The Bottom Line
- Good, solid tacos, burritos, enchiladas and salads.
- Great salsa bar.
- Fun, relaxed setting that’s amenable to kids.
- Reasonably priced.
- Quick, friendly staff never misses a beat.
- Menu does not disappoint, but it’s not special either.
- Street parking can be tough to find.
Description
- Cuisine Type: Mexican
- Taco Fiesta
618 S. Exeter St.
Phone: 410-234-3782 - Open seven days a week; 11 a.m.–10 p.m.
- Price: Inexpensive
- Recommended for kids: Yes
Guide Review - Taco Fiesta
The menu won’t put you in the mind of true Mexico, but it will make you glad you stopped in. The burritos are stuffed with meat—the roasted, seasoned pork is especially tasty—and loaded with beans, veggies and jack cheese. Tacos come in all the usual varieties, though we've found the chicken a bit on the dry side. And Taco Fiesta salads come in a deep-fried tortilla bowl with rice, beans, veggies and guacamole.
On multiple visits, we found nothing to give us pause on the menu, though there is little that stands out. The one exception, however, is the salsa bar. The tortilla chips, crispy, fresh and perfectly salted, are the perfect base for Taco Fiesta salsas such as salsa mango, made with mangos, onions and morita chilies; salsa asada, with serrano peppers, tomatoes and onions; and the smoky salsa Pancho Villa, with arbol chilies, tomatoes and spices. The salsas are made from scratch ever morning and multiple samplings are suggested.
The restaurant also serves up a better-than-expected margarita or, as they’re called here, "Fiesta-ritas." Slightly sweet, the drinks are made with freshly squeezed lime juice, a generous dose of triple sec and Cuervo Gold tequila. A passable selection of wines and imported Mexican beers round out the drinks menu.
So the food, served cafeteria style with plastic utensils, certainly is fast and fresh. And the restaurant is unquestionably fun. The small, lively first-floor bar qith artistically painted tables usually has a smattering of families and the dating crowd. As an overall dining experience, the restaurant delivers on the three Fs in its slogan as well as a fourth: fiesta.
