Taqueria La Mestiza

This is exactly what a neighborhood Mexican restaurant should be! An ambassador between countries! The staff were friendly and helpful. The pictures on the wall were a great help and the food was absolutely knockdown. Incredible! The chips were perfect, the guacamole amazing, and the shrimp Carnitas were to die for. This place is definitely on the go to list. it was colorful and quaint and I fell in love. So much better than the fancy hip expensive places downtown! I cannot say enough good things about it. This above, almost any other place in town, reminded me of the welcoming atmosphere I experienced during my time in Mexico.

A lost treasure in NE Portland. The food is amazing, very tasty and full of authentic flavor. Great options for all three meals in the day and.a great dessert selection on top of the Mexican food. They made the best street tacos I have had on this side of the boarder and the best salsa also. I love their hot sauces also particularly the green salsa. The outside is a bit off putting but once your inside you realize how great it is. The employees are super friendly and helpful. Looks like they are set up to host parties and other such activities with lots of open room and even a stage.

Great street tacos wrapped in corn tortillas. Especially recommend the Al Pastor taco which is a good as in Texas. However it is missing the bits of pineapple often included down south. Nevertheless, a fine choice along with the carne asada option too. Enjoyed the glass of sandia, watermelon juice. Other juices available.

The Cheese and Chicken Empanadas were my favorite!!! The customer service good. I thought it was a small place but it’s very spacious has 3 sections and ice cream! I didn’t try the ice cream this time but will back

some of the best mexican food ever, i go there probably twice a week.

One of the best taquerias in Portland city limits. Small place, freshly made (to order), and nice homey atmosphere inside of the restaurant. Try the panuchos, one of the best Mexican dishes I’ve ever had. Great, quick service as well.

Food was pretty good! Prepare with care. Service is great!

One of the best Mexican food finds in Portland. Especially their chicken panuchos are to die for. Will be coming here more frequently and inviting more people! Their salsas are also amazing and worth trying all of them. Highly recommend this place!

This place is right next to my go-to shop (snacks, booze, the occasional frozen treat), I mention, as I've passed this place up not knowing when going to the Shopeteria! and okay, I like what's happening here. Bare bones decor and just kinda a store front (more a to-go) thing happening here. Menu is super accessible as it's pics on the wall and I believe they have a fresh juice bar as well (closed today I guess). We got a wet burrito (sorry if that's not what it's called), tamales and a side of rice. Burrito (see pic) crazy good. Tamales, okay, a little dry but with the homemade sauce--yes. Rice, just skip or it's just filler. Service is wonderful, nice folks here, and we can't wait to come back for breakfast, as I've heard it's awesome!

As a group of enthusiastic diners from a Latino background, we came to this restaurant with high expectations, eager to explore its offerings. Regrettably, our experience fell short of the mark. The service, while not particularly noteworthy, was serviceable but lacked the warmth and attentiveness one might hope for in a standout establishment. Turning to the culinary offerings, the side of rice, priced at $3.50, was disappointingly meager in portion--barely a cup--and unfortunately, it was both mushy and overcooked. This was a significant letdown, especially considering the price point. The flan, priced at $5, was a mere sliver, raising concerns about both value and portion size. For such a premium, one might expect a more generous serving or a heightened quality. The burrito, costing $11.50, was underwhelming in both taste and presentation. A comparison to homemade versions highlights its shortcomings, suggesting a need for refinement and reconsideration of its pricing. An empty dining room upon our arrival might have been an early indicator of the establishment's struggles. Overall, the disconnect between portion sizes, flavor quality, and pricing left us unsatisfied and questioning the value offered.

This place is always so good from the breakfast burritos to the tacos and regular burritos!! The asada is my favorite!! I also tired their agua de fresa y limon (strawberry and lime) SO GOOD!! They also have such an amazing fresh juice bar aswell! A hidden gem for real! I would recommend this place to anyone for very delicious food!

Great food and friendly staff. Perfectly seasoned! A nice spot for a quick lunch. Food didn't take long to come out.

If you've never had Yucatán banana leaf tamales you might be in for a surprise as they are NOT like the kind you'd find at a farmer's market. They're smaller, dense, distinct, and are complemented with a special dipping sauce. They're very good here. The Salbutes were also very satisfying. The counter guy was very nice and accommodating. There are no prices on the menu which can get confusing. It's not the most aesthetically pleasing area, but a good spot to satisfy you're Yucatán food craving.

Outstanding breakfast burrito. Simple and delish! Will be back for more. Glad I stopped by.

Amazing Mexican food. I enjoy the panuchos and the steak fajitas platter. Delicious! I've also enjoyed the cochinita pibil

Great food and super good price. I love the burritos. Very friendly wait staff. The only knock is the mild sause is still a bit much...for me at least.

The direction of my daily bike ride often depends on where I might stop for lunch. If I'm riding the Alameda ridge in NE Portland, a stop at TLM. Cross 82nd north of the High School and head up to NE Fremont. They have a few tables outside and have recently expanded the indoor seating but the panuchos remain! It's a bit out of the way but it's a simple, family-owned place, next door to a tienda/market. Not many gringos and a good addition to the authentic taqueria list.

Taqueria La Mestiza serves authentic Mexican food specializing in Yucatán cuisine. This restaurant was highly recommended by a lyft driver I met. He told me it reminds him of the flavors of his home & the best Yucatán cuisine you can get in Portland. I tried their panuchos which is a homemade fried corn tortilla stuffed with black beans, topped with tomatoes, avocado, pickled red onions and your choice of meat. I really loved their cochinita which is a marinated pork that literally melted in your mouth. The tortilla is soft and crispy, the pickled red onions cut away some of the fatness, and the salsas are fantastic! Will definitely try their poc-chuc the next time I visit. The restaurant may look like a hole in the wall, but it serves some damn good food.

I grew up around here and I would never go to 85th and Fremont. Loved the way carne asada was marinated. I will go back for sure.

Delicioso! Tacos here are legit. Carne asada and pastor are the ones to get. Pollo is a little dry. Love this spot!

The food is amazing. Great tacos. I recommend going next door for the flan while you're there.

Yum Yum!! The nicest lady took our order and brought out the food. Things are à la carte and reasonably priced. They even take Apple Pay. Great place with delicious food. Thoroughly enjoyed lunch.

I love this place. It's a little out of way but definitely worth the drive . Real delicious authentic Mexican food

Just phenomenal. Panuchos are the real deal. Tamales were great. Can't wait to try everything else on the menu. I wanna go back tomorrow!

The best guac I have had a restaurant in a long time! Everything was excellent as well; the pork tacos and home made chips were phenomenal. I definitely recommend the carnitas. We'll be back. This place was great!!!

Best Mexican food truck in Portland. A little hard to find, but so worth it. Highly recommended. Go soon and oftenCarne Asada Burrito. Yum

First of all, the restaurant is pretty small, about 6 booths. The man who took our order, wasn't at all friendly. It was average, Mexican food, nothing special. We ordered water with our meals. He didn't give us water, we have to ask him again. It was quick, it was during the lunch hour. My food, which was a simple taco & tamale, came first, I have to eat mine slow, so when my husband's order came in, I won't be staring @ his plate, or taking nibbles from his plate. He ordered a chicken enchilada plate with re-fried beans & rice. He said it was fine, but he had better. It was worth a try! We stopped here, because of an article in the neighborhood newspaper.

This is legitimately some of the best Mexican food I've had in Portland. I grew up in Northern California and being spoiled by the amazing, infinite options down there I've constantly been searching for solid, fast, authentic Mexican food. They're always friendly, always fast and the prices can't be beat. I dare anyone to find a better breakfast burrito in Portland. I could eat them every day (and sometimes hit about 3 times a week). Don't sleep on this spot!

I had no clue this place was even here. It's a family owned, small establishment serving food from the Yucatán peninsula. I had a Poc Chuc Panuchos, which is grilled pork that has been marinated in citrus, served with pickled onions and an avocado atop a handmade corn tortilla which is stuffed with black beans. (Looks like a small stuffed tostada). I also had a very fresh shrimp ceviche tostada and a pollo tamale wrapped in banana leaves. The tamale was very thin- not coated with tons of masa...all chicken. It was a bit too much to eat but I everything looked and sounded so delicious! You can try things alacarte, which is what my family did...and you won't go broke!!! My family has such a variety of palates (some are adventurous and others not at all) so it was a great fit for us. Highly recommend it. It seems to be a favorite of the locals. Not too far from the airport, which is where we were coming from.

Portland is flooded with Mexican food carts and restaurants. Even hole-in-the-wall places are everywhere (outside of trendy area of course). Very few places you run into where there's legit good cheap food. This place is on top of my good and cheap eats. 1. Panuchos and Sabutes (second to Angel Food and Fun). These are from the Yucatán region. If you don't know what they are then stick with the tacos here. They're still pretty good. 2. Their Nachos is also good, chips are fresh, meat and cheese are evenly distributed, not overloaded with beans. Those are usually my measuring stick. I'll definitely be back many times.

I was very impressed with this little hole in the wall! hidden next to Shopeteria, very hard to miss other than their flag waving outside, that says "Mexican food".. lured me in! It's really small inside, you can dine in or takeout. I like to just order from the counter for takeout. I have loved everything I've ordered from here. I feel like it's hard to find good authentic Mexican spots in Portland, there's not much of a variety like in Hillsboro, so this is where I go when I'm NE!

First timer here: I ordered the Al Pastor burrito and was absolutely not disappointed. It seems that the pastor flavorings get lost in translation in PDX, yet not here! It's everything I'd hope and want when it comes to the spicing. It's not hit with an overwhelming heavy-hand of warming spices, which tends to turn me away from a few places around town that does pastor. Their menu has me wanting to repeat my presence at the counter, and order with my eyes, and not my stomach. Hence, 4-stars. I'd like to edit to a 5-star review upon further investigation. They family vibes are strong here. Along with the burrito, they dish out some chips and salsa - Uh, yeah! Yeah af. The salsas are tasty. They give complimentary chips and salsa with the burritos, and had the sauces bagged and ready to roll. Smooth as butter! I really enjoyed the salsa verde. It had heat, great natural tastes, which complimented the pastor. The red sauce was great, too! I'm a green sauce leaner in general. My friend recommended this place to me, and now I can't stop thinking about how I want to go back for more!

Yum!!! Reminds me of Texas in the best way! Beans are perfect - best I've had in Portland to date. Burrito is more egg-y than most in Portland - just like they make 'em in Texas. And the salsa is fantastic. Every detail on point and gorgeous scenery to boot!

I got the carne asada burrito. Bomb! Service was quick and they are super friendly. Good prices to. Definitely will be going back.

I recently read a review of this place in the Mercury and it piqued my interest. As a native Angelino, I'm always looking for great hole in the wall Mexican restaurants and this one looked to be a contender. I am ashamed to say I am not too familiar with Yucatan cooking so I had to look into what poc chuc was. It is marinated and grilled pork in case you are wondering and a Yucatan specialty. I ordered the following: poc chuc taco- a fairly large taco that was piled high with all the regular taco fixings. This was a great introduction to the meat as the other accouterments didn't overwhelm the subtle flavor of the pork. However, due to the pork being on the lean side, I did have to add their sauces to it to make it a bit more moist. Luckily they have two excellent sauces. A mild and smokey chili sauce and a spicy verde sauce. poc chuc tostada - this time it came piled high with cheese and creme which offset the dryness of the pork while still not overwhelming the pork Asada salbute - Somewhere between a taco and a tostada. Their asada is top notch. Well seasoned and still tender poc chuc panuchos - Never had a panuchos before either. Kind of like a salbute but seemed to have beans stuffed inside of the shell as well. Quite excellent All these items had be completely stuffed and came out to $10. What a deal. I'll definitely be coming back to try some of the other specialties.

As an Oaklander I had written off ever finding a decent burrito in Portland. I have tried many taquerias and had some good burritos but La Mestiza is by far the best. Big, delicious and cheap! I love the beans and rice burrito and my husband always gets the pork. So flavorful! The carnitas are also a big hit! Oh, super friendly service!

Alright alright, so after almost a year of coming to this place at least twice a month, finally writing my review. First thing is first, DO NOT let the outside appearance deceive you, it really does look like a hole in the wall restaurant, but this is one of those rare type of gems that find and the inside is very clean. Hands down the best mexican joint I've been too in Portland. Prices are very affordable, food is phenomenal, and customer service is always great. Personally my go too is the panuchos de asada(steak), the hand made fried tortillas just hit you different, the frijoles inside taste amazing and add so much to it, asada is juicy and tender, and the red onions, tomato, lettuce, and avocado just tie it all together. Personally I always add salsa verde, my gf prefers the habanero which I would also recommend if you like your food spicy. The tamales are also very good especially with some tomato sauce, and if you're feeling spicy, my gf recommends adding some habanero sauce too it. Overall this place is a must try food place and I HIGHLY recommend checking it out. Forgot to take a photo of the menu, but the panuchos are 2.00 and 2.50 for asada, and the tamales are 2.00 each.

I came here on my lunch from work. I ordered a carne asada burrito and it was really good, at first. I ended up finding out that the burrito had rice that takes about 40% of it so that was a bit disappointing. Other than that, the steak was seasoned really well and was soft and the melted cheese inside was just the cherry on top. The salsa with chips given wasn't too bad but the salsa lacked ingredient as it felt that it was diluted with water. Same goes for their green and red sauce. Burrito was $6 but you get what you paid for. I'd still come here again though, there are more menu items that caught my attention.

Hands down the best enchiladas I've ever had! Guacamole was on point and the hubby's tacos were great. Don't even get me started on the beans and rice!

Taqueria La Mestiza is one of a very few places I've been to that has panuchos (basically an open-faced taco on a deep fried tortilla) on the menu, so I ordered a couple of them while I was there. I chose carnitas and al pastor as my toppings. Their panuchos also have a layer of refried beans, pickled onion, tomato, avocado, and lettuce in addition to the meat. The al pastor was pretty good. . .it was slightly browned and had good flavor. The carnitas was a bit too damp and runny for my tastes however. . .I prefer meats that are browned on a grill a little bit before being served. I went there on a very hot afternoon, and since they have no A/C, it was pretty hot inside. It's definitely preferable to go there in cooler weather.

Funky home cooking for quick fresh tacos and burritos, tamales and various. Cheap and good.

Great lunch spot. Try the cochinita. Fresh bed of lettuce, nice tangy sauce for the pork and plenty of fresh tortillas. They take cash or credit and service is quick and courteous.

The people are nice, it's as local as it gets, the prices are beyond affordable, and the food is top notch. What more do you need? Poc chuc, al pastor, tamales are amazing

I live behind there taqueria I love this place plus the people they are great always make my food right and mi amigo knows I love the hot sauce. They will take care of you!!

Hands down one of the best Mexican places in Portland. Super authentic, very friendly staff, amazing food, very affordable prices, and good atmosphere. I highly recommend the panuchos, tamales, and poc chuc! It's hard to find a restaurant this good.

Great little neighborhood taqueria! Good prices, very good quality food. Compare to El Burrito Loco or Muchas Gracias, or taco cart menu selections.

Poc-chuc, cochinita, and pastor to die for. Friendly neighborhood service, relaxed atmosphere, what more can you ask for?

Great food, decent prices and quick turnaround. Carnitas is great here. Lots of space to eat and the owner is a friendly guy

always love coming here and I only live right down the street. Kind people and great food!

This is my favorite taqueria in town. The salbutes, panuchos and tacos are all delicious. They also make a fantastic tostada. Their salsas are flavorful and spicy. They're such a sweet family and I am thrilled that they were able to expand into the adjoining room! Please go and support this small business!

The banana leaf tamales are SOO GOOD! The masa is moist and not dry! I was very impressed :) new favorite spot to eat good food.

This is a great hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant. I visit this establishment frequently and I'm never let down. Their breakfast burritos are killer

We moved here from the Southwest and have been looking for good Mexican good for a year and a half. We thought we had tried every taco in the area. This is REALLY DELICIOUS; Absolute perfection. Carnitas, tamales, rice, beans, salsas.... All top notch, fresh and presented as though they care. We have been here two Sundays in a row and It will be our after-church stop often!! It's a tiny little place, not at all fancy, but it feels really clean, the service is excellent, the people are friendly. We are soooo happy to have found it!

This review is based on the poc chuc and poc chuc tacos. They are the best in the area by far. Marinated pork, grilled perfectly, with great garnishes. Good prices as well. It tells me something that most of the customers in this small place are Latino/Latina.

best burrito ive had in Portland and also found some awesome eats like empanadas and tamales. i order lots of food when I come and it's always reasonably priced

This place is easily the best source of Mexican food in the area. The quality of food is miles beyond El Burrito Loco and The Original Taco House, and on par with the best taquerias I've ever eaten at.