I'm from California originally so I have had my fair share of authentic Mexican food. And I've been…read moreliving in France for the last year, where there is almost zero authentic Mexican food -- so after craving real Mexican food for a while, this place was a gem to find in Bilbao. This place has two locations: the "Takeria" which is more of a to-go / fast-food place, and then the "Kantina" which has tables and is more of a casual sit-down restaurant. The Kantina serves more traditional dishes like enchiladas, etc. but also serves tacos. The Takeria has burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and things that can be eaten on the go. The space is super small and you can stand at the bar and eat, or go outside on one of two tables. We ate at the Takeria both times because it was fast and we didn't have to wait for a table.
At the Takeria, you can get burritos, nachos, tacos, quesadillas, sopes, tostadas, and a few more things, and you can get 10 different kinds of meat or vegetables fillings, including cochinita pibil, chicken mole, chicken tinga, tuna. Everyone seems to get the tacos and the quesadillas -- these are the most popular.
The pricing is not too bad, one taco is 2.50€, 4 tacos are 8€. A quesadilla is 3.50€ and a burrito is 4€. The first time we went, we got a taco al pastor, and a sope with chicken tinga - both were really great. It's hard for me to find sopes in Europe, and the sope part was fresh and so delicious. It definitely tasted homemade. The only thing we wished the tacos had, was maybe some red onions, cilantro and cheese - or maybe something a little more than just the corn tortilla and meat. But you can't go wrong with the tacos - the meat is generous and tasty. I got the sope with the chicken tinga and would definitely get it again - it was a good combination.
The second day, we went again for a late lunch, and got 4 tacos (2 cochinita pibil), one with chicken tinga, and one with chicken mole. We also got a quesadilla - I wish you had the option to pay extra to add meat into the quesadillas, but it's just cheese and the tortilla. We just took some of the meat from the tacos and added it to the quesadilla as we ate it. Out of all the meats that we got, our favorite was the cochinita pibil, probably followed by the chicken tinga or the chicken mole, and then the al pastor.
Overall, authentic Mexican food with delicious meats and with tacos and quesadillas that satisfied my Mexican food craving. I'd recommend this if you want a break from pintxos or want to include this into your late-night food or pintxos crawl. Reasonably priced, filling, and delicious!
