Taqueria Hacienda

I am addicted to their horchata. This is the BEST horchata I have ever had, and I KNOW my horchata, Ive had many.  They should bottle this up right now! The bottled up chemical mess labeled "horchata" sold at Mexican grocery strores is something I wouldnt even offer to my worst enemy.  I have only eaten here once and the food was decent, but I keep on coming back just for horchata.

Good food at great prices, if you order off the breakfast menu almost everything is 5 or 6 bucks and comes with rice and beans, very nice. Not only is it affordable, the waitresses are friendly and the food is good. Oh yeah they have a grilled chicken they do here that is phenomenal, it is served family style in the middle of the table along with tortillas rice and beans.

This place has never let me down!

When I'm cold, tired and hungry walking home from the train, I always think to stop here.  They are so inexpensive and FAST it's hard to walk past without getting a quick bite to eat.  And when I say FAST, I mean I order, pay and walk out with my food (usually 3 tacos) in under 10 mins.

I started coming here because my dad liked the Al Pastor and he got along with the owners.  He took me here the first week I moved back into the hood.  This is a lil mom and pop shop, so it's nice to keep the money in the community.

Since my first visit, they have relocated to the larger building next door which they used rent as a hall, so they have a lot more sitting area, a full bar, and the ambiance is a lot nicer.  I don't know if they still have the ice cream cooler though.

No matter what time of day - prime lunch time or off peak right before they close - I get consistently good food.  Which goes to say a lot!  I don't know how they do it, but the meat is always fresh and has that just cooked taste to it.

I know a lot of other taqueria's leave the meat in a warming pan or pushed off to the side, which they reheat on order, leaving the meat tuff or dry, but not this place.  The meat is always nice and juicy and hot and doesn't have the reheated taste to it.  Including the Al Pastor (pork & onions), which is another great feat in itself!

I'd have to be honest and say that wasn't always the case... at least in the smaller location, but since they've moved I have been completely satisfied.

The tacos are average size, with nice generous portions of meat, and of course lettuce, onions and cilantro.  (I actually don't like lettuce on my tacos).

Today I had a milanesa (breaded steak) torta.  It was really good.  Not at all greasy.  It was a good cut of meat with just a little bit of fat I couldn't chew.  The breading had a good flavor to it and I think it was a bit crispy on the edges, and the bread was nice and fresh and tasty as well.  I dined in rather the doing take out because I really wanted the chips and salsa.

They have a red and green salsa.  They both have a good taste to them and I usually mix them on the chips.

I only have two complaints, which don't effect the rating at all.  The first is that they don't serve you the salsas in a bowl, so you have to squeeze it from the bottle onto the chips.  Obviously they are saving money by doing this, because they'd otherwise have to discard any unused salsa in the bowl, but I'm just a big fan of dipping and scooping.

Second is that the limes always seem to be a little on the older side; that is they don't seem that juicy.  I don't always use limes, so it's not a big deal, and you can always ask for more if necessary.