Hacienda Los Portales

YUM! We love this place for their weekend tacos. The guy manning the cart is super friendly and always ready with a greeting.
My favorite is the carnitas, but Pick prefers both carnitas and the carne asada. This is a great deal at $ 1.50 each. They have all the fixins laid out too. Don’t miss the radishes and pickled onions!

Some helpful info: It’s now called Benitos and they close at 2pm from Mon-​Wed, and maybe Thursday. The rest of the days they close at 10pm. I’m not sure if they close at 2 or 10pm on Thurs, will update when I go back.
Simple, good, traditional street tacos for $ 1.50 each. The meat is cooked with care, something that is pretty rare for any taqueria. It’s not overcooked nor over seasoned, you can actually taste the meat! To sum it up, cheap good street food = five stars.
But that’s not all. Their menudo is probably the best I’ve had, the large was more than enough for two of us. From the other reviews, it sounds like their plates are also pretty good, but I’m not sure I can resist the tacos.

Just went to Benitos (used to be Hacienda Los Portales) for tacos after reading reviews on Unilocal.I wish I would have gone sooner – the tacos are AMAZING. The cook does not speak any English but all the servers do and they are really helpful and polite. The food was very inexpensive. We had 7 tacos, 2 sodas and 1 beer for $ 17. Totally worth it!

Holy hell.
I was picking up some indian apps to go over at pooja this weekend and saw them cooking outside under some lights over here at the hacienda or whatever its called and i had to stop. The chef, though i unfortunately couldn’t speak with him, was masterful. seriously a joy to watch. Anyway i decided to try the buche/​pork stomach and well, my girlfriend thought it looked nasty, but it ended up being the best damn taco i have ever had in my entire life. i want to eat that every day for every meal. what the hell! Crazyness. the other tacos were good but seriously you gotta try the stomach. i seriously almost went immediately back to the stand.

I read Reina’s review and I thought I’d give this a try since I generally agree with her reviews (plus she’s a big West Sac person). Anyhow, I dropped by today and there was the stand outside. The name of the place has changed. It’s Benito’s or something. The new order said that it got sold to them just 2 months ago (old owners are next door — Los Portales Market). Anyhow, for $ 1.50 I thought the meat was pretty good (tender and flavorful). There’s a small (3 flavors) salsa bar and they really only got onions to add to the tacos. I tried the sausage, chicken, carnitas and carne asada. I’d say the carnitas and asada were the best. Overall, I’d go here if wanted true «in mexico road side taco stand». The best Taco in the area, IMHO is still Pupuseria La Chicana in Woodland.
Famous for: Weekend outdoor taco stand

Oye gringos. If you want shredded cheddar with your freshly pressed corn tortillas, stay the F away. Weekend tacos are the best tacos, the way that the West Sac is the Best Sac. Reina did a pretty good job of describing these puppies, so I’ll just add in the nice gory detail that all the meat is cooked in the same vat of fat. Yes, there’s digestive track floating right along side your carne asada. Hey, mas sabor para me. I kind of wish they dressed the tacos for you, but oh well. It’s all about the homemade tortilla and meat. Just a tip about how to tell if your taco joint is worth a damn… store bought tortillas equals crap, every time.

I will update this review when I come back on a weekend or dinner because the lunch buffet SUCKED. I took a buddy of mine here for a good lunch, based on the reviews on Unilocal.Big mistake on the buffet. The only good thing was the rice. Everything else was dry and not good at all. Not much variety at all. There wasn’t even any shredded cheese to go with the tortillas. Also, all the sauces were watery and had no ingredients in. Again, I believe all the good reviews, but the lunch buffet was not good at all. I hope to update this review with a great one when I experience it on a weekend or dinner time.

oh. my. god. yum! i don’t think i’ve ever had as tender and flavorful of meat as i did here (at least in tacos). this review is for the weekend taco stand only (which for some reason was not out in front but was inside the restaurant).
i had 2 carnitas, and 1 each of the asada and chicken. all came out of the vat of juices/​fat/​spices. the meat is chopped up, put on 2 small tortillas (the edges dipped in the juices/​fat/​spices and grilled on the flat top), and topped with chopped onions and cilantro. there’s a salsa bar about 3 different salasa, pickled jalapenos and carrots, limes, and sliced radishes. seriously, super tender, flavorful and more than yummy.
the tacos are $ 1.25 each, any type of meat. we had 12 tacos, 2 mexican juices (i don’t know the names but one was jamaica flavored and the other strawberry, with real strawberries in it) and 2 beers for about $ 25.

Based on lunch buffet only:
$ 7.00 for all you can eat lunch buffet. Don’t be suprised if you are the only english speaker there, including the wait staff. No formality. Just grab a plate and go at it. The day I went they had authentic cheese enchiladas (small, dipped in sauce, topped with queso fresco), some tasty cubed beef, something which may or may not have been tongue (quite good, reminds me of pot roast), rice, beans, and freshly pressed and grilled corn tortillas. Also a ginormous vat of homemade horchata (some of the best I’ve ever had) which is all-​you-​can drink. Plus a salsa bar w/​chips.
This stuff was the real deal. Probably the closest thing I’ll ever get to a authentic, home-​cooked mexican meal. When you’re done, just go up to the tortilla counter and pay.
Warning: Serious bouts of sleepiness may occur after consumption of lunch as Hacienda Los Portales.

Shawn L’s review is muy «correct — o — mundo».
I have recently began to indulge weekly at this taco-​gastronome heaven (damn, that’s why I have to call in late. .. I mean fat! — having a hard time gettin’ into the pantalones lately).
I express my gratitude to you, Shawn, for « Unilocaling» this place (now my booty is getting bigger, but my tummy is most happy).
Whether your taco/​s emerge from the indoor cocina, or the intriguing outdoor thingy, you will find yourself with. .. !Muchos carnitas deliciosos! — tasty, tender, and with the requisite caramelized crispy edges that only comes from lovingly pan-​frying or grilling in the final stages.
The tacos are Michoacan-​style: carnitas (or other meat of your choice) cradled in a double layer of warm corn tortillas, topped with onion and cilantro and «chile», if you choose. But, be sure to gather your lemon, lime, salsa, radish, etc. at the salsa bar indoors before you go outside to «steak» your claim on your tacos.
I do prefer the outdoor tacos, if not for the sheer enjoyment of watching my fare prepared before mis ojos, but also because the corn tortillas are dunked in that lovely, luscious, elixir of meaty drippings (oh, my arteries).
On the weekend, just go inside and order tacos muchos for yourself and/​or family — it doesn’t matter what type of meat you want (I’ve found that they all cost the same), the cashier will just jot down the amount of tacos, for which you paid, on your receipt. Then, just gather your condiments from the salsa bar and visit the nice man outside. Watch, ask, show him your receipt, and choose from the many different meats sizzling before you. He’ll then take said meat and pan-​fry it on that convex grill thingy, then ask you if you want everything on it — some «chile» (red salsa), onion and cilantro (yes, you want it all).
Update: Taco lust steering me here again — this time I had to go into their Mexican grocery store next door to pay for my tacos; the restaurant was open (children playing pool and one customer dining, but the cash register was MIA). The grocery store is small, but has a nice selection of Latino food staples. Anyway, I asked more about the different meats available and found out that in addition to the chicken, asada, carnitas, buche, and chorizo, they also have cabeza, and lengua — although, the cabeza and legua are usually available later in the day, after 3pm-​ish.