Taqueria Del Sol

Taqueria Del Sol is a perennial favorite of ours - and the rest of the population of Atlanta, based on the constant long lines! But who can blame the people in those lines? I can't think of a better place for cheap, consistently delicious tacos made from fresh ingredients.

However, it seems that most people aren't in on this secret, which you MUST READ if you plan on eating at Taqueria Del Sol: Skip the line and head straight for the bar, where the seating is first-come first-served and the service is very prompt. We almost never have to wait in line here, as we always make a beeline straight to the bar. And even when the bar is full, we get ourselves put on the list and usually are sitting down and ordering within 10 minutes.

As for the food, in my opinion the best thing on the menu are the tacos for $2.19 a piece. I'd describe them as sort of fancy tacos - they are a bit gourmet compared to tacos you'd get at a truly ethnic Mexican restaurants. Our favorites are the Carnita, the Brisket, and the Memphis (which comes with barbecue sauce and cole slaw - AWESOME). We also highly recommend the delicious, slightly spicy turnip greens as a side dish. There's an assortment of other side dishes, as well as chips and salsa, guacamole, and several entrees like burritos and enchiladas. But nothing beats the tacos, if you ask me. There's also always a "special" taco each day - those that I have tried have been great. Oh, and the margaritas here are also fab.

There's just one caveat to eating at Taqueria Del Sol - despite its awesomeness, I would not attempt to eat here for dinner on a Friday or Saturday night, or even during peak lunch hours on the weekend. Even with trying to sit at the bar, you will likely wait a VERY long time - it's just a super popular place. We usually try to go a little before or a little after peak hours. Inevitably, there will always be a line coming out the door - this is why it's essential to be in-the-know about the bar!

Overall rating: A definite Atlanta favorite. The food never disappoints.

Located in the Westside Urban Market (same shopping center as Bacchanalia and JCT Kitchen) on Howell Mill Road. There are other locations in Decatur and elsewhere.

Taqueria Del Sol
1200-B Howell Mill Road, Westside
(404) 352-5811

La Suprema Panaderia

Yumyumyumyumyum. This bakery is fantastic!! It seems that La Suprema Panaderia has several locations throughout town, but we visited the one on Windy Hill in Smyrna/Marietta. This Mexican bakery is just full of deliciousness. We somewhat randomly chose four different things, including a huge, cream-filled donut and a piece of pineapple cake soaked in milk. SO GOOD. Our order was around $10.

Overall rating: Love! 'Nuff said. Need to go back to try their churros.

Located on Windy Hill Road, near the intersection with South Cobb Parkway.

La Suprema Panaderia
461-C Windy Hill Road, Marietta
(770) 435-2488

Lime Taqueria

When Lime Taqueria opened up a while ago, we went for dinner and were a little disappointed. We found the tacos to be very overpriced - they are tapas-sized, which in this case means one bite per taco. Considering each taco costs a few bucks, that adds up pretty fast. The food tasted just OK. We left disappointed, but I chalked it up to our expectations being too high.

Fast-forward to this past weekend, when we found a buy-one-entree-get-one-free coupon and decided to give it another try. Um, never again. We were incredibly disappointed with the food. Most of what we ordered wasn't just bland - it was downright bad.

We started with a simple order of chips and salsa, which comes with four different salsas. Two of the four - a salsa verde and a mild salsa - weren't bad. The other two were. The hottest one, especially, was just disgusting. It tasted like burnt nothing. For dinner, we both had pork dishes. The stuffed poblano pepper with pork was edible, but the roasted pork dish served over spinach and potatoes was not good at all. I have no idea why this is being served at a Mexican restaurant, as I couldn't detect a single ingredient or flavor that was remotely Mexican. The pork tasted like something I could make, if I chose to cook a piece of pork without seasoning it or flavoring it whatsoever.

Overall rating: The atmosphere here is nice, but in our opinion the food is abysmal. And yet it seems to be popular... I don't get it.

Located in Smyrna's West Village.

Lime Taqueria
4600 W. Village Place Suite 3007, Smyrna
(678) 309-1113

Chicago Supermarket

Chicago Supermarket is a normal Mexican grocery store, but at the back of the store is a small counter serving fantastic tacos. You can get chicken, beef, and some other mystery meat. (We tried to ask what that meat was, but the people working there spoke no English. I mean, NO English at all. This is the sign of a good ethnic restaurant!)

We ordered a couple chicken tacos, a couple beef tacos, and a cheese gordita. We could have done without the gordita, but the tacos were AWESOME. Each one comes on a freshly made tortilla shell, and then you can garnish the tacos however you choose at the little salsa bar. We like to load them up with fresh cilantro, chopped onions, and some of the green salsa. There are several kinds of salsa and some guacamole - all yummy.

Each taco was inexpensive - like less than $2. They are known as Weekend Tacos, so I assume they are only available on the weekends.

After having tacos, be sure to pick up a bag or three of Taki's (little rolled tortilla chips) from the grocery store - we like the firey Fuego flavor!

Overall rating: Freakin' great tacos. Cheap, delicious, awesome.

Located on Buford Highway.


Chicago Supermarket
5263 Buford Highway, Doraville
(770) 452-1361

La Churreria

AWESOME churros!! This bakery also has other yummy sweets, of which we tried a variety. But the standout was definitely the hot, fresh, delicious churros. We've also had churros from the Buford Highway Farmers Market, but they don't compare to the yummy goodness at La Churreria.

Overall rating: Holy cow, good churros!!

Located on Buford Highway, several miles ITP.


La Churreria
3336 Buford Highway
(404) 477-1811