Taco Riendo Restaurant

Omfg😇 Mr. Octavio and his Wife had created one of the most iconic restaurants on fifth Street. It’s an emblematic corner taco shop. I’m a huge taco fan and I’m not easily impressed by all taquerias, but TACORRIENDO absolutely live up to their name. I tried the steak, chicken, and pork tacos each one just as delicious! The salsas were excellent! I indulged and enjoyed and would do it over and over again! TACORRIENDO deserves all the hype it gets, and those insane queues that move unbelievably fast are proof that the food is good here and it really is. My first experience was at TACORRIENDO in 2009, where I sat at a bar window and enjoyed my tacos. There were queues that moved fast, and I managed to perch my plate somewhere in the tiny venue to enjoy my food. Flavorful and the best of the best. I would have eaten it for, lunch, and dinner over my 7th week in Philly. Get the grilled pork adabada and thank me later. Please let people know that they are not Puerto Rico restaurant please this is real Mexico. 🇲🇽

Really delicious fresh food, everything is authentic and made with love. Great spot, nice patio and fast friendly service.

CASH ONLY! it's a nice restaurant with some good food. I ordered chicken tacos, a platter, a chicken burrito. The tacos were just okay because they don't have any sauce in it, felt dry. The platter was good it came with chicken, shrimp, beans, and rice. Everything on the platter tasted real good. The burrito was my favorite because it came with alot of chicken and was tasty. Anything extra you want like lime or sauce is extra money. I asked for some extra lime and they said 1 dollar per slice. Idk why they charge for sauce and lime. The atmosphere was well put together. Overall a cheap place with decent food. Would recommend to try but ofc there's better places close by.

Our favorite taco place in the neighborhood! The Al Pastor burrito is a family go-to.

If you are looking for a traditional no frills taqueria venture into Northern Liberties/Olde Kensington to check out this place. The menu offers many a taste for the adventurous but we kept it fairly straightforward with an al pastor and a choriqueso.The tortillas are a bit standard issue however, the fillings are solid. Tasty flavorful, tender pork. Chorizo not too spicy and not dry and crumbly, maybe a little greasy but that is to be expected. Simple toppings, nice melty cheese, fresh cilanto and onion but nothing that stands our but just adds to a nice overall balance. A little more pineapple and a tortilla with some chew and more flavor and it would be 5 stars.

A great little Mexican, BYOB. I've been a regular customer ever since they first opened. Over the past 10 years their shrimp tostadas and sopes have been on point. Really everything on the menu is great.

I love this place! I usually call ahead of time for take out, and they make the food fairly fast! Their food is delicious and they never forget to add the sauces. Their pineapple habanero sauce it’s my favorite. I noticed the most recent menu is from a year ago so I decide to upload a more recent one. Just a heads up that they’re cash only.

Authentic Mexican cuisine, good pricing and great staff! We received a recommendation from a friend and it didn't disappoint.

Super underrated place- the employees are very sweet and the food is great!! I wish more people came in here they deserve the love

Ohhh my god. The SHRIMP SALAD man. So much shrimp, grilled onions, and the perfect ratio of chopped lettuce, tomato slices, avocado, and pico. The bae and I went here to eat after a long drive to Philly and I DEVOURED my plate (I love shrimp). The guac is also made in-house and it's like crack. The service is also pretty fast and you can easily see the kitchen from your seat and see your food being prepared in real-time. The interior is also really lovely and they have a TV that shows you which songs they're playing.

Not a bad price, food is decent. I was a little disappointed that the chicken tinga burritos did not come with beans as this wasn't mentioned on the menu. The beef flank burrito was tasty, the chicken one could've used a bit more flavor. I would order from here again

Delicioso! great variety on their menu. Highly recommend pozole when they have it, especially on a cold winter night!

Easily the Best Tacos in Philly. Small but beautiful taqueria, with super friendly and pleasant service. Do yourself a favor and pop in for some tacos or tamales (just not on Sundays, since they're closed)

Perfect little taqueria! Great Mexican food that's authentic and fresh. I had a fabulous chicken mole enchilada dish. It's cash only but there's an ATM. I'll definitely be back!

Food is fantastic! Shimp quesadillas are my favorite go to! I've moved a good distance an still find my way there!

Food is to bland, not worth it at all! So many better Mexican places around the area.

Perfect Mexican brunch place. It's a small family run business. I think the entire family is behind the counter. We were here on a Saturday for brunch. Coffee was good. Placed order and got seated. Food portions were great. Food is prepared fresh in front of you. Beauty of open kitchen. The place was not very crowded. Very surprising. The food was so good and delicious. Could see delivery guy take orders out of the restaurant. Ambience had lot of Mexican touch and Spanish music played in the background. Nice chilled out place with good food. Will definitely come back.

Really good food at a good price. Everything I've had here is good, tacos, tortas. Usually get food to go, but there is always seating when I am there. Food is ready quickly, the people are nice. Seems like a family owned business.

I like me some shrimp burrito!! Very decent size and very full afterwards. The mexican corn is amazing!! Meals are always prepared in about 15 minutes which is clutch. Only downside for me is I'm not in love with either of the sauces, one has a ton of heat without a ton of flavor and the other is pretty decent just not in love with the flavor. I also don't love that they only accept cash. Kinda lame. Otherwise I'm a happy camper.

Ordered two different burritos. There was only meat, cheese, and beans. Menu said it came with pico de gallo and sour cream but that was not included.

Nachos Azteca= 8.0 out of 10 - Very busy entree. The best part of it would have to be the perfectly charred chips. The cactus goes very well with the overall dish as well. Many ingredients and fun to eat. Pork chop tacos = 8.0 out of 10 Al Pastor Taco= 8.6 out of 10 - It's the citrusy addition of the pineapple that makes all the difference here. Great taco!

Phenomenal authentic Mexican food. We loved the pozole and the tacos were killer. Loved it

Nice mom and pop Mexican eatery. Loooooved the shrimp quesadillas! So different from the Mexican fast food quesadillas, which are typical dry and topped with some salsa, if any. These came in a red and a green sauce and were super yummy. The chicken enchilada cake in a brown sauce, which I did not particularly love. Paid just under $20 for both these dishes. Totally worth the pric CASH only! There is an ATM inside.

Poor service, strange crowd. We were regulars at this place as the food is good. The cashier girl took down our order wrong that we did not realize until the food came out. As soon as the food came out I stated the food was incorrect and how it was incorrect. The cashier girl proceeded to argue with me back and forth (as the customer) with what "she heard". They refused to correct the order at the cost of their mistake. They are cash only.

I was raised south of the border and lived in California for most of my life so tacos are very near and dear to my heart. But I recently started school in Terre Haute, Indiana where no one has heard of carne asada let alone make carne asada tacos. I visit Philadelphia often to see my boyfriend and thankfully there are amazing tacos near where he lives.I was way too excited to try the tacos here based of recommendations on yelp. We got: three chicken cactus tacos, four carne asada tacos, elotes, horchata, and a mexican coke. I personally thought the carne asada was a bit dry and too chewy but that might've been more due to the cut of the meat than how it was cooked. The smoky, red sauce that came with it made up for the dryness. The chicken tacos were amazing! The cactus really adds a different dimension of flavor to the tacos. The sauce that came with it really tied it all together. Just get the chicken cactus tacos and thank me later. The elote was pretty good if you're used to eating it with tajin, Tajin has a lime kick to it which some people aren't used to. I've had it with chili powder and I prefer that over tajin but I still ate the whole thing without complaints. I love that it was actually roasted and not boiled. Overall, go here. They have a huge menu and I'm sure you'll find something you like!

Great food. Love the tacos. Everything was super fresh. Just be aware is cash only. Yum!!!

I ordered from here when my doordash for tacos never came. This place is within walking distance. I decided to give them another try and I made better choices. I had the shrimp sopas which were pretty good! I enjoyed the tostadas a lot! We got grilled steak ones. The corn was amazing as always. I ate that corn so fast. The horchata was not as good as before. It was more watered down, but decent.

Chipotle is 10x times better... no more words need it. Food was cold and flavorless. NOT worth it, basically is better to go and cook a meal at home.

One of the neighborhood places that "I wanted to love", but this time I didn't. The food was okay. Everything tasted fresh but there were no complex flavors to be had. There was bland white meat chicken, and some dishes were highly spiced as expected/requested. Cash only but there's an atm. Cute place with poor service (food served but no utensils on the table, no water offered). It was fine.

Ate at Taco Riendo before a concert at The Fire. Had the shrimp tacos and my friend ordered a chicken burrito. The food was fresh and tasty. They have sodas, or you can bring your own beer. Staff was very nice. Dining room is small, but we scored a table after a very short wait.

I am a creature of habit so order the veggie burrito every time I go here but every time it is consistently delicious with the right combo of veggies, rice, beans, and cheese. I highly recommend with the green salsa.

Hands down best burrito in No Libs. Dos Segundo is next in line. But if you want real authentic burritos that takes your palette to Mexico this is it. Cash only, tip well cause hey you should. The shrimp. Oh the shrimp.

I really wanted to love it here, but the food totally missed the mark. Came in on a Tuesday night with 3 others and ordered a ton of food. The nice thing is that there was plenty of walk-in seating and you can BYOB. It's cash only, but they do have an ATM on site. About the food - we started with the grilled elote and guacamole to share. The elote was great and the guac was pretty good too. We then shared a variety of tacos, tostadas, and the chicken tinga burrito. The burrito was totally flavorless - I gave my portion to my boyfriend because it was not good at all. The tacos were fair and just not very flavorful at all. The meat was chewy too. The best thing we had were the shrimp tostadas, but the rest was not very good. I had heard great things, but Taco Riendo just really missed the mark.

As always, my go-to at Philly taquieras is a Cuban Torta. It is a filling and intense sandwich with a variety of stretchy cheese, beans, pickled vegetables, chorizo, ham, breaded steak, avocado, and eggs. It's very delicious and one of my favorite things to eat. Taco Riendo's is good. The bread is light and airy, but lacks some structure that can make it hard to weird. I resorted to a knife and fork. The steak here isn't breaded, and I think it's actually pork. A fine addition, even if it's not what I'm used to. I liked the sandwich and my partner liked her meal too. Between Que Chula and Taco Riendo, I'd say it's a toss-up if you're in the are.

This is a good neighborhood Mexican restaurant but the only reason I am giving this place 3 stars is because I feel offended that the cashier always checks if my $20 bills are real. Now granted, this place is cash only, so whenever I pick up takeout from here I am always going to the ATM in THEIR restaurant to pull out money. I am a black male and there was a white customer who paid for their meal before me and the cashier did not check her $20. But when I paid for my takeout the cashier checked to see if my money was real . This particular cashier has done this to me before in the past so I wanted to see if she'd do it again, which she did. I am offended. And Despite the fact that this restaurant is conveniently located in my neighborhood I do not know if I'll ever come back here again.

After reading some of these reviews, some people are impossible to please. Complaining about the service? This place has a takeout window vibe. No idea why someone would expect fine dining level service here. What you CAN expect is great food at a very reasonable price. The elote is the best I've ever found. You can't go wrong with any of the taco choices but the al pastor, chorizo, and the enchilada pork taco are all incredible. The breaded chicken sandwich is also a favorite of mine. The jalapeños and other veggies on the torta are extremely fresh and flavorful. This might be my favorite restaurant in the city all things considered. One final plus is that it's family owned and operated

I've only ever gotten the tacos here, but they are really great. I highly recommend. The place itself is a cute and clean BYOB with indoor and outdoor seating. I've always found the staff to be friendly. The only downside is that it is cash only.

Cash only with an ATM that charges $2. Very clean interior and good amount of seating. Tacos were alright (carne asada and lengua), lukewarm corn tortilla with meat that is pretty bland, dry, and unseasoned. They ranged from around $3 to $4, and they currently offer a $9.50 taco plate. Extras like guac ($4) or sour cream and cheese cost more. Overall, fast and friendly service but prices for what you get were kinda steep considered that it's also cash only.

I can only write about their Elote asada (corn) since that is what my friend had recommended me to try. And man it was good! The corn easily came right off the cob with each bite and the seasonings that came with it complemented the corn very well. My friend said that the corn is one of the only things worth getting here since their other food items didn't quite satisfy her taste. But the place was packed when I came and people seemed to have been enjoy their food and time at the restaurant. Next time I'm in Philly, I'll have to come back and try a few other things on their menu, but I highly recommend the corn ($3)! Parking wasn't also too bad since we found parking right across the street. When it does get crowded, seating can be limited. My party was fortunate enough to put together tables to accommodate all 7 of us.

The food is mediocre. They charged me random add ons for no reason. I ordered one sandwich and three chicken tacos and the balance came out to over 30 dollars. They never include sauces. As being one of the only restaurants in the area I would expect them to want to bring in customers and not turn them away. The reason for the one star is the absolutely outrages prices. Will not be eating here again.

I got the Enchiladas Verdes Con Pollo and it was amazing. The portion size is great for the prize and there's not a lot in the neighborhood so I'm always glad to stop in. It's cash only with an atm located inside I believe. The restaurant is BYOB. I will be back again!

I've been coming here for years for tacos, platters, burritos, tortas. Decided to get some grub tonight. The Al Pastor tacos were good. The cabeza (beef head) was extremely disappointing tonight. I've had it at many other places around Philadelphia and I know how it's supposed to taste and look. The two cabeza tacos I had tonight were 90% fat and no meat.

Tasty tacos and the nachos are veryyyyy good. Service is always good, can't go wrong with this place.

This was a pretty nice place to pop in whenever I was too lazy to make lunch at home for work. The food was alright, the service was fast and friendly, and it's a pretty chill place to eat your food as well. They unfortunately don't accept card for payment, but the food makes up for that. I recommend stopping by at least once!

Great spot that's BYOB and cash only. Authentic and fresh Mexican street-style food. Birria tacos were awesome and the hot sauce was fire.

I can only really rate the elotes asados (roasted corn cobs) because it's the only thing I've eaten there - and the only thing I need to eat. Taco Riendo offers authentic Mexican fare at a fairly low price - the roasted corn amazingness will set you back $2.50 a pop. (Believe me, you'll want more than one.) What, exactly, are elotes asados? What makes them so special? Magic. Or, I suppose it could be full-sized cob with topped with Mexican mayo, queso fresco, lime, and chile piquin (pepper).

Absolutely addicted to this place! Best authentic Mexican I've had in Philadelphia. I love the tinga tostadas or the veggie bomb burrito! honestly I'm kind of a creature of habit at this place so I haven't ventured into other options because I CRAVE these two dishes but I'm sure whatever you choose will be delicious! My husband and I eat here at least 3x a week either for lunch or a spur of the moment dinner plan, I have never had a bad experience with the food and would highly recommend this to everyone! Tess is amazing! She's always super nice and friendly! Overall I love taco riendo and feel blessed to live so close!

I'm not sure how this rates compared to other Philly-Mexican food, but coming from Chicago I am spoiled where fantastic Mexican food is in abundance and incredibly cheap. The taste is quite comparable to those Chicago spots... it is basic, not fancy, and they don't make a fuss in giving it to you in such an elegant way. It's pretty authentic. The chorizo I had was really good and not greasy like a lot of places are. Good rice, good beans. The interior seems nice, but I only got take out and I sat in the car so I am certainly not a good judge for that. This place is by no means bad.. it's okay.. but the prices should reflect that. Chicago would probably offer these things at least a few dollars cheaper in most cases.

Delicious, authentic Mexican food. The guacamole was spicy and so flavorful. The tilapia fish tacos were good. The Latin music was a bonus and just added to the experience. We met the owner 2 days prior to our visit. He's a real sweetheart! The girl that works behind the counter needs customer service training. We weren't even greeted when we walked in. It would have been five stars if not for that. Update: I visited again last month and had an all around wonderful experience. The service was excellent( different hostess). The owner was working hard cooking up delicious food on the grill. There's something to be said for an owner who does this work himself! This time I had chicken tacos and Mexican Corn. I will be dreaming about that corn for months to come. It was sooooooo good!!! My 4 star review has been upgraded to a 5 star!

Great al pastor here! We love this place. Cute back patio as well with multiple tables and lights. So happy this is in the neighborhood!

Coming from living right near the Mexico boarder, it has been really difficult finding a decent Mexican joint in philly. Although this place didn't QUITE hit the spot, it was still as close to real as I could get. However, a bit pricey for a place that's almost fast food (order and clean up yourself). Al Pastor burrito: decent, but if i'm paying $10, i'd expect it to be bigger. I'm a 5'3 115 lb girl and yet I finished it NO PROBLEM. Guys would probably need 2 to fill up. Steak and cactus burrito: cactus tastes like salt. Corn: cheesy and buttery. yums. PS. BYO. although, horchata always goes well with mexican food!

Taco Riendo is my favorite neighborhood burrito place. They have chorizo burritos which I get every time. Delicious. Their chipotle salsa is also great. They are cash only and I usually never carry cash but I will make the exception to seek out and ATM I order to get some. My husband has tried their enchiladas, quesadillas, and tacos which he enjoyed. Taco Riendo is definitely a take out staple for us.

Stopped here on Saturday while I was on a bike ride called the tour de taco. 20 miles, 10 taco stops. This was stop 8. I took the strategy of one at each stop which was pretty ambitious. Here I wound up ordering the taco de cachete or steamed beef cheek taco. They had an amazing outdoor space and their selection of traditional Mexican cuisine is fantastic. The taco was perfect. Two steamed corn tortillas, filled with exactly the right amount of cooked beef cheek, and then topped with cilantro and onion as only the purest of tacos are. I seasoned it up with a bit of lime juice and the spicy orange salsa which I am pretty sure may have been chile de arbol. It was absolutely perfect. The heat was intense, but it didnt overwhelm the taco at all. This was one of my favorite tacos of the day. Everything about was in perfect proportion. Everything was seasoned right, it was just a really well executed taco. They have a nice selection of jarritos as well, so that always wins points with me. Great spot. Definitely worth a return visit when the taco hunger strikes me again...

7/21/17 was my first time at this restaurant. I came here with my HS friend currently living in Atlanta (who is my best friend) who met up with an old friend that he to CMU with. She brought her dog Banner who is a pit bull. The food is pretty good here. The workers here are nice and very helpful.

This review is solely for service. Food is amazing but the people that work here can be so rude! I was finishing a bottle of wine with my friend outside, and it was maybe 5 minutes after 9 and the girl yelled at us, "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE". The only thing we had was 2 of their wine glasses, all you have to say is we're really sorry we're closing, not yell at your customers! Management needs to reconsider their staff

After biking past here for years, I finally ventured in! This little Mexican establishment is weird, ordering is done at a counter and the whole place has a cafeteria feel. Charlie and I were out after a long day of work on the house, and this meal certainly hit the spot. We ordered chips and salsa to start, and the salsa was a weak, watery excuse for salsa. Although it provided some good heat, it still left something to be desired. I ordered a spicy shredded chicken burrito. Overall, it was filling and quite tasty; my only compliant was that it was not spicy. Charlie ordered the special: salmon tacos and enjoyed his meal as well. Portion sizes are decent for the prices. It's BYOB, they sell Mexican (real cane sugar) soda, they use fresh ingredients, and it's pretty cheap. To be honest, there are a lot of spots similar, but that doesn't mean Taco Riendo isn't enjoyable. The service seemed a bit slow though. Bottom Line: If you want great Mexican food in fancy taco bell atmosphere, this is the spot. The prices and quality make this a great spot, but I'd opt forgo dine in for to-go next time.

Finally! An authentic Mexican restaurant in Philly! Having lived in LA, I've been spoiled with real Mexican food, where you drink horchata like it's water and the meat selection is a plenty. What makes this place authentic to me?: fish tacos in corn torillas, the option of lengua (beef tongue ... trust me, it's delicious) on your burritos and tacos, fresh horchata, and elote (my favorite Mexican street food!!!). I can't believe I've lived in Philly for almost 2 years and didn't know this place existed.