Since the pandemic, late night taco stands in Portland have become less and less of a thing,…read moreespecially in this part of the city. It wasn't until I drove along 122nd just past Division that I spotted them setting up in the late afternoon and knew I needed to have it.
Located in the parking lot directly in front of O'Reilly Auto Parts (#1), with no seating whatsoever, it appears primed for takeout only. Given the 323 area code, I imagine they're out of the LA area. Their setup is totally something I'd see out of SoCal: a large flat top with a number of meats on the side, a tortilla press, and a trompo with a pile of meat slowly cooking and spinning on the side.
At $3.50 a taco, this is hardly LA streetside pricing -- and based on my late-night jaunts in years past, not exactly Portland pricing either. Most of the expanded menu are at restaurant-level pricing as well, with burritos in the $14-17 range, along with quesadillas ($14), tortas ($15), and platters ($20) all on the upper echelon of premium markup. (#2) In fact this may explain why they have a full on computer for their POS system with credit card capabilities. And yet, one still has to serve themselves on the condiments, bags, plasticware, and assemble their takeout situation on their own.
I decided to hone in on a number of meats for my tacos: pastor (trompo), asada, cabeza, lengua, and carnitas. The good news is that all of them ranged from delicious to outstanding. The cabeza was wonderfully tender, the asada had a nice smokiness to it, the pastor was seasoned nicely, and the carnitas not the Michoacan style carnitas that most have grown to love, but a fattier, pinker portion that was also very tasty. Their salsa verde had a nice kick to it, which made up for the not-so-fresh / semi-dry limes.
Despite the sticker shock, this was all and all, a successful taco outing. The food was good across the board and the staff was quick to make things happen. Additionally, they're open super late until at least 1AM each night, which already deserves some big time kudos.
I haven't figured out if they're new, but given their out of state number and the fact they're not listing anywhere else online that I can find, I'm pleased to drop another FTR (#3) for all the interwebz to freely leech and patronize. I'll be back in Portland again soon and hopefully by then, I'll be able to add a few more things to my taco loving palate.
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(#1) Oh, oh, oh, Oh Reilly.... I'm sorry.
(#2) Foodflation is one of my least favorite things in life.
(#3) First to review, my Yelp noobs.