Tacos Yanga
1338 Division Avenue SouthMy love for Mexican street tacos started in Grand Rapids.
I was working nights and weekends at the Grand Rapids office which meant I regularly worked Friday night. I had a co-worker who would buy me dinner on Friday nights as long as I would go get it. This went on for quite a while then one night (not a Friday night), I walked in with tacos and sat down next to him to talk about something. He couldn’t get over the smell of them and asked where I got them. I told him and the next Friday night, he sent me there to pick up dinner. It became our Friday night meal until I moved to the Kalamazoo office several years later.
That taco spot was Taqueria San Jose. I loved that little taco place and would go there every time I was back in Grand Rapids.
Unfortunately, it closed at the end of 2021. I was pretty bummed. My co-worker passed away a few years prior to that but I would still go get tacos. It made me think of him every single time.
I was unexepectedly in Grand Rapids last Monday. We weren’t scheduled to work out of that office but something came up so my Kalamazoo colleague and I headed north. We finished our assignment in the field then headed back to the GR office to finish up our day. I was hungry but didn’t know what I wanted so I just started driving. I figured I’d find something along Division…or 28th Street…something…I didn’t know what or where.
I got just south of downtown on Division Street when I saw my old taco place…but it was open….as a new taco place. I found my place to eat.
Tacos Yanga is on Division Avenue and LaBelle Street south of downtown Grand Rapids. The taco joint is easy to find. It’s an old A & W Drive-In. There is no car hop service anymore but the awning is still there. so it’s easy to spot. The restaurant has actually been open about a year and a half now but I get to Grand Rapids so little anymore, I’d never really noticed it.
There really hasn’t been much of change to the place nor could there really be much of change. It’s a small building that was repuprosed from a drive-in many years ago.
The inside is pretty tight. There is an order counter cut in to the wall separating the kitchen from dining room.
The menu hangs next to the opening above the only trash can in the building.
The rest of the space is taken up by a few tables. When this place was Taqueria San Jose, it was always full with people dining in. I was at this new place kind of late on a Monday night so most of the orders coming out were to-go or delivery orders.
When it’s nice out, there is quite a bit of seating outside. There are picnic tables underneath the old drive-in awning that you can hang out it. It’s a really good use of the space since there isn’t much inside.
I stuck to my typical taco shop order and got five steak tacos. The cost was right around $15 before tip.
It took about ten minutes for a bag to come out. I grabbed it and headed back to the office to eat.
The tacos were..well, tacos. Each one was two warm, soft corn tortillas filled with chopped steak, cilantro, and onion. There was some hot sauce in the bag which was a little thicker than I was expecting but it was hot and damn good. The bag also included some grilled peppers and onions which seemed odd but I’m sure some people like that. The steak was tender and delicious plus there was a lot of it on each of the tortillas.
Tacos Yanga has some pretty big shoes to fill being in the spot Taqueria San Jose was. People associate that spot with quality, home made Mexican food. Tacos Yanga brings a lot of the same techniques and flavor to their spin on Mexican street food. There are so many good taco place along this stretch of Division Avenue and Tacos Yanga is another one that deserves your attention.
SW Michigan Dining 