El Grullense

Not the best place but omg the tacos !! (Hard to find where to park) my fav place for tacos

Wow! this taco place is the best. Amazing tacos at a great price.

Very good food here.
Quality of the meats are good and so is their salsa.
Had the carne asada burrito and chicken tacos.
Prices are the most affordable in RWC. Reminds me of SoCal shops.

Pretty yummy place… came here for lunch with a friend who was moving and wanted to get his fill of authentic Mexican food!
Prices are reasonably cheap, and the location is convenient to downtown stores and all the downtown facilities (i.e. Post office, library — good study break for lunch!). The place appears to have a lot, which is amazing for this area, and furthermore, plenty of seating and space (!), which is also getting to be a premium for restaurants in the area. Ordering happens at a huge counter outside, and the menu is pretty substantial. Burritos are a decent size, and the super nachos are gargantuan and super delicious with sour cream, onions, your choice of meat (I had steak), nacho cheese, herbs, and beans. Overall, love this place, and love how it’s a good spacious spot in the midst of an increasingly cramped downtown!

Hole in the wall spot. This is located next to the Valero gas station. I come out here for the tacos. Order of 3 will do you good. Cheap and tasty.
They open as late as 1−2am

Fast and dirty tacos… you know why you came here. If you’re expecting the best, this is not it. However, the food is hot and fresh.

Blanca messed up my order with a super sassy voice saying insulting things in Spanish when I could understand her perfectly horrible customer service but tacos are great.

There are many local favorites but when ever your up north swing by the number one authentic gruellence located in German CA: 5N Fwy 45 mins from six flags

If you are desperate for mexican food this would be a last resort. This place does not have fresh ingredients. The burritos are some of the worst I have ever had. Keep on trucking if you are looking for a good burrito.

These tacos punch you in the face with flavor. In a good way. Greasy, spicy, and satisfying, like a cheap taco is supposed to be.
There are a slew of taco spots within a quarter mile of this place. I’ve eaten at them all and this is my favorite.
Dammit, now I am salivating. I ate 6 for lunch and will probably have to swing by for a post-​work snack.

Seems to have all the makings of a great hole in the wall Mexican joint, but this supposedly magical stop at the Valero was anything but magical for me.
Grabbed four tacos, because why not? Two carnitas and two lengua. Found the lengua to be unimpressive considering the hype and in comparison to other lengua tacos I’ve had previously. Good enough to eat, but that’s not saying much when talking about a lengua addict like myself. The carnitas was popping with great flavor, but my main gripe about both is that I could feel the oil coating my insides as I was digesting the food. I’ve been told that true Mexican food is supposed to be greasy, but this was just way too over the top for me.
Parking is scarce and you’ll get towed if you park at the gas station, so you have to find somewhere on the street. It’s probably where you’re going to have to eat your meal too, so choose wisely.
I obviously did not.

WOWZERS.
I’ve been back less than two months after living in SD for 4 years because of school and work, and I didn’t think I’d stumble across such delicious tacos. I’ve had my fair share of tacos throughout my time in SD, and I would say the tacos here could rival them. And the crazy thing was my friends and I randomly decided to go here because we were looking for a place to eat late at night, and it was the only thing open.
First off cash only, which isn’t a big surprise to me. Secondly, I did have some difficulty ordering because either I wasn’t talking clearly enough or too fast, but the lady taking my order got confused several times, but I wasn’t too mad about it. At the time I had come they had run out of carne asada, which was kind of sad, but that probably means it’s also super good, so it had been hella order. So I settle for 2 cabezza (spelling? Sorry forgive my spanish) and 2 chicken tacos.
Wait isn’t too bad, like under ten minutes and then the fresh tacos with the hot meat and onions and cilantro is served. I will admit it’s a bit on the greasy side, but the flavor is just so strong and delicious, so I really didn’t care. I would totally go back more often if I lived closer, but I did see on Unilocal that it’s a chain, so maybe sometime in the future, I’ll try some other stuff.
Overall great tacos, affordable, just not seating, and it looks kind of ghetto since it’s at a ghas station that closes kind of early, BUT WHO CARES. THESE TACOS ARE BOMB.

It’s good but waaaayyyy too greasy — to the point where it’s kinda gross.
This is gas station taco — located in a Valero station in redwood city, this taco «stand» does not have any seating.
There are two people working inside the super small kitchen area. We ordered four tacos, a asana burrito, tripitas burrito. The meat has a nice crunchy outside which all the best taco/​burrito places do. The asada taco was the best. The other tacos — steak, pollo and carnitas were dripping with greasy. Gross. The burritos were good but not great.
I’ve tasted several of the 538 burrito winners and one thing they all do well is to stuff the tortillas and wrap them very tightly. Unfortunately our burritos were not wrapped tightly and so there were a little floppy and often there would be too much tortilla skin to inside filling.
It’s fine and it’s fun but there are much better places.

(best tacoz in the bay area too by the way)

Ridiculously cheap tacos with good meat and late opening hours makes El Grullense solid. Heck, I don’t even know how they have cheaper prices than the one on El Camino but they do. I love how I can get a solid plate of 4 double tortilla’d tacos under $ 6.
As for the meats, it’s a varying experience. I think the pastor is bomb but really spicy. Lengua is my biased favorite. The pollo and carne asada were decent but not on the godly level of the other two.
I’ve tried other plates too. I think the quesadilla has too much going on with the veggies. The sope is good for a solid (literally) bite. The torta bread was soft and made a good sandwich, but I’m biased against that kind of bread. Every time I get tacos, I see everyone get only tacos, except for the occasional one guy who wants a burrito.
If you go 11 or later be wary that they may be out of several meats. Almost every late night they’ll only have 2 or 3 left, plus be out of every carb but taco tortillas. What meat is left is inconsistent from day to day too, so be careful.

Ok. You will be worried at first … Tacos at gas station, but they are amazing and cost only $ 1.34
They may not add the spicy sauce if you don’t ask. If you like super spicy, you should get it. Yummy.
Carnitas tacos were great.

Great food, great price. Simple as that.
I like to keep it simple and just get the tacos. The burritos have too much beans and other fillers for my taste.
Meat, salsa, and tortillas form the perfect taco pyramid, and they’ve got it all. Takes some time since everything’s made to order and there’s usually only 2 people working, but it’s worth the wait. I recommend the lengua, carne asade, or carnitas.
Recently ordered the carne asada quesadilla, and they really pile on the meat. Very delicious, but I still think the tacos are the best.

El Grullense is truly a diamond in the rough.
I’ve visited twice and had the chicken tacos both times. They were ridiculously good! In fact, they’re the best tacos I’ve ever had! The chicken itself tastes great and the default salsa has a kick to it that I enjoy.
Did I mention that El Grullense is located within a Valero Gas Station? The only reason I discovered this place is because I happened to bump into a friend while pumping gas here. Amazing.
Did I also mention that a chicken taco costs only $ 1.35? At today’s gasoline prices, this means that you can get almost 3 tacos for the price of one gallon of 91 octane (aka premium) fuel!
This is definitely the best petrol pump experience that I’ve ever had. I’m surprised that Valero hasn’t rolled out more El Grullense’s to many more of its stations! It’s just that good.

I think I found my favorite Mexican spot in Redwood City. I came by here for lunch after receiving multiple recommendations from my coworkers.
Like most other reviewers have already said, the location is not the greatest. The «restaurant» is a small shack attached to a gas station. There’s a window for ordering and a window for pick up.
Prices here are ridiculously good for what you get. A taco runs at $ 1.35. A super burrito is a little under $ 6 after tax. I ended up getting a lengua super burrito. The burrito was stacked with beans, sour cream, rice, meat, meat and more meat (and a few other stuffs). They are extremely generous with the portions.
This place gets busy around lunch time, especially since there are so many business centers around here. Luckily, the wait isn’t long.
Overall, I’d definitely be coming back. The quality of food for the price can’t be matched around this area.
Note: cash only!

Sometimes, the best eats are the cheap eats.
As many have shared, this particularly outpost of El Grullense is located next to a Valero gas station and parking can be challenging at best. I simply opted to fill my tank with gas and order as I was waiting for it to fill.
The adjacent neighborhood is mainly industrial and seating is basically non-​existent other than in your car. Despite all these relative downsides, people seem to always be in line and today in the afternoon was no different.
For $ 1.35 + tax, these tacos are priced probably better than any other Redwood City taqueria. Service is fast and efficient and they’ll even pack your order to go (with aluminum foil and napkins) if you request. My sampling:
Taco Tripitas — $ 1.84. This was a special order item listed in the window so I decided to give it a try. They cook the tripe to a crisp and it’s flavorful and crunchy. If I didn’t know it was tripe, I would of thought it was just a great mix of meat and crunchiness. Enjoyed this.
Taco Carne Asada — $ 1.35. Steak diced into small bits and quite tasty. All the meats here appear to be seasoned well and tasty. The extra condiments (diced onions and spicy sauce) are key and I was a bit surprised when they kept on getting my to-​go order and wanting to pack it with nothing on. I insisted on the sauce and the diced onions and I’m glad I did. The pickled carrots didn’t hurt either.
Taco Carnitas — $ 1.35. The star of the show. One bite of this and I was sold on being a fan of the place. It’s so flavorful, crunchy on the outside, yet moist and tender on teh inside. It’s very oily, but I’m not going to lie, the flavor is awesome. The tortilla absorbs much of the juices and the spicy sauce goes perfectly with everything.
Overall, I loved the tacos here and, at this price point, there’s not much to argue with. I’d say the carnitas are among the best I’ve had. While I know that Redwood City has about 30 – 40 more taquerias to try, I already want to come back here and order more tacos. It was that good. I’ve had tacos at another El Grullense branch (the relation of each outpost is debatable but the numerous El Grullense in Redwood City are thought to be from the same family), but this place was special. Gas and tacos… sign me up!
They also sell horchata, tamarindo, and even some desserts. Will have to be back to try those.
El Grullense takes cash only.

Best tacos EVER… period! Mi encanta the salsa picante (literally I could drink it straight)! And an entire familia puede manja para $ 20. Ok so it is at a gas station but… no joke delish.