Taco Libre

Ordered through DoorDash and the food arrived messy and soggy. The driver was great, so there’s no blame on him. Taco Libre is extremely inconsistent with how they package their food. Sometimes it’s neatly packed in a container, and other times, like tonight, it’s crumpled up in foil and tossed in the bag. I know it’s a coin toss when it comes to quality, but this is a new low. The limes weren’t even wrapped or packaged; they were just thrown on top inside the bag. The lack of care and the way everything was tossed in caused grease to get everywhere, which weakened the bag and caused it to tear. I received a partial refund from DoorDash, but I’m done with this restaurant and won’t waste my money on them anymore. They need better quality control in the kitchen. I’ve given this place more chances than I can count.

Why don't they seal DoorDash orders? I can't eat it like that. I don't know if the driver messed with my food. It's trash service. Plus, the guac was old. I threw everything in the trash. Sealed your orders, have better service! (Put temper-proof stickers)

If you like not being able to hold a burrito cause its a mess, forcing you to use a fork and knife to peel away the paper that has infused with the tortilla, order the cali burrito. Flavor was fine but this would be better as a bowl. Terrible item.

i got take out and it was good! i got the nachos and it was a very generous portion! a ton of jalapeños which i wasn’t expecting, but was a pleasant surprise.

Food was tasty. Had the Al Pastor street tacos. Chips and Queso dip was good when warm but as soon as the queso cooled off it became like cement. Rice didn’t have much flavor. My husband had the steak torta and said it was decent.

Ordered delivery -- great food, good sized portions. The Mega Birria was insanely good -- plenty of filling in the "taco" portion and the birria stew on the side for dipping was SO good and a great portion. Churro Bites were excellent as well, though the dipping cup for caramel was pretty small -- we like double dipping so it ran out pretty quickly. Churros were good on their own though and again, good portion for the price. The Esquite was the one thing that seemed a little average -- it was good, but I've definitely had better. Corn seemed canned and with little flavor. Good, not great, though again, good portion. Overall, amazing meal though and will absolutely order again -- I plan to run through the whole menu eventually and try everything they have to offer! Cost was about what you'd expect for a place like this -- a little higher but not outlandish and competitive with similar places, particularly with the cost of eating out these days.

Incredible quesabirria tacos!! Everything we ordered was delicious and the customer service was excellent! They also have the best horchata. Definitely coming back.

Love taco libre. They’re creating a whole new menu from 10am-2am with daily combos for $6.99 and added $2 taco Tuesday. Also amazing staff

We love the Machete. The protein choices are wonderful. Steak, Cabeza (beef cheek, Saudero (brisket), Birria, Menga (tongue), Tripa (beef tripe), Pastor, Corizo, Carnitas, Pollo Asada and Tinga de Pollo (shredded chicken w/ onion & chipotle sauce) not to mention their street tacos, tortas and miscellaneous sides. Fast and well loaded. Good quality.

Not the same anymore. Back when Taco Libre was newer, it was more of an authentic feeling. Can for sure feel the changes they made. I do like the murals and art/decor upgrades to represent the city more. But other than that prices went up and I feel like quality of food went down as well spice levels. The Machete was for sure what made me try Taco Libre in the first Place. It's basically like 3 tacos shells put together to form one big taco. I using get it with chicken tinga. Like I said at first the food was really good. Over time hasn't been as good. They get pretty busy and food can take a while to come out but it's usually not a big deal. They also have a location in Edina area which is more convenient for me now.

Customer service at Taco Libre is always on point. One day I got there at 10:49 (they close at 11 during the week) they still serviced me with no problems. I always get the machete with half steak and half ground beef. The meat is always moist and never dry. Make sure you get one of the sauces. The light green sauce is the hottest and if you're not accustomed to spicy foods avoid this one and get the salsa verde. The machete is big enough for 2 people to share but I'm greedy I don't share mine. Don't forget to get the best churro in Minnesota. That's a fact!

My husband and I thought the food was good but other locations serve more meat. He loves Taco Libre!

Ordered street tacos, one fish and with mushrooms, and both were fresh and delicious with the right amount of spice. Love the salsa bar too!

Wonderful Mexican food with lots of flavor. The street tacos were excellent and so was the Machete. We ordered both with the Pastor and it was bursting with flavor. Really impressed with the service too.

Get the machete! You won't be disappointed. It's a lot of food, you'll definitely have leftovers. I order mine half pastor and half carnitas with the medium salsa. Pro tip: order a side of the consume to dip your machete in! The birria tacos are usually really good as well. Last time I ordered them they were a little 'meh' but it was probably just a bad day. The service was great. I ordered pickup so I had a brief interaction with the front staff. Everyone was super nice and they double checked our order before handing it over!

The ordering kiosk was a pain because I ordered a lunch special but there wasn't any way to add guacamole. The food was very bland ~ no flavor at all. The Carnitas were so juicy that it ran all over the plate and soaked through the shells of both tacos. Very disappointing ~ won't be back

Bussin! This must be their version of chipotle in MN. I was lowkey pressed looking for a place to grab food since it was getting so late, but this place popped up on yelp and I was able to get there to snag 2 bowls! Carne asada was absolutely delicious! Pay for the small upgrade and just get it! It doesn't have veggies like your typical qdoba or chipotle, but flavors are still good! Quick & affordable meal with awesome flavors! Horchata was mid though, but complements the meal!

Gringo Tacos are fire. As in GOOD, also i really enjoy their salsa and the machete! This is one of the best taco chains in town. If not THEE best

Most pictures are from years ago and I can say they must have declined. My food was nasty I couldn't even finish the soggy shrimp tacos. Shrimp were soft as if they were boiled (ew) and my steak taco was so fatty and greasy the tortilla was soaking. Don't get me started on the mushy flavorless rice. I eat authentic Mexican food often and this just wasn't it. Wish I could get my $18 back that was not okay.

The food is really good, but rather pricy. Expect to pay $20. They take orders touch screens, but if they are down; it won't take Apple Pay.

Get the Taco Burriria's. These are some of the best tacos I have ever had. The workers are very friendly. They provide free water for when you devour these tacos.

Used to love this place. Walked in and walked out. They changed up their menu and got rid of most of their vegan and vegetarian items. Bummer

I really like authentic yet modern fusion feel. Food is outstanding and the dudes that run the place are friendly and helpful! I will be makings this a regular stop!

Great taste - huge portions - a must stop for our family every time we are in the Minneapolis area!

You might make the mistake of driving by this place going down to one of this place's fast food competitors that are close by. You only need to correct that mistake once to realize you've been wasting your money elsewhere. Everything about this place is so tasty from the hot sauce, rice, meats, and pico de gallo. This is now one of my go to places.

California native here, just moved to MN 2 weeks ago for work and take it from someone who knows real taco shops, THIS SHXT IS FIRE. Ordered the birria burrito and it's the closest thing I've had since I've been out here. Would've taken a picture when I got home but I damn near snorted my food. 10 outta 10 would recommend, service was awesome and quick and the entire store was beautiful. Would've tried something different but I was just tryin to get in and out after a long day of work. But if you ever needed a vouch, take it from me. Worth every penny & definitely getting a fat tip next time

You would think when you went to an authentic Mexican restaurant that you would get incredible service and they would follow through with what you paid for in your order they forgot what we ordered over 40 minutes away fail to recognize what they forgot it's a bad business overcharge for tacos and everything else they sell! Good luck! I will never be back !!!!!!!! I Will spread the word and I hope that they don't succeed! Even after giving a tip I will never tip another to go order again never ever!!!!!

This place is aaight. I know Locals don't like to hear it, but ALL Mexican food in Minnesota is just "Aaight". Better than Taco Bell, not as good as the Los Ocampo on the East Side. Taco Libre was better pre-Covid. Dunno what happened, but $50 & a long wait in a damn near empty restaurant for three asada tacos, the greasiest quesadilla I've ever had & a large Jamaica is crazy, especially when the point of "street food" is that it's Fast and Cheap. Shoulda gone to Boca Chica, which is just as expensive but at least the portions are bigger.

Bomb, bomb BOMB!!! I cannot wait to go back. You order at the counter, and while you wait for your food to be brought out, you can load up on the most delicious variety of salsas, and sauces you could ever imagine! We order the Machete - because you just have to. 18 inches of their masa tortilla filled with meat of choice, lettuce, cheese, and ... magic? There's the thrill of its enormity, but nothing - and I mean NOTHING beats the series of perfect bites you'll experience after it's laid down in front of you. WOW. Thank you Taco Libre for making my dreams come true. *note: we got half Pastor and half Barbacoa. The pastor was 100%/5 stars all the way. The Barbacoa, I would rate a 3. We also got the red pork tamale, which was a solid tamale, but is definitely the less talented sibling on the menu. The chips and queso were a nice addition to our meal - as was the Horchata and Mexican lemonade. And, gosh... the salsas and sauces. Can I get a heeeeeellll yeah?!@ I mean, it was like I had never tasted real salsa before. There is a red smokey one, a green cucumber one, an extremely spicy and creamy green one... there were more, but these were my favorites :) All I've got to say is go get yourself a machete! You can thank me later.

Definitely would go back there and it was so good. I enjoyed the tacos. My friend recommended this. Their service was great and friendly as well.

I spent so much time looking at the menu at Taco Libre because everything sounded ridiculously amazing. After letting several people go ahead of us, we watched this giant folded over taco thing emerge and said, "We need that!" The Machete. It's an 18 inch corn tortilla shaped like a machete filled with your choice of meat, lettuce, cheese, and sour cream. For our inaugural machete, we got half chicken tinga and half carnitas. The tortilla was so crisp and the meat was juicy and tender. I can see why it's one of their most popular dishes. I would get this every time if I didn't want to try all the other items as well. The atmosphere is laid back and service was great. Can't wait to go back!

We're always on the lookout for great Mexican food and I can confirm that Taco Libre's flavors are on point. The birra tacos in particular were incredible! The only thing we can knock them on was the amount of grease seeping through their burritos. This was the first time I've had to use a fork to eat a burrito, the structural integrity of the tortilla was totally compromised. But like I said, incredibly tasty. Highly recommend. Especially if you normally use a fork to eat a burrito.

I had a really bad experience and probably won't be back. I've tried this location twice. The first experience was fine. The second was bad. I ordered Barbacoa tacos both times through Door Dash. The first time they were good. Not the best I've ever had, but good. The second time, there were two issues. The first issue was how they were packaged. All 4 tacos were rolled together tightly in foil like a burrito and turned into 1 congealed mess. The second issue was the quality. The barbacoa was nasty! There was more fat and membrane than meat. I love to eat. I will eat damn near anything. That was inedible. I have been to other locations and had better experiences, but have never been amazed.

"Maybe if you'd have come in more, we wouldn't have gotten rid of your favorite taco" was actually said to me. WTF - The amount of money and recommendations I've given this place and some employee I've never seen before says this. Been coming here 6+ years. Drove all the way from Minneapolis. Even brought a friend. I can understand why they replace their employees with screens! Never coming back.

We have much experience eating Mexican and Southwestern food, both local and throughout the Southwest. Taco Libre is as good, or better than most I have tried. Everything was fresh and full of flavor. We had 3 different street tacos, Pastor, Cabeza, and Asada. The pastor and asada was perfect. The cabeza was a bit fatty for me. We also had the Machete, half grilled chicken and half asada. Very good filling with the meat, cheese and lettuce, and having a crispy shell is a nice addition. The best thing we had... a Barbacoa Burrito. It was delicious with so many flavors. had a lot of very flavorful pork with cheese, onions, beans , rice. A good balance of everything... NOT full of only rice, like so many other restaurants. Highly recommended UPDATE: THIS REVIEW IS FOR OAKDALE LOCATION ONLY. Recently tried west Saint Paul location and I can not recommend that location.

Pretty average Mexican place. Cool name. Avg food. I guess it's better than t-bell.

I love Taco Libre's various street tacos and mexican sandwiches. They are on par with what I got in TIjuana and other Mexican towns I've visited. Simple, tasty, and really quite a lot of food for the money.

This place is always a candidate on my "where should we get tacos tonight?" Never disappointed and the menu has wide variety to choose from. The machete is one of my fav's!

Heard about this place having authentic tacos from a friend and finally got around to trying it. I would say they are pretty authentic. The tortilla was nice and soft but a tad crunchy and had a nice corn taste to it. The machete is basically a giant version of the normal tacos! It's huge and tasty. I enjoyed the Pastor meat best, it was seasoned well, tender, and juicy. The steak/Azada didn't have much flavor. I would say the same about the pork tamale not the best I've had. I would recommend the normal taco versus the American. I thought the tortilla would have been the same but for the American they use the commercial style tortilla definitely not as authentic but I should have known since it said "American". I got it because I wanted cheese!! Chips were pretty salty if you like that. The queso was pretty decent. I wish it was spicier. On the side they have an area with different salsas that you can choose from. I enjoyed this a lot. I got this creamy green salsa, it definitely had a kick to it.

The machete has been on my taco bucket list for a while and I FINALLY made the trip to check it out - glad I did! I had a machete with half pastor and half beef of some sort (stewed?). The pastor was good, flavorful. The beef was good, but too wet for the machete - made the shell floppy and messy. My mistake, I'll pick another meat next time. My other complaint is the lettuce, etc. I should have asked for it to be made like a regular street taco - onion, cilantro, (but keep the cheese!). Next time! I also got elote, which was good but a bit on the sour side for my tastes. And chips and salsa. They have a salsa bar but it wasn't quite clear which were hot/mild - and actually it seemed like most were on the hot side (for me, anyway). Labels would be great. Overall, I enjoyed my food. The place was nice and clean, very 'chain' feeling but with fun artwork. I really wish they had one in the north metro closer to my house!!

First night staying in St Paul ever, and got so lucky this was still open. Food was great!! Quesatacos were delicious

Go to Oakdale one instead.I literally waited 40 mins in store when I had called to place a pickup order, because as soon as I came in-- I was told to sit down and that I would be called up & I never was. After I got tired of waiting, I got up and asked for my food & it was done the entire time. & the food wasn't even what I wanted. Total bummer.

YUM! In an area that has no shortage of Mexican restaurants, this place is a standout. Since moving our office to SSP, Robert Street is a frequent lunch destination and Taco Libre is my new favorite. The decor is vibrant and amusing, ample seating for the lunch crowds and plenty of parking at the adjoining strip mall. Fresh guacamole, simple and straight-up avocado with cilantro, minced onion, and jalapeno. Fresh, crisp chips. There's a fantastic salsa bar, well labeled with heat levels for the sensitive Minnesota palates. My favorite is a verde with avocado and cucumber that has a nice kick. You can split the machete or the huarache. Really like the bowls and I'm crazy for the al pastor tacos with bits of fresh pineapple topping the pork. The tinga chicken is a close second. Don't miss the cucumber chia lemonade. So refreshing, one won't be enough. Also? CHURROS. So good! Even if you don't have a sweet tooth, they're not cloying or too sugary, even the rich goat's milk caramel isn't over the top. So delicious!

I got an American taco with Pollo a la Mexicana. I loved it. It was fresh and delicious. The chicken was flavorful and juicy. Service was fast. No complaints. The interior is bright and clean. It has that chain restaurant feel to it. It has interesting art. They also have desserts and traditional drink options.

Not sure if new owners took over, but this location has severely went downhill. The last few times the guacamole tasted like they use frozen avocado, definitely not fresh. It no longer has onions or chunks of avocado like it used to, and has a very strong citric acid taste for the same price. Ordered the empanadas like usual, this time they were cut open and stuffed with toppings with barely any meat. Usually all the toppings are on top and they are closed. My son's quesadilla had very little meat and the cheese was not even melted, he thought it was corn on it. Very disappointed in taco libre as it was one of our favorite go to, can't spend that kind of money for this anymore.

The employees were friendly and helpful. The chips and queso here is so good! I also love their churros!

Their food is very simple and very good. If you're looking for a good Mexican food this place is well worth it

Make the trip to this location. The new store in Roseville is terrible. The auto order screens don't work and there's no salsa bar. Very disappointed.

After dinner the other night I was craving a different dessert-churros. We were at a friends in the West St. Paul area. I checked my YELP app and Taco Libre was one of the options. My friend said I should try them. My husband picked them up while he was running another errand. The churros!!!! That is all I was craving. They come with this awesome Carmel sauce for dipping. The churros were the perfect texture and nicely covered with cinnamon. They were soooo good and hit the spot!

I ordered the empanadas and a machete with carne asada and tripe. I asked for the tripe to be made extra crispy, however, what I received was the opposite. The tripe hadn't been made extra "dorado" (crispy) and it ruined half of my machete which I ended up tossing. Overall the empanadas and the carne asada in the machete were great but I know that the tripe here is no bueno.

My daughter and I were waiting while our dog was having surgery, so we were looking for a place to get some take-out. Taco Libre showed up as a nearby place that we hadn't been to yet. There were many choices on the menu - and things we had not tried before. My daughter had the Chorizo Burrita and was impressed with the amount of beef and cheese in it. I had the beef street taco and taco de guisado (veggie or rajas con queso). Both had a lot of flavor and reminded me of being in Mexico when I was a teenager and had a taco there. We split an order of chips and pico de gallo as well as churros. We could have done without the chips and pico de gallo since the main items we ordered were so generous in portion and filling. The churros we enjoyed. My daughter liked the caramel sauce that came with it, but I didn't care for it. The server/cashier (Edwin) was very polite and helped us select what fillings would be best. The meal was prepared as we waited - so we knew it was fresh. I wish we lived closer to Taco Libre. I know it would be a place we would go to frequently. We're looking forward, though, to going back to Taco Libre the next time we are in the area.

Taco Libre has great authentic Mexican food. I've been to mainland Mexico and the food here is comparable for sure. I've been to all 3 locations (Edina, West St. Paul, Oakdale) locations multiple times. Everything tastes full of flavor here (except maybe the fish tacos, don't recommend). Fried cod that is bland and from a frozen bag, weird lettuce, and sauce was too thick for the taco. The menus are easy to read and the design of the restaurant is modern and fun. Clean environment overall too. Prices are maybe a little more than other Mexican restaurants in the area, but it's fast casual so everything comes out pretty quickly. Food: Chips & guac here are better than Chipotle's. Street tacos are a must-try (pastor and asada). Machete can feed two not as hungry adults if you get side dishes or two younger children. Rice is made well and tasty. Horchata isn't too sweet (perfect).

I don't know what changed but the food here isn't good anymore. The last two visits I was super unimpressed by their food and service. They're also very stingy with the salsa! We had a big order too and they wouldn't give us more. So disappointed.

Greesy and gross. Wouldn't recommend for anyone especially in this general area of Saint Paul that has a lot of good Mexican food.

This is the first time I've been back since pandemic. The food is as good as ever. Fresh and tasty. I got the bowl with mushrooms and cheese. Friendly helpful staff. Sad to see no one sitting inside due to COVID but I hope they hang in there until we can all come back and eat together.

We are new to the neighborhood and are so excited to find such a good spot. Street tacos and empanadas all day

Overall it was good. Food is ready fast. I ordered the Machete because you kinda have to. The corn taco shell is good. I got steak and there was a lot of tough fat I had to attempt to cut with a pitiful plastic knife. It was humorous at first trying to cut thin gristle steak with plastic, the humor quickly faded and I was over it. A friend found a full bone in her chicken. It's a bit spendy for the overall lack of quality. I might try it again with a different meat choice but realistically I won't go back.