Taqueria Los Ocampo – Arcade

I love the hell out of this place. it is so good you don’t even mind the wait. they have over 25 different taco meats

Great authentic food at just the right price. I had the beef burrito and was pleasantly surprised when the portion was just the right size for a guy my size. Friendly service and clean atmosphere makes this a must try place for anyone visiting east St. Paul and wanting delicious Mexican food !!!

Love everything that I’ve ordered so far but I will never forget the time that the pork meat in my food still had some intestines (???) attached it. Makes me want to throw it back up thinking about it but I’m sure that it’s already out of my body by now.
Anyways, I will say that the biggest down side to this restaurant is the wait time. Be prepared to wait at least 30 minutes for your order.

I have come to this taco joint for over 6 – 8 years, give or take. This restaurant is as close as it gets to real authentic Mexican food; service is ok, nothing extraordinary.
Some of these food items are what I typically order, I’d say they are my favorite thing to order from their menu (*I do not order these all at once*):
1. tacos — al pastor (marinated pork) & tripe
2. huarachazo — al pastor
3. torta — chorizo (mexican sausage)
4. torta cubana
5. horchata (rice drink)
One appetizer I’ve ordered and was such a big disappointment is their GUAC & CHIPS. Badly seasoned, not tasty at all. Avoid this item.
I remember one time I went in after work to pick up a take-​out order, I waited some minutes for the order to be ready, I paid and took the food home. I get home ready to eat my huarachazo al pastor, when I open the container I found out the meat was missing, it was very infuriating and it very much ruined my dinner. I called the restaurant right away and asked to speak to the manager, I explained the whole situation to the manager and her only reply was «I’m sorry about that». I was expecting to receive some sort of credit for when I’d buy food the next time it’d be free but it never happened, her apology was not enough. I still come here despite the fact that they ruined my dinner once, they have not made any more mistakes on my orders.
If you love Mexican food, I definitely recommend you give this place a try. I give four stars only because of the bad service I received that one time, other than that, I guarantee you’ll enjoy the food. BON APPETIT!

What a terrible and embarrassing experience! Last week I bought a $ 75 gift card for some friends to enjoy Los Ocampos. Their manager was unfriendly and acted as if I had burdened her with this purchase. To top it off, when my friends went to the restaurant last night to eat, the gift card had NO MONEY on it. They had to pay for their meal that was supposed to be a gift. Now I m having to deal with it today to get their card actually loaded with money, since I was indeed charged. What a hasel and what a terrible disappointment.

Pet Peeve: Claiming to eat Mexican food when you eat at Chipotle
This is where you get to put your 4 years of Spanish class to use.
Everything is good here. All flavors of their tacos are good. I like the regular ground beef ones the best. The gordita is huge. I’m a big fan. Love their burritos. If you like authentic Mexican food, this spot is da bomb.
You will need to know how to speak Spanish (just a little, at least know your numeros).
Parking kinda sucks sometimes because it’s in a little strip mall that is pretty busy.
Service can be kinda slow sometimes because it’s so busy. If you don’t mind the language barrier, I would high recommend this place.
This place doesn’t look like the same chain of Los Ocompo popping up in the area. For some reason, because it says «Taqueria», it’s 10 times better. I’ve tried the others and they don’t taste or feel the same. The only thing they have in common is the logo.

Love love LOVE their foods. The only downfall is the 30+ minutes wait to get your food but I’m not complaining.

Best Hot Authentic Mexican food right here!!! I really recommend you head this way if your craving something GOOD right now.
I order the Chile relleno «Taco Acoraz Chile» #8 every single time because if I don’t I regret it soon as I get in my car! For those wondering what the heck it is, let’s chat: It’s a poblano Chile pepper stuffed with Mexican white cheese, the pepper is coated in an egg batter then deep fried & covered with cheese. It’s not crispy. I like to think of it as a Mexican omelette lol. (I only know of one place in MN that does it with meat) This perfect number is served with rice, tortillas. I ask to omit tortillas only because I gotta preserve space for the Fiesta that’s about to down in my mouth! Accompanied by sliced & char grilled onions, peppers & jalapeños. It can get rather spicy for those sensitive mouths out there. I haven’t jumped on the vegetarian boat yet so I order the chipotle chicken taco on the side for $ 1.99 fresh cilantro, onions & 2 warm corn tortillas. I don’t know what else to say besides I suggest you make a mad dash for this joint! Excellente!

Great tacos al pastor and carnitas. The place is clean and great staff. They brought my tacos to my table and even brought three sauces I could choose from. I took all three and they were great, orange sauce is HOT.

You really can’t get any more Mexican in Minnesota than Los Ocampo!
This is my favorite location by far. I’ve been coming here since it opened & recommend their «Pollo con Papas» Quesadilla ! I love how it’s made handmade by masa. I also recommend the «Carnitas» or «Lengua» Enchiladas Verdes.
It’s a great place to go to as they do close after midnight, but I would avoid going to the bathroom there. I wish they had multiple stalls. Other than that I’d probably give it 5 stars.

Only 4 stars cause there was an issue with my ticket getting lost resulting in a longer wait. I also stared at the menu confused for a long time. The nice lady helped figure out what this vegetarian wanted.
But holy hell. Good food. For being cheaper than chipotle it tasted a million times better.
Great food. Good service.
The horchata was pretty bomb too.

Great authentic Mexican food. Great selection of meats for your order. I would return. The inside has a bit to be desired and has a chain store vibe.

Really great food. Lots of authentic options. Friendly staff. This place is a new regular spot.

Very authentic mexican food. If your looking for a typical mexican restaurant or average fast food in the us don’t come here. The food was amazing and selection on menu was great. The mewy selection for tacos was extensive. I had the beef tongue tacos which were great, very flavorful. The 3 salsas the bring out with the food have great flavor and heat.
An excellent overall gem taqueria great value for the money will be comming back again.

My husband and I went here for the first time on Friday night, around 7:30. It was definitely busy but we didn’t have a problem getting a table. It seems like a lot of people come for take out.
The menu is huge so it took us a really long time to decide what to eat. We started with some chips and guacamole. The guac tasted very freshly made, very good. Some of the best I’ve had.
I got cheese enchiladas with red sauce and my husband got a huarache with pork. We both tried each other’s meals and everything was delicious. I don’t have a single complaint about it. We got churros for dessert too, tasty.
Staff was friendly but not overly chatty — they are busy!
Even though you order at the counter, this definitely isn’t fast food so don’t go in expecting that. You are going to wait for them to prepare your meal. We were completely fine with this — I’d rather have something fresh — but people should be aware of the wait.
Everything looked really good on the menu so we’ll definitely be back to try more things. Neither of us work nearby so I can’t go for lunch but it seems like it would be a great lunch spot.

I finally went here the food is good a little to high in price though and kind of slow but friendly staff

The food was good the first time I came. The subsequent 5 visits were filled with dry day old food that tasted worse than taco bell.
BUT — I am writing this review from the restaurant. How is that possible? Because I’ve been sitting at this damn place for 40 minutes for what is marketed as «fast». Think about that. I’m not at a sit down restaurant. I’m at a taco joint next to a subway and a knock-​off cell phone store.
What could POSSIBLY take so long? I’m not ordering a bunch and there are only 3 – 4 orders since I’ve been here in these 40.
Now 48 minutes and I just got my food.
Last complaint. Nobody here speaks English and they have a limited selection of food. For instance, no flour tortillas…
This better at least taste good… Damn I’m mad.

It’s like I died and gone to a traditional Mexican hacienda. The food is straight Mexican with variety of meat cuts and preparations are abundant. The service is also top notch for a over the counter place. I think I was asked 3 or 4 times how my food was. Maybe it’s so great cause only women work there?

Thought maybe I had finally found a gem of good authentic Mexican food in the twin cities area but was left very disappointed. First off the menu was confusing and when I tried to order two steak tacos, was asked what combo I wanted, I wanted two tacos that’s it, after some more back and forth I settled on the #25 combo, with three tacos, rice and beans, okay? Like previously mentioned there is no system for how the food comes out to you, come around and ask everyone, guessing who’s food belongs to who, very unprofessional and awkward. The food was not terrible, the steak had a nice flavor, the rice was ugh, and the beans and cheese… Now I love beans and cheese but I don’t know what it was about the rice and beans that was such a turn off to me. I used to live in California, I have had some really good street tacos, and being a frequent guest to the Milwaukee area, since the mister lives out there, we have joked that they have the best authentic Mexican food and I don’t think it’s a joke anymore. Too bad that seems to be the only good food they have on the Twin Cities. We have more variety ;)
The extra star goes to the spicy salsa that was the highlight of my whole meal.

3.5 Stars
I was dubious about Los Ocampo. The online photos make it look like just some fast food joint. I doubted it could actually be open until 4am. I kind of doubted it could be good. But a friend who has lived in the hood for years said it’s his fav Mexican place, and it has surprisingly good reviews so mi amiga y yo headed down to Arcade Street on Sat night.
Good signs — When we walked in, everyone working and dining at Los Ocampo was speaking Spanish. In fact, we were there for about an hour and only saw maybe three or four white people during that time. Authentic, si si! Also, while we were waiting to place our order, the line behind us grew to reach the door. And business was pretty steady the whole time we were there.
The menu — Dios mio. I was overwhelmed at first but then I realized it’s mostly solo items (eg tacos, tortas, burritos, enchiladas) that can be turned into a combo meal (with rice and beans) if you so desire, and then a long list of the proteins (including some vegetarian options) to choose from. There are also pictures and descriptions (in English) of almost everything to assist us gringos. I got a sope combo meal and my friend got a torta. I was also very excited to order a Jarritos Pineapple soda.
The service — When we arrived the girl at the register was on the phone. It seemed like she was taking a to go order. This was fine at first as it gave us time to take in the enormous menu. But then we were standing there for what felt like forever as the girl continued to take the call, but didn’t acknowledge us in any way. So that was a bit annoying. And there’s not a clear system for delivering food to the tables. The receipt has a number on it, but the number wasn’t called out and we weren’t given table markers either. The woman bringing food to all the tables was super nice but it seemed like she just had to wander around the dining room until she matched the food to the person. I feel that they could adopt one of the systems successfully implemented by every other restaurant out there and get this figured out.
La comida — Exceeded my expectations. Especially considering I was eating with plastic utensils off a styrofoam plate. Not fine dining but still good food. I was also pleasantly surprised that the (slightly creamy, not usual chunky tomato) salsa offered to me was actually spicy. I am rarely impressed with rice and bean sides, but I finished these! My friend enjoyed her torta, which had no sides but was a large size on its own. We didn’t have dessert, but there is flan, fried plantains, and tiramisu.
The atmosphere — The fluorescent lighting, color scheme, and table setups made me feel like I was at a Mexican McDonalds. But we enjoyed watching Mexican television, and the place seems reasonably clean. Several families were here, as well as couples, and people picking up food to go. According to the Los Ocampo website, there is a fancier restaurant with a bar on Suburban Ave. I’d definitely like to try more of the menu, so maybe next time I’ll head to the version with a less fast food — like environment. But if in and out is your style, there are also three more locations like this one on Lake Street in Minneapolis.
I am no longer dubious about Los Ocampo. It is tasty, and perhaps even authentic Mexican fare. And they are indeed open until 4am on the weekends. If they would get a proper ordering system in place and stop using styrofoam and I’d give them 4 Stars.

TACOS.
I love authentic Mexican tacos and in MN this place feeds my need. Carne asada, onion and cilantro in two thin layered warm corn tortillas. Can life get any better than this? No, unless you’re in Mexico. Oh and getting the chips and salsa is worth it cause the more salsa verde and salsa aguacate you can eat, the better your life will be.
Tip: All combo meals come with a can of pop, horchata or agua de jamaica — they don’t always mention this so you need to remember to order it.
Highlights:
Tacos
Sincronizadas w/​Ham
Chips and Salsa Verde/​Salsa Aguacate
Rice/​Beans
Elote
Taqueria Los Ocampo 2 = Yo Quiero

Tacos are good, food is reasonably priced (maybe a tiny bit high, but portions are big, so it evens out!)… Has that fast food feel, but (similar to a Noodles) they’ll wait on you if you eat in-​store. PLUS, they have pictures of all of their dishes, which makes choosing go a lot faster.
BONUS: Elote. Get it. Love it.

Tasty tacos of all varieties — check. Cheap — check. This place is a winner in my book. $ 2 tacos and they are really good. I have tried every variation of the chicken ones that they have and have yet to be disappointed. They have a very long list of different meats that you can get, as well a vegetarian options, for their tacos. Its a shame that I don’t eat any of the other types of meat that they have. If tacos isn’t your thing then you can alway try any other menu items on their list, from burritos to soup to chocolate tres leches. Trust me when I say you will not be disappointed in the food.
This is just one of their many locations that they have throughout the twin cities — that must be a good sign for business.
FYI — Don’t forget to get the sauces to put on your food, they have 3 different types — be sure to get all 3. You will be happy that you did.

We have been here numerous times and it has now become our Go-​To Mexican place.
The Horchata makes my soul happy! This is the best Horchata I have ever had. You must get some!
We usually order the same thing-​number 6 with Carnitas. What this is, is a fried oval masa type shell with your choice of meat, beans, lettuce, avocado, radish, etc. etc. All kinds of goodies piled on and served with three different sauces…
I can not find it in myself to try anything else. Huarachazos is the official name of this thing. Don’t ask me about the other meats (There are about 25 to choose from). You all know I am afraid of most meat, so I am not daring at all. I found my carnitas which i like and that is all I will ever have.
I have also had the tacos which are perfect and the Torta, this huge Mexican sandwich which was excellent.
Desserts-​Churros which are good, just normal churros.
Quit wasting your money on gringo style Mexican food and come here to get authentic Mexican grub!