I used to love this place. Been going there since high school. Now almost a graduate. I will say they have been SLACKING! The chicken on anything is still amazing. No se on the Al-pastor. But do not get anything with CARNE ASADA, ASADA....it always or at least every time recently it comes out crunchy and oily. I just cant. But other than that, they are as Authentic as a taco gets.
Review Source:This place doesn't look like it's located in the best area, and it's pretty much a "hole in the wall." But all the meats are cooked incredibly well here. The asada, al pastor, and carnitas have great flavors. And you can sauce them as much as you want from the salsa bar. Probably the best tacos I've ever had, and I would never have expected that here.
Not very big inside with a handful of tables so seating might be a problem depending on when you go, but definitely worth trying
This is a great, authentic taqueria. Â The al pastor is really good, but the Adovada tacos really steal the show. Â If you like spice, this is for you. Â Basically the same chopped pork as the al pastor taco, but simmered in a wonderfully spicy chile gravy that gives it deep flavor and great heat. Â The carnitas is also pretty good, but the barbacoa was a little on the bland side. Â This is easily remedied, however, with a trip to the great salsa bar, which also has lime wedges, radishes, cilantro, chopped onion, etc. Â Also, the horchata was delicious, lots of cinnamon, and the tortillas are made in house!
Staff is super friendly and setting is , well, a taco shop...reviewers who have complained about this, I don't get it! Â This is not fine dining, it's an authentic taqueria where you can fill up on delicious tacos for less than 8 bucks. Â And that's why I love it.
Seating area isnt the biggest. Prices are reasonable. Food comes out quick. Cant go wrong with Al Pastor and Asada tacos. Repeat after me Fresh Tortillas. Made in house. Mmm Yummly The Green chili has kick. The torta was good though the bread tasted a little weird. Also you can buy DVD's in here to. Gotta Love Colfax.
Review Source:This tiny shoebox of a restaurant is home to some fantastic tacos.  I usually get my mex fix to go here because I feel so claustrophobic eating in this space.  The king of this menu is their tacos al pastor.  Absolutely outstanding, especially when they have the spit fired up in front of the restaurant.  If you are a pineapple fiend like me, be sure to specify that you want your tacos "con piña".  Also not to be missed are their tacos de lengua.  I feel like a broken record when I describe a delicious lengua, so just trust me, they do it right here.  Of all the TyS locations around town this one is easily my favorite.
Review Source:Wanted to venture out for some lunch before the big game today - GO BRONCO's!
We decided on someplace close and enjoy some more authentic Mexican food from Colfax.
After reading the excellent reviews on Yelp I decided on two taco's, one chicken and one al pastor. Â Sam decided on the carnita's burrito and we shared an order of the tortilla chips so we could partake in the excellent salsa bar.
The tortillas were truly fresh out of the fryer. Â Nothing store bought or stale about these tortillas. Â Totally crisp and piled perfectly in front of us for devouring. Â I decided on a taking a sampling of pretty much everything from the salsa bar, 3-4 different salsas with differing levels of heat, onions, cilantro, creamed avocado, lime, and of course the classic mild and chunky salsa. Â We tried a little bit of everything and really enjoyed everything.
The food came quickly considering the place was pretty busy this afternoon. Â The tacos were stuffed with meat and ready for the other flavors. Â I added some salsa, some iceberg lettuce, cilantro, onions, and most definitely a large squeeze of lime. Â Lime is the flavor dejour. Â I could eat 12 of these taco's. Â So simple and delicious, the meat was so juicy and had tons of authentic flavor. Â The al pastor was my favorite and next time I may indulge in three taco's of just the al pastor.
Sam really loved his carnita's burrito. Â It was gigantic and stuffed with delicious meat, small amount of cheese, and he added minimal ingredients to enhance the flavorful experience.
You have a lot of choices on the menu as far as meat choices, you can have taco's, gordita's, burritos, and others. Â I will definitely be coming back to enjoy some more authentic Mexican food. Â
Don't forgot about the Mexican soda, we enjoyed two a piece.
*Total bonus that they are also open for breakfast too.
Tacos, tacos, and more tacos!
I love their tacos. Â Some people don't like how full they stuff their tacos, I love how full their tacos stuff my stomach.
My favorites are their chorizo tacos, with the habanero salsa. Â I personally think that their habanero salsa could stand to be spicier. Â That's just because I can't ever find a local salsa that will melt my tongue off, and I'm a masochist in that sense.
Cheap and delicious Mexican food+empty stomach=happy camper
You know your in for a treat when they don't speak English... Best example of that is here.. Â My favorite tacos are the carne asada! Â They have a nice little salsa bar I tried a few but can only describe by color but very delicious.. Put a lil salsa and squeeze a ton of lime juice then enjoy! The price is good too you'll be full under $6.00!
Review Source:This place is the real deal Hollifield. I love it. I have to come here for my fix, when I'm tired of eating mediocre brown-people food cooked by brown-people of dubious morality for undiscriminating white-people. Seriously. Some of y'all should be ashamed of yourselves. The shit that y'all serve in the name of 'tacos' is abyssmal. I swear to Vishnu that one day I'm going to go through your trash and see how many 'Old El Paso' boxes of instant taco shells I can find.
But I digress.
This place makes their tacos with love. You can feel it in the air when you sit down. Their menu is expansive and a little daunting if you don't know what to order, but you won't go too far wrong if you just order whatever looks the least pronounceable and try not to think about what it is when you're eating it. Soon you'll discover the joys of al pastor, buche, lengua, and chincharron... and at that point, you're pretty much fucked because you won't be able to go back to your old ways. Â The upside? This place is wicked cheap, so you'll never have to give handjobs for tacos ever again. ... rather... in the first place.
I'm just sayin'.
Wow! I was pleasantly surprised by this place. The tacos were great! The meats were fresh and tons of authentic flavor. Â The salsas were great too! I also ordered chips to go with the salsa and they were AWESOME! They fry them fresh so they're crispy yet still a bit soft in some spots.
The area is not the best so take them to go if you feel safer, but you gotta try them at least once... Trust me! The tacos are pretty hearty so if you love meat like I do... Â you're gonna leave with a smile on your face and a full belly. :)
When it comes to authentic Mexican food, this place is right on the mark. You walk up to the front of the store, and you have a person out front preparing meat. You don't see that anywhere!
Inside the restaurant is adorned with typical Mexican icons that really set the feel for the entire restaurant. Looking over the menu, which was completely in Spanish, you quickly find that it has everything you expect.
The food took a bit longer than I expected to arrive at the table, but there were a few people in front of us. From a small restaurant like this one, it's absolutely normal. It looked like there was one man in the kitchen that was doing all of the cooking or the customer's.
I ordered the Chicken Torta from the menu, and it was amazing. Even without any of the sauces on it, it was delicious. On top of that, the portions are big. All three of us that went ended up with enough for two meals. We got chips and salsa brought to the table, for free, and these chips were made fresh for our table. They were simply fried tortillas, and they were delicious.
There were several different salsas that you could put on whatever you ordered. A spicy green sauce, a sweeter red sauce, and of course pico de gallo. All three of them were delicious, and you can't go wrong. They're on a small chilled island, that is near the front of the restaurant. You just go up, pour yourself a small cup full, and take it with you.
Price really sealed this one. We were looking for good food, on a cheap budget. We found it here, definitely. My girlfriend and I ate for $13 total. That's two Tortas, and two cans of Diet Coke. This place delivers on all fronts.
Well, after being on my own personal taco tour, I've found that, even though the salsa bar is super cool, the tacos have a bit too much meat for me.  And I've had a few tacos here where the meat is fatty and chewy.  So that combo, of overstuffed, fatty tacos, it's  just not kncokin my socks off anymore.
Review Source:I have to admit, 5 stars for food and 4 stars for location, but I still travel here every so often. Â
I was first introduced to this place by a friend and this was way before location 3 through 10 (exaggerating) popped up. Â Yumm! Â
Their tacos are great and filling as they do not skimp on meat at all. Â In addition, you can load up on salsa and other condiments after receiving your order.
Truly a good place to stop and grab some quick eats.
$1.60 large tacos with plenty of salsas for every tastebud. I like this place. Its a great place for a quick lunch. So it's not so clean and not so large. Lets be honest though, some of the best mexican food comes from dirty little hole in the wall places like this one. And how can you complain about a whole lunch for under $5???
Review Source:There are three words to describe Tacos y Salsas 3: Little. Yellow. Different.
Little, 'cause there are only about 7-8 tables inside. Yellow, 'cause that is the decorating color of choice. And different, 'cause this place isn't necessarily squeaky clean or spacious, but the tacos speak for themselves.
I've visited the location on Federal numerous times, but last week was my first time at the Colfax location. It's $1.60 for tacos, and let me tell you - they don't skimp on the filling, at least not for the al pastor variety. For some insane reason I ordered three, and then sat there for about 20 minutes trying to get them all down. They were served with a side of shredded iceberg lettuce, which was totally unnecessary, but that's okay.
I'm a fan of almost any joint with a salsa bar, and this spot was no different. My tacos took a while to arrive, so I spent the time eating roasted jalapenos and quenching the burn with coke. Lots of people stopped in for to-go orders while I was waiting, and for them I feel a little bit sorry because I think the food is best eaten piping hot.
I will definitely stop here again when I'm having a taco attack!
On our way into Denver from the airport, I pulled up Yelp to help find a place to grab a quick bite to eat. As fate had it, we were driving down the street and Tacos y Salsa came onto my radar. I ordered two tacos and my boyfriend went with a torta. While we were just looking for a bite to eat to hold us over until dinner, we left stuffed. The food was good, albeit a bit greasy. The flavorful salsas and toppings, however, are what really made it happen for me. Â Finding these great inexpensive hole in the wall places is what makes Yelp! so wonderful.
Review Source:This is the first place I think about for Mexican food, There are several locations I have been to but this one is closest to me. Not the best location and not the prettiest inside either but the BEST food and they have always treated this gringo well. I've been going here so long I remember when there was only 1 menu in English.
On one $1.50 taco there is more meat than most places burritos. Staples for us are the pork tacos simmered in spices then fried crispy on the edges and grilled steak burritos. The avocado tostadas need two hands to eat they are so loaded up.
There is a salsa for every persons taste and heat tolerance. Help yourself.
I find that the best food can be found in some unexpected places.
I am giving up on Mexican food in Denver, at least as far as anyone's recommendations for good taco's here. The taco's were greasy and bland  is that really what people call or except as Barbacoa here?? What makes people like this place? Quantity? It definitely wasn't quality, because the taco was a shameful display of greasy grey matter in a basket, overflowing the tortilla, and even at $1.60 I felt ripped off. The salsa bar was pathetic, full of cilantro stems, butchered radishes, overly ripened diced onions, and flavorless generic salsas. Disturbing too, was the one utensil to pick up everything, anyone ever heard of cross-contamination? I really hope the health dept sees this before someone gets hurt.
 One last thing; Mexican coke with corn syrup in it now, what's the point in buying a Mexican one, if it's exactly like any other Coca Cola?
After leaving a Denver Psychoanalytic Society movie screening at 11 PM my boyfriend and I found ourselves in an unfamiliar part of town and starving.
We decided to take the long way home down Colfax to see if we could find something to eat and lo and behold we found Tacos Y Salsas. Â Since I remembered seeing a positive response to this place on Yelp, we stopped.
Um, hello. Yum? Â In the tradition of delicious taco dives, tYs does NOT disappoint. Â I ordered 4 tacos as I thought they were going to be tiny. Â Yeah, don't do that unless you haven't eaten a week.
My boyfriend is a burrito guy and reported that the beef and bean burrito was as tasty as it looked. Â I enjoyed steak, chicken and al pastor tacos, foisting half of each off onto him so that I could try each kind.
The salsa bar is fantastic, they have something for EVERY taste and heat level there, we sampled 5 kinds along with some carrots from their carrot/jalapeno mix (fantastic carrots, btw - try them) and of course some radishes to cool it all down.
Oh yeah, I am not sure how much we paid for the chips, but they were fried to order and really delicious, so get them,ok?
This place is... GREAT! Â Very simple, small and crowded, and cheap. Â The bean and cheese gorditas are quite good, and the horchata is the best that I've had so far... very sweet and cinnamony. Â The gorditas were quite large for less than $3 each, which was a pleasant surprise. Â The shell was the perfect combination of light and crispy. Â The best gordita I've ever had, though to be fair I haven't had that many. Â Right around $6 for two big gorditas and a glass of horchata... very affordable.
Seating is limited, so I imagine during dinner hours it may be hard to get a table. Â We went a bit early, and there was only one open table. Â There is definitely a lack of vegetarian options, and they didn't have the potato gordita that I wanted to try. Â I really dislike it when places list things on the menu that can't be ordered... seems to happen a lot with Mexican places for some reason. Â The salsa bar was excellent, with at least 6 different salsas, onions, cilantro... all the basics.
The place could definitely use a selection of Mexican beers and some sangria or something, but otherwise some of the best Mexican restaurant food I've had in Denver. Â It could also use some more meatless options, as I believe there are only 3 or 4 (or less) options. Â Will definitely be returning.
VERY awesome carnitas. Â Large servings of meat. Â And a salsa bar with great choices, as well as cilantro, japs, carrots, etc. Â And the best part = the CHIPS. Â Holy sh**. Â Melt in your mouth, homemade, kinda chewy even. Â I've had a couple dirty dreams about them since my visit.
Get what you pay for? Â No you don't. Â You get way more than what you paid for.
The bad: Atmosphere. Â with food like this why don't they expand to a patio and serve drinks? This places interior serves the purpose of giving you a place to sit and that's about it.
Ew--the pigeons swarming the al pastor outside started-off this experience on a bad note. I was further disappointed by the blandly spiced shredded beef, chicken and al pastor tacos. I was expecting some authenticity in the spice but the flavor was bland and the quality worse. The salsas were good though and it was cheap, but I won't be returning.
Review Source:Just came back from a tasty lunch here! I had three tacos, 2 al pastor and one beef, and all were delicious! I wanted to order more but feared looking like a pig. The place is, as I was warned, not a very sanitary place. I will definitely be back tho - most likely for a huge carryout!
Review Source:Reviewed to remove a Shame on You!!!
It has been a while (as in months) since I have seen the al pastor encrusted with pigeons. I had promised a return visit if they disappeared. So yesterday when it was freezing cold, I headed into Tacos y Salsa after checking on the horses. In good faith, I ordered the al pastor tacos. They were hearty and flavorful, a trip to the salsa bar customized my tacos. During my visit, the service was fast and courteous and in between serving, the place was constantly being wiped down. Yes, I will return and feel confident about eating at Tacos y Salsa.
And about those pigeons, they were still marching back and forth outside the window where I sat; I taunted them by eating a taco that had not been previously sampled by them.
Took my friends over there after the Race for the Cure.
I had the menudos, they were pretty good! Lots of meat... More pesole than the tripes and other stuff I don't really enjoy, but the best ones around here comes everything in the package. Anyway, the menudos were hot and the bowl was pretty big for $8, came with a piece of toast and seasonings from the salsa bar.
My friends had tacos al pastor, which was really good. But if you'd like them with pineapple you have to request it.
Food is great, prices are cheap, like Jessica H. says... "They are unbeatable", but service there is really slow...
Who would dare get a burrito at a taco place?? Â I would. Â I'm just that kind of gal. Â Yes, a gal who didn't read Jess B.'s review before I went. Â ;)
Tacos Y Salsa has been high on my list of places to try, because every time I drive by, it is PACKED. Â Sure, it's a small restaurant, but it's packed - with latinos - always a good sign. Â I really like this place a lot - it's very authentic. Â The service is friendly and efficient, and the menu is simple and straightforward. Â Yummy!
I concur with Jess - the burritos are not good to eat (definitely not user-friendly if you're used to a pick-it-up-and-eat-it burrito), so stick with the tacos. Â Mary Jo would be happy to know that there was no Al Pastor hanging around outside with the pigeons, so yay!
Prices are unbeatable ($1.55 tacos), and their salsa bar is varied and delicious (and Jess, they had spicy carrots when I was there!). Â Can't wait to go back and work my way through their taco menu.
Right off the top, this is not a place for the feint of heart. Â The restaurant is small and when we were there was no air conditioning. Â It is right on East Colfax and all sorts of colorful characters come walking off the street. Â As for general sanitation, it is very poor. Â You have walk right through the kitchen to get to the bathrooms. Â In addition, they store a lot of their ingredients right on the floor. Â The cooks do not use hair nets. Â I am surprised the Aurora Health Department let's them work this way.
Having said this, the tacos and salsas are some of the best that you will find in Denver.  They have been able to re-create  the high quality tacos that one finds in Mexico.  For those who think "El Taco de Mexico" is the real thing, come to this restaurant and learn what real tacos are.  In addition, the portions are generous and the prices are economical.  Once again, these are some of the best tacos you will in Denver.
It saddens me that people who make such good food do not care about issues of basic, general sanitation. Â If they could get control of this aspect of their business, Taco y Salsas has the potential to become a real Denver food landmark. Â Unfortunately, the owners of this restaurant and there own worst enemies. Â I look forward to visiting the other two locations and hopefully they are better run.
We went to Tacos Y Salsas for a snack and found the staff curiously happy at 11:00 PM. In fact they were singing along to loud music as they cooked. Were they practicing for some Hollywood Musical?
One cook chopped meat to the beat, accentuating Spanish words by cutting off their endings: chopchop chop chopchopchop chop, which left me wondering if my mother lied to me as a child: there are places where people are happy to work late nights in a restaurant. Why did I get a college degree?
We got menus and sat down. My man and my friend started rattling off $1.50 tacos (photo above) to the waitress, who was ready.
Sadly, I didn't order a snack. I wanted to, more than anything, I wanted to eat some of that meat cooking on a spinning grill off Colfax, because I've been to Mexico, and meat grilling right off the street is as authentic as I've seen. But I can't eat gluten, anything that has even a speck of flour in it will make me sick. This place makes its own tortillas every day. There is too much flour in their kitchen for me to eat here. Pity. Big double-dog crying pity too-much-gluten-shame for me.
When the tacos arrived, my Man and my Friend jumped up to embellish their food at the counter by dripping anything spicy all over.
My Man's complaint... Â the taco was so fresh, it was too hot to handle. He had to watch it cool, first.
None of this happens at the Bell.
Re-revision.
Okay, now I don't know what to think. After being to this and the South Federal locations a few times I think I actually might like... no maybe not. The problem is about the seasonings, I like the flavor of the federal location better but they over-salt, this location on Colfax gets the salt right but under-seasons. Don't get me wrong, I like both locations (overlooking some cleanliness issues at both) but, there is the slightest room for improvement at both (of course everything is subjective and depends on your sensibilities). Also, damn it I ordered tacos without remembering it was the weekend and there was what looked like a good bowl of menudo to be had. (insert expletive). Oh and one other thing. The menu was in english and I didn't have a clue what to order, friggin' duh. The mind grows feeble with age and alcohol I suppose. ala daughter, "Sad day."
original review:
Tried the Kentucky and Federal Blvd location. Great meats seasoned and cooked to perfection. Tacos are served on a single tortilla but it is a good one. Salsas and other fixins are out front for you to pick (the jalapenos are roasted not the soggy pickled type). No english on the menu but the counter will guide the uninitiated. I tried the carnitas, deshebrada, and adobada tacos. All were great. I'll be in there again. Thanks Lori M.