In Des Moines, asking for a taco is only the beginning of the order. At one long-running family business, the defining feature is an inflated flour shell with lettuce and cheese. On Merle Hay Road, handmade corn tortillas carry both meat fillings and a separate vegan menu. Near Franklin Avenue Library, a newer family restaurant stretches the taco counter into a menu of cactus, seafood and birria. Treating all three as interchangeable would miss what makes them useful to different diners.
The flour taco that belongs to Des Moines
Tasty Tacos dates to 1961, when Richard and Antonia Mosqueda founded the family business. Its signature flour taco is not trying to disappear behind its filling: the shell is a central part of the dish. Original beef is a straightforward introduction, with lettuce and cheese keeping the order close to the house formula. There are also pork, chicken, steak and bean options, plus a crisp corn taco for a different texture.
East Grand Avenue is the principal location in our profile; the other five metro addresses and their phones appear there together. All six publish Monday–Saturday hours and close Sunday. That makes this a weekday or Saturday option, rather than a Sunday fallback. The website now links online delivery, while each branch retains its own restaurant contact.
El Michoacano makes the plant-based choice part of the menu
The Pérez family's El Michoacano opened in 2016 with a concept joining a taqueria and a Mexican ice-cream shop. At 2922 Merle Hay Road, the regular tacos use handmade corn tortillas; the separate vegan menu gives soy asada, pineapple-and-onion soy pastor and cactus their own descriptions. This is more useful to a mixed group than a vague promise that the kitchen can remove meat from a dish.
The restaurant distinguishes Uber Eats delivery from Clover pickup. Its published Sunday hours run from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., giving it a practical difference from the other two Franklin-area choices in this guide. Ingredients still matter: plant-based food is not automatically suitable for a diner avoiding soy.
Faustinos is the place to build a varied table
Faustinos opened in Franklin Plaza in 2023. The street tacos come with onion, cilantro, baby potatoes and lime, but the menu also offers shrimp with mango pico, a cactus taco with queso fresco and avocado, and several birria formats. The 24-taco family pack is worth considering for a group; a single diner can explore without committing to it.
Its related West Des Moines restaurant starts earlier and opens Sunday, unlike Franklin Avenue. Those are distinct addresses and schedules, not two names for the same dining room. The profiles below bring the locations, contacts, ordering options and dishes together, so the choice can follow your appetite and the day you intend to eat.
Choose the flour-shell tradition, the separate vegan menu or a table of contrasting fillings; they answer different cravings.
Options to compare
These options relate to the question. Read each profile and check current details before deciding.
A Des Moines family business built around a fluffy flour taco since 1961.
A Des Moines family business built around a fluffy flour taco since 1961.
Handmade corn tortillas and a separate vegan taco menu from the Pérez family.
Handmade corn tortillas and a separate vegan taco menu from the Pérez family.
A broad street-taco menu on Franklin Avenue, with a related breakfast restaurant in West Des Moines.
A broad street-taco menu on Franklin Avenue, with a related breakfast restaurant in West Des Moines.
Sources & references
Sources for the information and reporting discussed in this guide.
- Tasty Tacos: menu and locations / Tasty Tacos: carta y sedes ↗ Primary source www.tastytacos.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- The Mosqueda family story / Historia de la familia Mosqueda ↗ Primary source www.tastytacos.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- El Michoacano: vegan menu / El Michoacano: carta vegana ↗ Primary source www.elmichtacos.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- El Michoacano: history / El Michoacano: historia ↗ Primary source www.elmichtacos.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Faustinos: menu / Faustinos: carta ↗ Primary source www.faustinostaqueria.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Faustinos: contact and hours / Faustinos: contacto y horarios ↗ Primary source www.faustinostaqueria.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Faustinos: West Des Moines / Faustinos: West Des Moines ↗ Primary source www.faustinosbreakfastandtacos.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Faustinos opening and founding family / Apertura y familia fundadora de Faustinos ↗ Secondary source www.axios.com · Accessed November 5, 2026