Casa Bernal Taqueria

This one time Casa Bernal was closed, and my friend and I were legitimately devastated because we thought it was closed for good (luckily, I walked by a couple days later and saw that it wasn’t). Their fried fish tacos are so satisfying and tasty, and for just $ 0.75, guacamole makes them that much better! Really close to the Downtown Berkeley BART station, so that’s a plus. :)

Are they authentic? Not really.
Are their tacos the best I’ve ever had? Ehh, no.
Will they satisfy your cravings? Hell yes.
I’ve been known to crave fried fish tacos once in a while, and this place really hits the spot. It’s located very closeby to the Downtown Berkeley BART station, and really, really cheap — I don’t know where else you can get a filling meal for a mere price of $ 4.50. Adding guacamole to any dish is only $ 0.75! Their house chips are really unique — very thick, but they can get a little bland. I do enjoy their selection of salsas though.
I definitely prefer this place to La Burrita, and will gladly be returning!

If you ever get the carne asada quesadillas here, make sure to get them with sour cream and guacamole. Well worth spending the extra 0.50.
I’ll have to try the taco salad and the fish tacos whenever I come back.

I think I’ve been watching WAY too much Gordon Ramsey. I truly believe that no matter what size or type of establishment you are, and no matter where you are located, you should always try to be your best.
I work in Downtown Berkeley and I feel like a lot of the restaurants have lowered their standards because they serve mostly high school and college students. Even if I am ordering chips and guacamole to go, it should still be your best chips and guacamole. The lid of the guac should not be haphazardly sealed, then thrown in the bag so that it leaks all over my work clothes. Respect and care should still go into my order, no matter how small. Am I just a foodie snob? Am I just a sucker for excellent customer service? Maybe.
That being said, the guacamole is outstanding. The tortilla soup and burritos are good, but nothing special. The salsas are bland and uninteresting, though. Almost muddled. And that I just don’t understand. It’s the little things! Especially with Cancun just down the street, it really is the small stuff that’s going to make or break them.

I’m pretty sure the only reason why this place is (misleadingly) never packed is that it’s so convenient to BART and campus that most people order «to go».
It’s yummy, fairly priced (though not cheap), always has the game on, and offers a decent beer selection. It doesn’t compete with Jupiter’s home brews, but does complement its festive Mexican fare with decent tap and bottle offerings.
I have to admit that certain items are overpriced (see the veggie burrito and you’ll know what I’m getting at), but the staff is always pretty friendly, and for a buck extra you get sour cream, guac, and cheese. Works for me. Their chips are always pretty good, and the rice is consistently fluffy. Simple, flavorful, effective, and convenient.

I’m a huge fan of taco salads, but there’s no real agreement on exactly how to make them. Each restaurant has their own variation.
So I was quite surprised when I ordered theirs. It was really great. The tostada bowl itself was to die for. Crispy, a little buttery. I ate the whole thing.
It really is a salad and not a pile of mush. Lots of tasty salad greens, the dressing a light vinaigrette. I had carne asada, and it was good — not too much meat, not too little.
The beans were not refried beans on the bottom (as they should be, let’s face it) but mixed in with the other ingredients on small amounts. there was some guac, could have been more for my taste. (but to be fair, you can never have too much guac!).
I did order a side of sour cream — for a whopping 25 cents.
Overall, very good for 7 bucks and some change.
I do think a Mexican place should have real pico de gallo to go with the chips. They have some kind of salsa in a squeeze bottle — it’s so so, nothing great.

I love this place! Their fried fish tacos are amazing! They are very generous with the size of the fish in each taco and the sauce that they use is delicious! I also like how they give you homemade chips and salsa with each order.
I usually come here at night (around 9) and don’t have to wait. I have come here a few times during lunch and it was a bit crowded.
I would definitely recommend this place if you are in the area and hankering some good fish tacos!

Pretty good but expensive. The salsa isn’t quite spicy enough, but the rest of the ingredients are good.
But I spent $ 8.65 on a burrito. As a matter of principle, I’m not sure if a burrito is ever supposed to be that expensive. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt because they’re in an expensive location and the burrito did not disappoint me.
I’ve been here a couple times now and it seems pretty consistent. Haven’t tried the fish though.

A decent Mexican restaurant. I ordered the Mexican taco salad with grilled fish, and while it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t particularly memorable either.
The burritos are also pretty good. If you’re looking for a Mexican place for lunch in Berkeley this place is not a bad choice.

Line at Chipotle in SF for lunch was too long so I figured I’d get my guacamole fix at home.
Fresh ingredients. The quesadillas and burritos are pretty good. Not the best food ever but totally decent. Better than other places in Downtown Berkeley. Staff was pretty nice and it’s pretty clean for a place in the center of downtown.

Nice and clean taqueria. Very friendly service. The food is okay. I wish they put more salsa on my burrito or hot sauce directly in it but they give you hot sauce in little containers. Regardless, I was really full after eating here. I couldn’t even finish my burrito. They also have TVs if you wanted to eat your meal and and watch some sports at the same time.

Casa Bernal is seriously a treasure. One of the best Mexican restaurants I have ever been to.
Everything is fresh, delicious and unique. I used to eat at this Taqueria literally every other day on my lunch breaks. The pollo tacos and carne burritos are great but my favorite thing to eat there are the Baja Nachos… Yes, that’s what you want.
The Baja Nachos are a speciality item and aren’t even officially on the menu. The Nachos are stacked with perfect guacamole, beans, meat, pico de gallo, sour cream, cheese, homemade warm tortilla chips and their special sauce (a type of lemon infused mayonnaise) — the best nachos I have ever had.
In addition to this, they usually have authentic drinks that vary everyday, sometimes Horchata and sometimes watermelon fresca!
The staff is always attentive, efficient and friendly. I highly recommend this place to anyone who is ready for a beyond the ordinary type of eating experience. One of my favs!

It’s hard for me to know what fish tacos are supposed to taste like because I have never had them in San Diego. However, the fish tacos I had here tasted mighty fine to me. I liked the bottles of salsa on the table and the complimentary boat of crisp chips. It’s a deep misfortune that I never came here when I was living in Berkeley.

For me, this place is the platonic ideal of the taqueria. If you are a vegetarian living Berkeley, this is where you should go for Mexican. Why?
1) Guacamole — the best in Berkeley, no contest. Fresh and yummy, I always order extra.
2) Most of their veggie dishes use this Mexican cabbage/​lettuce substance which has a slightly crunchy (rather than wilty) texture. This stuff makes their veggie options filling without feeling too heavy.
3) The veggie tacos — delicious, just barely crispy flour tortilla. They melt the cheese on the bottom, add the beans, then the veggies, then the guacamole. I think this is the perfect veggie taco, and for some reason the way the ingredients are layered is a big part of why it works.
3) Their nachos are out of this world. They usually come with meat but you can get them veggie. Again, the way the ingredients are layered is just right. And there’s this dressing that is sort of like ranch, but not as heavy. Crazy good comfort food.
4) The salsas are also fresh and they include bottles of them on the table so you can help yourself.
5) Side of chips — if you get a burrito or tacos, you also get a small side of chips. I like that it’s a small side. The chips are good and, again, I don’t leave feeling like my gut is going to explode.
6) This place is clean. My mom will not eat at hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurants. The first few times she visited me in California, that meant we bypassed taquerias altogether because my favorites were not mom-​friendly on the cleanliness scale. Casa Bernal is very clean and well-​lit. It’s pleasant not gross to dine-​in which is quite an accomplishment when you consider that this place is on Shattuck across the street from BART. Mom and Dad loved it (and Mom ordered more guacamole halfway through her lunch).
7) The staff here is incredibly nice and helpful. Every customer service experience I’ve had here has been not only satisfactory but notably excellent. You really get the impression that the employees like where they work and take pride in the quality of the food they serve. They are super polite and friendly and deserved to get good tips.
I am a bit surprised that this place doesn’t have more rave reviews. It’s my favorite casual lunch or dinner in the downtown area. I hope people continue to give them business because I would hate for this place to close.

I go back and forth between awesome and mediocre on this place, but I keep coming back, so that says something, right?
Do NOT get the shredded chicken, as I think someone else mentioned. DO get the grilled chicken or carne asada. The chips are always warm and amazing. The agua fresca is quite nice, if a little sweet for my taste.
Sports are always playing on the TV and the staff is super nice. They also seem to have good beer specials.

Another great Mexican Taqueria in the Heart of Downtown Berkeley.
This location is right in my work neighborhood. It replaced the infamous Amanda’s organic hamburgers. They feature Niman Ranch pork and beef, free range chicken, and organic produce.
No salsa bar like that of Cancun’s. But there is two ordinary salsa on the table for your liking.
The menu has a variety of options and they are very affordable.
The highlight of this taqueria is the girl with the bright smile who works the cashier area. She is beyond sweet and brings your order to your table!

Pretty good food. I ordered the shrimp tacos and they were very filling. I like how they sell a variety of mexican sodas here. The line at lunch for this place is huge though! You can tell a lot of High School kids come to eat here. The service is really good. i would come back here again.

I had my hopes up, but Casa Bernal is definitely working the kinks out. The place doesn’t feel right — it’s hugely spacious on the inside, but there are few tables and chairs. At least you can grab a table outside. The menu is gigantic (both in terms of variety and the actual size the menu occupies above the counter).
I ordered a couple tacos (fish, chicken, and carnitas), but wasn’t impressed by the prices or the quality of the tacos. Actually, the best tasting part of the meal was the chips and salsa. Might go back for some nachos.
I’ll wait a while and see if the reviews creep up as Casa Bernal settles on Shattuck before I go back.

This rating is for the tacos.
My boyfriend and friends were making our rounds around the area and sampling a lil’ of this and a lil’ of that. We decided to stop into Casa Berbal for a taco after chomping down a slice of pizza.
Boyfriend and I shared a taco and our two friends shared a taco. Unfortunately, we did not order different tacos.
We ordered our tacos Pepe style which just happens to be two corn tortillas with the inner tortilla being fried.
Pros: I rather much enjoyed the crispy inner taco; while the meat wasn’t ohmygosh amazing, it was pretty tasty. The taco came with chips and the chips were good, but tasted downright amazing after we doused them in the avocado/​chile/​cilantro/​lime sauce that was sitting on the table. The establishment is well lit, clean, and has ample seating. You won’t find a roach coach here.
Cons: The regular taco is $ 3 and the Pepe style taco is $ 4. The tacos aren’t really worth the $ 4.
Customer Service: 4 stars; we were acknowledged as soon as we walked in, our food was brought to us without a problem, and the cashier offered us a cup of water with our meal when we didn’t order drinks.
Overall: Come to Casa Bernal for a casual atmosphere with solid ingredients.

I left to Hong Kong for a semester and return to find out that Amanda’s has closed! But in its place is a pretty cute Mexican place with a matching cactus sign in the front. It has nearly the same layout as Amanda’s, with indoor and outdoor seating. The menu font is really small to read though. There’s a cheap kid’s menu too.
The cashier was really nice, as well as the server, and the food arrived very quickly. I got the Pollo Quesadilla ($ 6), and my friend got the same, but with guacamole. I wish I had gotten it too, because the quesadilla was a bit dry. You have the choice of grilled or steamed chicken in the quesadilla. The meals came with a side of fresh chips. My quesadilla had this interesting outer crust that I’ve never seen on a quesadilla before and I can’t describe it in words. But it’s good and tasty! The horchata was also very good — not too cinnamon-​y like in other restaurants.
The downside is that they only had disposable, albeit compostable, cutlery. I would have liked hardy silverware, because cutting the quesadilla with a weaksauce knife was tedious.
Friendly service. Quick cooking time. Very reasonable prices. And even better — there’s a public bottle of hand sanitizer at the cashier counter!