Taco Joint

Taco joint is personally my favorite taco place in Austin, especially if you are in the mood for a good breakfast taco (try one with potatoes… so good!) The sauces they have are delicious, definitely sample all of them if you’re new, but especially the chipotle and avocado sauces. You get a lot of food for your money… I have a big appetite and I can leave there feeling stuffed for less than $ 5 (including tip)! The staff is always friendly and are kind enough to check in with you to make sure you’ve enjoyed your meal if they aren’t crazy busy.

This place is a great find! We are in Austin for only a few days and wanted some local TexMex. The tacos here have great flavor and a wide variety of ingredients that are all freshly made.
This would be a 5 star review if they had someone paying better attention to cleaning tables. The fellow taking orders, needs to get a personality… The rest of the staff is quite helpful and hard working!

New to Austin and my husband and I decided to try out taco joint. We had the 420, fried fish, Crockett, and street tacos. All were delish… definitely will be back!

Pretty good and affordable tacos! My top three places for tacos in Austin would have to be this, Kesos, and El Taquito. I’ve tried 2 – 3 different tacos from here but my favorite so far is the street taco. It has everything I like in it, and I just gotta throw on some salsa and it’s set. Well, minus the onions… I just ask for it without it. My favorite sauce is the avocado one and I kind of like the habenero but it’s a little too sweet for me here, as well as their special sauce they’re known for. I’m really glad they opened up another location because it was super packed the time I visited. Glad I got to try it and will definitely be back for more.

Fast, cheap, DELICIOUS. The El Porko taco was the table favorite by far– do not forget to visit the ~sauce bar~ and load up on their red and green salsas, creamy avocado sauce and sweet&tangy but eye-​bleeding spicy habanero.

Needed a quick meal option near UT, how can you go wrong with Taco Joint. Short answer is… you can’t.
Crockett plus egg/​chorizo were excellent.
Both were good sized tacos and with the Habenero sauce they definitely hit the spot.
If you are walking to this place you don’t have to deal with the ridiculously limited parking options, but guess that’s why it’s across the street from campus.
Great tacos at a great price, got four for $ 12.

They get two stars for the awesome sauces.
–1 for the dirty setting and that angry man disrupting eating by aggressively trying to put whose and whose orders together by screaming at his patrons also at the very least please keep track of when a party leaves so you can wipe down the table. Don’t leave 5 parties worth of food accumulated before you do anything.
–1 for the hard ass tortilla wrapping. They are hard, chewy, dry, and overall unpleasant. They’re also a mass of thick tasteless dough that was lukewarm. HEB sells fresher tortillas each day
–1 for the sad piles of bland meat. I got 5 different tacos, all 5 were spectacularly disappointing. Worst part is, the one that was the most decent was only decent cause it had like potato sticks or something dumped on the meat. Here’s a gratuitous photo:
I don’t remember what I got, like the top 4 or 5 tacos you can get on the list.
All the meat is the same: it has that reheated dry lumpy texture that’s not fresh. So yes I see them heating up the meat on the stoves and all but is that meat fresh?
I don’t know what’s the best, I know carnitas was the worst because it had chunky lumps of fat or tendon in it and made the meat all crunchy in a «is there bugs in my food crunchy»
The steak was super overcooked cause it was like the cafeteria/​subway steak type of thing.
I’m honestly confused, just look at all the pictures people posted and don’t read the obviously biased reviews– would you eat something that looked like that?
It looks exactly like how you imagine it to taste. Also it’s $ 3.50 a taco. One of those sketch gas station/​taco shops would likely have the same sanitation standards as here and most likely better food standards, plus it’s usually $ 1 – 2.50.
What makes this place more authentic than torchys? People like to laugh and say,“oh that’s white boys’ tacos” but at least they don’t skimp out on the meat (not that I’d want anymore of this mess) and everything is more than lukewarm. Screw that, I’ll be a white boy and you can be (in your mind) a cultured connoisseur of mexican food.
Also: Was that kraft singles cheese I had on one of my tacos??? I know that taste very well. I wish I snapped a picture.
Their saving grace is the fast service and the giant squeeze bottles of sauce they give, not that silly thumbnail containers they give out at torchys.
By now everyone should take all Austin reviews with a grain of salt. Most people reviewing these places are kids that finally left their homes and Austin just happens to be where they first had something other than mom’s cooking. Anything a teeny bit culturally diverse is the «best food ever!!11!» and if you don’t like it you’re not hip/​PC/​intolerant, a sin around UT.

I will literally refuse to talk to you if you don’t love Taco Joint. I am so depressed that I didn’t realize this amazing place existed so close to where I lived until literally a week before I left for another city. Don’t make the same mistake I did and live a life full of regret. Come here and get literally anything and you will leave satisfied in your stomach — but also emotionally drained from being so in love, being so sad that you didn’t know about it before, being so excited to come again a couple hours later.
Closed Sundays and around dinnertime on Saturday

After hearing my friend rave about Taco Join a-​gajillion times, I finally tried Taco Joint after visiting Austin for the 10^th time. Boy, do I regret trying it so late. I am officially hooked and will have to admit that Taco Joint is my favorite taco joint (see what I did there? haha).
Because it is as good as everyone makes it out to be, expect a wait. And because it is conveniently located near campus, expect to drive around for a bit to find parking. Worth it? Yes.
What really sets Taco Joint apart from other taquerias is that their tortilla is handmade, thin yet toasted to a minimally burnt crisp!
Here are the tacos I tried, ranked from most delicious to still-​delicious-​but-​not-​as-​delicious:
1. Street Taco — so juicy and flavorful, and did I mention? There’s avocado.
2. Fried Fish Taco — The honey lime slaw that it comes with is the bomb!
3. Steak, egg & gouda cheese — Love how fresh the gouda cheese tastes!
4. Whole Mole — Comes with shredded chicken and as the name misleadingly suggests, there is no guacamole, but it does come with queso fresco!
While all these tacos are good enough by themselves, do *not* forget to top it off with one or two or three or all of their salsas/​sauces. I advise you to try them all, because they’re all great.
Remember that your eyes are always hungrier than your stomach, so resist the temptation to order everything off the menu. The tacos are stuffed to where 2 – 3 tacos should be enough!

I don’t understand what people mean by a lot cheaper than Torchy’s. Is it really a lot cheaper 3.50 $ taco joint vs 3.75 $ torchy?
If you’re looking for value, torchys for that 25 cent more, you’re getting much better tasting and quality tacos. There is more value overall at torchys than taco joint.
This is not ma and pa vs chain. It’s not like there’s economy of scale at play where torchy is able to offer cheap tacos cause they’re a big chain that can afford to, they’re charging a premium price for premium tacos. Taco joint is serving gourmet price comparable to torchys so they should pick one or the other to offer, and not pseudo authentic tacos at gourmet chain price.
If they’re serving easy homemade style tacos, they should stay in homemade price range under 3.50 $ a taco.
In short it’s not that good in general, just okay tacos. Certainly not 3.50 $ a taco good. Torchys is a lot cheaper when considering value.

This is a haven for hungry UT students that usually eat gross cafeteria food & ramen. Taco Joint is one of the few places near UT that serves food which is delicious, super affordable, and quick. The tortillas are particularly awesome, and I love the vast selection of salsas.
However, minor annoyances like crowdedness & lack of parking bring it down to four stars. Instead of eating here, I usually order to-​go.

Apparently I’ve been very lucky, because every time I’ve visited Taco Joint I’ve had minimal wait and had no problems finding a table. The barbacoa is amazing, they have solid bean & cheese, and ALL OF THE SAUCES. Just get one of each so you don’t miss out on any of the deliciousness.

Love love love Taco Joint. Located super conveniently next to the CPE, so expect a lot of engineering students.
The tacos themselves are amazing. I never fail to get the barbacoa every single time. I don’t know how exactly they make that meat but it has the perfect amount of oil. Add the pico de gallo for extra bam. I’m also not a big fan of fish tacos but theirs are pretty good and come at a good price.
Their avocado sauce and chipotle sauce are a go-​to. Just like the tortillas, it’s fresh and homemade and filled with tastiness.
The only con is that seating is limited and lines get super long during peak times but that is only because their business is booming!

Why haven’t I discovered this place until now??? And seeing that it’s so close to campus, I feel like I should’ve known about an amazing taco place. This place is kind of like a hole in the wall. You wouldn’t think much of it when you see it, but judging from the lines in the morning, it’s definitely a place to try.
I was craving breakfast tacos and wanted something different from the usual tacodeli. I ordered potato, egg, and cheese and the chorizo. First off, both tacos have amazing tortillas. They must be homemade because you just can’t buy taste like this. It was soft and chewy and just all kinds of wonderful. I liked the chorizo better, mostly because I thought the potato, egg, cheese was a bit heavy and a little too cheesy. But definitely a great place to pick up breakfast as you’re walking to school if you live on this side of campus.

Taco joint is a quaint little taco shop close to the UT campus with somewhat limited seating (it wouldn’t be great for parties more than 5 – 6 people at most). The line moves fairly quickly and they have a ton of delicious choices to choose from pulled pork to sirloin to fish and even breakfast tacos!
The tacos are a pretty decent size and priced at around $ 3-​$ 4 each. They also have a nice little salsa bar and I think their chipotle dressing is definitely King!

We came to this place after a colleague recommended this place. I was a bit hesitant about going because it was around lunch time and didn’t want the wait to be too long.
However, the line moves fast and people are in and out. I had the street and fried fish taco and smothered it with the chipotle & habanero sauces. Incredible!

I can only speak for the breakfast tacos, but I will speak loudly.
DELICIOUS.
Taco Joint actually has the most delicious, well-​rounded breakfast tacos in Texas. the tortillas, the eggs, meat/​meat-​like things, and sauces do not allow you to go wrong.
Chipotle sauce… I’ll take five please. Thank goodness they have a sauce bar where you are free to get whichever sauce in whatever quantities you wish.
The place isn’t exactly upscale but who wants upscale breakfast tacos?

A great gem of the UT campus. Even at the crack of dawn you’ll see students rolling out of bed for these wonderful authentic tacos. I’ve only had their breakfast tacos, but that’s all I need to try to know that I love taco joint’s tacos. Tortillas are toasty, salsas are tasty, and atmosphere is true to it’s name. A must try in Austin for some good Texas style breakfast.

We shared 3 killer tacos the other day for lunch here. Super casual and filled with students from UT across the street. Good vibe.
The El ⁴⁄₂₀ was a highlight with shoestring crispy potatoes on flavorful steak. That tied with the El Senior Crockett, beef served with smoked Gouda. Made for an interesting taco and it worked. We also tried the pork carnitas. It was good but not as good as the 2 beef tacos we tried.
Prices are decent and the tacos are fairly large.

If you feel the need to straddle that gap between a genuine taqueria and whatever the latest reboot of Torchy’s & Tacodeli is, this may be your place. The Taco Joint appears to be the perfect blend of dive bar and trendster taco, and my first thought was these guys were pulling off one big hipster joke. And backing it up with solid food.
I never heard of this place until I read Gary’s ROTD, and the notion of «fish tacos» always struck me as an oxymoron. But I am a sucker for a great breakfast taco, and the eggs here are definitely Type 4 — light, buttery, with a hint of French omelet. At two bucks a pop, and making their own tortillas, this is some pretty good eating. (In Austin, there are seven different ways breakfast taco eggs are made, and I keep track of them.)
You’re not going to be blown away by the coffee, but you will be amazed if you score a parking place right out front. Hey, it’s UT. And remember Taco Joint is maybe a notch or two above being a literal hole in the wall, so you’re going to be standing around waiting for something — the cashier, the salsa bin, or your number to be called. Pffft, small stuff. Be patient, enjoy the show, and good things come to those who wait.