Looking for Ottawa’s best taco? You’re in the right place.
Published Dec 23, 2023 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 6 minute read
An assortment of tacos from Aztec Tacos at 77 Montreal Road in Ottawa Tuesday. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia
The Citizen’s restaurant critic, Peter Hum, has put years of work into this list of Ottawa-area taco purveyors, taste-testing and reviewing each spot along the way. We’ve compiled every taco review we’ve published over the last few years in one spot, to help you decide where to go when it’s taco time.
This roundup post is based on the past six years of reporting and reviews. Information here may not be up to date. We’ve listed the publication date, so we are all on the same page, plus the original links so you can read the full article.
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Buen provecho!
Aztec Tacos
77 Montreal Rd., 613-741-9998, instagram.com/aztectacos
Beef tongue taco, pork carnitas taco at Aztec Tacos on Montreal Road in Vanier
At Aztec Tacos, a no-frills eatery in Vanier of about 30 seats, the food was strikingly authentic, very reasonably priced and, more often than not, wonderfully seasoned and tasty. Eleven types of tacos are available on weekdays, all priced at $5 each. Beefier tacos, ranging from grilled beef to stewy birria to beef tongue to barbacoa, were my favourites. Shrimp and fish tacos, both featuring battered, deep-fried proteins, are available on Saturdays for $8. Wandering further into the menu to try various soups and stews will likely be rewarding.
Read the full Aztec Tacos review, originally published May 17, 2023
Torta Boyz
60A Lebreton St., instagram.com/tortaboyz.ot
Open: Tuesday to Thursday 5 to 10 p.m., Friday noon to 2:30 p.m., 5 to 11 p.m., Saturday 2 to 11 p.m., closed Sunday
Prices: tacos $7 or $8
Pork carnitas taco at Torta Boyz on Lebreton Street in Chinatown Photo by Peter Hum /Postmedia
The spring of 2022 saw Torta Boyz, the breakout food truck of 2021, move to a bricks-and-mortar, subterranean location on Lebreton Street, just south of Chinatown. The dive-bar-like venue soon became a hangout for Ottawa’s lovers of tacos (and mezcal). The beer-battered haddock, pork carnitas and al pastor tacos were all hefty in both size and flavour. Much of their appeal came from the uncompromisingly spicy, made-in-house salsas including bracing and nutty salsa macha and bright salsa verde.
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Read the full Torta Boyz review, originally published Oct. 18, 2022
Casa Mexico
1491 Merivale Rd., 613-695-7899, casa-mexico.ca
Open: Monday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 1 to 7 p.m.
Prices: tacos $5 to $7
Left to right: chicken mole, lamb barbacoa and beef tongue tacos from Casa Mexico on Merivale Road Photo by Peter Hum /Postmedia
Opened in a Merivale Road strip mall in 2017, Casa Mexico is filled with homeland regalia, from brightly coloured festival flags, tables, tablecloths and chairs to the collection of wrestlers’ masks on one wall. It was warm and inviting, as were its servers. The priority for the 15 tacos offered here usually seemed to be to let the proteins speak for themselves, without an excess of salsa. I liked most the pure lamb flavour of the shredded lamb taco, the lightly nutty chicken mole taco, and the thinly and crisply battered shrimp taco. I would have liked the beef tongue taco more if the meat had been seared.
Read the full Casa Mexico review, originally published Oct. 18, 2022
Editor update: Casa Mexico now has locations in Kanata (7 Kakulu Rd.) and in Little Italy (226 Preston St.).
Sí Señor Mexican Street Food
506 Rideau St. and 354A Preston St., sisenor.ca
An assortment of tacos at Si SenorBy Peter Hum
March 23, 2021
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Mexico City expat Hugo Crespo offers eight fillings for carnivores made with pork, chicken, beef, shrimp or lamb, while for vegetarians, there’s a black bean, avocadoe and cabbage option or sauteed peppers, onions and cactus in pastor sauce. My faourites were the orange juice-marinated pork carnitas, locally sourced Mexican chorizo sausages, Yucatan-style cochinita pibil pulled pork and the lamb or beef birria de borrego.
Read the full Sí Señor review, originally published Mar. 23, 2021
Margarita
895 Bank St., 613-421-5802, margaritamex.net
Left to right, chapulin (cricket) taco, shrimp taco and carne asada tacos at Margarita on Bank Street
Margarita in the Glebe offered more refined surroundings and colourful dishware than some other taco joints. Eight tacos were on the menu, from battered fish and shrimp to cactus and even fried crickets, which are a long-standing regional staple in Mexico. One of the best things about the tacos here was the thin, fresh tortillas. But we liked some toppings more than others.
Read more full Margarita review, originally published Oct. 18, 22
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La Fiesta Latina
565 Somerset St. W., 613-712-1717, lafiestalatina.ca
Tacos at La Fiesta Latina
At this Somerset Street West restaurant, the tacos had the stripped-down ring of authenticity. Braised meats had been steeped in big-flavoured sauces before meeting their store-bought tortillas, and while some looked similar, they presented us with different flavours. These were not the more chef-y tacos that reign elsewhere, beautifully garnished and made with freshly pressed tortillas. But they provided the fundamental taco satisfactions, and an array of hot sauces will help if extra heat is your thing.
Read more full La Fiesta Latina review, originally published Jan. 16, 2020
Eldorado Taco
170 Preston St., 613-680-8226, eldoradotaco.ca
Chicken and pulled pork tacos at Eldorado Taco
At our visits, Eldorado Tacos’ tacos were uniformly strong and appealing, arriving at the table in briskly served waves. The crispy fish and heftily flavoured short rib tacos were tops for me in terms of well-made proteins and meaningful garnishes, while the teenager at our table took down chicken taco after chicken taco, proclaiming “whatever that sauce is that leaked all over the place, it’s good.”
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Read the full Elddorado Taco review originally published May 19, 2019.
Toro Taqueria
139 Slater St., 343-997-7066, torotaqueria.com
Campechano taco from Toro Taqueria
I was very impressed by the distinctive and well-made tacos here, which usually featured especially juicy, superbly seasoned and braised-that-day meats and special-order whole chilies that are ground and rubbed into meats the night before cooking. Tops was Toro’s campechano taco, a wondrous three-meat creation made with beef brisket, pork shoulder and chorizo, topped with bits of crunchy chicharron (fried pork rind). You eat this taco, like many others, at your own risk — or more specifically, the risk of damaging your shirt with sauce and food. But the tastiness of the cooking liquid justifies this forewarning. House-made red and green salsas, plus a sharp chimichurri, are available, but I haven’t found that the tacos need their boost.
Read the full Toro Taqueria review originally published July 23, 2018
Taqueria La Bonita Wellington
1079 Wellington St. W., 613-798-9292, labonita.co
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Cochinita Pibil and Carnitas tacos at La Bonita on Wellington Street West
At La Bonita, the menu stressed the authenticity of its taco preparations, from chicken mole to carnitas to cochinita pibil. Here, I tried tacos predominantly made with shredded and slow-cooked meats and found them flavourful but also sometimes light on moisture and often salty. Most were minimally garnished, as their analogues in Mexico would be, with cilantro and onions, and hot sauces available at each table helped. Best were the barbacoa beef tacos and the pork preparations. The mole featured on a chicken taco was thick and lightly sweet, and less complex than hoped for. Festive, hanging lights and old-time movies projected on the wall make for a relaxing vibe worth a linger.
Read more full Taquira La Bonita review originally published July 23, 2018
El Camino
81 Clarence St., 613-422-5918, eatelcamino.com
Tacos from El Camino
A bigger spin-off of the trend-setting El Camino on Elgin Street, this new ByWard Market restaurant made memorable beauts worth the splurge. At the ByWard Market location, where most of the seating is at high-top tables, we were won over by outré choices such as a cochinita roasted pig head taco (great flavour and texture, excellent sear) and ox tongue (funky note to the flavour, nice char). More conventional choices including a chicken tinga and a massively proportioned, crispy fish taco were also delights. All demonstrated the kitchen’s skill at balancing bold flavours with nuanced accents to create distinctive, crave-worthy tacos.
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Read the full El Camino review, originally published Sept. 27, 2017
Editor’s note: This roundup post is based on the past six years of reporting and reviews. Information here here may not be current. Click through to each article to see the date of publication.
Where else should Peter Hum go for tacos? Leave a suggestion in the comment section below or send a suggestion to: phum@postmedia.com
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