Beantown Taqueria

[Matt H]

After two tries I can convincingly say I really like this place. Admittedly the name and Central Square location did not inspire much confidence but this is amongst the better Taqueria's I have tried in the Boston area.

Have ordered every type of Taco on the menu with the Chorizo and Tinga being the standouts. The Carnitas is probably the only one that fell short and is just okay. The main highlight though are the Tortillas. Hand Made in house Corn Tortillas that are good by anyone's standard.

For someone that lives in Kendall Square I also appreciate the fact that they are open late and deliver to the area.

[lime_green]

I've had delivery from this place a couple of times and they're pretty tasty, especially the chorizo. True, Mexican tasting chorizo is hard to come by in Boston.

This place is second on my list though. If you like this place you have to try Felipe's Taqueria in Harvard Square. The chorizo tacos there taste like they're straight from Mexico.

[opinionatedchef]

i see they now have steak and shrimp as filling options. the website photos look promising, particularly the chiles rellenos. matt, how is it these days?

[Matt H]

They now serve Tacos Al Pastor. Tried them over the weekend and was impressed. This place is now in the regular rotation.

[jgg13]

Yeah I come by here now and then now. I doubt it'd get my relatives in texas all that excited but I prefer it over the other options in the area (e.g. Picante, Jose's truck, etc).

[Nab]

Based on the name, I wonder if they might be related to Mass Chicken.

Which would not be much of a stretch - I lunched at their newly-opened sister restaurant Bab Al-Amoud down on Western Ave today. Strange connexion, and a strange restaurant - it's decorated with some very quirky old antiques, hookah gear, photos of Shaq, scenes of Italy - totally bizarre, confusing, and somewhat charming. They've got a nice outdoor patio you can sit at and soak in the serene scene that is Western Ave. Menu is pretty standard generic Mid-Eastern but the friendly woman informed me they're from Jordan. If there's a kitchen, I could not see it - instead, behind the cash register is a small flattop (they do American brekkie), a fridge, not much else. I was told the lamb gyro was a homemade house special and, though I did not see it, was assured the spit was "in the back". While the sandwich came nicely wrapped and pressed in good pita, the loaf was indistinguishable from Kronos, and the sandwich was a leaky tahini faucet - pita got soaked, fell apart, and I had to go at it with knife n fork. The falafel, also apparently a homemade special, lacked a dark brown crispy shell and instead were kinda soggy, mealy, dry and doused with a very runny hummus. They may fare better with the curries, and for some reason I will return and give it a try.

[jgg13]

One never knows but I didn't sense any relation to Mass Chicken when I was in there. They don't seem similar at all.

[Nab]

Similar only for the poor choice of name.

Not that similarity matters since Beantown Taqueria is related to Bab Al-Amoud.

[jgg13]

Wait, I thought you were saying that Mass Chicken was related to Bab Al-Amoud? Certainly the two seem more in league, what with the hookahs and such.

[opinionatedchef]

http://www.beantowntaqueria.com/menu

only "shredded or ground beef"? bumMER. carne asada and pescado are my go-to tacos. oh well. glad you like it.

[Matt H]

I wish they would eventually expand their meat selections as well. Personally my favorite is always Lengua and Cabeza, but the Chorizo and Tinga make me more than happy when they are in those excellent tortillas.

[gourmaniac]

By coincidence, I just had the Lengua and cabeza tacos at Taqueria Jalisco, and they were spectacular. Overall, how does Beantown compare?

[Matt H]

Jalisco is still better overall I would say, mainly because their meat selection is better and probably better executed than any other Taquería I've tried in the area. Beantown's Tortillas are better than Jalisco though.

[cpingenot]

Thanks for the tip- I too would have steered away from it based on the name alone, but I'm always happy to try another taco place.

On that note, just tried "The Taco Truck" Sunday at the Mem Drive closure. My husband and I split an order of Carnitas and an order of Barbacoa. It was good, although not super memorable and exciting. The meat was good, although the carnitas were not as flavorful as the barbacoa. The corn tortillas were good but not amazing. You have to buy salsas on the side, which was a little odd. We added cotija and guacamole at home (these were takeout on the way home) but they had both available for an extra $.75 each.

I thought they were a little pricey at $5 for two tacos, but they use sustainably raised meats, so that drives the price up. I will say that they were super super slow to make 4 tacos. It's not like they are cooking everything to order from scratch, and there was no one in line in front of me, so it wasn't that they were behind, or understaffed. Not sure what the delay was but it took more than 5 minutes, and probably closer to 10 to get the four tacos out. Maybe they were having issues, but they're going to have to do better than that if they want to do volume.

[viperlush]

Those tortillas, the late hours and price makes me very happy that they are in Central. First time I went (the weekend they openned) I was a little dissapointed because the meat tasted pretty dry to me. But it was a weird time and I think that the food had been sitting. Second trip it was better. Im happy to see that it is busy when i pass by. I want to try the breakfast items next.

[jgg13]

It's funny as I went there for the first time this weekend - I had the same reservations which is what kept me away. I had chorizo enchiladas and thought they were pretty good. Best I ever had? No, but not bad at all. The chorizo itself was really good IMO.

It looks like they do mexican/tex-mex brunch dishes on the weekends, they had huevos rancheros and other such things available.

[muscles_marinara]

I'll have to check it out. Given the name alone, I'd have certainly avoided the place... thanks!