Catchy Spanish pop music buzzes out of two speakers behind the counter while one worker is stringing bright lights along the top of the tent. At 7:30 p.m., a chilly night is already closing in, and the stand will need to keep attracting customers until the early hours of the morning. On the other side of the tent, the tantalizing aroma of sizzling suadero and a trompo (rotating spit) of flaming al pastor draw customers closer.
The man behind the hunk of pork expertly wields his long knife, quickly shaving off thin slices of meat and letting them fall into the tortilla in his other hand, then topped off with a fresh slice of pineapple. First-timers stare, mesmerized at the sight of their food being made, but it’s just another night for the cooks and their regulars. The rest of the street and the North Berkeley Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) parking lot behind the stand is dark and deserted, while Taqueria El Chacho remains a sweet-smelling beacon of light.
Taqueria El Chacho is a family business established in 2024, and they have been rapidly expanding ever since then, from the Bay Area all the way to Arizona. They’re most famous for their al pastor tacos, but offer a wide variety of highly popular dishes. For some Berkeley locals, Taqueria El Chacho is nothing more than a place they see on the drive home from work. For others, it’s much more.
Uriel, a customer at the taqueria, sees their food as a taste of his home in Baja, Mexico. “These are the best tacos in the Bay, and they remind me of Mexico because of the big trompo, which was what drew me in in the first place. Now I come twice a week. Where I’m from, there will be like 10 taquerias like this with trompos all in a row, but seeing that here is rarer,” he said. Taqueria El Chacho cooks their carne asada on the grill, which he said gives it a better flavor than if it were cooked on a griddle.
Uriel’s sentiment would undoubtedly be appreciated by one of the taqueria’s workers, who shared that his favorite part of working there is “when customers come in and appreciate the food that I make.”
Nikhil Haldar, a sophomore at Berkeley High School, highlighted the restaurant for its great service. “The workers are really nice. One time, I was three dollars short, they were just okay with that, and they gave me my food. They also have a bunch of add-ons for free, like really good hot sauce,” Haldar said. It’s worth noting that if you have a low spice tolerance and overdo it on the hot sauce, the passionfruit agua fresca does wonders to cut the heat.
Unlike Haldar, whose family has been a fan of the restaurant since it opened, Kaushik Basu — another regular customer of Taqueria El Chacho and a part-time physics teacher at University of California, Berkeley — discovered the taqueria by accident when coming home late from work on BART one night. What initially drew him in was “the smell and seeing them cooking all the meat in this big huge vat.” Since then, he’s only become more fond of the taqueria.
“I came here today with my family after shopping at Monterey Market just down the street. It was a toss up between Gioia Pizzeria or this place here, and I bent the will of my family to come here,” Basu said.
Basu is not only a foodie, but also an avid cook himself, through which he’s acquired a discerning palate. The tacos had a spicy aftertaste, and he deduced it was because they had probably pickled the onions in lime juice with jalapenos.
Additionally, if you’re looking for a great recommendation, Basu's favorite meat is the suadero, and he usually gets it in a torta (a dish that’s a mix between a sandwich and a quesadilla). “It is a bit heavy, but at least I know I won’t be hungry at 12 in the night!” Basu said.
Another reason that Taqueria El Chacho’s tortas, burritos, and quesadillas are fan favorites is that they pile the cheese directly onto the griddle before putting it into the tortilla so that it becomes crispy. There aren’t many other places that do this by default, so Taqueria El Chacho has become known for it.
Miriam, a customer at the taqueria, was equally excited about the food. She announced with a smile, “I have something to say: I never eat on the street, but Taqueria El Chacho is the one exception!”
Whether you're old or young, born in the Bay Area or not, a suadero lover or al-pastor enthusiast, horchata enthusiast or agua fresca enjoyer, Taqueria El Chacho makes room for everyone.