Tacos are some of my favorite food, and we have some killer tacos here in Portland! I decided to do a roundup of my favorite tacos the last few years now that we are transitioning out of taco season and into soup season here in the PNW. Each photo will be accompanied by a short description of what I ordered and where it’s from.

Mole Mole (2 food cart locations in N & NE PDX). Mole Mole is the gold standard for me for all kinds of Mexican cuisine. Their tacos are next level. If I had to pick only ONE spot to recommend, it’d be this one. All their tacos are incredible, but you can’t go wrong with what I ordered here: carne asada, pastor, pescado & camaron. $3 or $4 for seafood. Double layered corn tortillas, street taco size but packed!

Gonzalez Taqueria. Food truck in a gas station parking lot off N. Intersate. This is a real OG IYKYK kind of spot. Family run, this has been my go-to street taco spot for over 15 years now! The play here is 2 pastor, 2 pollo. Those are the meats I recommend getting. The iconic, classic street taco. Piping hot, double layered corn tortillas with just onion and cilantro. This taqueria makes a ton of killer salsas. Go for the peanut and avocado salsas.

Matt’s BBQ tacos. An iconic Portland institution at this point. 3 locations around PDX, this is from the Hinterland location in SE. Again, all their tacos are incredible, using Matt’s BBQ meats which are phenomenal. Everything is highly recommended, no clunkers. What I ordered this time was (L-R) chopped sausage with added jalapenos, brisket and breakfast pulled pork taco. The meats are to die for. Larger tacos on house made lard infused flour tortillas. This is the place to take your out of town relatives/friends. They’ve probably already heard about it!

Tito’s Taquitos. 3 locations in PDX and Beaverton. Known for their delicious taquitos, they also serve up some of the best tacos in town. They make my favorite baja fish taco, but here I am highlighting their Rib Eye Taco. Know that these are pricier ($8 each) but totally worth it. You’re paying for the quality of steak here. Rib eye on a blue corn tortilla with pickled fried onions, guacamole, cilantro and a jalapeno toreado. This is an incredible show-stopper of a taco. If you want to keep it cheaper though, get any of the other tacos, but don’t skip the beer battered fish taco! Also, really nice homemade spicy salsas.

Ki’ikibaa. Family owned Yucatecan restaurant out on NE 82nd that was crowned best Portland restaurant of 2023 for good reason. Now technically these are panuchos, but I’m including them in the taco roundup since they are closely related. They also serve salbutes here (highly recommended!). These panuchos are incredible, and Ki’ikibaa has some of the best carne asada meat in town. I fell in love years ago with Yucatecan food on multiple visits there and I love being able to get authentic food here in town.

The Meddling Lime, a food cart down on Milwaukie Ave that serves a blend of Mexican-style cuisine with Pacific Northwest ingredients. They opened in 2018 and have become one of my favorite carts in town, serving delicious food. They have a huge menu, but of course today the focus is on tacos (highly recommend everything on the menu though). Their tacos are incredible! Elevated flavors here. What I got on this visit, from L-R: Chili Poached Shrimp, Pan Seared Blackened Cod, Al Pastor, Fried Chicken. All of these are a total revelation, and super flavorful. The blackened cod is one of the best tacos I’ve ever eaten in my life. Period.

Bajala Fish and Shrimp Tacos. This was from when they operated a cart at Nob Hill in NW. They have since closed the cart but they continue to do pop ups around town and I know that we have not seen the last of them! They have two pop ups this month. Incredible baja style fish and shrimp tacos. The real deal. These are some of the best baja style Mexican tacos I have had outside of Mexico. Batter is cripsy and perfect.

Tacos Fita. 3 food cart locations in town. A newer player on the game, they just celebrated their 2-year anniversary. Easily some of the best tacos in town, they have some seriously elevated tacos and flavors. The meats are all incredible, and they are serving the tacos on homemade 6 inch flour tortillas that are phenomenal. On this visit to their SE location, I ordered Rib Eye, Crispy Halibut and Shrimp tacos. These are large tacos that are packed with insane flavors and incredibly cooked and seasoned meats. Highly recommended.

Mahi Taco, a food cart at the Piedmont station on NE Killingsworth. Jeff at Mahi Taco makes my favorite mahi taco in town. He really has it down, and I love the style of his tacos and the attention to detail. The Mahi fish is always perfectly cooked and seasoned, and you have the option of blackening the fish which I recommend. My order (which I recommend) is to get 2 Mahi tacos and 1 chicken taco. Don’t sleep on the chicken! It’s delicious and seasoned/grilled to perfection. These are large tacos, and an order of 3 will certainly feed a big eater with a hungry appetite (like me).

Chayo, a food cart on SE Division. David at Chayo is slinging some incredible food out of their cart. Not just tacos but crazy stuff Sonoran Hot Dogs and Xicano Cheesesteaks! No slave to tradition here. After 4 years, it feels like Chayo is still flying under the radar with the foodies in town, but those who know love it. This cart has a full 5 star rating on yelp, no small feat! On this visit I got a carne asada and a birria taco. They were both incredible, especially the carne asada one. Highly recommended. 8 inch fresh flour tortillas that are delicious (or you can get 2 smaller corn tortillas). Large, two was a perfect lunch.

There is my taco roundup! It is by no means exhaustive, and there are plenty of other taco joints I love that didn’t make this post. Feel free to comment with your favorite tacos in Portland. Happy Eating!