La Taqueria Pinche Taco Shop

The skeptic in me was wonderfully surprised by how much I liked the tacos here. Normally, I'm not a fan of the Mexican food options in Vancouver (I've been spoiled by growing up in California), but this place was an exception.

They have happy hour 3-6 pm every day, and the tacos are basically half off. The HH menu is pared down, but still has a good number of options. We popped in during happy hour and tried the baja fish taco, bean taco (veggie), deep fried cauliflower taco, and prawn taco all on a corn tortilla. Everything is so instagrammable, but more importantly, it tasted delicious! I have to say the stars for me were the baja fish and the deep fried cauliflower. I love deep fried anything, but these were flavorful, savory, well seasoned, and decent portion sizes. I also enjoyed the salsa served on the side. I think I'd pass on the bean taco, which was pretty plain. The tacos each come on 2 tortillas, so your food doesn't get soggy and holds together well. I think the corn tortillas probably help with this too over flour tortillas, but I haven't tried their flour tortillas.

For vegetarians - this place has a good number of vegetarian tacos! 4 or 5 different options, unlike most places in the city. I'd recommend the deep fried cauliflower or deep fried yam.

4 stars instead of 5 because when I came back to try a burrito, I didn't love it. It was a little too dry (basically just rice, fish, cabbage, and salsas) and just did not impress me at $13.75.

I'd suggest coming here and sticking to the tacos. I'm a fan of their tacos for sure!

Alongside MeeT, this used to be one of my go-to back in 2021. I have so many memories there with my friends. I'd love to loop them in and pay another visit.

Good service
However the food and ambiance does not justify the high prices. I would give this place a miss.

Went for a Saturday date night experience at La Taqueria and had a great experience!

We went in as a walk in and were seated right away. Service was extremely prompt and our server was very helpful in providing us with recommendations and suggestions.

We got the Taqueria Flight to share. Guacamole was decent but the standout was the Tuna Tartare!

I got the Rojas Enchiladas which was very flavourful. The tortillas were crispy and the meat was cooked well. Portion size was also great for a main.

Wished we had gotten some of the drinks on the menu, but unfortunately we didn't.

The ambience is fun, vibrant and chill. The setting is perfect for a fun weekend dinner night and would definitely recommend stopping by if you're in the area!

I've been to a few of the Taqueria locations and have had a great experience each time. Stopped in for happy hr at the Yukon location and was seated at the bar. The bartender was very kind and attentive and served me quickly. Food was delicious; I especially enjoyed the Baja tacos. Only downside is it is a tad pricey, however it is a nice treat!

Great food, service, and ambiance. I got to meet the chef Liz
Our waitress Lili was also great

It's a bit pricey but good portions and fresh. Has a patio and an industrial/hip space inside. Happy hour runs from 3-6pm including on weekends. We had the red enchiladas with chicken, which came with rice; the taqueira sampler, which comes with pineapple salsa, guacamole and tuna tartar; the mix and match taco trio with fish, al pastor, and asada. The pastor was the best. The fish was battered and decent but not standout. The tuna tartare is super good and came in big chunks, but it's got an Asian soy based sauce, so it's not very Mexican. There is quite a big drink list, but only two beers on tap. Service is really youthful and friendly. Some of the dishes had chilli peppers so sometimes you would get a spicy bite and sometimes not. Portions are pretty decent. Food isn't heavy or greasy. Lots of vegetarian options as well, including chickpea tacos.

Great spot for tacos because there are so many to choose from! I like to order the fish, and asada here best. Always super fresh ingredient and the fish is crispy! Their tacos have increased in price over then years but I think that is pretty normal as far as restaurants go. The restaurant has chill tropical vibes and service is always quick.

Returned for group dinner. Once again the food was fantastic and very memorable. I had the pan de elote - the cornbread had this creaminess but with pieces of corn that gave it some texture, the poblano sauce was really flavourful, and I loved the spiciness of it contrasting with the slightly sweet cornbread. This is definitely a lighter entree but more filling than you might expect. I had just a little bit of the chips and guac that the table ordered and I really liked the guac too. I like the chunky style guac and this one tasted very fresh. The chips seemed freshly prepared also. To drink, I had the Sayulita. I was expecting it to be close to a spiked horchata but it was more like a horchata-flavoured sour cocktail, but despite it not being exactly what I expected, it still had the creaminess I was craving and I liked it a lot.
The issue this time was with the service. I was in a group of 6, so a bigger group, but even so, the time we had to wait for food and drink was really long. Unfortunately I have forgotten the exact timings, but we were seated at 6:30 and left at about 8:40, and once we got our entrees we all pretty much scarfed it down, paid, and left, so the majority of that time was spent waiting. We ordered the chips and drinks first and had to wait a really long time for both, and also had trouble getting the waitress's attention to order entrees while we were waiting. By the time we actually got our food, the restaurant was full, but it was only at about half capacity when we ordered. I would've felt more at ease if the staff had just been communicative that things were backed up, but the pretty much ignored us from the time that we placed our food orders to the time that the food came.

Looks like they moved to a larger and more modern location on Yukon sometime in 2019. This review is for the new location.

The front now has a nice large patio. The inside is quite spacious as well.

I must say I don't like the interior at all. With the cinder blocks and bare bones look it feels like a Mexican prison. The uncomfortable clangy metal chairs really don't help either. Almost felt like riot could break out any second.

Staff were friendly and helpful.

They've seriously cranked the prices. As of the time of writing, a burrito with toppings can easily go over $20. Yikes. The carnitas burrito I had was honestly snack sized. The ones at mall food courts are larger than this. These things can be had in a bowl (no skin) as well as the traditional wrapped setup. The food did taste decent. Buddy and I left hungry.

Quality was decent but value wasn't there. Looks like other reviewers have noticed that the prices have jumped compared to before. Even the drinks are steep. A can (tallboy) of Tecate is $9(!?). I ended up having water.

Not sure if I recommend this place going forward. Probably best to come by during happy hour.

The service was atrocious. We came in and were immediately told that the only available seats were at the bar, or we could wait ten minutes to sit on the patio while they re-arrannged chairs and tables. We agreed to sit at the bar. However, after waiting for five minutes (while there were clearly open spaces at the bar) we were told we had to be seated outside instead. We were given no clear reason for this by the hostess.

Once outside, we were given a fairly unclear explanation of the specials and our questions about an item on the menu, received a less than understandable response. The server eventually took our order and asked if we wanted guacamole and hot sauce; however, she never asked which size of guacamole we wanted, nor did she tell us how much guacamole cost as an add on. We assumed it would be an extra charge but did not know how much.

We received our food, but did not get our hot sauce. The server never came to check in with us, and we eventually had to ask another staff member for hot sauce halfway through our meal. We eventually got the bill and learned that the guacamole cost EIGHT dollars (for about a medium glass). At this point, we complained about the service and cost of the guac to the manager. She informed us that there were two sizes of guac - a 3 and an 8 oz; however, the server never told us about sizes, nor did she tell us about pricing. She simply asked if we wanted guac and charged us for the largest size.

Upon hearing our complaints, the manager proceeded to make several incoherent excuses about short staffing. She offered a discount or a gift card for drinks. We selected the discount. She discounted the guac and the asada that accompanied the nachos, but could not comp our whole meal because "obviously we ate it all." In retrospect, I we found the entire interaction to be bizarre. To make excuses about horrible service, to admit our server up-sold us on a side without fully consulting us, and then stating that our meal could not be discounted because we ate it is ridiculous. We won't be eating at this La Taqueria or an other La Taqueria again.