Malena's Taco Shop

Favorite Bites: None
Food: (poor) 1 2 3 4 5 (excellent)
Service: (poor) 1 2 3 4 5 (excellent)
Appearance: (poor) 1 2 3 4 5 (excellent)

Malena’s is your basic neighborhood Mexican Taco Shop, which just happens to be in Queen Anne. The food isn’t fancy; the selection is based on traditional burrito, tostada, & taco choices, with sides of rice and beans. There are only a few vegetarian options. Be warned that the Tostada shells are not vegetarian, so the Veggie Tostada is out. What you’re left with is the Bean Burrito with cheese, the Veggie Burrito, and cheese Quesadila. They do use the same grill to make all of the meat options, so some may or may not consider the food to be vegetarian. You can get the Bean Burrito or the Veggie Burrito without cheese or sour cream, but I haven’t been able to find out if their flour shells are vegan or just vegetarian.

When I lived in Queen Anne I tended to only go to Malena’s Taco Shop if I wanted something quick & basic. The prices are relatively inexpensive, which made it easy to justify getting something to go or eating there (there’s a small amount of dining space.) I’m not sure how they’ve been affected now that Gordito’s has opened up a restaurant at the top of the hill, since I no longer live there and it’s rare for me to eat in Queen Anne anymore. I do have to say that being able to get really good horchata from Gordito’s would make me favor going there over Melena’s.