This week’s excursion was El Taco Veloz. I had heard good things about El Taco Veloz before, but had not realized that they are a local mini-chain. According to the website, there are six locations, all situated on the northern side of Atlanta.

 
I’m not sure if all the locations are as super-tiny as this location, but this one is definitely petite! There is a drive-thru, and between the building’s footprint, the patio space, the drive-thru areas (and lines during peak times), and the neighboring buildings, maneuvering your vehicle can be challenging.

Inside the building, there is a small area for the public to order and wait for their food. There are menus, signs, and magazine clippings on the walls, but none of the praise seems recent. There is also a sign that seems to indicate that they have to-go orders only, which is strange, since they have a patio and we were asked when we ordered if we were for here or to go. On the counter, there were three flavors of aguas frescas spinning (mango, pina, y horchata).

Behind the counter and around the corner in the kitchen area, I counted at least four people working in this compact space, but there may have been more. Since the floorspace is so limited, the bathroom is out back, much like at a gas station.

Most of the surfaces seemed a little grimy, probably because the spaces are so small and highly-trafficked. I did see ladies cleaning up constantly, though, so it’s not like they are negligent.

We ordered an horchata ($1.99) to split, and one of every taco El Taco Veloz has to offer. That is the barbacoa ($1.69), the lengua ($1.69), al pastor ($1.69), pollo ($1.69), carne asada ($1.85), chorizo ($1.85), and chile relleno ($2.45) tacos.

After getting our two baskets of tacos and bottle of pico de gallo, we headed out to the patio to have a nice meal, kept cool by breezes promising rain on the way.

Though I wasn’t really aware of which taco I was consuming at any given time (I recognized the chorizo, the chicken, the barbacoa, and – clearly – the chile relleno tacos), they were all mighty tasty. As a liberal user of condiments, I expected to be pouring the pico de gallo all over my tacos, but I found each taco to be nicely spiced, with a good amount of the sauce on it already.

The prices were reasonable, the speed to table was efficient, and the tacos were quite delicious! I see to reason to ever hit a drive-thru in the vicinity of any of the El Taco Veloz locations – go have cheap, fast, authentic tacos instead! 3.5 stars.

El Taco Veloz
5084 Buford Highway NE
Doraville, GA 30340