As one of those places where everything is good, the go-to move here is to order the “red” tacos, a newer addition to this Richmond staple. Walk up to the window to place your order and choose from adobada freshly shaved from the trompo, grilled carne asada, succulent shrimp, or any other filling, and they’ll put it inside a crispy, handmade corn tortilla with mozzarella cheese, and finish it off with onions and cilantro. If you’re in a hurry, be sure to order online, as it’s common to wait a half hour for your food.

These are the best quesabirria tacos in the East Bay, full stop. The business started as a front-yard pop-up in 2019, and the tacos became an instant Instagram sensation, which helped the owners open their own brick-and-mortar location less than a year later. After you take your first bite, it’s immediately apparent why this has become one of the most popular taco joints in the Bay: juicy beef birria layered between gooey mozzarella, wrapped in a crisp “red” corn tortilla — which is made impossibly more delicious when dipped into their comforting consommé.

Designated as a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in 2021, Tacos Oscar continues to live up to the hype. The inventive, rotating menu of tacos made with handmade tortillas draw long lines and for good reason. If you see them, snag a tomatillo-braised pork shoulder or a renowned fried egg taco drizzled in “magic chile oil,” but don’t sleep on the vegan options either, especially the peanut-y charred broccoli or the flavor-packed mushroom mole coloradito tacos.

Located on a quiet side street in the Dimond District, Bombera is the latest restaurant from celebrated chef, Dominica Rice-Cisernos. While tacos are not the focal point of the Mexico City-style menu, they’re certainly phenomenal. If you’re lucky to catch them when they’re on their often-rotating menu, be sure to try the pork belly tacos or jumbo battered shrimp tacos topped with chipotle crema.

The expert move with Tacos Mi Rancho, a truck that has no seating save for perhaps some posting up in the bed of a friend’s pickup, is to grab a few barbacoa tacos and bring them over to nearby Lake Merritt and reflect on how lovely life is with solid taco. Tacos Mi Rancho also has the added bonus of being open until 2:30am, so those in need of post-bar solace can find their bliss.

The beloved roaming taco truck has finally found a permanent home in the heart of Fruitvale, the perfect locale for these impeccably executed, street-style tacos. While there are staples on the menu — including grilled carne asada, trompo-roasted adobada, and beautifully seasoned pollo asado — be on the lookout for rotating specials like crispy, melt-in-your-mouth carnitas, smoked brisket barbacoa, and more. Doctor it up any way you’d like at the salsa bar, and be sure to get your tacos on the freshly handmade tortillas. (They’re a must.)

This longtime, East Bay favorite dishes up some of the juiciest, flavor-packed adobada and crispy (but never dry) and carne asada. This truck’s “specialty meats” are also expertly prepared, including their sesos (beef brain), tripas, and lengua.   

The best-named taqueria in the East Bay also serves some of the most varied and tasty tacos in the already taco-notable Fruitvale district of Oakland. Don’t be weirded out by the strange ordering system; instead, just tell the cashier how many tacos you want and, at the next window, pick your fillings. Standouts here in addition to the typical carne asada and al pastor orders are the tripas, which aren’t overly chewy, and the creamy sesos (brain) tacos.

Two words: Taco. Yaqui. Served on paper-thin flour tortillas, which are made by “Mama Cuca” herself, these larger Sonoran-style tacos include a heaping serving of asada, a grilled Anaheim chile, queso fundido, frijoles puercos (Sonoran-style refried beans), thinly sliced cabbage, and your choice of salsa.

Even on cold, windy nights, you can find a line outside of La Parilla Loca, one of the newest deep East Oakland spots serving Tijuana-style, al carbon tacos. While the chorizo and al pastor are certainly good bets, be sure to try the carne asada, which is perfectly salted, seasoned, and crisp.

As one of the first to serve Tijuana-style tacos in the Bay Area, Tacos Mi Reynita is one of the hottest new pop-ups in Oakland. True to the border town’s style, these tacos will come “standard” with your choice of meat, onions and cilantro, and a dollop of guacamole. (You get to pick from eight different salsas carefully crafted by the founder herself.) The lines can be long — as is the case with any popular joint — but once you order, your food will come out quickly.

A brilliant sit-down restaurant in a nondescript shopping plaza in Hayward, Los Carnalitos turns out incredible food even beyond its exceptional tacos. Of note is the cochinita taco, complete with pickled onions on top, and the al pastor, which comes adorned with an electric-green salsa. Veggie options includes a truly stunning quesadilla with a house-made tortilla that’s filled with huitlacoche, an incredibly earthy fungus that grows on corn.