IXTACO TAQUERIA
ADDRESS: 10021 Valley Boulevard, El Monte, CA 91731
WEBSITE: http://ixtaco.com/
My friend Michele and I must have been on a Mexican food kick, because the next time we hung out, we ended up looking around for another Mexican restaurant to try. She had heard from some of her co-workers about a place called Ixtaco Taqueria down in El Monte and how good their tacos were, so we decided to head over to give the place a shot.
The taqueria was located in a rather small building that I initially drove right by the first time. There is extremely limited parking in the lot right next to the building, which is shared with the auto repair shop next door, so I ended up parking in one of the neighborhoods nearby and walked over.
It took me a moment to get oriented with the menu and understand that it was set up to break down the different styles you could get the listed meat or seafood in. In total, there were 13 different styles to pair with 21 different types of meats or seafood. It definitely took a moment for me to look over all of the options before putting together my order. Then throw in the different appetizers they had available, along with a nice agua fresca to wash it all down. I was in a bit of a hungry mood, so I decided to go with four tacos: the birria, the chorizo, the fried scallops, and the ahi tuna. We also ordered a chips and guacamole to share between the two of us as well.
There is some limited seating available next to the building, a mix between outdoor tables and wooden booths. The chairs next to the tables were set up probably a bit closer to the parking spaces than I would have liked; someone pulling into a spot got pretty close to me while I was sitting down. But because the seating did seem pretty limited, if you arrive at the place when it’s during their lunch rush, you could be hard pressed to find a spot and might need to just take the food to-go.
Ixtaco offered four different types of salsas (verde, chipotle, mango habanero, and roja), with heat levels ranging from medium to hot. One of the staff members brought out some chips to us and asked us what salsas we wanted. We ended up asking for all four of them so that we could sample each one. My favorite was probably the chipotle, followed by the verde, then mango habanero, then roja. But they were all good in their own right, and came in pretty handy later on for the tacos.
Our chips and guac came out after we finished sampling the different salsas, with the guac having a nice incorporation of diced red onions and cilantro to help give it some additional flavor as well. It was soon after that our plates of tacos arrived, and it was certainly a sight to behold. I’m definitely a visual person when it comes to food, and I really liked that each of the different tacos had their own colors to help it pop off the plate. The different colors of the salsas also helped add to the color palette that was sitting in front of me as well.
Each of the tacos looked like it was on a hand-pressed corn tortilla, toasted up on a flat-top grill. I started things off with the chorizo, with its fire-red color that it gets from the spice blend mixed when the sausage is made. It had a really nice savory flavor with each bite, and added smoky notes from the spice blend that gave it additional depth. The freshness from the red onions and cilantro also helped to contrast it with the chorizo, and after I added a slight bit of the chipotle salsa, the creaminess from that really tied everything together.
I dived over to a seafood taco next, going with the fried scallops. This one was just the plain taco, with the scallops and then some cabbage slaw on the bottom. Given that the scallop flavor is rather delicate, I decided to forego any salsa just to make sure it didn’t get overpowered. The crispiness from the breading was a nice complement to the scallop flavor, with the cabbage providing a nice textural contrast in a way. Even though the taco was good, this probably ended up being the one I liked the least, if I had to rank them.
The ahi tuna taco was next, a solid chunk of fish that looked to be pan-seared. I thought that this would go well with the mango habanero salsa, giving it a shot with that fruit and seafood flavor pairing. It ended up being a real winner, with the pronounced flavor of the ahi tuna really shining through on each bite. Not that I had an issue with it, but with the larger piece of the tuna, it definitely made wrapping the taco and trying to take a full bite a slight challenge at times.
Last, but not least, the birria taco, which had been sandwiched right at the center of the plate, but now freed with all of the surrounding tacos eaten. Even just visually, the meat looked super tender, and rich with flavors from the stew it was cooking in. I decided to add just a slight hint of the salsa roja to give the taco a punch. I thought that each bite was a great balance between the savory and umami from the birria, the spiciness from the salsa roja, freshness from cilantro and red onions, and earthiness of the corn tortilla. This taco just slightly edged out the chorizo for my favorite of the bunch.
Ixtaco Taqueria is definitely really unassuming when you’re passing it by on the street. But the diversity of the offerings, coupled with the freshness of all its ingredients and great combination of flavors, really made it a winner for me. I can definitely see why the crowd really started multiplying after we got there, so we were lucky to stop by before the rush. If you’re looking for a solid place offering both meat and seafood options, this is definitely one to take a visit to if you’re in the area.
Let’s now take a look at the Ixtaco Taqueria Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Chips & Guacamole **
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** Fried Scallops Taco **
Scallops breaded and deep-fried, served on a corn tortilla with shredded red cabbage.
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** Ahi Tuna Taco **
Pan-seared ahi tuna, served on a corn tortilla with shredded red cabbage.
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** Birria Taco **
Slow-cooked beef birria, served on a corn tortilla with diced red onions and cilantro.
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** Chorizo Taco **
Chorizo chunks cooked on a grill, served on a corn tortilla with diced red onions and cilantro.
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And finally, here are my rankings for Ixtaco Taqueria:
Food: 4.75 / 5
You can’t go wrong with 21 different meat or seafood options, which can be prepared in 13 different styles. The quality of the ingredients and the flavorful bites spoke for themselves.
Atmosphere: 4 / 5
The outdoor seating leaned more on the functional side of things, especially with some of the tables positioned pretty close to the parking spaces and cars.
Service: 4.25 / 5
For the amount of food that we ordered, the staff in the back were really cranking out the tacos and getting them out to our table in no time at all.
Price: 4.25 / 5
Depending on the type of meat / seafood you got, the taco would range from $3.00 – $4.80 each. That’s not even the “taco superior,” which ranged from $5.50 – $7.30 each (added guacamole, sour cream, beans, and cheese). That’s definitely expensive for tacos, but I thought that the quality of the food you got made it worth it.
Overall:
17.25 / 20
(86%)
Categories: California, Restaurants
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