Every year, the Lake Street Taco Tour guides eaters on a taco odyssey of sorts—a journey through more than 30 Lake Street restaurants offering specials on tacos of all kinds. In a different world, if I was the Joey Chestnut of taco eating, I would have visited all of them, but alas, a girl can only house so many tacos in one day. I carefully studied the Taco Tour map (kindly provided by the Lake Street Council and the Latino Economic Development Center, which co-hosted the event this year) and zeroed in on tacos that stood out to me in style or state of origin—like tacos de canasta or mole tacos. Though I was already a Taco Taxi stan, the other four restaurants were new to me.
And of course, these restaurants’ menus extend far beyond their taco offerings—gorditas, for example, are the true specialty at El Taco Torro; next time I’m back at El Chivo Crazy I’ll probably go for the full barbacoa feast. The Lake Street Taco Tour, which first launched in 2014, felt especially resonant this year given that increased I.C.E. raids, arrests, and deportations around the country have contributed to an atmosphere of fear among local immigrant communities, which has in turn impacted the many Latino entrepreneurs along Lake Street. Their businesses have taken a hit as fewer folks venture out.
There were so many restaurants I wanted to visit this year but couldn’t—Que Chula es Puebla serves tacos árabes, which have roots in the Lebanese communities that settled in the state of Puebla in the 20th century; Alborada Market was offering a stellar deal of five tacos with one free enormous agua fresca. If you couldn’t make the tour this year, don’t wait ’til 2026 to stop in. Here are some highlights from the day, a tale of five excellent tacos (and actually, 15 total).
Taco Taxi is a Taco Tour O.G.—brothers Hector and Carlos Lopez opened their restaurant in Minneapolis back in 2005. But the duo actually launched Taco Taxi well before that, back in Arandas, a town near Guadalajara in their home state of Jalisco. Birria itself originates from Jalisco, so we had to go with the quesabirria special, which was every bit as beautifully melty and savory as it could have been. Post-tacos we drank the consomé, which of course you can also get in soup form as straight birria. Remember that in January. Multiple locations, 612-722-3293, tacotaxi.us
El TacoTorro is one of the newer spots at Midtown Global Market. Owners Paola Morales and José Haro, who are from Augas Calientes, Mexico, have long run a food truck. We order the pork mole tacos, which are some of the only mole tacos I’ve seen at restaurants around the Cities—Morales makes the mole from scratch, grinding chocolate, pepitas, bananas, and spices into a velvety sauce. They were rich and hearty and spicy in a nuanced layered way—I have a respectable heat tolerance but was glad to have horchata on hand. El TacoTorro specializes in gorditas, so we also had a pork belly and salsa verde gordita, which was one of my favorite dishes of the day. The masa shell was pillowy and crispy and perfect all at once. 920 E. Lake Street, Mpls.,612-886-5481, eltacotorromn.com
I had no idea that the tacos de canasta at Las Charolas, which is tucked inside Plaza Mexico, would be my favorite tacos of the day, but indeed they were. Typically, tacos de canasta are coated with chili oil and steamed lightly in a basket, which makes the tortillas especially flavorful and pillowy. We got the simple beans and chorizo option, and with onions, pickled peppers, and salsa verde, they were delicious in a simple, nourishing kind of way. 419 E. Lake St. #79, Mpls. 612-823-3721, lascharolas-mn.com
As mentioned above, the specialty at El Chivo Crazy (which means The Crazy Goat) is barbacoa de chivo and barbacoa de borrego—slow-cooked goat and lamb meat. We went for the tacos de chivo, which were served with a thick, fiery red consomé on the side for dipping. As much as I loved these bites, I’d love even more to return for the full barbacoa spread, served with warm tortillas, pickled chiles, salsa, cilantro, and onions. 417 E. Lake St. #334, Mpls., 612-806-4678, elchivocrazy.com
Taquería La Hacienda is known for its al pastor tacos. It has a full trompo spinning slowly behind the counter; slivers of richly marinated meat sliced off fresh for each taco. Honestly any restaurant that serves an avocado salsa verde has my heart, but I’d go back in a second for the al pastor either way. 334 E. Lake St #101, Mpls., 612-822-2715, taqueriaslahacienda.com
Dining and Cooking