El Tonayense: The Best Taco Truck in San Francisco

HAVING RECENTLY WRITTEN ABOUT ALTERNATIVE USES OF THE TACO, I thought it would only be fair to showcase what I feel to be the best taco truck in The City. There it is above, in all its glory: El Tonayense.

It took me a while (years actually) to finally check out the taco truck that was oddly parked in front of the Best Buy on Harrison Street. For some reason, it just didn’t make sense to me. Why the Best Buy? Why the Guy Fieri paint job? Something just didn’t seem to add up. However, one day while shopping for parent-friendly electronics around Christmas, I fell victim to retail-based hunger pangs and decided to mow a taco. Little did I know, but my mind was soon to be blown. I was also unaware of how much time I would spend eating the culinary equivalent of an afternoon delight off the hood of my car in a Best Buy parking lot for many years thereafter.

As you can see, this place is legit. Like any truly authentic taco vendor, be it mobile or stationary, you can immediately tell if it’s good by whether or not you are scared to eat half the shit they put on a taco. It took me a while to work up to it, but my go-to taco plate is now the Al Pastor (duh) and the Tripitas. For the uninitiated few, “tripitas” means “tripe” which means “the edible insides of the stomachs of various animals”. The way I see it, if you are going down that path anyhow, you might as well buy it off the back of a truck. It tastes like a slightly gamier al pastor and I honestly can’t get enough of it. Each taco will run you two bucks and a Mexican Coke is $2.50.

Again, I think these puppies taste best served over the  hood of a 2002 Ford, but I also understand that different things excite different people. Regardless of what your into, go grab some tacos from El Tonayense next time you get the chance. There are three taco truck locations (listed below) and they also have a restaurant in Bayview.

If there’s a better taco truck I’d like to hear about it, but for now, I think these guys take the cake.

EL TONAYENSE

Harrison & 14th [The Mission]

Harrison & 17th

Harrison & 19th

2560 Marin St (Restaurant) [The Bayview]
(415) 559-0404