Berkeley folks near the university have a new place to grab casual Mexican food: the appropriately named University Taqueria. It’s in its soft opening this month with a menu of tacos, burritos, quesadillas and churros.
For the most part, the menu is pretty standard. (See below.) You have your super or Cali burritos with cheese, sour cream, beans and guacamole, which can be customized into bowls. Quesadillas come with melted cheese, pico de gallo, lettuce and guac. The tacos include carne asada, pollo asado, al pastor, shrimp and carnitas. On the less-usual side, there’s also pollo verde and the intriguing option to add “fajitas” to anything you order for $1.
For dessert there are churros and slices of flan, and drinks include agua frescas, horchata and – presumably for students supercharging for tests – whole liters of Coke.
University Taqueria takes over the space formerly occupied by chicken-sandwich spot El Pollo Picante. It’s so new it only has one review on Yelp, but it’s positive. “My new fav taco spot in Berkeley,” writes a person called Pia. “So juicy, so tasty. I got the carne asada and al pastor and both were bursting with flavor. It’s definitely a grab and go type of place, but I’ll be back every time I have a taco craving and want to chill on campus.”
Details: Open 10:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and noon-7 p.m. Saturday at 2021 University Ave., Berkeley; universitytaqueria.com.
The menu of University Taqueria, a new restaurant in Berkeley that’s in its soft opening for August 2023. (University Taqueria)
