Tacos Joven

Tacos Joven is a taquería in the Barrio de Santiago of San Luis Potosí, founded in 1949, that serves a single dish: fried beef tacos with mustard and a chile sauce.

History

Esteban Vázquez Tapia founded the business in 1949, selling tacos near Juan Sarabia and Insurgentes. In late 1967 he passed his recipe to his nephew, José Luis Meléndez Vázquez, who in 1968 opened on Damián Carmona, in front of the Cine Potosí, inside a retired San Sebastián bus. The family later sold from a railway car and a double-decker truck, both of which authorities had removed, and then from a converted truck at Damián Carmona and Reforma, with a second branch on Pedro Moreno. According to the family, the name came from a film scene in which Mario Moreno, Cantinflas, declared his fondness for tacos.

José Luis's son, Luis Fernando Meléndez, now keeps the recipe. As of 2024 the business had one location in a fixed building at Damián Carmona 1025, in front of the Colegio Vasco de Quiroga, open daily from 6 to 11 p.m., with preparation starting at 8 a.m.

Menu

The only dish is the taco joven: a fried taco with mustard and a beef filling, topped with a sauce of rajas made from chilaca chiles, onion and tomato. Pickled pig's feet are offered on the side. The family keeps the secret ingredients private and stresses that the tacos are not flautas. An attempt to add tacos rojos did not last. It is unrelated to the Tacos Joven in Puebla.

Reviews

See also

• Tacos in San Luis Potosí
• Esteban Vázquez Tapia

References

1. "Tacos Joven: Un legado familiar que sigue cautivando paladares desde 1949". El Universal San Luis Potosí. Retrieved 2026-10-10.