Yayo Taco

Very sad… CLOSED
I went to Yayo Taco for the first time today on a recommendation from a friend. He told me to expect fusion style tacos, I was like «what?» Yayo Taco specializes in Mexican classics with an ethnic twist. I don’t really know how to explain it in any other sense. Anyway, I’m a student at UNLV. Which is great because five dollars buys me 4 tacos, cantina style, and two sides with my rebel card. Great deal even if the food was sub-​par…
I walk in, I’m greeted by this loco cashier named Jonathan. He’s a friendly guy who seems to know at least a fact or two about every beer in the fridge; there are hundreds… He set me up with a DogFish Midas Touch after we talked for a minute; great choice man! But it’s a sweet beer and not for everyone. I ordered two pollo tacos and two veggie tacos, sweet p fries and quinoa salad. A touch choice considering the menu has pretty good variety.
Pollo tacos: braised chicken with a mole marinade topped with a tomatillo salsa, amazing depth of flavor, I typically don’t like the bold taste or a traditional mole, but it wasn’t a traditional mole, just mild enough for me. I’ll order these every time I come back. Next time though, I’ll omit the salsa. I didn’t like it but it was easy enough to push aside.
Veggie tacos: spinach, peppers, onions and other ish served with a cream sauce. Very delicious, consistent option. Fresh veggies, good sauce, etc.
Quinoa salad was fresh, sweet p fries were good if not just a little bit too salty.
This place was features on diners drive-​ins and dives, which didn’t factor into my decision but it’s worth mentioning. I took a peek in the kitchen and the owner (who was on the show) was working side by side with his staff, a quality I look for in $ — $$$ restaurants.
Overall: five stars, no complaints, I’ll amend my review as I try more dishes…
Great…
–Service, eating within fifteen minutes, front of house knows their ish
–Atmosphere, cool beach cantina theme, surf boards cover the ceiling
–Food, look above
–beer, wine, tequila: how may I help you?
In conclusion, I’ll be back, maybe every day…

I first heard about this place when it was featured in an episode of triple D (Diners Drive-​Ins and Dives).
The blend of Mexican meets Asian looked and sounded delicious on TV, so we had to go check it out — and it did not disappoint.
The Carne Asada and the Carnitas are both very good. The Tofu Nues is surprisingly delicious, and you don’t miss meat at all when you bite in to one of those tasty treats! The sides of fresh fried chips and salsa are yummy, and go down fast.
Yayo’s is very casual, and the prices are cheap — especially compared to the quality tasting food you get. Great value for money!

I’ve gone to several Diners, Drive-​ins, and Dives restaurants. Yayo Taco is the first place I can truly say was a «dive». That’s not a bad thing because the atmosphere was fun. Wish I could be there on a Friday night with UNLV in session.
I had three tacos (Pollo, Carne Asada, and Bombay.) The Pollo was amazing and I could have eaten several more. The Carne Asada was tasty with a little bit too much spice for my taste. And I’ll skip the Bombay next time. Amazing selection of beers, which I tried, and tequilas, which I did not.

Great prices, you get a great amount of food and you dont leave unhappy.
Really hip, college atmosphere with great tequila and beers to go with your amazing fusion taco’s. Awesome owner and great staff.
Enjoy the excellent Specialty taco’s they’re all amazing.

I feel this is the best place for tacos and beer. Truely unique flavors.
I live in san Francisco and when I go to vegas I always hit up yayos for my Shanghai taco fix. Its like going to baja with a zen feel. i enjoy that hammock and artful walls too… love love love there food.
Wish they had one in s.f.
Located across from unlv on maryland behind Einstein’s bagel.
If they had ten stars I would give them 10.

Not much to say about this place. K.O. saw this on Diners, Drive-​ins, and Dives. We were in the area so we decided to give this place a shot. Boy were we disappointed. We dont know if this place once had good food but they definitely dont anymore.
Texano-​dry flavorless meat
Pastor-​pineapple doesn’t belong, flavorless also
Carne molida-​weird flavor, also flavorless
I wouldnt recommend this place to anyone and would steer clear of this spot.

I really really wanted to like this place. It was featured on Diners, Drive-​Ins and Dives and looked amazing. Looks, in this case, were deceiving.
Definitely a fun and interesting atmosphere. The walls were decorated by adoring customers and employees… and probably more than a few wise ass college students. Everything was wood finished and it felt like a little cantina one might find in Cabo.
We walked in and no one greeted us, but there was a man in the corner with sunglasses on and a lap top in front of him that just stared at us creepily. I later realized that he was the owner (I recognized him from the show)…Okie dokie.
On to the food. My wife and I shared the camarones, carne asada, pollo, pescado, carnitas, and shanghai tacos. The only ones even remotely memorable were the carnitas and carne asada. They both had a nice char on the meat and good flavor… but nothing special and not any better than any other run-​of-​the-​mill taco joint. My main complaint about everything was the complete lack of flavor… in particular, acid and salt. Everything was in dire need of seasoning. I don’t care how many ingredients you put in your marinade, if there’s no salt, it’s bland. In addition, PLEASE serve all tacos with a lime!
The last thing I want to talk about are the tortillas. They were so incredibly tiny for the sheer amount of filling that’s in each one. After one bite, everything falls out into your hands and the only thing in which to wipe them off are tiny, thin, little square bev naps… I went through about 30 of them.
No brightness, no pop, no spice, bland flavors and a tortilla delivery system that falls way too short, Yayo Taco doesn’t live up to the hype.

WHERE ELSE might you find Tacos of chicken sautéed in yellow mint coconut curry and sweet tangy tamarind chutney? If that doesn’t do it for you maybe the slow roast chicken basil almond pesto red pepper balsamic cruda taco will do. And if your feeling beefy the number eleven wasabi seared steak in Chinese black bean salsa with crisp cabbage slaw wasabi crema you might dig into? They got all that and bunches more but those were the ones I tried that were all awesome delicious not just sauced up but developed with great flavors and topped with out of the ordinary ingredients.
Only $ 2.50 each for these gourmet tacos!
Side dishes cost .75 cents each I tried the quinoa salad. After the mind blowing tacos this salad didn’t do it for me but it might for you.
If you are coming from out of town I recommend that you call to make sure they are open. Last year in August they closed with out notice, everything was packed up, and when I called the phone rang and rang without a message.
They are a little hard to find. No sign on top of the restaurant. Only a picture of a big sombrero on a side wall. The inside is very raw and the chairs were made in a wood shop.
4.5 stars
This one made it for my Las Vegas Rotation!

I thought I’d never find a cheap place in Vegas. But, oh my gawd, did I find one really?! Yayo Taco is the bomb! $ 1.75 to $ 2.25 tacos with a lot of tasty goodness overflowing in your mouth. If you happen to be in Vegas, be sure to visit this joint just to have a taste of why I’m so excited about it. It’s near the strip, just take a cab ride. Come on, you can do it! You must try their Bombay Taco and Shanghai Taco. It’s oh so good to the very last bite. (Don’t bite your fingers! The sauce drips.) I also tried their Pastor Taco and Carne Asada Taco. They were on the spot delicious in everything! Who cares if the place looks like a dive bar?! It is a dive bar! The food tasted awesome and they have a whole page list of beers. Go international! Drink it with a great taco! This is my second flavortownusa-​hop. I haven’t been disappointed. I’ll always pass by this place when in Vegas.

If you want cheap, fusion tacos –you’ve found it. This is conveniently located across from the UNLV student union.
This place has a good student special, which is why I return. You get 4 tacos ($ 1.75), choice of 2 sides and a beverage for something like $ 4.95. This portion is a shareable size. There are other tacos at $ 2.25 you can order with the student special, you’d just have to pay an extra 50 cents more for those tacos.
This place has a variety of beers and has outdoor seating which is cool on a nice day.
I recommend getting the carne molida, which they say is a halal meat. To me, it was like a marinated, flavorful meat. Compared to all the other tacos I got (carne asada, pescado-​fish, and chicken) which didn’t have much flavor. The carne asada is bland and the chicken has a funky spice added to it, it just WAS not for me. The pescado was just a fried fish on top of red cabbage, but it was definitely better than the chicken and carne asada.
Their sauces aren’t that great. They just tasted bland.
We also got the carne asada nachos while we were here, it wasn’t too greasy, we added black beans for an extra 50 cents. The carne asada isn’t like Roberto’s– its more of a shredded meat.
**When I was there yesterday I noted a «C» (posted pic) from the health department, so food goers, you have been warned.**
Tip: Wednesday’s are $ 1 beers for ladies!

Mmmm, asian inspired tacos! Pretty happening beer list! My ear drums bleeding on live band night, suck! Well they weren’t bleeding but let me tell you what it was insanely fucking loud in there. Like so loud you couldn’t order your food at the counter you literally had to point at them menu to what you wanted. It took forever to get our food though it may have been ready but I couldn’t hear if my name was being called.
Highlights. Shanghai Taco, Pescado Taco and the Bombay Taco. Lowlights. Having tried most of the sides, chips and salsa is the best one with sweet potato fries being the worst which were greasy, burnt and limp.
Now with all that said I like Yayo, it’s alright! Seriously though, come early before the live music starts. Unless of course hearing loss is your thing.

I could see why the Food Network featured this place. It really does tailor to my preferences of a good time. Tacos, tequila, and brewskis! They have a WIDE selection of beer to offer, as well as a wide selection of tequila!
First, the food. I tried the Bombay taco (which I ordered a second round of), the Pescado, and the beer battered shrimp taco. The Bombay taco was
. They should rename it
taco…(bad joke. sorry.) It’s a nice tender chicken taco drizzled with curry sauce. Super delicious with a nice amount of smack kick punch spice to it! The pescado was also good as well. A very nice and tender pollock fish with topped with guac and sour cream. A very traditional fish taco. The shrimp taco was also amazing! Huge shrimp pieces that don’t even fit in the corn tortilla itself! The beer batter was sweet and crispy. Just the way I like it. Tacos there sell for $ 1.75 for the Classico or $ 2.25 each for the Loco. What a deal!
Johnathan, was an awesome server. He’s very fun and knowledgeable about his brews. I tried the Dogfish head 90 there, and if you’re up for it, they have the Dogfish head 120 as well. We tried the Wyders which is good (but you can get that at your local convenient store). They had this nice Crispin apple cider that Anthony suggested which was really delicious. It was slightly sweet, but still very delectable. Definitely a good suggestion for someone who isn’t a big beer drinker.
I had a great experience, and I’m just mesmerized by the sections they have of everything there. They even have vegan offerings there for you to enjoy! They also have bands that play there as well, but aside from the knowledgeable tourists, the place tailors to mostly college students since its right across the street from the campus.

I love Yayo’s for the food, the craft beer, and the atmosphere.
Obviously a college Taco joint, Yayo’s has sooo many tasty options! And the options are inventive. I order as many things as possible when I’m here, just to try different meats and sauces. Bombay, asada, pastor, veggie! …and I get to pair them with outstanding craft beer… okay, i’m in!
First came here to watch a friends band play on a Friday night… now I stop by whenever I’m in the area and even remotely hungry. I even came here to eat two tacos before going to meet some friends for dinner in the area one time.
I think this is my favorite place in Vegas for tacos… if not, it’s certainly one of the best!

I think this place is pretty good for the price. The quality of the meat is great but they just needed the extra kick in spice/​seasoning. I felt like some of the tacos came out too soggy or mushy or something too.
$ 7.99 gives you a combo which comes w/​4 tacos and 2 sides. The sides I picked were double-​salad which is all spinach. I enjoyed how they LOADED up each taco w/​meat btw.
–Carne asado tacos were good but the meat needed some extra flavor. If they had some hot sauce this thing would be awesome. It was a bit mushy/​soggy too
–Al Pastor tacos were good but the texture was over-​the top mushy. A bit too sweet too. I still liked it tho.
–Shrimp tacos were a bit disappointing. They were just fried fish w/​breading, in a taco on a huge lettuce leaf. Wasn’t a fan at all.
–Shanghai taco was pretty good. I liked this one.
I like my tacos to be spicy and the items I ordered had almost no spice. The hot sauce they offered wasn’t to my liking either.
If they added a hot sauce station this place would be 4 stars easy. Still — a solid A-​OK place.

Came here at around 2:30pm on a Saturday afternoon and was really disappointed that they were out of A LOT OF ITEMS, including their only beer on draft. Half of the items I tried to order were out, so I finally asked the question, what DO you have that I can order?
I split a taco platter with my gf, which consisted of the shanghai, pescado, texano, and some ground pork taco. The tacos were all just okay, but the price is right (10 dollars including drink), quantity was pretty large, and the food was fresh. Ask for a side of the spicy mole to kick it up a notch.
I really wish they would season their meat a little better. They must have run out of salt because everything was a bit on the bland side.
I was expecting a bit more from yayo, seeing as how it was featured on DDD. 3 stars.

Yeah, this place was featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives recently and I’m sure business has spiked because of it. Their tacos are their main draw. It’s a diverse and ambitious menu featuring 15 kinds of tacos, ranging from traditional to fusion, along with three vegetarian types.
I went with a combo platter. Four tacos (the Pastor, Texano, Bombay, Shanghai), chips and salsa, and pinto beans. The depth of flavor from the wasabi steak and contrasting textures of the cabbage slaw made the Shanghai my favorite taco. The pastor was good but not as good as the one at Taco El Gordo. The meat in the Texano was completely mushy, rendering it a sloppy mess and I wasn’t crazy about the taste of the Bombay. The chips were good, the pinto beans weren’t. They were incredibly bland and quite possibly some of the worst beans I’ve had.
3.5 Stars

Having heard so many good things about this place, I wanted to give it a shot. The main thing that kept me from eating there is the really good taco shop just down the street and another good restaurant 3 doors down from Yayo. Couple that with the fact that I didn’t realize it was Yayo that had the crowds and such when eating at the other place, I thought it was a different establishment.
I digress.
It was a midweek, late lunch when the wife and I finally gave Yayo a go. It was a relatively nice, blustery day, so the doors were all wide open, letting the natural light in, while the wind helped to keep the place from being too hot inside.
The menu looked small at first (on the display board) then we were handed full menus. Still not huge, just a single side of a piece of paper a step or two up from legal sized paper. The reverse side is their beer list, a huge, huge beer list.
Debating between their offerings, I settled on the chicken nachos, which is one of my gauges of a Mexican restaurant. If you can screw up chicken, cheese and chips, I don’t want to give you a chance with anything else!
All of their non-​beer drinks were single serving bottles or cans, including water (which is kind of ridiculous), then iced tea was suggested. Given the weather, a nice cup of iced tea sounded like it would hit the spot.
Finding a seat in the eclectically decorated, handmade looking, wood furniture featured dining area near the door, we enjoyed the breeze over a Las Vegas Weekly.
With a desire to quench my thirst, I took a sip of the tea… Why do places fail to mention when it is flavored tea? I am not a fan of most flavored teas, so getting a jasmine infused assault on my taste buds, literally, left a bad taste in my mouth.
After a reasonable wait, my nachos came out, the gentleman delivering them was very apologetic for the wait, explaining they had to melt the cheese, etc. It was refreshing to see someone feel bad for taking a reasonable amount of time, where most places act put off when you ask them why it took an hour for service.
Starting with some of the outlying chips, I dove in. The quality of the chips and cheese made it seem like flavored tea would be the worst part of the meal. And then… I got to the chicken.
Perhaps, I should have guessed if the tea was going to be flavored, the chicken may have had something ‘off’ with it as well. The best way I can describe the chicken is that it had a Mediterranean or Middle Eastern essence to it. If I was eating at Paymon’s, I would have completely understood the flavoring.
Once I scraped all of the chicken off, the rest of the nachos were delicious, save for the bits that had absorbed some of the funky chicken’s flavoring.
If I am in the mood just for some meatless nachos, and have something to drink in my pocket, I may go back. The quality of food was good, the ambiance was welcoming, some of the flavors though… I wouldn’t give the chicken or tea a second chance.

It was a pleasure bringing my hungry ass to Yayo taco for lunch last week, as I discovered some jam packed, delicious TACOS. Okay! Where to start?! First, I feel I should highlight this amazing deal: 4 TACOS, 2 SIDES, AND A DRINK FOR $ 5! Thats right, FIVE DOLLARS. Thats what I’m talkin about!
I love that the menu has variety and that they are creative with the food– very basic ingredients– yet creative and colorful. My fave was the shrimp tacos, I did not unfortunately, like the Pescado– the texture was oddly off and no flavor. I took a peak at what some of the other customers were eating and I noticed insanely huge proportions and inappropriate facial expressions that screamed SATISFACTION ;)
Basic tacos are $ 1.75 and Specialty Tacos are $ 2.25. You’ll have a basic selection of burritos, quesadillas, ensaladas, and even «hamburgers» but you’re stupid if you go to a Mexican restaurant to eat a hamburger– so try one of their tasty Tortas! :)
This place is a hole in the wall, but once inside, you have a spacious seating arrangement, limited bar section, and music. The decorations are fun and it almost feels like one of those places you walk into while your walking on the beach board walk. AND staff was friendly :)

If you don’t rate this place 5-​stars then you haven’t actually experienced this place.
First, I’m a lover of all things beer. Second, I’m a lover of all things Tex-​Mex. Third, they got it right all the way down the line.
I went in first just to have some beers. Adrian (spelling? Ack!) served me and was laid back and didn’t say much but was quick on the draw when he saw my beer go low. Thanks! ;)
I left and then went back again to finish what I started. Whew, bad idea. Sort of. I said I’d need to sleep there after all the beer and food I was about to consume and Adrian so generously offered up a hammock hanging behind me, what a pal!
I ordered some more beer (Belgian) and told Adrian that I loved all things Belgian. While commiserating with me he asked if I’d ever tried a Japanese beer (I believe) or another Belgian, I believe. I hadn’t, but they looked so good that I promised I’d be back to try them again soon. I trust this man implicitly.
I asked about food and he highly recommended I try the carne asada tacos. Well, okay! I asked if they made guac and he said they did. I wanted thick and chunky and he said ‘whatever you want.’ Well, whatever I wanted was exactly what I got.
The carne asada had a spicy bite to it, but was still chunky and slightly chewy in the fabulous corn tortillas. I got four and that was almost too much (for like $ 6 — with guac!!). I couldn’t stop eating the chips they served with my meal. I almost started dunking them in my beer. I’m positive they would have tasted great that way too!
All I know is that I walked out of that place thinking ‘damn, I hope they don’t get sick of me because I’m coming back and may never leave.‘
Whatever you do, ask for Adrian. Great guy. Beer smart, food smart, super awesome smart. I took his advice on everything and he came through with flying colors. You are the best!
The food, the beer, the atmosphere — don’t miss it. Really.

Yayo is starting to piss me off. The food is good, but now they’re charging more for their food. Funny how when you go to order the $ 5 student special, they charge $ 7. They ring up each item separately and then subtract $ 4. If the special is advertised as being $ 5… then charge me $ 5. I went in with my family and the lady speaking Spanish obviously wasn’t aware than I could understand her when she was telling the cashier to charge my parents full price for the meals. The cashier was telling us that with my i.d. and my sister’s i.d. card, the special would come out to «about $ 6 and some change» for each of my and my sister’s meals. All 6 of us walked out without ordering.
I used to be able to order any of their tacos and get charged the $ 5, now I can only order tacos #1−4 which are basic chicken, beef and pork. What’s the point? I used to bring people here ALL the time, but I’m tired of being overcharged and not able to order off their menu like I used to be able to do. They’ve lost me as a customer. You might not get as much food, but you might as well head across the street to Baja Taco.