In El Paso, the word taco can mean a crisp shell holding a meat-and-potato mixture, a freshly pressed tortilla made from stone-ground corn, or a street-food order that mixes pork and beef. The distance between those formats is part of the city's interest. These three restaurants let a diner choose by cooking, portion and neighbourhood: an established family cafe near Concordia, a modern taqueria on Montana and a food-truck project that settled on North Zaragoza.
L & J Cafe: a border meal with a long memory
Opened as Tony's Place in 1927 and renamed by the next generation in 1968, L & J has a history longer than many of its diners' family traditions. The taco plate keeps that border-cafe character visible. Ground meat and potato fill a crisp shell; deshebrada, picadillo and potato with green chile offer different preparations rather than interchangeable names for beef.
Rice and beans make the three-taco order a meal. The combination plate widens it to an enchilada, chile relleno, flauta and chile verde con carne. Breakfast lasts until noon, so an early stop can follow a different menu entirely. For a family takeaway, packs and separately boxed toppings offer a practical alternative to assembling many individual orders.
Taconeta: begin with the corn
Alejandro Borunda and Daniel Fox returned to the borderland after restaurant work elsewhere and opened Taconeta in July 2020. Their daily-ground, nixtamalised corn makes the tortilla a central part of the order. Suadero brings confit brisket, salsa, guacamole, onion and cilantro; achiote chicken and tempura cod take the cooking in other directions.
The plant-based choices also have their own construction: mushroom in tempura with black-bean purée and kale, or hibiscus tinga with pumpkin seeds and pickled onion. That makes Taconeta useful for a mixed table without reducing the meatless choice to a list of omissions. Its online menu is explicitly for takeaway, a distinction worth keeping when arranging the meal.
El Taquero Comer: choose the format as well as the filling
On North Zaragoza, El Taquero Comer carries its food-truck beginnings into a menu of tacos, vampiros, mulitas and tortas. Campechanos mix pork and beef; asada, pastor, carnitas and tripas make a varied taco order possible. A vampiro adds a crisp tostada base, while a mulita surrounds the filling with corn tortillas and guacamole.
The kitchen opens until 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, later than the other two listed dining-room schedules on many evenings. It closes Sunday. The profile gathers the current address, direct phone and delivery-platform links so the food can be chosen first and the order sent to the correct kitchen.
Crisp border-cafe tacos, daily-ground corn or a street-food spread: choose the cooking style before choosing the ordering method.
Options to compare
These options relate to the question. Read each profile and check current details before deciding.
A family restaurant dating to 1927, with border-style crispy tacos, green chile and full breakfast service.
A family restaurant dating to 1927, with border-style crispy tacos, green chile and full breakfast service.
Daily stone-ground heirloom-corn tortillas with suadero, seafood and substantial plant-based taco choices.
Daily stone-ground heirloom-corn tortillas with suadero, seafood and substantial plant-based taco choices.
A family food-truck project turned restaurant, with mixed-meat tacos, vampiros, mulitas and late weekday service.
A family food-truck project turned restaurant, with mixed-meat tacos, vampiros, mulitas and late weekday service.
Sources & references
Sources for the information and reporting discussed in this guide.
- L & J: family history / L & J: historia familiar ↗ Primary source ljcafe.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- L & J: tacos, breakfast and family packs / L & J: tacos, desayunos y paquetes familiares ↗ Primary source ljcafe.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- L & J: current location and hours / L & J: dirección y horarios actuales ↗ Primary source ljcafe.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Taconeta founders: Southern Smoke biography / Fundadores de Taconeta: biografía de Southern Smoke ↗ Primary source www.southernsmoke.org · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Visit El Paso: Taconeta address and hours / Visit El Paso: dirección y horarios de Taconeta ↗ Primary source visitelpaso.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- El Taquero Comer: food-truck origins / El Taquero Comer: origen como food truck ↗ Primary source eltaquerocomer.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- El Taquero Comer: dishes and fillings / El Taquero Comer: platos y rellenos ↗ Primary source eltaquerocomer.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- El Taquero Comer: current contact and schedule / El Taquero Comer: contacto y horario actuales ↗ Primary source eltaquerocomer.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Taconeta: current takeaway menu / Taconeta: carta actual para llevar ↗ Secondary source order.toasttab.com · Accessed November 5, 2026