My Quest For the Best Chicken Taco in Newberg

The best chicken taco in Newberg, OR at 
 Pastorcillo’s Tacos

A current food trend in Portland is street carts, which are essentially restaurants on wheels. They can be found dotting many streets, and you will find them serving everything from tacos, gyros, and coffee, to Pho and crepes. When in Portland I love to frequent these food carts, but when in Newberg I find myself in the same rut of eating at Sandwich Express and Burgerville. It wasn’t until I began to take a closer look at the “food scene” in Newberg that I discovered something exciting: we have food carts too! Now, of course, we do not have the wide selection of food carts the city of Portland does, but we do have three Mexican food carts, and I was determined to try them out and let you know what I discovered in the process. 

Before visiting Newberg’s three food carts for the first time, I decided that I would keep things consistent and only order a chicken taco at each. The first food cart I visited was Pastorcillo’s Tacos, on the corner of First and Main Street, located next to Naps Thriftway. I was very excited to notice that although their cart is closed on Sundays, it is open from 10:30 A.M. to 9 P.M. the rest of the week, which makes me think that it would be a great place to pick up a snack at night between studying. The chicken taco I purchased here consisted of two small, soft corn tortillas piled high with chicken in a red sauce, and topped with onions, cilantro, and green salsa. Served on the side was a wedge of lime and a pile of radish slices. This taco only cost me $1.25! 

Chicken taco from Tacos El Padrino 

The second food cart I visited was Tacos El Padrino (The Godfather), which is located on North Elliot Road across the street from Burgerville.  Look for the flashing strobe light. Tacos El Padrino advertises that they are open from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Again I purchased a chicken taco, and this time paid $1.50 for it. It was a smaller taco, but had a spicy and tasty green chili sauce. Although this taco cost 25 cents more than the previous taco, El Padrino’s usually has a $1.00 taco special, which was pork on the day I visited. 

Tacos El Padrino

Maria’s Tacos, located across Highway 99 from Tacos El Padrino, was the final taco stand I visited. The woman running the cart—who I assume was Maria herself—was friendly and welcoming. She graciously took my order and very quickly turned out an open-faced taco pilled so high with meat I couldn’t even roll it up. Maria’s chicken taco was at the competitive price of $1.25, but her menu board was slightly confusing, as most of the items did not have prices listed next to them, and the hours were not posted.  However, I visited Maria’s Tacos on a rainy day, and was happy to find that Maria’s has an undercover seating area attached to her cart so you can order out of the rain. 

            Chicken taco from Maria's Tacos 

All three of the menus had very similar items: burritos, tacos with a variety of meat (you can even order tongue or tripe, which is stomach), tamales, quesadillas, tortas (which are Mexican sandwiches), and sometimes combination plates served with rice and beans. Although I recommend all three, I would have to say my overall favorite Mexican food cart in Newberg is Pastorcillo’s Tacos. They have the latest hours, the largest menu, the most competitive prices, and in my opinion the best chicken taco.

So, I propose this to you: the next time you are craving Mexican food and want a quick grab-and-go meal, don’t settle for Taco Bell, order a chicken taco from a local family serving up great Mexican food only blocks from campus! Don’t forget your “cash,” though, as most food carts do not accept debit or credit cards. Enjoy! 

Maria's Taco Cart

This article can also be viewed at The Crescent, my university's newspaper here