The 5 Best Tacos in Hood River: Get Your Taco Fix at These Local Places!

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Saddle up because I’m sharing the seven best tacos in Hood River – and where to get them!

As someone who was born and raised in Southern California, I know tacos. They are one of the five most important food groups for a Californian. So naturally when I moved to Oregon, I was a bit skeptical. Especially since all of the popular Latin restaurants were…pretty meh. You can imagine my surprise when I visited Hood River, a small little town along the Columbia River Gorge, and had some incredible tacos!

To keep things fair and even, I ordered the same menu item – carne asada tacos, my favorite – from each location. I wanted to judge them on a level playing field, but I’ll also share some other menu items that are worth checking out!

P.S. I’m specifically sharing taco-focused spots. So for that reason I didn’t include Mexican restaurants with a wide variety of options.

Okay enough disclaimers, let’s get to the eating part.

El Cuate Taqueria

Ahh…your first love is always the sweetest, am I right? The same can be said for my relationship with El Cuate Taqueria. This was the first location where I ate tacos in Hood River, so it always be one of my favorites. It’s a food truck, so it does have the ability to move around, but personally I’ve always seen it in the giant parking lot on the corner of 6th and State St.

The staff are always super friendly and the prices are extremely affordable. I mean, they aren’t at the price level of the amazing tacos in Puerto Vallarta, but at about $2 a pop, you can get full on a budget!! I love their salsa verde sauce, and honestly I’ve ONLY ever gotten their carne asada tacos because they are just THAT GOOD.

Paco’s Tacos

When I was looking up tacos in Hood River, I feel like Paco’s Tacos got the most recognition, so I went to see what all the hype was about. They are a VERY mobile food truck, so I would recommend checking their Facebook page for their most accurate location.

I would hiiiighly recommend visiting on a Tuesday for their $2 Tuesday street taco special. Now, their carne asada tacos were good, but they REALLY shine in their birria tacos. They are perfectly crisp and moist. Mmm.

El Monte Taqueria

El Monte Taqueria is a little further out of the way, but SOLIDLY earns a spot as having some of the best tacos in Hood River. It’s a food truck, but is very stationary down on Trucker Road. There is a cute little outdoor seating area too if you’re not grabbing tacos to go.

El Monte Taqueria is very authentic and down to Earth. That’s my second favorite thing about it. The first obviously being THE TACOS. They have excellent burritos, and I don’t order chicken tacos often, but this is the spot to do it if you do.

Yeah I don’t take the best food pics. Sorry about that haha.

El Rincon Taqueria

If you are looking for vegetarian tacos in Hood River, this is the spot to go! They are located on Cascade Ave and they actually aren’t a food truck! They have a little bit large menu out of the other places on this list, but the tacos are really great. Affordable and flavorful. They also are VERY generous with their avocado portions.

Sadly, I do not like avocado. *cry emoji*

They have outdoor seating and again, if you are vegetarian you MUST order the vegetarian burrito. It’s surprisingly delicious, and this is coming from someone who literally hates vegetables.

Lake Taco

This place is probably the cutest on the list if you’re looking for tacos in Hood River. It has a very colorful outdoor dining area right off of 13th St. They are closed on Sunday, but every other day of the week they are poppinnnn.

I love their full condiments bar with fresh house made salsas and dips for their chips (which are equally delicious). I could literally eat JUST the chips and be content with life. I believe they also make their own tortillas, which explains why they’re so bomb.

Their carne asada tacos are good, but the real showstopper are their grilled shrimp tacos. YALL. I will ONLY get grilled shrimp tacos in Hood River from Lake Taco.

Honorable Mentions

• Tacos Tumbras: I actually LOVEE Tacos Tumbras. They’re one of the best food trucks along the Columbia River Gorge, let alone Mexican food trucks. Their quesobirria tacos are hands down their most popular. And for good reason! That said, they are located in The Dalles, so I can’t reallyyy include them in a list for tacos in Hood River now can I? (except I kinda just did lol)
• Modern Taco: Modern Taco is actually an Asian fusion restaurant serving up, naturally, Asian fusion tacos in Hood River. They have menu items such as curry chicken tacos and tacos in bao buns, and they’re great – but the menu had more than just staple tacos and is basically joined at the hip with Sushi Hood River by the same owners.
• Hood River Taqueria: Despite taqueria being in their name, they actually have a pretty extensive menu. That said, they DO have some good tacos.
• Ixtapa Mexican Restaurant: I haven’t been to Ixtapa yet, but I’ve only heard good things. Like Hood River Taqueria, it’s a restaurant-restaurant so you’ll have plenty of options in addition to tacos in Hood River.
• La Pasadita: They are more of an amazing burrito place, buuut if you want to go BIG, they actually have a huge taco platter. 25 tacos for $40. I feel a dramatic Instagram picture coming on…

Tacos in Hood River: Conclusion

Omg, is your entire mouth drooling now?? Thank you so much for reading! If you’re headed to the area, I hope you check out some of these bomb spots for tacos in Hood River! Your tongue will thank you, trust me!

Have you ever been to Hood River? What did you think of the food there? Let me know in the comments below!

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