Top Shelf Tacos

Love this place. Staff is always friendly and food is delicious. I’ve been coming here since it opened. It’s always nice and clean.

Hidden gem of Carson, food is always fantastic. The loaded fries is the best item on they menu, have had carne asada fries many places but nothing like their loaded fries. Got to have at least once a. week, ingredients are fresh and flavorful. The green fire guacamole sauce adds a nice medium kick.

First time at this restaurant and let me tell you I been looking for a place that has fresh made enchiladas. finally founded it. homemade style.brought back memories of mom’s cooking. except my mom’s/grandmoms are a little better.cma.lol
I strongly recommend this place. there tacos and some fresh made juices are really good to. Thanks Top Shelf Tacos for the awesome food!!! if Unilocal had ten stars for the reviews I’ll give you guys ten.

Rating: ⁶⁷⁄₁₀₀ pts
How about Upper-​Middle Shelf Tacos?
Granted, the food scene in Carson is desolate at best, and in that sense, the fact that this is a non-​franchise place that tips on the better side of average means this could be seen as a taco oasis.
The tortillas are fresh (taken out of a covered tray, not pulled out of a bag) and the meats moist and fairly good quality – definitely a step up from your average taco truck. I liked the asada meat the most, which was pretty flavorful on its own. The carnitas were slightly overdone.
Meat portions are a bit on the skimpy side, which may not be a huge issue if you make liberal use of their extensive salsa bar, but you may be let down if you want super meaty tacos.
They’ve also got bacon-​wrapped shrimp, a variety of aquas frescas, and Mexican dessert-​inspired cupcakes.
I might consider stopping by if driving nearby, but wouldn’t drive out of my way to come back. In my humble evaluation, they are slightly overvalued considering the current 4.5 star average.
Hence, Upper-​Middle Shelf Tacos.

My family and I ordered from here last night, Asada Super Fries, and Asada Super Nachos, and one Asada Taco. Okay, let’s start with the fries first, they looked good on the top layer but once you start to dig in they were very dry and tastless. We have had better this is not the best so far it may be the worst. The Nachos very similar to the fries looked good but was not cheesy at all, meat very dry and tastless and the chips well let’s just say they are not your average tortilla chip. Finally, the asada taco was just that, meat with no fixings dry and tastless. Our order was just under $ 20 it was a complete waste. I was very disappointed being that this place has such high reviews on Unilocal but it definitely isn’t all it is cracked up to be.

I got a asada torta and tacos and the meat was bland and they were stingy with the meat. Id rather eat at taco loco and they are garbage.

Amazing service
Great tacos
The beans are so good it’s scary
I could live off the rice and beans

Dear Topshelf,
You guys are the best. You know you have found a great taco spot when you refuse to eat tacos anywhere else.
I was at the DODGER game last night and I was CRAVING tacos. They sell some at Dodgers stadium but why waste my time when you have had THE BEST at TOPSHELF TACOS. Handmade tortillas, salsa bar and my favorite… NOPALES!!! Common. You cannot find another spot like this. Pregame at TOPSHELF from now on.
Service is TOP NOTCH. Thank you! You guys have always been great towards my boyfriend, son and I from the beginning.

Great service, friendly staff. Have tried the tacos, enchiladas and loaded fries. Definitely Top Shelf! Always order Detox juice which is fresh and yummy everytime.
Note: No public restrooms available

I love this place!
I always order a Wet Burrito and a Nacho. The service is amazing. They will try to accommodate you if they can. Torn between two sauces (red and green), the man suggested I just get both. Whattt??? I can order both?! Heck yeah! I’ve always known they were great, but that put the cherry on top!
The sauce and toppings bar on the side has a myriad of sauces as well as the usual cilantro, onion, lime wedges, pico de gallo… what wasn’t expected was lettuce! Even with unhealthy food, I like to add a healthy twist to it, so I throw lettuce on my Wet Burrito.
As for the food, there’s the right amount of everything in the burrito and nacho. I don’t know how they do it every time, but they do.

Top Shelf Tacos was the spot for lunch today! Lunch break with my co-​workers was great. Got there before the 12 o’clock crowd. I ordered one taco de birria, the meat was tender and with a lot of flavor, one mulita de lengua. I believe the tortillas are hand made at the restaurant… hmmmm. And last but not least, one carne asada sope. I have not ate that until dinner but it looks amazing.
Really great customer service as I was debating on the mulita size, he suggests I go for the JR. Size mulita. Perfect size.
Will go back again.

Great find! Their carnitas tacos with homemade tortillas are delicious. The loaded fries were delicious too, next time we will order it with carnitas instead of carne asada. Ended the meal with churro cupcakes. They had nice flavor, but the cake was quite dry. Overall, a great place with great food. The service was fast and friendly.

I always come here for the carne asada fries and never disappointed. The fries are thin and crispy, the meat is flavorful and tender and they add in some guacamole, pico de gallo, and sour cream (which I get on the side) and cilantro. I usually get this to share and 2 additional tacos for a full meal. The great thing is they have a pretty extensive salsa bar with all your fix ins: (non) spicy sauces, lime, onions and cilantro. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with a quick meal here!

I had no idea this place was around the corner from my work place.
I’ve been here almost a year I’m so sad I’m just finding out about this place
The mutlitas… Delicious. The veggie grilled quesadilla is my favorite! The pinche mango and the aguas frescas are amaIng.
Must try the green salsa… Its perfect

Dank food! Literally have tried just about every single thing on the menu by now except for a wet torta — that’s next!
Their PASTOR is #1 and my personal favorite. A wet burrito with half red & half green sauce is my current go-​to when here. They have many different delicious agua fresca flavors — I personally like to get the Strawberry /​pineapple mix the most.
They’re proud of their food and it shows! Check it out.
PS. They do catering at events too. ;)

Found this place on Unilocal,and decided to give it a try! My initial find was for Carne Asada fries & ceviche! And that’s exactly what I got.
Overload fries– Carne Asada, chicken fajita topped on French fries! Melted cheese, with sour cream drizzled on top! Delish!!!
Ceviche– Cucumber, LARGE shrimps, cilantro, and diced tomato! The ceviche wasn’t that great for me, the size of shrimp was the perk but it wasn’t so flavorful for me. It’s really limey, but that’s about it.
Would come again!!!

I was in the area and searched Unilocal for horchata, and this came up first. Not only do they offer horchata, but also other familiar drinks including pineapple, jamaica and a lot more.
The staff is friendly and helpful. There is indoor seating and good enough for at least 15 people, if not more.
I tried the carnitas and asada tacos. In addition, for someone else, I ordered the cabesa (brain) and lengua (tongue) tacos. All the tacos come with just a single tortilla with your choice of meat, wrapped individually in wax paper. A salsa bar is available to the side, and you can help yourself to several kinds of salsa ranging from mild to really spicy. Also, chopped cilantro, onions, mix of both with tomatoes, and pickled jalapeño, sliced radishes, and so on. Lots of offerings.
The carnitas are almost like chicharones and best eaten right away. There are some crispy bits that are the best bites. The asada was a bit dry for me. If not for all the goodies I took from the salsa bar, I couldn’t have eaten it.
From what I was told, the lengua was dry but still tasty. The cabesa didn’t look like it at all. I pinched a piece and it was tender. Tasted alright, but I was pulled aside by another customer and he said he’s had better. Infact, he directed me where.
I also ordered a side of tortilla chips and rice. The chips were warm and very crisp. The rice is very moist and full of flavor. Best Mexican rice I’ve ever had. Both chips are rice are great!
Overall, I might only order carnitas with a side of the rice and the chips. Maybe I’ll see if a side of beans are available. The horchata is delicious!
The tacos are about $ 1.50 each. Total for 8 tacos, med horchata, side of chips and side of rice with all the salsa and goodies you want, about $ 18 Not bad at all!

Came here today after bookmarking it on Unilocal a while back. Plenty of parking when I arrived at about 10:30am, and there was nobody in there yet, (they open at 10) The place is super clean which is a big plus, and the young lady that helped me was super friendly. I ordered a few Carne Asada Taco’s with cheese and a few Al Pastor Taco’s with cheese. I do like that they come to you plain and then they have an area to the side with all the sauces, onions cilantro etc, so you can add as much or as little as you like. I have to admit, having seen all the pics from other reviews, my tacos had a lot less meat on them. The carne Asada was pretty good, but not anything special, it was tender though so thumbs up for that. The al pastor was a lot better I thought. It had good flavor to it. The only issues I really had, the tacos seemed smaller than I expected, and there was quite a bit of pieces on both style tacos that had some fat that wasn’t edible. The flavor again was decent, the place is super clean, and the prices were good. I will definitely go back and try other things. They had some bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers that I’m anxious to go back and try. Will update when I do that.
Oh and one more thing, they have fresh juices on their menu as well, so if you’re looking for a bit of healthy, there’s always that!

Location: West side of Avalon Blvd at Scottsdale Dr in the Plaza Avalon shopping center. The restaurant is on the southerly side near Domino’s Pizza.
Parking: Private lot, street parking is available, but it’s rare to find a space in the street.
Environment: Independent establishments like this are a rarity in the area.
The colorful interior has lots of seating that includes counter & patio space. Public areas are clean & generally well kept. Overhead speakers have been tuned into various types of Mexican music & reggae too. The staff I have spoken to so far have been courteous, efficient, patient & professional.
Food: Yeah, they have tacos, burritos, & fresh fruit smoothies but our family favorites are the veggie tacos (Hallelujah Jesus!), veggie burritos, bean & cheese burritos, homemade corn tortillas, homemade sopes, enchiladas, nachos, & lightly seasoned fries.
They also passed the «bean & cheese» test w flying colors! Their beans are not cooked w lard but still taste better than most so called ‘Mexican’ restaurants in Los Angeles! Yay!
FYI, the veggie tacos include cheese so let them know if you are vegan.
My only hope is they someday add more veggie options like to. fu or cactus/​nopales to their taco options. (Pretty please, with sugar on top!)
Who needs soda when you have homemade aguas fescas (sweetened fruit water)?! Strawberry, horchata, watermelon, lemonade, jamaica, pineapple are oh so good!
They have a nice selection of salsas and condiments that include a cactus (nopales) salsa.
Off the menu: Chilaquiles, taquitos
Dessert? Si porfavor! There is a small selection of sometimes ‘themed’ pastries (cookies, cupcakes, etc). Look for them next to the register when you order.
BTW you can also follow their sometimes funny posts on instagram @topshelftacosla

Came here with a girlfriend who kept raving about their sauces. She was damn right. Their sauces are EVERYTHING. I made sure to try a little of each sauce and the green creamy one takes the cake. (Her favorite.)
Their menu is extensive. Lots to choose from. We couldn’t decide on whether we wanted the bacon shrimp of jalapeño poppers so we ended up with the mix basket. Both were winners in my book. I also ordered carne asada and al pastor tacos. Meh, I’ve tasted better marinated meats BUT throwing their sauce into the mix changes everything. Even their horchata was really good. It had a different, distinct taste to it that I liked.
Limited seating available so I recommend ordering for take out!