The Best Tacos in Indianapolis

*Updated: July 2021

Did you know National Taco Day is the first Sunday in October? Who doesn’t love tacos? It’s a hard dish to mess up, and with all the unique varieties that are popping up these days, there’s definitely a taco out there for everyone. Indianapolis is no stranger to the taco joint, but which one is the best?

Obviously taste is subjective, but I set out to find the best tacos the Circle City (and a few surrounding towns) has to offer – just in time for National Taco Day!

Nada – Downtown Indianapolis

Located in downtown Indianapolis, right across from Circle Center Mall, Nada is a regional chain. Not only do they serve tacos, but their drink menu is quite extensive and they have salads, soups, quesadillas and larger plate dinners.

We started off our meal with the chips and salsa trio, which includes fire-roasted tomato ancho salsa, tomatillo verde cruda salsa and the hottest of them all, the habanero “kreeper” salsa. Of the three, I thought the tomato ancho salsa had the best flavor. The other two were ok, but not my favorite.

I finished the meal with churros, which were actually the best thing I ate! The caramel dipping sauce that came with them? Delicious!

• 

• 

Now let’s talk about the tacos. I ordered the Chicken Carbon tacos, which comes with three chicken tacos topped with chile de arbol salsa, crema and chihuahua cheese. Going to be honest here – they weren’t all that special. I could barely taste the salsa on the tacos, which made me think they might have actually left it off. The soft taco shells didn’t taste homemade, although they might have been. They weren’t bad, but I could make better at home. I also got a side of street corn, which wasn’t up to my street corn standards, so if I eat here again, I will pass on that.

One thing I didn’t like: there are several different kinds of tacos you can choose from, but you can’t mix and match because they are all different prices. I would have liked that option so I could sample more than just one kind. Maybe others are better!

I would try eating here again, but there are better taco places around town. Three stars to Nada.

Salty Cowboy – Zionsville

This Mexican Cantina style restaurant gets rave reviews on Yelp. It’s almost an hour drive from the south side of Indianapolis, but we had the time, so I decided to check it out. Located in the darling town of Zionsville, The Salty Cowboy is nestled off the main shopping street in downtown.

We ordered chips and salsa to start and while both kinds were good, the red salsa was by far the winner here.

As for our food, I got a fish taco and a pollo rojo taco. My mom got a HUGE burrito and we both enjoyed our entrees. With the tacos, I thought the pollo rojo was the best – I would definitely get that again. The fish was fine – nothing exceptional, but the chicken taco reminded me of my favorite taco Bakersfield used to have but took off the menu.

• 

• 

So it was a successful restaurant adventure, but I don’t think these are the best of the best that Indianapolis has to offer.

Condado – Broad Ripple and Downtown Indianapolis

Condado is one of my favorite places to get tacos in the Indianapolis area and it has some bonus options that others don’t. When you order, you fill out a menu that reminds me of taking the SAT – fill in the little bubbles next to the options that you want and then turn it in to your server.

The chips and queso are ok, as is the salsa verde. But there is better in the city. It helps if you add chorizo or one of the other add-ins, but by itself, it’s kind of plain.

Let’s talk about the tacos! I LOVE the Ju-Ju shells. You get a combo of a hard shell and soft shell with chorizo and queso in the middle. I almost always get this one and stuff it with more chorizo, cheese, beans, rice and the chimichurri, which is amazing.

I’ll also sometimes get the firecracker shell, which is a spicy hard corn tortilla shell with a coat of seasoning.

There are options for gluten free and vegan diet needs and really, something for anyone. Since you pick what goes on your taco, you don’t have to ask them to leave anything off and you get exactly what you want.

That’s a major plus!!

Bakersfield

Try to get in this hip taco joint on Mass Ave on a Friday night and you’ll likely have an hour wait. The tacos are delicious (even if they did get rid of my favorite one – RIP pollo rojo) and the salsa verde is the best I’ve had.

My mom says the margs are also good, as is the queso. I think they also win in the best queso in the city – it’s so different from anything else I’ve had. Maybe it’s a different cheese? But you definitely have to get both the queso and salsa verde when you’re there!

I also recommend the short rib taco or the pollo verde. If you don’t live in Indianapolis, you can find other locations as they’re spread out across the Midwest and a few spots in the south.

For a long time, Bakersfield was my go-to. And I still love it, but then I fell in love with…

Don Juan Taqueria
Finding this place was a happy accident. Located on the south side of town, near the University of Indianapolis, this is one of the best Mexican restaurants in the area. There’s nothing fancy about the building – in fact if you weren’t looking for it, you’d probably miss it. It’s located in a strip mall between a cash advance place and a Papa Johns, but don’t let that fool you. Don Juan Taqueria is legit.

I started off with Mexican street corn and it’s the best I’ve found in the city. You can even add extra toppings like crushed Fritos, but I stuck with the original seasonings.

Now for the tacos – you order the base, which is your meat and whatever else comes in the taco, then you add toppings like tomatoes, onions, cilantro, etc. at the taco bar. This is perfect for me! Because while I love sauces and cilantro, I really don’t like onions or peppers on my food so I don’t have to ask them to leave it off.

My tacos were fantastic. The tortillas hit the spot and the flavors of the meats were well seasoned. I tried the salsa verde on my chicken and the medium on my potato/chorizo taco.

Dessert was churros – I think I would have liked the filling sauce in a container but they looked very pretty when served so I see why they present them that way.

I’ve gone back several times since then and just can’t get enough. Service was great too – friendly, informative and prompt. Also, dirt cheap prices! All my food was only $13 and some change. Can’t beat that. Go try them out!!

Sangrita Saloon – Broad Ripple

We ate at Sangrita Saloon right before the pandemic shut everything down in 2020. It was my birthday dinner and let’s just say I was not impressed. It was not good – at all.

I have zero complaints about the service – some of the Yelp reviews mention that was an issue for them, but we had two people waiting on us and they did a great job.

My complaint is with the food and the portion size related to the price. My tacos sounded great! And they weren’t bad, but they were pretty bland. I got the braised pork which was supposed to be cooked in cola, however it didn’t really taste any different than regular roast pork. There wasn’t much taste to the salsa either. The second taco was a potato with some habanero crema and the shell was deep fried. I did like that twist, but the other flavors were just boring.

The street corn was not good – it tasted like they opened a can of corn and just threw cheese and seasoning on top. I expected a grilled version but this definitely needed work.

My husband’s chicken dish was $15 for about a half a plate of food. Very small portion in relation to the price.

I don’t think I will go back and I’d suggest you find other taco joints in Broad Ripple to eat at. We left hungry still.

 Blue Cactus – Franklin

A much needed addition to the taco scene in Franklin, Indiana! Blue Cactus hasn’t been open long and business is booming. There was a minor hiccup with getting seated – I put my name in and came back after I didn’t get a call discovered there was some mix up with the waiting list. Seems like they’re a little overwhelmed and still ironing out the bugs, but they did seat us after checking in, so I’m glad we didn’t have to wait more.

We got chips, salsa and queso to start. Salsa is ok. Queso is very good. Next up was the tacos. I had the Corner Tacos – three for $12 and a choice of a side. Comparable to the prices of the upscale spots in Indy, so no complaints here. Corner Tacos come with potatoes, chorizo, a sauce and topped with cheese. They were good, but not spicy. I like a kick to my food and expected that with the chorizo but was a little disappointed by that. Also, you have to get three of the same tacos. I would rather mix and match. I think that’s a downside to the menu.

My mom got shrimp tacos and she said her food was very spicy! So next time, I’ll try a different one and see. The side of Mexican rice was delicious- perfectly seasoned and I wanted more.

Also tried the Octopus mixed drink – a margarita mixed with Sangria. Sweet and tart. A great combo.

Recommend trying this place out if you’re on the south side – Franklin really needed something other than MOE’s and the traditional Mexican restaurants that don’t specialize in tacos.

Loco Mexican Restaurant and Cantina

I expected chain level Mexican food from Loco Mexican Restaurant and was pleasantly surprised! Chips and salsa brought out for the table were fresh – salsa was good, not quite hot enough for my liking but sometimes that depends on who made it and the day.

Ordered the barbacoa tacos – delicious soft shells and it also came with a side of rice and beans that were not the typical refried beans I was expecting. They had a nice smoky flavor and I think some kind of sausage in them? Rice was good – pretty typical for this kind of establishment.

Also had a strawberry daiquiri which really hit the spot. I could have had two, but I was eating alone and driving!

Definitely recommend checking Loco Mexican Restaurant out and there are a couple of locations in the Indianapolis area.

Indy Tacos
Taking the advice of a commenter down below, I decided to give Indy Tacos in Broad Ripple a try. Located at 2196 E. 54th St., you might miss it if you didn’t know it was there. I tried out the mole chicken taco and the barbacoa taco. Neither came with cheese and the mole was by far the best. It had a great, mild taste that paired really well with the salsa they gave me as a topper.

I enjoyed these tacos, but definitely feel there are better options in Indianapolis even though this is a fan favorite. Definitely recommend stopping in and trying for yourself though!

Chris’ Ice Cream

Yum, yum, yum!

I tried lots of taco places pre-pandemic and somehow missed this place! Chris’ Ice Cream a bit of a drive from the south side, but very much worth it in my opinion. Tacos are made fresh for you and are full of delicious flavors. I got two chorizo tacos and the meat was perfectly seasoned, topped with lettuce and cilantro.

The ice cream is also pretty good and how fun is it that a taco place also has ice cream too? I hear the flavors change, so it would be fun to try something more unique on my next visit.

Humble Taco – Greenwood

This relatively new taco joint on the south side has promise. Humble Taco has some unique combinations on the menu and I really enjoyed the fried chicken taco – absolutely recommend that one! There’s also an option to build your own, which is great for picky eaters. The appetizers all sound delicious, so I’ll definitely be going back to try some of those.

Downside? The salsa isn’t good. I am not sure what it’s missing, but it was very bland and missing a lot of flavor. I think if they could improve that and make their queso a bit spicier, they’d get a better recommendation from me for you to eat here. The queso also comes with pita chips, which is odd but seems to work. They are owned by the same people who run Tried & True Ale House, which is a favorite of mine, so I think once they get some kinks worked out, it will be good to revisit and see if anything has changed.

Enedina Mexican Market And Taqueria – Whiteland

I’ve driven by this spot many times but never stopped until recently. There’s a wide variety of street tacos and Mexican food dishes, plus tamales!

I had two chorizo tacos and a chicken tamale – loved the tacos and the hot sauces they included with my meal! Definitely the best street tacos I’ve had in Johnson County. The tamale was ok, but after recently eating some of the best in Tucson, didn’t quite live up to what I had there.

Hope to go back to try some other things!

The Verdict?

While I wasn’t able to get to every place on my list thanks to COVID, after a year of working on this post and trying seven different taco joints all over the Indianapolis area, there’s a clear winner in my mind there’s been a tie!

Don Juan Taqueria and Chris’ Ice Cream tie for best tacos, but I give Don Juan Taqueria a slight edge for overall favorite because their street corn and churros. However, I enjoyed BOTH taco places tacos equally.

Have you been here? What do you think? Any place I need to try? I will periodically revisit this post and add new places, so if I find someone to knock the champions out, I’ll be sure to let you know.

Happy eating, friends!