Lalo's Mexican Food

Lalo's Mexican Food is a drive-in style taquería on North Ventura Avenue in Ventura, California, known for lengua tacos and a house-made habanero salsa.

Overview

Lalo's sits at 1580 North Ventura Avenue, on the stretch of the Westside that local writers have called Ventura's taco district. Visit Ventura lists it, under the name Lalo's Fast Food, among the city's ten best tacos in a 2020 resident poll, where it shared a four-way tie for fourth place.

The Eighty Flavors guide to the Ventura Avenue taco district describes the building as a vintage drive-in with a plain dining room, and names the lengua (beef tongue) taco and the house habanero salsa as the reasons to go. The writer called it a possible favorite of the trip.

Style

Lengua is usually simmered for hours until soft, then chopped and crisped on the griddle before it is placed on corn tortillas. Lalo's is a no-frills counter operation rather than a sit-down restaurant. Sources do not give a founding date or name the owners.

Reviews

References

1. "Ventura's Ten Best Tacos". Visit Ventura. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "Ventura Taco District: Southern California's Best-Kept Food Secret". Eighty Flavors. Retrieved 2026-10-10.