La Taquisa - homemade corn tortilla goodness

La Taquisa is a great "taco stand" that's graduated from the "stand" part.

Their early beginnings were in Cook St. Village, anchoring the not-quite-a-food court/commons. Even in the off season, people would huddle around the cart or the heater, slurping tortilla soup and downing fresh made tacos in the cold. With their popularity growing, they opened up their first brick & mortar location in the Westside Village (Save-On Foods, Spinnakers Liquor Store…) and their latest location: Blanshard Street, between Broughton St. and Fort St.

The inside is bright and open with a can't-miss counter where you place your orders…
The helpful menu above the counter lays out all your options.

The menu is not huge, but most items are "built" by you - with a choice of fillings & toppings - making options much wider. You can choose from tacos, burritos, quesadillas and sopes. There's also a really nice tortilla soup. We recently order the large to share between us - and they helpfully split it into two pretty, glazed, clay bowls for us. Topped with crispy tortilla slices and cheese.

Large tortilla soup (split into two bowls)

The tacos are assembled using fresh, made-on-site corn tortillas. There are about ten different fillings to choose from including baja shrimp (deep-fried), pork chorizo, chicken mole, beef al pastor, beans & cheese, and rojas (roasted peppers).

We really enjoy the baja shrimp - so crunchy and tasty, and the mole chicken - really flavourful.

Baja shrimp taco

Chicken mole taco

You can order as many tacos as you like - the pricing drops a bit the more you order.

Eight tacos, assorted (with guacamole)

Two baja shrimp tacos

Along with the fillings, you get to choose a salsa (based on the level of spiciness). We've settled into middle-of-the-road picante salsa - a homemade red salsa with hot sauce mixed in. But they also have pico de gallo, two verde (green) ones, a medium red and a super-spicy with habaneros.

The other night I tried the sope - a thick corn tortilla cake holding refried beans, pork chorizo (my choice), cheese, lettuce, picante salsa & pico de gallo. I really enjoyed it - the sope was firm enough to lift and eat, but I opted for a knife & fork.

Sope with pork chorizo

La Taquisa is a great place to grab a snack or a full meal. You can warm yourself up with delicious tortilla soup, crush your hunger with an El Gordo (the BIG burrito) or down a couple of tacos for a quick snack.

Their meats are locally sourced, hormone & antibiotic free and most of the menu is gluten free.

Ole!


La Taquisa

1017 Blanshard Street
Monday-Saturday 11am - 9pm
Sunday 11am-8pm
250-889-5803

176 Wilson Street (Westside Village, across Bay St. Bridge)
Monday-Saturday 11am - 8pm
Sunday 11am-7pm
250-590-6588

Website: www.lataquisa.com
Facebook: La Taquisa
Twitter: LaTaquisa