Overall Positives: The service is friendly and fast, which is nice since we came right at dinner time and it didn't take too long to get our food. Love the salsa bar -- the salsas taste fresh and there's something for everyone. If you aren't vegetarian the chicken is tasty and the chicken burrito is a safe, decent choice. Overall Negatives: This is not a great place if you are vegetarian. I know they have veg items but they don't get the same attention to flavor and quality that the non-vegetarian items get. That's why my husband rated his chicken burrito higher than I rated my veggie tacos. We had more misses than hits here. Chicken burrito: minimal beans, lots of rice and pulled chicken that both had great flavor. A marginal hit, just really needed some texture because a tortilla filled with just chicken isn't a great burrito. Its's a "just fine" burrito. Veggie tacos: barely any beans or rice. Mostly big chucks of avocado (weird to not dice it) and sliced tomato and onion (again weird -- just dice it). All topped with a dairy bomb of sour cream and queso fresco that caused the whole taco to lose its structural Integrity. Desperately needed lots of salsa for flavor because nothing else had any. The thing is, you can make rice flavorful. You can make beans with flair and fun and taste. They just don't here. Disappointing miss. Nachos: good chips, good cheesy sauce. Barely any beans again and the big slices of avocado, onion, and tomato (about the size you see on a burger) made it difficult to eat anything but the chips and cheese sauce. Not "nachos" and definitely not a hit for us. Unfortunately this just wasn't for us. It's great to have stuff on your menu that accommodates different types of diners but it's important to actually show the "other" food equal attention to quality and flavor. read more

Taco Bar is a hyper local family restaurant located in Gaithersburg, MD that is dedicated to serving the community and paying homage to the food ways of Mexico. The restaurant reopened their doors after being affected by a tragic fire that resulted in the owners having to rebuild from scratch. During my visit I to tried the following: - Horchata - Guacamole & Homemade Tortilla Chips - Lengua (Tongue) & Pastor Street Tacos - Birria Pizza w/ Consome - Churros Everything was delicious and reasonably priced but the ultimate standout was that consome! If I wasn't in a public place I would have drank the broth directly from the bowl. read more

See all

The experience was lovely. Service was super friendly and the cashier, who also takes the order was helpful. The space was small with high top seating (bar like) and 3 small tables in the middle. There are fresh condiments, pepper sauces, pica de Gallo, ect. My favorites were the beef taco and fish taco. The quesadilla was tasty as well. The establishment was very clean and well ran. read more

See all

So glad this place is back in action after the fire! I think this location better than Rio because it's easier to get to, however there's no difference in the quality of food. Ok maybe the carne asada is better here though. The pastor tacos are the best! Counter service with small tables. There is a fix ins bar with fresh pico, pickled onions and assorted sauces. I have heard the tortas are awesome here too. Nothing fancy but it's always a hit if you have taco cravings. read more

Taco Bar - Carne asada, pastor and shrimp - Mexican Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

See all

This place was incredible! I didn't know what to expect, because the yelps from two years ago are so mixed, but with recent yelps being good, we rolled the dice and are so glad we did! Everything was fresh and delicious, and the service was attentive and friendly. We felt like we were part of a family! The meats were all prepared so flavorfully and dished out in generous portion in my street tacos. The happy hour price was an added bonus, and my jamaica fresca was one of the best I've had. We will definitely be going back often! read more

Taco Bar - Mexican Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

Decided to try a new place and came here. Service was great, and very friendly. Hard to do a great review based on two tacos. I ordered the chorizo taco and the steak taco. They came with two tortillas, each, so it ended up being 4 tacos. The price was a little high, and the steak was overcooked and somewhat tough, but tasty. I definitely will come back and update my review as I try more food but I walked out feeling positive about this place. read more

It's very small and cozy but the food and service are great! I got the carne asada fries and will definitely be getting it again in the future, even my picky toddler enjoyed them. read more

Taco Bar - Carne Asada Fries - Mexican Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

Food is always simple but delicious. Excited to visit them in their new location when it opens.

This is a great spot. Wonderful menu and the food is delicious. I love the the kitchen is entirely operated by women and so is the front of the house. Love the sauces and all the sides. This is a small place but has a nice patio. The staff is generally nice but every now and then there's a lady that is not very friendly. My favorite: torta sincronizada, sopes, and the asada plater. Their salsa verde (mild) is a must try! I miss their garnish/condiments bar. read more

Our family decided to get take out from taco bar. We decided on the the "buy by the pound option" and ordered 1/2 pound of pollo, 1/2 pound of al pastor and it came with 10 tortillas and an option of salsa as well. I also got 2 sides of rice. The al pastor was so incredibly flavorful and the pineapples added such good flavor. The chicken was a little salty but still very good. The tortillas and the rice were such good quality and tasty! Will definitely come back next time I have a taco craving. read more

Taco Bar - the front of the restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

This location is in the CUT of Old Town Gaithersburg. This is not the one in downtown crown area, but its the same owners. Parking is tight but you will manage. Ok, I have been on this "TACO BAR" craze this whole month and I was able to try Ixtalapa, Rio Taco Bar and this one. My favorite location is RIO! (Anywho) I feel like this location is the MOST EXPENSIVE!! $3.50 a taco and anything extra is .50 (per 3 tacos) to add lettuce, sour cream and cheese. There chips and guacamole is $7.15 Why? lol It better be the best damn avocado in MD. The portion? is not as hefty as the rio location. And the meat is more shredded here as opposed to the cubed/diced meat in RIO. I ordered the chicken taco, which was seasoned good, but they soak the meat in some sauce which makes the tortilla "soggy?" and it breaks in half easy. The other taco I got was the pineapple pork!!! OMG! That was amazing! That was worth getting. Makes me think (does RIO have it? lol) The fixings on the sides were cool, tomato with cilantro, cilantro, red onion,white onion and sauces. Will I come here again? Only because its like a 6 min walk from my complex and that pineapple pork taco was life. lol So yes! read more

The food was fine but customer service is extremely disappointing. I ordered with Supper club during this COVID19 shutdown. My order was abcouple special with steak. I picked up the order and when my husband and I were eating we realized that we didn't receive the rice and beans that were supposed to come with the order. I emailed the owner and he responded that it was strange and he personally checked the order. The fact still remained that it didn't include the rice and beans. His response was very disappointing as he made no effort to fix this, nor apologize for this oversight, and implied that I was incorrect. My coworkers and I frequent the location that is in the gas station and love the restaurant and food. This location unfortunately paints a stark difference and discourages me from coming back. read more

A little swing and a miss. I came here for an early lunch to take home. I ordered the chorizo, saudero, vegetarian, and Al pastor tacos. The saudero has really tender meat and I liked the vegetarian because they pack a lot of goods into 1 taco. The other ones are not so good. The al pastor is okay, I've had better. I didn't try the chorizo but my fiancé said it wasn't great. The green mild salsa is a little bland, and the tortillas are too thick for my liking. read more

Called 40 mins ago and the lady said that food is going to be ready in 20 mins. Got here and mentioned my name and the lady seem to have not placed my order. So i have to wait another 40 mins and im standing right here writing this review. Please can you fix this! By the way the lady tried her best and thanks for clarifying with the cause of the delay. read more

Taco Bar - a view of a restaurant kitchen - Mexican Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

This is a little hole in the wall restaurant. Some days it is very good and sometimes it is not as good. It all depends what you get and when. If they are very busy or not. Their tacos are great. read more

Was pretty mediocre. My partner had been to another one of their gas station location elsewhere, and that's how we ended up here. They didn't have any veggie-friendly tacos except black bean tacos. The toppings bar was messy, and although the guy at the register kept peeking over and asking people if they wanted little cups for the toppings - it didn't seem worth the plastic / tacos wouldn't be improved too much. 3.2 stars. read more

I had to try this other Taco Bar location. Its not in a gas station like their other location. They are in Old town Gaithersburg. The location is small, employees are friendly. Though, I prefer to order at the counter than using a delivery service. I must say that this location is very clean. Parking isnt the best. I always get tacos at their other location, this time I got their al pastor tacos, and they will be my favorite from now on. I Al pastor is pulled pork loaded with a lot of flavor. I must say that the service is SLOOOW.... but like that other burritto chain people will wait for that, however here its worth the wait time. Great service. read more

The food was good and the price was very affordable. This might be my new taco Tuesday spot! We got a to go order, the guy at the register was nice and friendly too. read more

Taco Bar - Tacos - Mexican Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

See all

Tried it today for the second time. It's a no-go for me. 1. The Al Pastor meat is not supposed to look OR taste like that. I don't even think they know how it's supposed to be properly cooked. Al pastor, also known as tacos al pastor, is a taco made with spit-grilled pork. Cooking method is based on the lamb shawarma brought by Lebanese immigrants to Mexico, al pastor features a flavor palate that uses traditional Mexican marinate adobada. 2. The Suadero was dry. 3. Every taco needs to have different condiments according to the meat. I don't think they know this. They kind of just throw in guac, red salsa, green salsa, pico de Gallo, and a couple of limes and call it a day. That's not how it's done in Mexico. My husband and I gave it a try again since MoCo residents seem to love this place so much, I'm Mexican, raised in San Diego, CA and made many trips across the border just for the street tacos. I don't think I will ever eat here again. read more

Taco Bar - How al pastor supposed to be cooked! - Mexican Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

I'm surprised that this Taco Bar location doesn't get as much love as its sibling, Taco Bar II. Yes, it's in Old Town Gaithersburg and not located inside a gas station (those are the best restaurant!). But hey, the food is just as good here! The menu at this location is just a tad cheaper and slightly different. I always get eye hungry when I go to Taco Bar II, so I knew it would be no different here. I wanted to order a half steak torta and pastor taco, but you can only order the whole torta. Bah! So I decided on the steak torta combo which came with a side of fries and a drink. MmMmM just as delicious as I remembered it to be! The bread was warm and crusty. The steak packed a lot of flavor and was nicely fried. The garnishes were fresh. Loved how they were generous with the avocado slices! Next time, I'll ask them to hold the onions. Although I prefer thin fries over steak fries, the fries here were nicely cooked. Not greasy and not overly crispy. Piping hot even when I got home. I also tried a bite of the bistec tacos. The grilled steak was tender and flavorful. They were very generous with the amount of steak placed in the taco that you could make two for the price of one! I also tried a beef taquito. MmMmM deep fried beefy goodness! I liked how the lettuce, cheese, and sour cream came on the side so the taquitos don't get soggy. The salsa bar here doesn't have much variety compared to Taco Bar II, but it still does the trick (lots of compartments were empty). You have your choice of two mild salsas, two hot salsas, pico de gallo, and hot peppers. My favorite was the red hot salsa as both green salsas were somewhat watery. The restaurant itself is rather simple. Several tables and a small TV in the corner playing telenovelas softly in the background. The staff here is extremely friendly and patient. I'll definitely be back for more! read more

See all

Taco Bar has good food. I recommend getting the lengua taco platter, which is accompanied by rice, beans, and a drink.

Friendly, quick, cheap, full menu and photos of everything! I'll come back for sure to try some new things like the soup or platters. On this visit I had the tacos. They have a nice combo special which is $8.40 for any 3 tacos and a drink. I got steak, chorizo and pastor. The quantity of meat was fine (tender) but the tacos were pretty bland. I added a lot of condiments but none of the meats had a strong flavor. It's possible they needed salt, but usually that comes from all the salsas and sauces. Even with some fresh lime squeezed on there, the flavor was lacking. I'll try it again, but the tacos on this visit did not not rise to the quality of the Mexican food carts near MVA or Tortacos. read more

Taco Bar - The 3 Taco & drink combo! - Mexican Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

First time ordering here. Originally from TX so I love mexican food. Ordered a menudo and a salsa. Gotta say i was disappointed. Menudo had no hominy and had a weird taste. Definitely not the menudo I'm used to. Also ordered chips and salsa. Chip were great. The chips portion was small and needs salt but they were good. Salsa was really watery and tasted more sweet than spicy. Don't know about amy more trips here. read more

If you're looking for a fantastic Mexican food this brings me to my memories in Tijuana and Rosarito. From tacos to tortillas burritos and platters, this place does a great job. Multiple protein offers your standard Carne Asada, Pollo, El Pastore but they also have lingua. Everything is made fresh in the store you can see them cutting all the onions to make salsa, the avocados to make guacamole and portioning out the meat for cooking. There Horchata is a large cup for only two dollars I see cold sweet and creamy, I wonderful way to end a meal. Yes it is located right next to a gas station and inside a beer and wine store but their location allows them to serve amazingly delicious food at a very reasonable price. Family owned and operated! read more

Uno paga por una comida buena en este caso me toco un frustrante, e incómodo y carísimo súper MALA EXPERIENCIA SÚPER MAL SERVICIO. Los trabajadores saben perfectamente a qué personas hacerles el mal servicio ya que ordene en Uber eats, culparan ala aplicación pero esto es errores de cocina, la comida esta vez SÚPER MALÍSIMA, no sabía que cobraban tan caro por una torta tan MAL HECHA (recalco que soy una consumidora leal y jamás me había tocado un servicio tan fatal cómo este no es la primera vez que ordene este platillo) sin frigoles con 2 piezas tan pequeñas de pollo las papas tan horribles secas asta blancas estaba muy decepcionada de haber gastado mi dinero en este lugar. Olvidaron mi bebida mis salsas page por algo llamado "make it special" no lo tenía ni los chiles que pedi nada de lo que pague venía incluido. Desgraciadamente estoy en mi trabajo y no puedo salir de aquí asta las 5 llame al restaurante el cajero súper amigable le expliqué súper entendible. La cocina súper fatal. Puedo decir que no vuelvo a gastar ni una quarter en ese lugar. read more

Taco Bar - Desgraciadamente tuve que comer ya que necesito mis energías para mi trabajo.SÚPER MALA EXPERIENCIA.!!! - Mexican Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

I was excited to order them on Doordash but I got a quesadilla and I swear to you, there was NO CHEESE on my quesadilla. ON THE QUESADILLA. I couldn't have been more disappointed. However, I will say the burrito I got was delicious. That's the only reason I give it two stars. Generally speaking the order came fast (maybe too fast?? Because they forgot the cheese...) and the door dash driver did a great job. But I can't get over the fact that my quesadilla had no cheese... :( read more

If you compare value and quality: this is the best restaurant in Montgomery County by far! The ingredients are fresh, delicious, plentiful, and won't break the bank. Not to mention the staff is always friendly and helpful. Sure, the pandemic kind of took away the experience of the toppings bar but they are more than willing to package as much as you'd like in containers for you. I used to get the tacos or burrito bowl every day for lunch when I was working in the are. The suadero is phenomenal and each taco order is basically a 2 for 1! read more

Still no response from owner keeping ALL the tips from the employees! Why doesn't he/she care?

Sad they got rid of lengua :( the best authentic meat to add to tacos. It's not the way we remember growing up, and it's not so much the prices. read more

Good tacos and lots of options. I tried the suadero, bistec, and pollo. Bistec was very flavorful and my favorite of the 3. They have a variety of toppings at the bar. Taco Tuesdays is 20% off 3 tacos (excludes lengua). read more

Taco Bar - $3.50 tacos (20% off 3 on Tuesdays). Top to bottom: suadero (shredded beef), bistec (steak), pollo (chicken). - Mexican Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

So I really enjoy Taco Bar. Always kind of felt like it was a hidden treasure in Montgomery County and the food is always good. Unfortunately, yesterday I had a pretty disgusting experience... I went in and ordered some tacos and was waiting for the food to be ready. Not too busy, wasn't in a rush, no big deal. They have an open kitchen environment and I was watching the team working there, prep food while I waited. Bad move. Now I will say that I am food safe certified in the state of Maryland from running grocery stores for years, but what I saw went past that and more into animalistic levels of hygiene. I regret looking. This is what I witnessed from most egregious to least: 1) one of the women in the food prep line was wearing her disposable gloves (that's good) and was preparing French fries. The fries she was making she was adding some kind of aioli and ketchup to, which came in ketchup packets and hand made bags. With her gloved hands she was opening these condiment packets with her TEETH and then squirting the condiments onto the fries and then putting them up to the counter to be served (that's bad). That would be the equivalent to me making someone French fries, spitting on them, and then charging you $7 for whatever you are carrying in your mouth. It was the most disgusting thing i have ever seen. Not to mention the gloved hand she was using to rip these packets open was obviously also being contaminated and then she was handling food with it. 2) multiple people preparing food were eating some kind of pastry or cake with their gloves on and then preparing people's food with those gloves on so the crumbs from the food were going into the food they were preparing not to mention whatever hit those gloves when they put the food into their mouth. 3) the half eaten cake was being set down onto the prep station they were preparing food on. What's the point of wearing gloves (that weren't getting changed) if you're just going to basically spit on your hands and then make food with it?? I left in a shock and called back to do my civic duty and the manager put me on hold twice. I do like Taco Bar's tacos. I do not like eating other people's spit or witnessing obviously untrained or uncaring people prepare food in an absolute disregard for health code violations. To be honest I can't stomach going back there anymore. Really ruined it for me. Sorry to ruin it for others but it was beyond gross. read more

The pastor at taco bar has to be hands down, the best pastor I've ever had in my life. Now, I'm only 28, so who knows what's to come in the future of pork eating, but it's definitely the juiciest, most flavor pastor I've tried. We ordered pork and chicken tacos, and pork and chicken quesadillas. Pork was obviously my favorite, but the chicken was juicy as well. They shredded the chicken and coated it in some sauce. I think there could have been more flavor to it, but I wasn't disappointed by either. The tacos come bare on corn tortillas and you add all your toppings and sauces from the toppings bar. Pico needs more heat and citrus, but the salsas were all tasty. Seating is limited in the restaurant, and so is the parking outside. We ended up parking over at another lot, hoping the car didn't get towed...we lucked out. The restaurant also has some taco Tuesday specials and fish tacos on a certain day of the week. I'm not sure if this taco bar is partnered with the taco bar next to the gas station by Rio and Crown, but they have a similar menu minus some items...like a BOWL. Please add that taco bar to your menu (not the gas station one, cause that already has it and I love it). FYI Yelp check in gets you a FREE TACO! read more

Food was good and who would've known this hidden gem. Heard great things and had to try them out.

I always get the tacos and burrito. Those are the cheapest and best items to order. Three out of the four salsas in the salsa bar area taste splendid. The average salsa is the red, spicy one. Taco Bar is very underrated. We need to spread the word and eschew Taco Bell! read more

Magic or Bird. Manning or Brady. Manhattan or Brooklyn. In the same vein, we have Taco Bar Olde Towne Gaithersburg or Taco Bar Rio. Without a shadow of a doubt, these are the two premier taco places in Gaithersburg. Foodies have been debating which is the better of the two for the greater portion of the past decade. The biggest differences between the two is that the Olde Towne one has more seating and is frequented by more Latinos; meanwhile, the Rio one has less seating and is frequented by more millennials. The former is its own location. The latter is also a beer and wine store. It really doesn't matter which business you support because both are striving businesses. They are also both owned by brothers. However; if I have to choose, I prefer the Olde Towne location because of my strong East Gaithersburg values. ________ Some of the lesser known items that people don't typically order are the sopes, sopa y tortas. Sopes are deep fried corn tortillas piled on with a mountain of meat. Many of the Latino day laborer with paint stain littered on their Goodwill blue denim jeans order the sopes. Sopa de pozole helps with hangovers. The tortas are big. I will get the torta de especial. The torta de especial is the biggest, baddest item they have on the menu. Weighing in at just under 2 pounds, it comes with hot dog and milanesa, avocado, tomato, lettuce and mayo. You feel euphoric afterwards. Niños y Niñas go ape shit over the salchica y papa fritos. They cut the hot dog so it looks like how the Jebediah Springfield curator dressed up the silver tongue. Sorry for this drivel of a review, I got bigger goals in life; i.e. yelp elite. Wubbalubbadubdub! read more

Taco Bar - Torta de especial - Mexican Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

-- Delicious + plentiful. TWO tacos is plenty. No need for FOUR (like I gluttonously ordered). They're less than $2.50 a piece, and there's a toppings bar where you can load up on all kinds of goodies and salsas. And there's an empty tortilla under each taco to catch all the spillover :) -- Friendly cashier. He welcomed us when we entered, graciously took our order, checked in us at our table (quite unusual for a cashier to do!), and said goodbye with a smile as we were leaving. read more

Taco Bar - 4 tacos with trimmings from the bar. TWO would be adequate for most. Note the extra tortilla under each taco for spillover :) - Mexican Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

Good food! Randomly saw this place as I made a wrong turn onto Russell ave while waiting for my GPS to recalculate. I saw brightly colored writing on the store front that said MEXICAN FOOD..so I had to pull over. The place itself is small, and the parking was slightly crazy this day, but those 2 factors are the makings of any good food place. I ordered the flautas (which they also call taquitos) and carne asada combos, and a side of chips and gauc...and we enjoyed it! I love their style of chips because they were fresh, crispy, and hot when given to me. However, I do prefer (traditional) flautas cause of the flour tortilla wrapping, as opposed to the corn tortilla that was actually served, hence the 4 out of 5 stars. Overall, the food was tasty and had a home-cooked feel to it. If I need a quick, delicious Mexican food fix, this will likely be my go-to place. The lady taking my order was very polite and patient with me because I wasn't sure what I wanted to order (I wanted everything...and therefore had severe sensory overload!!). There is also a nice little salsa bar to top off any additional flavor one would like to add to their order. Highly recommend! read more

The food was decent; it did not "wow" us. We ordered a beef tongue and pastor taco combo and Carne Asada. Taco was delicious but needed a bit more flavoring to it. After adding lime juice and a dash of salt, it was good. I love the salsa bar and how fresh it was! Carne Asada was okay... It didn't really meet our expectation. we definitely had better one elsewhere. Overall, it was a good value meal. Cheap& Fast. However, we have had better tacos elsewhere in this area! read more

Taco Bar - Carne Asada - Mexican Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

See all

I went here yesterday for lunch to meet my BFF. I woke up thinking about this place! Menu is on the left side of the wall when you walk in. Walk to the register, order,sit your butt down till your number has been called, and enjoy delicious food! Pro's: -Hidden gem of authentic Mexican food; no frills -Decent prices -Food cooked to order -Ordered the two quesadillas combo with rice and beans. Got pork and beef. The beef was by far my favorite. Cooked and seasoned just right. The tortillas were warm and not too doughy.. if that makes sense. Quesadillas were lightly cheesed! Love it! Rice and beans were nothing really special to me. -BFF for the tortas (sandwich) looked delicious. Packed with tons of meat! Must be popular here because they kept flying out of the kitchen! -They have a mini fixing bar that includes different sauces made with red and green chilies. Some spicy and some not. Raw onions, cilantro, fresh tomato salsa, and limes. I think I put everything on my quesadillas. The sauces really made the meal with all the different flavors. Con's: -Parking is a bit tight -Restaurant is small, best to carry out or go at non prime eating times Will visit again!!! read more

Five stars for the Amazing, superb tacos, packed with the protein of your choice. My favorite is the lengua...so tender and moist, flavorful chicken tinga, and the sweet al pastor. Simple perfection!!! read more