This review is long overdue! I've been coming to this restaurant since my teen years. It's one of the few places that hasn't suffered from inconsistencies, whether in flavor, service, or portion sizes. This restaurant offers classic street-style Mexican food (tacos, tortas, burritos), as well as seafood. The interior has very little decor and looks a bit plain. The parking situation and the somewhat sketchy neighborhood aren't the best, but don't let that stop you from eating here. The service has always been solid, friendly, and fast. It feels family-run and approachable, and the cashiers and staff are consistently helpful. Let's talk about the food. My go-to items are the carne asada tacos, their delicious red salsa, and the horchata. The tacos come with a side of refried beans and chips. The carne asada is usually well-seasoned and juicy, and they're very generous with the amount of meat they add. Because of the portion sizes, the tacos are very filling. Their red salsa brings sharp, immediate heat that builds quickly. It tastes like a chile de arbol-style salsa, with a toasted, garlicky, slightly smoky flavor underneath the spice. It's honestly one of my favorite taco shop salsas. I always admire a restaurant that serves good horchata. I'm not talking about the instant powdered stuff, I mean real, authentic horchata. This place nails it. Their horchata is the perfect blend of cinnamon, vanilla, and rice, and it pairs perfectly with their spicy red salsa. It's the ideal drink to cool off the heat. Overall, this is a classic, no-frills taco shop. The food, especially the carne asada, does the talking. As a side note, thank you to Tacos El Oso & Yelp for featuring my photo! :) Ratings: Ambiance - 3/5 Service - 4/5 Carne Asada Tacos - 5/5 Red Salsa - 5/5 Horchata - 5/5 read more

See all

Tacos El Oso has been around for as long as i can remember. This might be the only one still around. The Tacos and Tortas de asada are my favorite with the green sauce. Cash ONLY facility. There is a lady at the cashier she doesn't look very happy and very short for sure. I placed my order and while doing so not one smile. My order didn't take long to be made as at the time it was not very busy. The ambience is peaceful not crazy at all. I could wait to get my first bite in and when i did. it was exactly what i remember delicious. read more

Tacos El Oso - Mexican Near Me - Arleta, California

The tacos de tripa are crunchy yummy pastor by far my favorite if you dont like spicy say no sauce the green one is really good has a good kick to it but the red one feels like you put coal inside your mouth read more

Quiero destacar el excelente servicio al cliente que brinda Marley. Trabaja con rapidez y se asegura de que todos los pedidos se completen de manera oportuna. Sin duda, es un gran activo para la empresa. Gracias Marley. read more

Always a great taco fix....Never disappoints on quality and service I've been coming here since I was a kid

Overpriced tacos, the tacos are great but I'm not going to buy a 3.85 a taco. It's way overpriced and they don't give you chips with your tacos anymore!!! read more

Carne asada burritos are made with ground beef! That is not asada meat. Don't believe, open it up and see. Not okay! La carne asada es picadillo de res! No es carne asada! Cuidado mi gente! read more

Best tacos I've had since moving from San Diego! Will always go out of my way to come here.

Yummy street tacos are so delicious If you like tacos and burritos and other yummy Mexican dishes try Tacos El Oso !! read more

I've been coming here for 15+ years. Love there tacos. Their red sauce is actually hot and it has great flavor. Only place I'll drink horchata, it's great, not too sweet. I love their asada, lengua, cabeza, pollo. I go for the tacos. read more

Tacos El Oso - Tacos are life. - Mexican Near Me - Arleta, California

Best tacos ever. We commute about an hour just to be able to have these tacos. It's definitely a hole in the wall, but so damn good.

Los tacos de pollo no tienen nada de savor. Un coquito de sal talves les ayudara. The chicken tacos had no flavor whatsoever, maybe a little salt would help. read more

Come here for a long time now. The food is what you would expect nothing to special the place is small but the plastic booths nothing seems upgrade I think they are still cash only. If I recommend anything is would be the asada burrito or the tacos. read more

Been coming here since it was a food truck in the lot of a old gas station. Quality has changed. Salsa is still amazing. Tripas are really good. Burritos and the tortas are the only items. Service is 100% perfect. read more

Says open 6am. Came here at 830am and its closed. They need to change the hours of operation.

Yo y mi family esmos estado binendo aki por muchos añios somos regulares clentes. Pero el servicios de la Cajera Es horrible mendiga viejita malmodienta. No tiene respeto ni modo para avlar le ala Jante. Si no le gusta su travajo no venga a malmodiar a la jente Señiora. My family and I have been coming here for years. We love the good but The service is garbage this older woman in her 50s or 60s. Is very rude and disrespectful. She needs to be replaced or retire. Seriously she's is so disrespectful read more

The Best tacos in San Fernando Valley from Inglewood to Santa Clarita. Beware of the red sauce.,,, but it so GooD.

Restaurant is very clean a lot of booths to sit in. I ordered combination burrito with asada . It was very delicious. Service was excellent. No language barrier at all. The only problem I can see is they only take cash. Hopefully in future they will add card use. read more

Been coming here for more than 10 years already, and will keep coming just for the burritos. Same owner for the past 39 years, friendly staff, and clean tables. Prices have gone up but are still reasonable considering portion sizes. Only problem I have is the parking lot is small and sometimes the salsa is bad. read more

When I was a kid I use to come here with my dad when we would visit family in the valley. Today I was working in the area and decided to stop by for a little nostalgia. I ordered some Tacos de Asada and Tacos de Tripa. First off I under estimated the red sauce. It was spicy but good. The tacos de Asada were good. My favorite were the tacos de tripa. They were extra crunchy which I liked and full of flavor. I like how they add chips with beans with your order. This helps scoop up the meat that falls on the plate. They have a wide variety of bottled Mexican drinks and free refill on the horchata. The restaurant was clean with your classic Mexican radio playing in the background. The staff was friendly and welcoming. Yes it's CASH ONLY. But many old school Mexican taquerias are this way. I'll definitely stop by if I'm in the area again. THANK YOU TACOS EL OSO. read more

I been coming here for years the food is great and the prices are just about right. Parking could be hard at times and is not a great place to dine in. I always do take out. But is worth it, this is one of the original old school tacos in the area. read more

Que si, 3.5 solid stars. Tacos El Oso is located in a nondescript strip mall in Arleta, but if you're in the area do not miss out. The tacos are tasty, fresh, and they pile the fillings on. They're a big stingy with the cilantro but that's a nit. The salsas are bright and fresh, especially the red one, which packs a good kick. They throw in a handful of chips and beans with your tacos, a nice touch. The room is spartan with little or no ambience but you're here for the food, which is all that matters. Service is a bit disjointed but the food comes out fast and it's all made to order. This is a family-run place where the emphasis is on the food, and the locals know it. Reasonable and delicious, almost worth making the trek. Check them out! read more

I've been going there for almost 50 years. I moved to Santa Clarita but still pickup carnita tacos when I'm in the area. Today someone told me the food is not the same and I happened to be in area. They were right...there is a new owner, higher prices, the carnitas have a completely different flavor...never were the juicy style, darker meat...I did not like them. They must have changed meat companies because for 50 years they always 100% of the time had a special flavor and texture that made me and all their customers back. I used to buy their food off their truck in the same location when it was nothing but dirt. The last thing you do as a new owner is change the vendors and food. I sadly, I'm sure with hundreds more, will not return and find another favorite taco stand. It's ALL about the food. read more

I hadn't been to tacos el oso since there were only three items in their menu, tacos, burritos and tortas. I saw that they had mariscos so I ordered a shrimp cocktail. No flavor. Tasted like shrimp in dirty water. I don't know if the tacos are any good still but they used to be. Don't think I'll come back here. read more

You can tell the owner does not care anymore this place has gone over the hill through the well and straight to hell. I went from loving this place to probably never coming back until maybe they clean it up and bring it back to its glory days when the cups had a little orange osito good o'days at oso read more

They really need to get rid of the pregnant cashier. I think the hormones are driving her to be extremely rude. When I say rude, I mean RUDE. She said,"What do you want? Hurry up I have customers." She really just wanted to gossip with a friend. There were NO customers besides myself and her gossiping friend. The burritos were good, but the tripa tacos were wayyyyyyyyyyy too crunchy. read more

Best burritos I would recommend the breakfast burrito with asada it's so good! Service is very quick so surprise how fast they make burritos. read more

A small taco shop near one of my work client cases that I decided to stop into one day. ======== LOCATION ======== A small taco joint, on the corner of Van Nuys/Woodman in Arleta. They have a few outdoor seats on the street and about 7-8 tables inside. Small place, it is what it is. ======== THE FOOD ======== ~ LENGUA TACO - Nice fully loaded flavor. (4/5) ~ CARNITAS TACO - It was a little spicy not solid overall. (4/5) ======= OVERALL ======= The tacos were pretty small for $1.90 and $1.50 respectfully. They tasted pretty good though. Their red sauce was pretty spicy, their green creamy guacamole looking sauce was pretty good. I "might" go back if I'm near by, but honestly there's better options around. read more

Food here is nasty! I got a burrito and the meat was old and it didn't taste good at all, I had to toss it I didn't want to get sick, on top of that they don't accept credit card! They are playing it smart if someone gets sick from their food they can't sue. read more

Cash only, open till 11, parking available but shared with other business, customer service was fast, food was made fast. Overall flavor of the pastor was ok, the green salsa was ok too, I will go back to try the nachos and horchata. read more

Tacos El Oso - Outside view - Mexican Near Me - Arleta, California

See all

Tacos here are okay, not too much variety in meat choices but the carne Asada has its good flavor too it. Service was good, and the environment is in a chill and quiet place. read more

This place used to be outstanding. The service was nice and the price wasn't bad, but i don't know if management changed their values but prices have gone up tremendously and service has gone to crap. The lady that took my order was as rude as they come. Stingy with the hot sauces and even asking for a side of onions was a problem. Don't get me started on this bootleg atm machine they are stealing money with charging withdrawal fees that cost more than a damn meal. I wouldn't be surprised if this goes out of business real soon read more

If anyone knows me, they know I L-L-L-LOVEEEEE Tacos!! So naturally, I had to check this place out. I have passed by it several times on my way to work and they had pictures of al pastor on their windows, and finally decided to stop in to try their al pastor tacos and horchata. Private parking lot = love. Went inside and saw a pretty good variety of meats they offer. I decided to try 2 al pastor tacos, 1 carne asada, and 1 shrimp taco. When it came out, they got it mixed up for 2 asada and 1 al pastor but I wasn't too bothered by it. I REALLY loved the al pastor so I decided to get one more. The 2nd time tasted a little more bland than the first. I later asked and found out they have 2 different type of al pastor!!! The first one was more shredded and grilled a little more so ask for that one!! I forgot what she said it was called. The horchata was very good too~ AND FREE REFILLS!!!! EXTRA PLUS FOR ME! never have i ever been to a place where horchata refills are FREE! They have a salsa bar with really great homemade salsas and oh yea, each dish were served with a side of tortilla chips and beans. I gave 4 stars because they messed up on my order, but it was a good mess up because that's how I found out about the 2 kinds of al pastor!...so Actually I will leave 5 stars :) Delish~! I think the owners will have me down as a regular in a couple of months :P read more

Tacos El Oso - Asada and al pastor with side of chips - Mexican Near Me - Arleta, California

See all

I've been coming here forever since I live a couple of houses down. It has always had the best food and it's super fast. I'm not gunna lie the bathrooms are always dirty and tagged up and it's kinda weird that you have to go through 2 doors to get there but the food makes up for it and you usually always get the food within 5 mins. The prices are fair and the service is not the best but enough to satisfy. The tortas are the best in my opinion but most of the things on the menu are really good. This is off topic but I remember tacos el oso being popular for having the misspelled FIHS tacos sign lol. We still make fun of that every time we go. read more

Tacos El Oso - Neighboring businesses. - Mexican Near Me - Arleta, California

I won't be coming in here again. Found 2 curly ass hairs in my burrito. it sucks because this used to be my spot but this was just straight disgusting! and the cashier being rude too, i won't be coming back. read more

Always take my food to go because the place isn't the cleanest looking, if I'm being perfectly honest. Aside from that, I enjoy their food. I've only had their asada with what whatever I get. It's chopped up pretty fine, but I like it and it's tender. I enjoy their combo plate (comes with rice, beans, & three tortillas), burrito (I feel like it's almost all meat), and their quesadilla (can't go wrong with cheese and meat). As far as the workers, only one of them is nice the rest of them have a stick up their ass. read more

I don't understand the one-liner negative reviews. This is a serviceable little taco place with good food. One August 2013 review complains about a $7 or $8 burrito with little or no meat. The burritos here are their best food value: $5.29, or $5.99 for ALL MEAT (Oct 2013), and they are substantial. I've tried tacos of carne adovada (beef seasoned and grilled with onions, tastes good, moderate portions), and carnitas (good, ample meat, but not as much flavor as carnitas with some fat). Fish tacos (larger, with lettuce and tomato), $1.99, taste good and are a good value. (No, the deep fried fish pieces are not the same as fresher more fishy tacos from upscale places.) The little store in a tiny corner property isn't much to look at, but it's clean inside and has nine four-person bench booths. The place is open from 9 am to 11:45 pm, so it's a place you can sit inside late at night. Southeast corner of Van Nuys Blvd and Arleta Ave. read more

Tacos El Oso - Late night tacos and burritos, open until 11:45 pm, and you can dine in. - Mexican Near Me - Arleta, California

Al pastor was waaaay too sweet. Carne adobada was flavorless. Carnitas was good but very dry. The carne asada was nothing but a substrate for salsa. Food like this is why my Father-in-law hates Mexican! read more

Disgusting Food, beans/meats were gross. Dry atmosphere. Cashier has an attitude. And the tacos de tripa taste nasty. No doubt in my mind they re-use old meat. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE. read more

Food was bad i have no idea what the all meat burrito was made of the asada wasn't even asada but some kind of grinded meat.The guacamole was too watery and no flavor at all.My friend said they had the best meat i guess he was wrong. read more

Tacos El Oso - The guy who said they were good. - Mexican Near Me - Arleta, California