Over the years, tacos -- which are relatively inexpensive to prepare -- have become a fast-food staple at national chains such as Taco Bell (which started in the early 1960s when a former Marine, Glen Bell, began selling tacos from his hot-dog stand) and local drive-ins like the 47-year-old Humdinger Drive-In (with its vintage sign at right) at 2504 E. Ninth St., which sells tacos by the bag (you can get a dozen for $11.25).
Oh yes, there are terrific tacos all over town, but after taking a taco tour, Fat City's Jonathan Bender and Charles Ferruzza settled on this group of ten as the best cheap tacos in town:
10. Fric & Frac,
1700 W. 39th St. For more than three decades, patrons have stopped in
this 39th Street saloon for tacos. They're filling and cheap -- enough
said.
9. La Chiquita, 265 N. Seventh St., Kansas City, Kansas. The $1.25 tacos come from a sidewalk window in a squat brick building. A modest, albeit salty, good cheap taco that's available with carne asada or barbacoa (the latter only offered on Fridays and Saturdays).
8. El Pulgarcito, 5921 Merriam Dr. in Merriam. The carne asada is tender and tastes of the grill. These look and feel homemade -- the right introductory taco ($1.75) for the uninitiated.
7. Charritos Taqueria, 3831 Independence Ave. Skirt steak and roasted cactus spill out of the Tacos Aztecas ($1.85), while a salsa made with poblano peppers adds a nice bit of heat. The amount of filling almost guarantees the use of a fork.
6. Nara, 1617 Main. This trendy Japanese robata grill and sushi bistro may seem an unlikely place to find tacos, but during happy hour (3-7 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 3-6 p.m. Friday and 4-6 p.m. Saturday; 10 p.m.-closing Monday through Saturday), the fish tacos are a very happy discovery. Crispy wonton shells are filled with flaky white fish, mango slaw and "dynamite sauce" made with mayonnaise and hot chili sauce.
5. Veracruz, 731 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City,
Kansas. With tax, four tacos came to $4.07 -- most on the whiteboard
menu outside were 89 cents. The barbacoa was delicate, sitting on a
combination of queso blanco, shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes inside
a white corn tortilla. For sheer value, this is a winner.
4. Bichelmeyer Meats, 704 Cheyenne Ave., Kansas
City, Kansas. Fresh, hot and directly next to the 60-foot meat counter
-- this is our kind of retail sample (4 for $6). Peppery juice drips
from the lengua (tongue) and asada (steak). Only sold on Saturdays.
1360 Walnut. Chef Rob Dalzell's frozen yogurt shop in the Power &
Light District offers delicious Korean tacos -- three for two bucks --
during the week. There are pork, chicken and short rib versions --
pictured at right -- served in a soft tortilla wrapper with
onion-cilantro relish and house-made kimchi.
4019 Pennsylvania. Simple but well prepared. The strongest flavors are
the chopped onion and cilantro. Chicken and ground beef tacos
(regularly $1.75) are a steal on Tuesdays at $1 each.
1. El Camino Real, 903 N. Seventh St., Kansas City,
Kansas. The ultimate local taco experience, this storefront restaurant
offers the real thing. In fact, if you sit up front, near the big
window (with a view of gamblers heading up the street to the 7th Street
Casino), you can watch one of the employees mixing up the masa and
making fresh corn tortillas, which are tossed on the grill. The tacos
are $1.50 each and fantastic. The selection includes beef tongue,
chorizo, fish, carne asada, a poblano chile-and-cheese, and carne
asada. The tacos are served with small bowls of chopped fresh cilantro,
onion, pico de gallo and a very hot salsa. A large picture of the image
of Our Lady of Guadalupe looks down at all the diners, which adds an
even more spiritual quality to a heavenly culinary experience.
Showing 1-10 of 10
Uh. You forgot Rico Taco Lupe! $1.50 most days but a buck on Tuesdays. And their red salsa is the best salsa on the planet. Lived in LA and San Francisco and ate up and down the coast from Baja to the Nor Cal border and this place is righteous. There are some good places on this list, but if you don't have Rico Taco Lupe, in SoCal terminology...you're a kook. It ain't Tex Mex crap. It's the real deal. Go get you some and love it.
Cancun Fresh is good, if you're drunk and fried tacos are for gringos that like to smother everything in cheese sauce and call it "Mexican."
General tips for tacos in KC (and anywhere else, for that matter):
(1) Location: the more frightening the locale to Johnson Countians, the better. Look for luxury SUV's in the parking lot. If there are none, you might be on to somehthing... ideally the parking area will be filled with pickup trucks and Honda Accords in various states of disrepair.
(2) Ammenities: when inside, look around you... are there cloth napkins? Table cloths? A "please wait to be seated" sign? If yes, RUN AWAY QUICKLY. If you see paper napkins and plastic chairs or picnic benches, you're in the right place. Even better: You can see the grill from the dining area, there's a meat counter, a glass doored soda cooler and fresh produce visible.
(3) Clientele: If you hear more English than Spanish spoken between customers and the employees, RUN AWAY QUICKLY. Also, if the faces that look up at you when you walk in are all european, RUN AWAY QUICKLY.
(4) Menu: If your only meat choices for tacos are beef, chicken and steak, RUN AWAY QUICKLY, especially if there are fewer choices than that! There should be multiple pork options (al pastor, carnitas, buche, tripa, etc.) and several beef options (asada, lengua, cabeza, etc.) If everything comes with rice and refried beans, you're probably in the wrong place.
Rico's Tacos @ 802 SW. Blvd. blows all of these places out of the water, with the exception of the tacos al pastor at El Camino Real. Additionally, Tortilleria San Antonio at Kansas Ave. and Mill St. has all the ammenities of Bichelmeyer, but serves up all tacos week long. TSA is also home to some of the best salsa verde in the city.
They're pretty Americanized, but still....Who doesn't love In A Tub tacos? They're the best, especially in the Northland!
what does a guy from back east know from tacos? How about a list of eateries like La Bodega?
Hey Jonathan, this is an excellent top ten list. Here is San Diego we have ample amounts of taco shops, but we have relatives who live in KC and they always complain that it's not as good. I forwarded this list so that they now the different options in the city. You can cross-post this to our site http://www.toptentopten.com/ and link back to your site. We are trying to create a directory for top ten lists where people can find your site. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list.
What's this Japanese and Korean taco crap? No offense, I like my asian food and all, but those aren't tacos! 2 potential mexican purveyors of starch encased protein are left to suck hind teat of a yuppy sushi bar and a friggin' frozen yogurt stand. Shameful!
"Seriously, are there any people in Kansas City over the age of 3 that don't know what a friggen TACO is? C'mon."
Unequivocally, yes. Well, tacos of the sort he is talking about. I'd venture to guess that for a large portion of the KC metroplex, taco = ground beef + yellow cheese + white less + Old El Paso taco shell.
Sounds like a bunch of yummy places to try out, for sure! But..."These look and feel homemade -- the right introductory taco ($1.75) for the uninitiated." Really? "The uninitiated"? Seriously, are there any people in Kansas City over the age of 3 that don't know what a friggen TACO is? C'mon.
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