Taqueria Castillo Mason

You know, there are still people in this world doing God’s work, right? Bricklayers and stonemasons, line cooks and the man who used to make pancakes at Chuck’s in Stockton, Bicycle Messangers and Bus Drivers (especially bus drivers). They (we) don’t hold a candle to the taqueros working this tenderloin based taco shop on Sunday nights.
Why? Well, God likes burritos (duh). Also, these guys get wrung through the wringer by the denezins of the Loin, spending their nights in a yellow-​painted bunker while assholes, wayward tourists, and drunken tech bros scream at them. Yet, they still manage to make a pretty good plate of Mexican food quickly, competently, and with a smile.
The Burritos (6.79 for a standard, 9.01 for super) are decent to above average. Although I loved the perfectly griddled flour tortilla, well-​melted cheese, and hearty bean and rice combination, the ingredient mix and overall temperature weren’t optimal, with sour cream and guacamole segregation bringing down slab-​wide temperatures, however, the guacamole was provided in quantity. Meats range from fair (the chicken in chile verde was a little on the tough, stringy side) to very good (an onion-​touched crispy pastor and tender cabeza are standouts). Ask for spicy and you’ll get it.
Chips are free, beer and wine available. Cash only! Free entertainiment in the form of a lone, sad television and live Tenderloin Drama.
3.5 stars rounded up.

Service is good, very friendly staff. Chips and salsa is free and comes with your meal which is a plus. I had the super nachos with carne asada. It’s a little pricey ~10 $, but the portion is pretty big so I guess that makes up for it. They don’t use nacho cheese which was disappointing, they use real cheese. There’s no guacomole but they have freshly sliced avocado. There’s a lot of meat and chips. But overall, the nachos is OK, I’ve had better.
My gf had the super tacos, one carne asada and one al pastor. They are pretty big and loaded with meat, pretty filling actually and reasonable for the price. The tacos were really good and very surprising. I’d rather get these than the nachos. Please note that you should eat all your food or else the homeless guy will come in and ask for it! We decided to give my left over nachos to the homeless guy. We would come back again!

Made a quick stop before heading next door to Mikkeller with two others. We actually intended on going to Taqueria Cancun but somehow walked passed and didn’t want to turn back.
When you walk inside, it looks like your standard taqueria. Cash only but only one guy working the grill — can’t expect it to be like the Mission taquerias. We just got one order of nachos with al pastor and then tried to get some salsa. EXCEPT, they didn’t have a salsa bar! Gasp, that was a surprise and kind of disappointing. Though, when the nachos came out, they didn’t need that much more since they were covered in refried beans, cheese, al pastor, sour cream and topped with some avocado. The quantity was actually much smaller than other places though the amount of beans was more than I would have liked. In the end, it was a good option for grabbing something quick, but not a top choice if I had to choose between taquerias.

Good: this place serves home made authentic Mexican cuisine. You can select from most of the traditional meats and sauces that you would expect plus additional chickens, chorizo and tripe. I had guacamole with chips and a wet chicken burrito. The guac was delicious, but a little thin for me. I think they mix it with some verde salsa. The burrito was above average and it was served covered in sauce and guac which was perfect for me. About the size of a Qdoba burrito.
Service: there isn’t too much to say here. You order at the counter and they bring you your food when it’s ready. Polite enough.
Atmosphere: looks like a hole in the wall and I’m surprised I actually went there, but some locals convinced me to avoid the tourist traps.
I’d go back if in the area and looking for Mexican, but this place is a little authentic for me. I tend to prefer more American Mexican if that makes sense. Of course San Fran has lots of great places to select from as well so we shall see. Thanks again for an enjoyable meal.

I ordered a pastor super burrito and it was just ok… Lacked flavor and I found myself not wanting to finish it…

Good food, but nothing to get excited about. Definitely a hole in the wall. Prices are reasonable & Cash only.
Pork in the burrito was juicy and tasty. However, when I opened up the burrito the wrapper stuck to the tortilla creating a HUGE tear in the burrito.
Best to order to go, but you risk opening your food only to discover it is not what you ordered. We made the mistake and ate at the reataurant… wobbly dirty tables.
Chips were definately not made in house… most likely from a bag from the local market or Costco.
Okay if looking to fill your stomache with average tasting Mexican food.

Excellent food. My favorite is either of the quesadillas with carne asada (one has added toppings, like jalapeños, avocado, sour cream, etc.). Their vegetarian burrito is also delicious. My partner loves the salsa-​verde-​marinated chicken. I’m more of a carne or vege man myself. Either way, you can’t go wrong here. NOTE: cash only (with an ATM inside) so have cash ready.

Taqueria Castillo Mason was a pleasant, unexpected surprise on my trip to San Francisco. Despite the, well, questionable people in the area and old building, this is an excellent choice for some quality Mexican food in the neighborhood. I had the enchilada plate and my friend had the tamale plate, both of which were fantastic and filling. There is also ample seating indoors if you are looking to escape the SF rain/​cold and have a warm meal inside. If I was in the area again, I would definitely return for more.

It was okay, nothing spectacular. I got a carne asada burrito and it filled me up but nothing to write home about

Accessibility (Parking /​Wait Time)
⁰⁄₁ Star: I walked there but parking looks hard to find. 10 minute wait to order.
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Service (Waiter /​Cleanness /​Ambiance)
⁰⁄₁ Star: cafeteria style service. Small hole in the wall.
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Taste (0=Not Edible /​1=Edible /​2=Good (average) /​3=Must Try!)
³⁄₃ Stars: the food here is a must try! Everything was done right. Meat is freshly grilled and goes into your burrito hot and juicy!
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Overall Experience
³⁄₅ Stars
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Last Words
Great hole in the wall food!

This place was probably the best thing that happened to me after hanging around at a rooftop lounge. We were starving and wanted food right away. You can imagine, on Friday nights, the waits are always over 45 minutes long so this was really hard. Either way, we spent around $ 11.00 for nachos. At first, I thought this was overly priced for a small hole in the wall place.
The nachos were made right in front of me with the ingredients that I wanted. Fresh and LARGE IN QUANTITY. The dish was shared between two people but even then we had problems finishing the whole thing. Aghhhh, it was SO GOOD! I cannot wait to come back to this place and try some of their burritos. Happy eating everyone, you won’t regret it :)
Only wish this place accepted credit cards…

Ordered fish tacos, that weren’t on the menu, from the friendly chef, and was tempted into buying on a refreshing pineapple juice to go along with it. The friendly cashier also let us sample the horchata, which is not my cup of tea. The tacos were so overloaded with fish and ingredients that I split each taco into two mini tacos (with the two tortillas that come with each taco) and each mini taco was still overflowing with ingredients. Standard white fish, but yummy nevertheless. I love me a good taqueria!

Not bad, not bad at all. They definetly have the flavors, and can’t beat the price either. Excellent for a quick stop when you are in a hurry and need a solid, tasty meal that won’t leave you broke.

My husband and I were not impressed. We found this place via Unilocal,and were excited to get some Mexican. Cash only btw! We split a carne supreme burrito since they looked huge, and vegetarian nachos. Both were very lackluster in flavor we were drowning our meals in hot sauce. The carne was very chewy. Maybe it was an off day. Nice staff.

I had this place bookmarked for a long time on Unilocal.It’s not even that far from my home, but I just did not have time to seek it out until now. I feel like the food here is authentic with a nice selection of burritos, tacos, taquitos, flautas, even including menudo. I ordered a regular chicken burrito with a citrus fresca drink. Prices are really reasonable!
If you don’t like your food spicy, ask for it without jalapenos as it was peppered here and there in my burrito. I was mostly ok with it, but I was sweating a bit! The salsa they provide in small plastic containers with the chips by the cash register also has a lot of jalapenos.
Admittedly, my friend and I felt quite sleepy and out of it after all the good beans and rice in our burritos, but it was well worth it. Between the tasty food and the reasonable prices, I will definitely come back! I will have a few less jalapenos and will make time for a good nap afterwards next time though.

Cheap AF! Especially a good value to line your stomach before going out on Polk Street, both of which I did this weekend. I would probably go back if I lived in the area, but I can’t say I’m positive I’d go back. I ordered 2 chicken tacos, and the process to order was super confusing, and resulted in me accidentally kidnapping someone else’s tacos before mine were ready. I returned their tacos after I realized they were steak and not chicken, and got my tacos shortly after.
I should have gotten the super tacos so my b, and my chicken tacos weren’t bad, just not what I expected. The chicken was kind of dry, yet super greasy at the same time with odd shrively burned pieces, I also wish there was more indication on what sauces were available for me to put on my tacos cause I think I saw pico and a few types of salsa but had no idea what it was. This would have drastically improved my tacos, but as I said they were totally passable, just did not live up to my expectations. All in all kind of a bummer, as I am a big fan of hole in the wall Mexican spots.

Had dinner here tonight and usually the holes in the walls, typically have the best food. Well, this is definitely a hole in the wall and the food is decent, but I’ve definitely had better.
They got my order wrong, even though I pointed at it. Not bad, but I wouldn’t go back. I can get average Mexican good any where, if mediocre food is all it has to offer, I’d rather have mediocre food at a nice restaurant with better atmosphere.

A typical experience at Taqueria Castillo Mason:
*Grab a few dolla bills
*Order their carnitas quesadilla (once you go carnitas you’ll never go back)
*Throw those dolla bills in their faces cause this place is cash only
*Grab a bunch of napkins
*Wolf their humongous, delicious quesadilla down
*Feel no guilt whatsoever
*Use your napkins to wipe away all that grease and oil from your now stain covered shirt
*Feel no guilty whatsoever again
*Walk away like a boss cause you’ve just fed yourself for the entire day

2 super tacos and 1 super burrito = $ 13 ish = SUPER stuffed stomachs. Those super tacos are definitely piled high with deliciousness. They don’t skimp. After one of those tacos each, my husband and I could only share half of the burrito.
Cash only, which kind of sucks. But decent place that I would love to regularly come back to.

Really good, and really filling.
I had the Super Burrito, which was massive and tasty. The tortilla was very fresh, and had an almost flaky-​type quality to it. It was packed full of chicken, seasoned rice, black beans, ripe avocado, sour cream and salsa. $ 8, and I probably could have made two meals out of it.
Jarritos to drink, and free (very fresh) chips and salsa while you wait, which in my case wasn’t long.
Cash only. Ambiance is BYO. Would definitely return.

En mi escala de clasificación de las tres B’s de bueno, bonito y barato, la de que sea agradablemente estético es la que menos me importa a la hora de elegir restaurante. No me malinterpreten ustedes; no es que la Taquería Castillo Mason sea en absoluto un local feo, sólo que destaca más el hecho de poder comerte unos buenos tacos a precio insignificante. Creo recordar que eran dos dólares por pieza, poco más de euro y medio. Allí comimos y cenamos en más de una ocasión, por proximidad al hostal y al lugar de trabajo, por amor al picante y a la comida mexicana y por no seguir arruinándonos en otras casas de comida más caras.
PD: La ración de nachos con guacamole es gratis! (Nachos de bolsa y salsa de guacamole artificial, no se vayan a emocionar)