Taqueria La Esmeralda

The food is always perfect! This is our favorite place!

best super burrito ive had. actually insane taste they have.

My husband and I pass by here frequently and there's generally not a lot of patrons. We decided to give it a try when we were in the area and neither one of us had eaten. We shared a super steak burrito and each got a soft drink. The chips are good, soda fountain was good without a funny aftertaste that many have. Their salsa bar is great as was the burrito. We were both pretty hungry when we arrived, but we're skeptical based on how quiet it is. They did not disappoint and we will definitely be back. They are the best that we've tried in the county for sure. Give them a shot. You will not be regret it.

Really good burritos, everything was flavorful. Salsa bar is on point. Service was good. My only complaint is that the burritos are a little on the skimp side compared to what I'm used to in the SF area. That being said though, the price is right.

Great food! Great menu selections!

The salsa bar is awesome. Veggie burrito pretty big with lots of veggies and guacamole. I eat here quite a bit. place gets pretty busy at dinner time.

Ah I love this place so much my favorite of all. Top favorites. Def favorite Mexican food in calaveras. I lived in socal for a long time and this place compares to what I am used to. It's the whole package. And their staff is always great. The prices are fair. The torta is amazing. Everything I've had is good. Birria. Amazing. Pozole. Amazing. Tamale. Bomb. Taco. Beans and rice are good. Enchiladas. Burrito. Horchata. Jarritos yum. Their salsas are yummy. Hot carrots mix. Pickled red onions. Micheladas good. I want to try the mocaljete. I want to try a lot of things there's so much to try. I've been so basic. I'll probably never stop coming here it's consistent I'm never disappointed can't beat that. I have been coming here since college idk if it's always been the same owners or what but it's always been good

The restaurant was crowded. The person taking our order was very upbeat, cheerful and took the order quite quickly. The food was delivered to our table with just a short wait. The food was delicious. We will be back.

FREE CHIPS AND SALSA BAR. I would like to start by saying I will not be able to convey just how good this place was in a review. But holy moly mother molasses did I enjoy eating at this local restaurant. I would give more stars if it let me ! We were pleasantly greeted with a bright and fun atmosphere upon entering. The staff was friendly and the prices looked extremely reasonable. Once we ordered they let us know they have a FREE chips and salsa bar I mean come on. I would have paid any amount of money for how good my food was and it was still so cheap. U need to try this place for yourself I can’t use words to describe how much I liked this food.

Sooooo good! Delicious, flavorful, hearty... I could go on and on. The Saturday Baja fish taco plate was generously proportioned and balanced, and the quesabirrilla tacos hit the spot for my husband. He couldn't stop raving about the flavor and the consomme. Great to see a small place like this busy, and did I mention great prices and great service?!

🌮 Taco Truck Gem in Sonora! 🌮 If you haven’t tried Taqueria Arandas, you’re seriously missing out. This taco truck, run by the folks behind Taqueria La Esmeralda, is a pristine, stainless steel beauty parked right next to Grocery Outlet in Sonora — and it’s serving up some of the best tacos around. We tried the Quesabirria tacos, shrimp tacos, fish tacos, and the chile relleno burrito. Every single bite was bursting with flavor, and the consomé was the perfect dip to complement the crispy, cheesy goodness of the Quesabirria. 🌟 Super clean 🌟 Friendly service 🌟 Loaded with delicious options Support local and treat yourself — go try Taqueria Arandas today! You won’t regret it.

The go-to place in Tuolumne County for quesobirria tacos!! They are so delicious!! Service is fast and very friendly! Salsa bar is amazing! The draft beer is served ice cold in frozen goblets!

Hidden gem. One of my favorite Mexican restaurants. The portion is very big and the price is cheap. They also have a salsa bar which you can get pickles and sauces.

The rice and beans are a bit bland, but in a supportive role kinda way. Their green chicken enchiladas were bomb. But the star of the show is that salsa bar, so good! Really even with the meh parts of the meal there's not a reason to give less than 5 stars. Especially with the prompt and friendly service.

Very nice place to eat, very quiet, lots of parking and fast service

I get the smothered burrito (I prefer the red sauce to the green sauce) all the time after going to the gym. Portions are great, taste is good (and consistent). I like the sauces they’ve got, especially the jalapeño ranch.

On our way to the black oak and stopped at Starbucks and seen this place. Definitely recommended. Taqueria was Clean. Service was great. Food was delicious. Right on Mono Way. Location Location Location. Will be back.

Great food, fast service, and friendly staff! Not a big dining room but big enough and tons of to-go orders flowing out the door so obviously we'll known and will liked restaurant. We'll be back! 🙂

Travis Amato

FREE CHIPS AND SALSA BAR. I would like to start by saying I will not be able to convey just how good this place was in a review. But holy moly mother molasses did I enjoy eating at this local restaurant. I would give more stars if it let me ! We were pleasantly greeted with a bright and fun atmosphere upon entering. The staff was friendly and the prices looked extremely reasonable. Once we ordered they let us know they have a FREE chips and salsa bar I mean come on. I would have paid any amount of money for how good my food was and it was still so cheap. U need to try this place for yourself I can’t use words to describe how much I liked this food.

Cathryn McHugh

Sooooo good! Delicious, flavorful, hearty... I could go on and on. The Saturday Baja fish taco plate was generously proportioned and balanced, and the quesabirrilla tacos hit the spot for my husband. He couldn't stop raving about the flavor and the consomme. Great to see a small place like this busy, and did I mention great prices and great service?!

eleanor jones

🌮 Taco Truck Gem in Sonora! 🌮 If you haven’t tried Taqueria Arandas, you’re seriously missing out. This taco truck, run by the folks behind Taqueria La Esmeralda, is a pristine, stainless steel beauty parked right next to Grocery Outlet in Sonora — and it’s serving up some of the best tacos around. We tried the Quesabirria tacos, shrimp tacos, fish tacos, and the chile relleno burrito. Every single bite was bursting with flavor, and the consomé was the perfect dip to complement the crispy, cheesy goodness of the Quesabirria. 🌟 Super clean 🌟 Friendly service 🌟 Loaded with delicious options Support local and treat yourself — go try Taqueria Arandas today! You won’t regret it.

Tri Daddy

The go-to place in Tuolumne County for quesobirria tacos!! They are so delicious!! Service is fast and very friendly! Salsa bar is amazing! The draft beer is served ice cold in frozen goblets!

STEFANOS RADOU

Very nice place to eat, very quiet, lots of parking and fast service

Hubert Lu

Hidden gem. One of my favorite Mexican restaurants. The portion is very big and the price is cheap. They also have a salsa bar which you can get pickles and sauces.

T V

The rice and beans are a bit bland, but in a supportive role kinda way. Their green chicken enchiladas were bomb. But the star of the show is that salsa bar, so good! Really even with the meh parts of the meal there's not a reason to give less than 5 stars. Especially with the prompt and friendly service.

Joshua Calder

I get the smothered burrito (I prefer the red sauce to the green sauce) all the time after going to the gym. Portions are great, taste is good (and consistent). I like the sauces they’ve got, especially the jalapeño ranch.

William Vlach

Great food, fast service, and friendly staff! Not a big dining room but big enough and tons of to-go orders flowing out the door so obviously we'll known and will liked restaurant. We'll be back! 🙂

Eve A.

On our way to the black oak and stopped at Starbucks and seen this place. Definitely recommended. Taqueria was Clean. Service was great. Food was delicious. Right on Mono Way. Location Location Location. Will be back.

Excellent food large portions great selection top notch salsa bar

Came from out of town- Had a great meal here.

We had the Berria tacos excellent. Comp warm chips and salsa while you wait. Big frosted fish bowls of ice cold beer.

russell mcgarry

We had the Berria tacos excellent. Comp warm chips and salsa while you wait. Big frosted fish bowls of ice cold beer.

Michelle Bell

Great food and wonderful staff! Food is always fresh and delicious! Our favorites are anything carnitas (tacos, chimichanga, flautas, super burrito...).

Great Mexican food for being up in the hills, salsa was spicy, and was great with everything. I ordered the enchrito full of flavor, great portion size, and a reasonable price. They have a salsa bar for any other sauces, onions, and peppers that you may desire. Defiently would recommend if you're craving Mexican food.

I would say that Taqueria Esmeralda has a pretty good menu (leans toward fresh seafood) & their food is very tasty. The service is great, very knowledgeable if you have questions & do their best to accommodate special orders. The only thing is that I sort of feel that their prices are slightly higher for the type of restaurant they are. They're a smallish, simpler kind of place, but they charge a little too much as if they are a beautiful candle-lit, white-linen style of dining, & it's not a restaurant like that. I like 'em tho. 😊

Great place to get the old school Mexican food. It's always busy yet served quickly,never a long wait. We frequent this one here often because the food is quite yummy, freshly made, and the big burritos are the bomb!

Pretty good food, nice and polite staff, I'd go back next time I'm in the area

Taqueria la Esmeralda is delicious. You have the option of fast food for take out or a nice casual sit down meal. They have seating both indoor and patio. The staff is always friendly and smiling. I have never been in when it wasnt busy. Today we went in for the taco Tuesday special, we ordered quite a few tacos to go and the turn around time for that amount of food was great. They have a self service salsa bar and chips. We got carne asada tacos, carnitas and pollo asado tacos. We have tried other foods previously- nachos, burritos & quesadillas. All equally delicious.

Tried their tacos. We had carnitas, asada and shredded chicken. OMG the chicken taco was the best. Juicy and flavorful. Plus free chips and salsa

Lizzy Carter

Taqueria la Esmeralda is delicious. You have the option of fast food for take out or a nice casual sit down meal. They have seating both indoor and patio. The staff is always friendly and smiling. I have never been in when it wasnt busy. Today we went in for the taco Tuesday special, we ordered quite a few tacos to go and the turn around time for that amount of food was great. They have a self service salsa bar and chips. We got carne asada tacos, carnitas and pollo asado tacos. We have tried other foods previously- nachos, burritos & quesadillas. All equally delicious.

M Keller

Tried their tacos. We had carnitas, asada and shredded chicken. OMG the chicken taco was the best. Juicy and flavorful. Plus free chips and salsa

Taqueria La Esmeralda is a small Mexican restaurant in a strip mall. The food is good, however maybe not the best in the area. They do have a generous chip bar with lots of sauces and other garnishings. I would eat here again if my favorite taco truck down the road isn't available.

Ken Hobbs

Taqueria La Esmeralda is a small Mexican restaurant in a strip mall. The food is good, however maybe not the best in the area. They do have a generous chip bar with lots of sauces and other garnishings. I would eat here again if my favorite taco truck down the road isn't available.

The staff is nice and they are clearly used to being busy. This is just the saddest, most overcooked pozole I have ever had. Bringing your customers a gallon if it does not make up for the fact that it utterly blows. I realize ordering pozole that has been cooking for hours is not the best idea. Probably better at 12 than at 2 when I had it.

The posole is tasteless. There is virtually no meat. When I called to ask them about the lack of meat they just said that posile doesn’t have much meat. I had about five small pieces of meat that were full of fat in an entire giant container it held about three cups. . I had to add my own chili and salt to give it taste. And their hard shell tacos are made of taco shells that appear to be premanufactured. We really used like this restaurant. But we have not been having good experiences. I most likely not be back.

Not impressed! Beans/Rice no flavor super burrito nothing super about it, chimichanga had ok flavor. Churros over cooked and hard. Maybe service and food was not that good because we came in to close to closing time

The customer service was great and the atmosphere was pleasant. I ordered a super burrito and asked for the spicy pulled pork. I repeated the order over the phone 3 times. The young man said something so fast I had to ask what over and over again then I said yeah. I really can’t afford to eat out very often and when I got home and removed the foil I started crying and tasted it and it tasted like rice and beans with bbq sauce on what should have been meat! There was no MEAT!!!! No nothing except a long limp thin tortilla! If I wanted American food I would have gone to an American restaurant. Cost me $16.00 to go with a can of coke. I called and spoke with the nice very young man who only said that’s all we have here. He didn’t say anything that would ever make me want to go back there.

Christine Bright-Spingola

The customer service was great and the atmosphere was pleasant. I ordered a super burrito and asked for the spicy pulled pork. I repeated the order over the phone 3 times. The young man said something so fast I had to ask what over and over again then I said yeah. I really can’t afford to eat out very often and when I got home and removed the foil I started crying and tasted it and it tasted like rice and beans with bbq sauce on what should have been meat! There was no MEAT!!!! No nothing except a long limp thin tortilla! If I wanted American food I would have gone to an American restaurant. Cost me $16.00 to go with a can of coke. I called and spoke with the nice very young man who only said that’s all we have here. He didn’t say anything that would ever make me want to go back there.

Paid for a meat and cheese burrito, but did not want meat or cheese, I did, however ask for extra beans. When I got home, there was probably 10 beans on either side of my burrito! When I took it back and asked for a new burrito with extra beans since I paid for meat and cheese and didn’t get any. They basically gave me back the same burrito and stuffed the one side full of beans, I threw everything away. You can’t see back to the kitchen and I have no idea if they spit in my food or not I was not willing to take the chance. In these small towns, these restaurants need to learn about service! Plain and simple! I will never go here again!

My husband and I ate here on July 16 2025 purchased their Esmeralda Burritos which were full of fat, we had horrible food poisoning immense stomach problems that evening and for hrs into the next day, filthy place, if you don’t want the same pass on this dump, they are getting reported to the Tuolumne County health environmental department.

I don't know what I ordered..it was Monday Special and it was awful ...it wasn't edible..should be taken off the menu ....just plain yuk!!!!! Never go back their again. As a form of punishment to their employees ..they should be required to eat the Monday Special

Went here last night and my partner is still spouting from both ends. The enchiladas are hardly a step up from the ones that come in a can, everything is drastically overpriced for small portions and dreadful quality. Love yourself and please eat somewhere else.

I asked if their guacamole was REAL guacamole with real avocados and they said yes. Because in my mind I'm thinking how good Robertos or Albertos is in San Diego county, with fresh guacamole or even that taco truck that sits by Gus's has good guacamole. But this place calls it guacamole and it's really like a salsa and doesn't even taste like guacamole. In fact we didn't love their salsas at the salsa bar either. The taco truck by Gus has much better tasting salsa. So hard to find good fast Mexican food here, and I'm always longing for Robertos or Albertos. Also, they were either lying or clueless, or just didn't understand English when I asked if the guacamole was made out of real avocados. Annoying... the super quesadilla with al pastor had a good flavor though. But would have been better with REAL guacamole instead of that terrible "guacamole salsa" they give you!

This is how I open my Carne Asada burrito. Do not believe people when they say they have Carne Asada because everything is ground beef. And all I did was unwrap it from the aluminum foil and that’s how it was

Colin Drummond

This is how I open my Carne Asada burrito. Do not believe people when they say they have Carne Asada because everything is ground beef. And all I did was unwrap it from the aluminum foil and that’s how it was

Date we went was August 1 2025.Well, first impression of the place it very colorful, impressive. But the food it self it’s a big NO!! My partner and my mother n law and self came to eat some lunch…well my partner and I got food poisoning, our stomach is sooo mess up, with a lot of pain. Do not recommend my opinion.

A Carne Asada Burrito will give you food poisoning. I have gotten this same burrito here for years. On 9/2, I got the same burrito as I always do. Massive stomach cramps and a full day of diarrhea. I was told by some friends that there was a stomach bug going around, so I chalked it up to that. On 9/25, I ate the same thing. Same result. Not sure what ingredients have changed, but for sure, this is a consistent issue. It tasted good, and nothing seemed off about it.

Corbin Brown

A Carne Asada Burrito will give you food poisoning. I have gotten this same burrito here for years. On 9/2, I got the same burrito as I always do. Massive stomach cramps and a full day of diarrhea. I was told by some friends that there was a stomach bug going around, so I chalked it up to that. On 9/25, I ate the same thing. Same result. Not sure what ingredients have changed, but for sure, this is a consistent issue. It tasted good, and nothing seemed off about it.

Tanya Guzman

Date we went was August 1 2025.Well, first impression of the place it very colorful, impressive. But the food it self it’s a big NO!! My partner and my mother n law and self came to eat some lunch…well my partner and I got food poisoning, our stomach is sooo mess up, with a lot of pain. Do not recommend my opinion.

Pamela Musarra

I asked if their guacamole was REAL guacamole with real avocados and they said yes. Because in my mind I'm thinking how good Robertos or Albertos is in San Diego county, with fresh guacamole or even that taco truck that sits by Gus's has good guacamole. But this place calls it guacamole and it's really like a salsa and doesn't even taste like guacamole. In fact we didn't love their salsas at the salsa bar either. The taco truck by Gus has much better tasting salsa. So hard to find good fast Mexican food here, and I'm always longing for Robertos or Albertos. Also, they were either lying or clueless, or just didn't understand English when I asked if the guacamole was made out of real avocados. Annoying... the super quesadilla with al pastor had a good flavor though. But would have been better with REAL guacamole instead of that terrible "guacamole salsa" they give you!