Taco Town DSM

Taco Town DSM My name is Ethridge Netz and I’m on a journey to try every taco in the Des Moines metro

October 24 — Cowboy Mexican Bar & Grill1234 E Euclid AveDes Moines, IA 50316Really great tacos. I always start with the ...
10/25/2025

October 24 — Cowboy Mexican Bar & Grill

1234 E Euclid Ave
Des Moines, IA 50316

Really great tacos. I always start with the tortillas and these were great. Well cooked corn tortillas with just the right crispiness. The pastor was great. Pineapple chunks with great sear, crispiness, and caramelization on the pork. The pineapple seemed like it was added after the meat was cooked without a lot of char on the pieces but still great overall. The salsa was a great orange color with tomatillos as the base. Good acidity with the perfect amount of heat. Also the live entertainment was really special. Great atmosphere.

October 23 — Los Alegres 7/108950 University AveWest Des Moines, IA 50266Meats were fantastic. The Pastor had chunks of ...
10/24/2025

October 23 — Los Alegres 7/10

8950 University Ave
West Des Moines, IA 50266

Meats were fantastic. The Pastor had chunks of pineapple and the pork was seared and cooked to perfection. Lots of great caramelization. The chorizo was great as well. The tortillas were flour which isn’t what I prefer but they were good tortillas regardless. Only came with green salsa which looked good, nice creaminess and color, but was a little light on the spiciness and didn’t add much to the taco that just lime didn’t already add. The tacos were a little expensive at $5.50 per taco but the order came with a bag of tortilla chips and some really nice table salsa.

October 9 — Taqueria La Herradura 6.5/101600 Euclid Ave.Des Moines, IA 50313These tacos were just plain Jane, run-of-the...
10/12/2025

October 9 — Taqueria La Herradura 6.5/10

1600 Euclid Ave.
Des Moines, IA 50313

These tacos were just plain Jane, run-of-the-mill tacos: nothing really special, but nothing really terrible either. If you look up ‘$3 taco’ in the dictionary, these are probably pictured. The tortillas were undercooked. The chorizo tasted like chorizo. The adobada had good flavor and was cooked well. The sauces were fine. The tacos were fine. Nothing really blew my socks off, but nothing was really offensive to warrant a bad review. These are not the best tacos in Des Moines, but they aren’t the worst.

October 2 — Lina’s Mexican Food 5/101221 Keosauqua Way Suite 101Des Moines, IA 50309I had these tacos back in August and...
10/02/2025

October 2 — Lina’s Mexican Food 5/10

1221 Keosauqua Way Suite 101
Des Moines, IA 50309

I had these tacos back in August and didn’t write a review. I decided to give them a second chance because I believe there’s really no such thing as a bad taco, but these just weren’t great. The carne asada was either stewed or boiled, they weren’t seared on the grill—just soft, grey, pieces of steak without much flavor. The adobada looked better, it was at least seared on the grill with good char and charamelization but the meat really felt off, not much flavor and definitely not the flavors I expect from adobada. The tortillas were a little undercooked. The best part of the meal were the salsas but they were just good not great. I hate giving a lackluster review but I really didn’t like the tacos.

September 24 — Maria’s Mexican Food 7.5/1015950 Hickman Rd suite #100Clive, IA 50325Giant tacos. Crazy big portions. Ca...
09/24/2025

September 24 — Maria’s Mexican Food 7.5/10

15950 Hickman Rd suite #100
Clive, IA 50325

Giant tacos. Crazy big portions. Campechanos was really good. Good steak to chorizo mix. Could have used a little more sear on the steak to get some crispy caramelization but it was seasoned and cooked well. The marinade on the adobada was amazing. Towards the bottom of the taco there was good sear and caramelization and greasiness but the top was wet and soggy and a little undercooked for some reason. Tortillas were meh. A little undercooked. Salsas were meh. Good flavor in the green sauce but the red sauce was watery with too much tomato flavor. Great tacos for a “chain” store.

August 14 — Taqueria Marissa 8/104200 SE 14th StDes Moines, IA 50320Tortillas were great! Maybe the best I’ve had, cooke...
08/14/2025

August 14 — Taqueria Marissa 8/10

4200 SE 14th St
Des Moines, IA 50320

Tortillas were great! Maybe the best I’ve had, cooked perfectly and great taste and texture. Pastor was just on the verge of overcooked but had a great caramelization. Had pineapple pieces and great Smokey sweetness. Chorizo was greasy and amazing. Tacos were a little on the small size but the price reflected that at $2.50 a taco. Budget-wise this might be the best bang for your buck taco in Des Moines. Really great tacos

August 12 — Tacos La Familia 1610 6th AveDes Moines, IA 50314Tortillas were cooked well and had good texture. The Al Pas...
08/13/2025

August 12 — Tacos La Familia

1610 6th Ave
Des Moines, IA 50314

Tortillas were cooked well and had good texture. The Al Pastor was a little bland as far as pastor meat goes. The pork had a lot of fat content, which I enjoy in pastor, but the meat was just on the edge of being overcooked. No pineapple and very little sweet flavor, and was mostly roasted pork. The chorizo tacos are exactly what I’m looking for in a taco and definitely redeeming. The verde sauce was good but the rojo was a little watery and not as bold as I like a rojo sauce.

August 11 — La Favorita 1700 E Grand AveDes Moines, IA 50316Asada was the “hard meat rocks” tacos that I’m always harpin...
08/11/2025

August 11 — La Favorita

1700 E Grand Ave
Des Moines, IA 50316

Asada was the “hard meat rocks” tacos that I’m always harping on. Asada had good flavor but the texture was hard and dry like hard meat rocks. Tortillas were pretty small for $3.50/taco. Al pastor had a texture almost like chorizo and had great, savory, sweet, flavor. All rojo sauces will be judged against the La Michoacana rojo now and this one was a little bleh and watery comparatively. Verde sauce was classic. I enjoyed the pastor meat but the rest of the ensemble was pretty bleh.

August 10 — Bar Nico 6/10428 E Locust StDes Moines, IA 50309I want to preface by saying that these tacos were delicious ...
08/11/2025

August 10 — Bar Nico 6/10

428 E Locust St
Des Moines, IA 50309

I want to preface by saying that these tacos were delicious in their own right, they just weren’t what I’m looking for in a taco personally. The tacos came with one corn tortilla which had great flavor but the wild boar tacos had a lot of moisture and the tortillas lost integrity before I got to eat them and fell apart in my hands. The campechanos meat was great, greasy, which I enjoy but the flavor of the meat was muted by cotija cheese and crema. My palette is not mature enough to tell the difference between wild boar and regular carnitas. Almost no heat from any of the ingredients on either of the tacos, great savory flavor but no heat at all. I ended up feeling more full and heavy then other tacos meals — they had a 2 for 1 deal, I thought they were 50% off, and I accidentally ordered 8 tacos. I made it through 3 and my kids ate the rest and really enjoyed them as they don’t like spicy foods. I’m still waiting for a fancy restaurant to execute a traditional taco flawlessly, rather than getting carried away with the creativity of the dish and missing the soul of the taco.

*Just a note — all of these ratings are based on my personal preferences, and I’m not really concerned with being objective as this is my own personal taco journey.

August 7 — La Michoacana Mexican Groceries 9/10433 5th StWest Des Moines, IA 50265I couldn’t find many things wrong with...
08/07/2025

August 7 — La Michoacana Mexican Groceries 9/10
433 5th St
West Des Moines, IA 50265

I couldn’t find many things wrong with these tacos. The tortillas we’re amazing, perfectly cooked. The Al pastor had a smoky sweet flavor and was cooked perfectly. The chorizo and Al pastor were both seared and charred perfectly with great caramelization, not hard meat rocks like other places. The verde sauce had perfect lime and pepper flavor. The dark red almost brown rojo sauce had a smoked chili flavor that I wanted to just dip my tacos into if I wasn’t already sweating. Really good tacos!

August 5 — Flame The Taqueria 8/105765 Merle Hay RdJohnston, IA 50131Only one tortilla per taco (don’t like that), and p...
08/05/2025

August 5 — Flame The Taqueria 8/10
5765 Merle Hay Rd
Johnston, IA 50131

Only one tortilla per taco (don’t like that), and pretty unremarkable tortillas. Pretty greasy (I do like that.) Great sauces, the green was delicious but the real star was the arbol sauce — bright red, great slow heat that just makes you want to keep eating it. Chorizo tacos were great, but nothing extraordinary. Al pastor had that great sweet, savory, and spicy thing that makes me love Al pastor so much. Great tacos. Could have been among the best if it weren’t for the tortillas. Arbol sauce earns an extra 0.5 all by itself.

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