a variety of softdrink, beers, and Margaritas. The Chips were fresh, thin, and crispy; and the salsa tasted amazing. Their menu was full of authentic Mexican food, including, super burritos and fajitas, as well as their famous mole sauce. All at reasonable prices. For appetizer we ordered the Queso con Chorizo. To eat my friend ordered the Super Burrito, and I ordered the King Burrito. The Chorizo of the appetizer was the Spanish Style with is richer in flavor and the Queso was soft and yummy. Best appetizer of its kind I've ever had. My friend's entrée looked wonderful with Mole on top. And he said it tasted like heaven. My King Burrito looked great with the melted cheese as well as the guacamole on top, and tasted amazingly delicious, filled with quality ingredients seasoned and cooked wonderfully. For dessert we both had a Churro Bowl that also was delicious. I highly recommend this restaurant for the comfortable and relaxed atmosphere, amazing, genuine Mexican food, and extraordinary service.

This little restaurant is soooo delicious! A true hidden gem. We just had an excellent experience…read moreinvolving carnitas, a super burrito (it is super yummy!) and a truly excellent strawberry margarita! We will be back.

My wife and I visited Taco Rojas for an early dinner. It was our first time there, and we were…read morethoroughly impressed. We ordered the Big Quesadillas, which were incredibly generous in size and bursting with flavor. The service was exceptional, and we left feeling grateful for the delicious meal and the friendly staff.

The food is really good here. Unfortunately they've prioritized carry-out over dining in. Took…read moreover 10 minutes for someone to take my order. 15 minutes later, no water and no chips & salsa. Both of which I'd asked for.

Our waitress was very helpful and attentive and made great suggestions. The red is not your typical…read moreMexican place but the food was a pleasant surprise for Roanoke. It was spirit just the right extent and had great flavors. The restaurant was clean and had the normal noise level for a place this size. It could easily accommodate 25-30 people and not feel crowded. I would definitely recommend a stop in if you are looking for authentic Mexican food with good flavors and spice.

There is a new Mexican restaurant on the block: "Tacos Los Toros." Housed in a small, bright yellow…read morebuilding on Hershberger Rd, we must not let its size fool us; for its menu, quality of food, attention to detail, and extraordinary customer service are nothing but amazing. After I found out from a Mexican friend of mine that it just had opened a few days ago, I immediately made plans to go visit and try it out. And what I discovered by doing so far exceeded my highest expectations of the restaurant. I arrived at the restaurant on a late afternoon, after quickly finding it with the help of its exterior bright yellow color and colorful restaurant signs: one in front of its front patio dining area, and another high above on the building itself. The restaurant has a parking lot for the convenience of its customers, and the main entrance is through a door on the right side of the building. As one enters its door, one can't help but notice the cleanliness of the place, which its interior design is in the minimalist decor, with walls painted golden-yellow, black ceiling, with black furniture, and imitation cherry wood hardwood floors. No wall nor other decorations. Its elegance is reflected in its simplicity of decor and in the beautiful bar glassware with thick quality glass and blue highlights, displayed on the bar shelves with mirror background. Next to the bar located in back of the restaurant are a pair of rotating doors that lead to the kitchen. As soon as I entered the door of the restaurant, I was immediately greeted by the host who gave me a warm welcome, asked me to pick the table of my choice, and handed me a copy of the menu and took my drink order of a glass of Iced Orchata non-alcoholic drink. Then my server, Ruth came by, warmly greeted me, answered some questions of the menu I had, and took my order. By the way, the menu had a great selection of familiar Mexican food items and some unique ones as well. As appetizer I ordered Tortilla Chips with Guacamole dip. As the main entrée I ordered the Molcajete. I invite the readers of this review to view my photographs of the menu and of the food enjoyed for a more detailed picture of my food. After all, it is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. The food was amazingly delicious. In presentation, quality of items, seasoning, and cooked to perfection. Simply, a Mexican culinary delight. For dessert, I ordered the house Tiramisu. Amazing, from a Mexican restaurant. In conclusion, I highly recommend this one of a kind Mexican restaurant. This family-owned business has it all to receive a Five Star review. Entrepreneurial owners with very creative imagination and wonderful personalities. I was able to chat with them before leaving. A distinguished yet relaxing ambiance. Wonderful menu. And excellent customer service. All together contributing to an extraordinary dining experience.

Great find through yelp!…read more We came in for an early dinner and everything was great. It's a small casual restaurant with friendly staff. We ordered chips & queso, a torta, gorditas and talavera texana. Everything tasted really good, lots of flavor. The portions were very generous and we had leftovers. We will definitely be back the next time we are in town.

The tacos were really good. But it's a small place that charges for everything. We ordered water…read more Brought us bottled water charged us for it and also charged us for a tiny serving of chips and salsa. Not worth $57 for 3 people, when there are so many other places with bigger servings cheaper.

Love the fun colorful decor! Super sweet staff! Really like there light crispy chips. Amazing…read moreCheese dip. My husband had the BTO galaso it was big and he said it was really good! I ordered the salsa mango salmon, which I should've known better to order salmon at a Mexican restaurant. The server had told me it was delicious, but it was not..so overdone , dry and it wasn't salsa it was an overly sweet thin sauce. Wine was pretty good. Loved the babies breath flowers attached. If u don't mind paying 80$ for 2 meals One being good and fun experience . Then this is the place for you.

2nd time here. Rarely when I travel do I repeat a restaurant but this one is exceptional…read more I ordered the Chicken fajitas and it comes out on a sizzling Lodge cast iron skillet. Smells, sounds and the tastes are wonderful to experience. Set for three fajitas. Excellent chicken. Thin grilled just right. Spanish rice could have a little more diced tomatoes. The refied beans were tasty. Could have been mashed by hand and a little less. I like chunky refried beans. Tortillas were excellent maybe they could be a little larger but nicely done. Definitely enough food!! The service was friendly and checked on me frequently. Food from time to order to table was excellent. The ambience is very nice. Large place. Nicely decorated. Awesome.

I can't believe this place isn't more popular…read more Went here for my birthday and everything was SO fresh and delicious. It was a Friday night at 5:30 and no one was eating in the restaurant! This is a SHAME as this place should be hopping! We will definitely be back! Yum yum!!!

I found myself in Roanoke, VA for Cinco de Mayo, and found this joint somewhat close to my hotel…read more(Springhill Suites which was awesome). I pulled up and I'm 99 percent sure this used to be a Pizza Hut. The 1% skeptic in me didn't see a table top Pac Man machine, so I could have been wrong. Back to the Mexican cuisine, I kept it simple with tacos, and loved that I could order 3 different tacos. I went with the Al Pastor (good), Chicken (great), and Steak (dry and meh) tacos and was in and out pretty quickly. It was already later in the evening so it wasn't too crowded. I'd probably hit something else in Roanoke if I was here, but it wasn't bad for what I was looking for on May 5th!

This family-owned Mexican Restaurant is like no other that I've have ever seen before. The family…read moreis from Jalisco, Mexico, and after some time of sharing their native cuisine through their food truck, around March of this year, they opened this brick and mortar restaurant in the Southwest neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. I literally found out about this place today, and immediately made plans to go visit for dinner. After being awarded the Triad Yelper of the Year 2024 Award at the Yelpies Award Ceremony last year, an event that honored the highest-performing Yelp Elites, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to uncover those found in hidden paths that for one reason or another have not reached the public in its totality. And Birrieria La Vaca in Roanoke, Virginia, is the perfect example. Jalisco is a state in western Mexico. Known for its capital city, Guadalajara (the second-largest city in Mexico), and its cultural contributions, including mariachi music, charades (Mexican rodeos), the Mexican Hat dance, the wide-brimmed sombrero, tequila, and birria, a traditional meat stew. Its culinary scene is diverse, with dishes like birria (a savory meat stew) and tortas ahogadas (a pork-filled sandwich soaked in sauce) being local favorites. Sweet treats like jericalla is a popular dessert, similar to a flan or custard, with a slightly caramelized or burnt top. Tequila, made from the juice of the blue agave cactus, is Jalisco's best known product. The restaurant Birrieria La Vaca is located on 5th Street, Southwest Roanoke, in a renovated old building. Its front of the building is painted with a unique, dark, bright, red color, so you won't miss it when driving by. As you enter the first thing that catches you attention is their beautiful renovated original hardwood floors and a section of original tiles in great condition. Most of the walls are painted dark, bright red, with one dark red, and one white. The place is very clean with some booths and some tables and chairs, and even a counter area for ones dining pleasure. It has been modernized with two large screen TVs behind the counter. One is continously showing color images of the food from the menu, and the other shows a video with scenes of Guadalajara, Mexico. Then on the two side walls are two gigantic size screen TVs which at the time were showing a soccer game. It also had a modern TouchTunes Jukebox on one of the walls, with a touchscreen so you can select and purchase songs that will be played in the restaurant. When I arrived a friendly young lady with a big smile greeted and welcomed me to the restaurant. She took me to one of the booths and handed me a copy of the menu. Later I found out that she was not only my server but also the daughter of the owner. We talked a little about Jalisco, Mexico, the place where her family is from, and then after she brought me an Horchata that I had ordered to drink along with a glass of water, I ordered the Queso Fundido Con Chorizo appetizer to enjoy with my chips. And for my main course I ordered a California Burrito al Pastor (with marinated pork). The food was all amazingly delicious and different from other Mexican restaurants; they had that homemade flavor to it. Their chips were fresh and reasantly fried. Thin and tasty. Their salsa was a bit too watery rather than thick like in other Mexican restaurants. You could tell that the tortilla used to make the burrito was made in-house because of its flavor and texture. And the pork was seasoned to perfection. For dessert I had their traditional Jericallas. It was served in the aluminum container where it was made. Nothing fancy, but tasty and sweet. Before I left I got to meet the other daughter who also was working as a server, as well as a cousin of theirs who was visiting, and their father. I had a great time and an extraordinary dining experience. Definitely I would recommend this restaurant and I expect to return soon to try out more of the items from their menu.

The food here was really good! Everything came out fresh and tasty, and the flavors were on point…read more My favorite was the Taco Birrias, definitely worth trying. The service matched the quality of the food. I'd for sure come back again.

My husband loved his food, mine was meh. To each his own At…read morefirst the server wasn't sure about our service dogs- which is never a good sign. But our waiter set her straight- and was a consummate professional. Overall, I'm not sure I would return.

Ever since the first day it opened and I dined there for the very first time, this restaurant has…read morebeen one of my favorites for Mexican cuisine. Its delicious food, welcoming ambiance, and excellent customer service, have won me over, and make me keep coming back. After having been selected as number 4 of Yelp's Top 50 most prolific Elites of 2025, a year when I also was awarded the Yelp Triad Squad Photographer of the Year Award at their Yelpies 2025 Award Ceremony, an event that honored the highest-performing Yelp Elites, and where last year I was awarded the Yelp Triad Squad Yelper of the Year Award, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to return to those special ones, that have made a difference in my life and highlight them, for the benefit of the public, so they too can have an opportunity to appreciate the qualities of a one-of-a-kind fine dining experience. And Pancho Mexican Restaurant in Towers Shopping Center, in Southwest Roanoke, is a perfect example. As soon as I entered its door today, I was greeted by the Host with appreciation and taken to one of the comfortable booths of the restaurant. Soon after I was seated with the menu, another friendly employee brought me a basket filled with a generous portion of fresh tortilla chips and a bowl with a small glass bottle filled with their amazing sauce. Not long after, my server came by with a smile to see what I wanted to drink. She tried her best to talk to me in English, but when I switched to Spanish, that made her more comfortable and she appreciated my noble gesture. I ordered a Virgen Jumbo Frozen Mango Margarita to drink. While I was enjoying my chips with salsa, and studying the menu to see what I ordered today, they brought the order to the booth next to mine and I was very impressed with the "Steak con Camaron" served on a sizzling skillet. It was a T-bone steak grilled to perfection with plumpy, nice size shrimps. So when my server brought me my drink, I order this dish as my main entrée. I think I've had almost all of the most exclusive entrées on the menu. I invite you to view all of my photographs and videos on the Yelp site to get a better sense of its fresh and delicious food, as well as the photographs and videos I took today, accompanying this review. Just so the steak doesn't overcook and become tough, I would advice you to place it on the plate they give you with rice and refried beans, soon after it arrives on your table. The flavor was delicious, and the melted cheese on top of the plumpy shrimps also gave them this amazing taste. While I was enjoying my dinner, the restaurant manager came by to say hello. As a regular here, it was nice to be acknowledged and appreciated by the manager, and I believe this is an important aspect of an extraordinary dining experience. For dessert I had their Churro Cup. It is a cup made with the churro dough, filled with vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream, chocolate syrup and a cherry. It was amazingly delicious and the perfect ending to an exemplary dining experience.