Really loved this place. We've been here for the last flight assortment and glad we were because they had a new selection going. Very tasty flight. Food was great. The mole nachos were great. A lot of chicken and fixings. The vegetarian tacos were awesome my love said. All in all really happy with today's experience trying the food. See you soon
Lucas Kerper
Awesome experience, the salmon taco was amazing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Blackened Salmon
Zoe Gieringer
The tacos are huge, but just okay in my opinion. The margaritas were good but nothing special. It was a fun atmosphere though, and a nice last-minute place to go eat out at.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Lakshmi M.
Let me start off by saying plus points first -- super accessible, easy to find street parking in the area, fun variety of margaritas, addictive chips/salsa, and a decent amt of vegetarian options. Outside of that I have to sadly say that this place is the quintessential example of what I call Portland Mexican food -- aka PNW attempt at Mexican food that doesn't quite succeed. I will say I'd give this a 3.5 if I could. Dropped by on a weekday with friends and thankfully grabbed the last table! We just started off with some margaritas and chips and salsa -- the mango margarita was good and my friends liked their seasonal margarita (hibiscus) and the passionfruit margarita. As I said, the chips and salsa were addictive and we definitely ate a handful of them with refills. I didn't love the oil/after taste on the chips but it didn't really stop me from eating them with time sooo I consider it a plus rather than a minus. I will say the tacos is where it went downhill for me -- with the caveat that I'm obviously vegetarian. My friends did REALLY like the salmon/fish tacos so maybe that's where it didn't quite connect for me. I tried the black kale & mountain spinach and wild hongos tacos and to be honest, I couldn't even tell which was which. They were absolutely LOADED with arugula/slaw on top and frankly I couldn't tell what ingredients were in which taco. They definitely lacked flavor too and I ended up coating them with salsa to even finish them. I had such hope but alas. Service was attentive and friendly and prices were reasonable albeit a bit towards the high side. All in all, my friend in the neighborhood loves this place -- personally, I'm not sure I'll be returning very soon.
Sergio Zepeda
Great neighborhood Mexica (Cal-Mex) restaurant /
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jamie Wojciechowski
Fantastic food, limited vegetarian options but the dish I ordered, Aquacates Tacos were just amazing. The combination of all the different spices creates a flavorful taco treat.My son ordered the Carlita's Skillet and just enjoyed the flavors.Great spot for a beer and some food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cambria Ort
Sadly I was so excited for chicken tortilla soup on a cold portland night. I went and promptly picked up my soup and a to go margarita ended up totaling $30 with a small tip. Came with about 8oz of soup and it wasn’t even soup. It was soggy tortilla strip and sludge. Sadly I wanted this to be a new go to but after the soup experience I probably won’t be trying anything else as it is way more expensive then a lot of taco shops in the area. Wish I had my $30 back as a hard working young adult
Robert Burns
Tacos are mid. Tons of lettuce, no cilantro. Paloma was also mid. If you're nearby and want tacos, this place has some...
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Brian S.
We love Carlita's on the weekends and always look forward to seeing Hayley. She is amazing and one of the friendliest people I know. She's always happy and smiling and knows exactly what I want when we come in. It's very welcoming. Food and drinks has been perfect, as I will recommend the elote to start out with. If you like Pozole I personally think it's one of the most flavorful ones I have had at any restaurant along with the great tacos. Did I mention that Hayley is the best!! Can't wait to go back.
Ben Garcia
There’s no gentle way of putting this, but the food is not great. The staff are lovely, the atmosphere is decent and the neighborhood is nice. But the food is not good. We live in the Pearl, and have been trying to find a decent place to eat tacos, and this is not the place. Their drinks were ok, the ceviche was edible and the guacamole was so so. The chips and salsa tasted kind of store bought - premade or from a bag or can. I’m 2nd gen Mexican-American and my wife is straight up Mexican, we know a thing or two about tacos, and it’s pretty disappointing when tacos come out with the premade tortillas undercooked, way too much cabbage, and bland cheese sprinkled on top—good tacos don’t need cheese, btw. The meat was also flavorless or poorly seasoned. This place felt like a bar, where the drinks are the focus, and the food is kind of an afterthought.
Carlita's has awesome food and drinks. We drive all the way from Ridgefield, WA to see Hayley's smiling face. She is fun, polite and always remembers our order. She is a key reason we keep on coming back. Highly recommend Carlita's on the weekend~!
Lynzi Sande
My friend and I split nachos here and they were pretty good. Honestly though... this wouldn't be one of my top choices of places to eat.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Mole Chicken Nachos
Prabha Viswanathan
Good leafy veggie tacos and papas tostadaas!! Open during Portland freeze was great !!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sabrina M.
Snowmageddeon and all restaurants were closed except for Carlita's. Excellent tacos and the margarita flight was amazing. Thanks for being open!
Donna D.
Definitely a miss for me as well as the others in my party. If I were to come it would be strictly for drinks only. The server wasn't knowledgeable about the menu and or drinks, also said she wasn't new, so there's that. Shrimp ceviche...0/10, it tastes like tomato sauce with vinegar with too many tomato chunks. Pazole... 4/10 not bad but not good. I'll eat it if I'm starving. Lacked flavor and definitely missing some spices. Short Rib Mole... 7/10, short ribs were tender, sauce was decent more on the watery side but it wasn't a bad dish. Not pictured ... She brought out 2 baskets of chips and 1 bowl of salsa for 5 people. The chips were good but extremely salty as if the lid came off the top of salt shaker. She acknowledged our concern and giggled. Meatball soup (the special)... -10/10 by far the worst soup I've tasted. If you can imagine a can of tomato soup, mixed with a can of Chef Boy-yar-Dee sauce and meatballs and a bag of frozen veggies with some sugar. Yep... that was their special. Upon advising the server, again the giggle and walked away. Tacos and tostadas were taken to go and I wish we could have just left them there. Do not recommend. Drinks- delicious, but won't be returning. Portland has too many good spots to indulge in.
Really loved this place. We've been here for the last flight assortment and glad we were because they had a new selection going. Very tasty flight. Food was great. The mole nachos were great. A lot of chicken and fixings. The vegetarian tacos were awesome my love said. All in all really happy with today's experience trying the food. See you soon
Awesome experience, the salmon taco was amazing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Blackened Salmon
The tacos are huge, but just okay in my opinion. The margaritas were good but nothing special. It was a fun atmosphere though, and a nice last-minute place to go eat out at.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Let me start off by saying plus points first -- super accessible, easy to find street parking in the area, fun variety of margaritas, addictive chips/salsa, and a decent amt of vegetarian options. Outside of that I have to sadly say that this place is the quintessential example of what I call Portland Mexican food -- aka PNW attempt at Mexican food that doesn't quite succeed. I will say I'd give this a 3.5 if I could. Dropped by on a weekday with friends and thankfully grabbed the last table! We just started off with some margaritas and chips and salsa -- the mango margarita was good and my friends liked their seasonal margarita (hibiscus) and the passionfruit margarita. As I said, the chips and salsa were addictive and we definitely ate a handful of them with refills. I didn't love the oil/after taste on the chips but it didn't really stop me from eating them with time sooo I consider it a plus rather than a minus. I will say the tacos is where it went downhill for me -- with the caveat that I'm obviously vegetarian. My friends did REALLY like the salmon/fish tacos so maybe that's where it didn't quite connect for me. I tried the black kale & mountain spinach and wild hongos tacos and to be honest, I couldn't even tell which was which. They were absolutely LOADED with arugula/slaw on top and frankly I couldn't tell what ingredients were in which taco. They definitely lacked flavor too and I ended up coating them with salsa to even finish them. I had such hope but alas. Service was attentive and friendly and prices were reasonable albeit a bit towards the high side. All in all, my friend in the neighborhood loves this place -- personally, I'm not sure I'll be returning very soon.
Great neighborhood Mexica (Cal-Mex) restaurant /
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fantastic food, limited vegetarian options but the dish I ordered, Aquacates Tacos were just amazing. The combination of all the different spices creates a flavorful taco treat.My son ordered the Carlita's Skillet and just enjoyed the flavors.Great spot for a beer and some food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sadly I was so excited for chicken tortilla soup on a cold portland night. I went and promptly picked up my soup and a to go margarita ended up totaling $30 with a small tip. Came with about 8oz of soup and it wasn’t even soup. It was soggy tortilla strip and sludge. Sadly I wanted this to be a new go to but after the soup experience I probably won’t be trying anything else as it is way more expensive then a lot of taco shops in the area. Wish I had my $30 back as a hard working young adult
Tacos are mid. Tons of lettuce, no cilantro. Paloma was also mid. If you're nearby and want tacos, this place has some...
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
We love Carlita's on the weekends and always look forward to seeing Hayley. She is amazing and one of the friendliest people I know. She's always happy and smiling and knows exactly what I want when we come in. It's very welcoming. Food and drinks has been perfect, as I will recommend the elote to start out with. If you like Pozole I personally think it's one of the most flavorful ones I have had at any restaurant along with the great tacos. Did I mention that Hayley is the best!! Can't wait to go back.
There’s no gentle way of putting this, but the food is not great. The staff are lovely, the atmosphere is decent and the neighborhood is nice. But the food is not good. We live in the Pearl, and have been trying to find a decent place to eat tacos, and this is not the place. Their drinks were ok, the ceviche was edible and the guacamole was so so. The chips and salsa tasted kind of store bought - premade or from a bag or can. I’m 2nd gen Mexican-American and my wife is straight up Mexican, we know a thing or two about tacos, and it’s pretty disappointing when tacos come out with the premade tortillas undercooked, way too much cabbage, and bland cheese sprinkled on top—good tacos don’t need cheese, btw. The meat was also flavorless or poorly seasoned. This place felt like a bar, where the drinks are the focus, and the food is kind of an afterthought.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Restaurantji Recommends
Carlita's has awesome food and drinks. We drive all the way from Ridgefield, WA to see Hayley's smiling face. She is fun, polite and always remembers our order. She is a key reason we keep on coming back. Highly recommend Carlita's on the weekend~!
My friend and I split nachos here and they were pretty good. Honestly though... this wouldn't be one of my top choices of places to eat.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Mole Chicken Nachos
Good leafy veggie tacos and papas tostadaas!! Open during Portland freeze was great !!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Snowmageddeon and all restaurants were closed except for Carlita's. Excellent tacos and the margarita flight was amazing. Thanks for being open!
Definitely a miss for me as well as the others in my party. If I were to come it would be strictly for drinks only. The server wasn't knowledgeable about the menu and or drinks, also said she wasn't new, so there's that. Shrimp ceviche...0/10, it tastes like tomato sauce with vinegar with too many tomato chunks. Pazole... 4/10 not bad but not good. I'll eat it if I'm starving. Lacked flavor and definitely missing some spices. Short Rib Mole... 7/10, short ribs were tender, sauce was decent more on the watery side but it wasn't a bad dish. Not pictured ... She brought out 2 baskets of chips and 1 bowl of salsa for 5 people. The chips were good but extremely salty as if the lid came off the top of salt shaker. She acknowledged our concern and giggled. Meatball soup (the special)... -10/10 by far the worst soup I've tasted. If you can imagine a can of tomato soup, mixed with a can of Chef Boy-yar-Dee sauce and meatballs and a bag of frozen veggies with some sugar. Yep... that was their special. Upon advising the server, again the giggle and walked away. Tacos and tostadas were taken to go and I wish we could have just left them there. Do not recommend. Drinks- delicious, but won't be returning. Portland has too many good spots to indulge in.