A & J Molcajete

A & J Molcajete is a family-run taquería in a strip on State Avenue at 26th Street in Kansas City, Kansas, in the storefront that was Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant from 1991 and, before that, a 1970s Taco Kid. The board is short and cheap — street tacos at $2.60, gorditas, sopes and huaraches, birria with consomé, fried burritos, tortas, “molca-nachos” and “molca-fries” — with horchata and jamaica by the cup and churros and elote en vaso to finish. It closes Sundays, and the counter is run by the owners, whom reviewers call out by name as often as the food.

Description

The restaurant is in a small strip on the north side of State Avenue at 26th Street, next to the City Fish market, a block that Nextdoor’s neighbors describe as home to a Mexican restaurant since the Taco Kid days of the 1970s.¹ The KCK tourism bureau’s listing sums up the current menu as “street tacos, tortas, burritos, molcanachos, homemade tamales, and specialty molcajete tacos filled with steak, chorizo, cactus, and grilled onions.”²

The SpotOn ordering menu is organized around the house’s “Molca-” items — Molca-nachos and Molca-fries ($10.40), La Papa Molca ($11.44), a Molca-Hamburguesa ($8.31) — alongside the antojitos: gorditas, sopes and tostadas at $3.64, huaraches and flautas at $11.43, quesabirria ($12.48) and an order of birria tacos with consomé ($10.39).³ Tacos are $2.60 on corn, $3.12 on flour, with hard-shell, seafood and vegetarian versions; burritos run from a beans-and-cheese at $6.24 through the A&J Burrito, a Fried Burrito, an Ultimate Fried Burrito and shrimp versions; tortas come plain, con papas, de milanesa or grande.³ Reviewers’ favorites, per Restaurantji, are the molcajete tacos, steak street tacos, the deep-fried burrito, breakfast tortas and the horchata.⁴ Desserts are churros (cajeta, fresa or plain), elote en vaso, fruit pastries and florecitas; drinks are horchata and jamaica in two sizes, Jarritos, Mundet, Sangría Señorial and coconut juice.³

Reviews are consistently warm about the people behind the counter — “very amazing owners and staff,” “welcoming service” — and about generosity: a June 2026 Yelp review praises the meat portions in the tacos and fried burrito.⁴⁵ Google’s aggregate stands at 4.6 across 187 reviews.⁶

Ownership and history

The lineage. The address has been a Mexican restaurant for roughly half a century. Nextdoor’s neighborhood profile says the storefront “originated as Taco Kid in the 1970s,” and Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant, which described itself as “family owned & operated since 1991,” ran it until its Yelp listing was marked closed.¹⁵⁷ A reviewer of A & J puts it plainly: “Been going there for 50 years — of course it had changed names, owners, and location — but under the current family owned business” it is “the best Mexican food ever.”⁴ Yahoo Local’s listing for A & J still carries the Los Amigos boilerplate, a sign the two are treated as one continuous business by the data aggregators.⁵

A & J. Yelp describes A & J Molcajete as recently opened in the space previously occupied by Los Amigos.⁸ Whether A & J is the Los Amigos family under a new name or a new operator in the old room is not established; the “A” and “J” are presumably initials, and the restaurant’s Instagram is held under the name Anxelita Valdez, with the bio “#A&j Molcajete” and a link to the SpotOn ordering page.⁹ The hey-restaurants profile, which is explicitly unofficial, says the restaurant “was founded by a family with deep roots in Mexican culinary traditions, bringing recipes passed down through generations.”¹⁰ A Restaurant Guru reviewer mentions the family also runs a food truck.⁶

Links

• Order online (first-party, SpotOn): https://order.spoton.com/so-a-and-j-molcajete-12675/kansas-city-ks/63e4294376b1ff003c3d41db
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AJMolcajete/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a_j_molcajete/
• Visit KCK listing: https://www.visitkansascityks.com/listing/a&j-molcajete/1946/

Menu

Last verified: 2026-08-29 · Source: the restaurant’s own SpotOn online-ordering menu · Confidence: High. Names as printed (the menu mixes Spanish and English); prices as shown online. Tamales, advertised in the tourism listing, do not appear on the online menu and may be a weekend or in-store item.³²

• Antojitos & plates: Gordita $3.64 · Sopes $3.64 (single $3.12) · Tostadas $3.64 · Huarache $11.43 · Flautas $11.43 · Quesadilla $11.43 (cheese only $9.36) · Quesa Birria $12.48 · Orden Birria tacos w/ consomé $10.39 · Molca-fries $10.40 · Molca-nachos $10.40 (half $8.31) · La Papa Molca $11.44 · Molca-Hamburguesa $8.31 · Taco Combo $9.35 · Tender Meals $9.35 · Taco Salad $9.35 · Bowl $9.88
• Tacos: Street Taco $2.60 · Flour Tortilla Taco $3.12 · Seafood Taco $3.12 · Hard Shell Taco $2.08 · Vegetarian Taco $2.08
• Burritos: A&J Burrito $10.92 · Burrito $9.88 · Burrito Combo $11.43 · Fried Burrito $10.40 · Ultimate Fried Burrito $11.44 · Spread Burrito $9.36 · Fajita Burrito $10.92 · Burrito Chile Relleno $10.40 · Shrimp Burrito $11.44 · Fried Shrimp Burrito $12.48 · Beans & Cheese $6.24 · add queso blanco $1.56
• Tortas: Torta $10.40 · con papas +$2.08 · Torta de Milanesa $12.48 · Torta Grande $15.60
• Wings: 6 Hot Wings $10.39 · 6 Hot Wings with papas $12.47
• Appetizers: Chips & Salsa $3.64 · Chips & Guacamole $6.24 · Chips & Queso Blanco $6.24 · Chips & Nacho Cheese $5.20 · Arroz y Frijoles $5.72 · Guacamole $3.12 · Extra Salsa $1.04
• Desserts: Churro (cajeta or fresa) $3.64 · Churro sin relleno $2.60 · Elote en Vaso $4.68 · Apple or Cherry Pastry $2.60 · Florecitas $3.12
• Drinks: Horchata or Jamaica $3.11 / $4.15 · Fountain drink $2.34 / $3.11 · Jarritos, Mundet, Sangría Señorial, mineral water $2.76 · bottled Coca-Cola $3.38 · Jugo de Coco $3.12 · Kids ($6.23): quesadilla, hard taco, street taco, tenders

Sources

Footnotes

1. Nextdoor — “Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant, Kansas City, KS,” business page. Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: 2610 State Avenue; “originated as Taco Kid in the 1970s”; family ownership; strip mall adjacent to City Fish near 26th and State; a May 2024 recommendation. ↩ ↩²

2. Visit Kansas City, Kansas — “A&J Molcajete” listing — Confirms: the description “street tacos, tortas, burritos, molcanachos, homemade tamales, and specialty molcajete tacos filled with steak, chorizo, cactus, and grilled onions” (search-index text; page body did not render on fetch). ↩ ↩²

3. A & J Molcajete — first-party online ordering (SpotOn). Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: name; 2610 State Ave, Kansas City, KS; every item and price in the Menu section, including item descriptions and category names (“Molca – Dishes,” Tacos, Burritos, Tortas, Bowls, Appetizers, Beverages, Desserts, Kids Menu). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. Restaurantji — “A & J Molcajete, Kansas City.” Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: address, phone, hours; 4.5 stars / 118 reviews dated October 2025–May 2026; the “50 years … changed names, owners, and location … current family owned business” review; favorites (molcajete tacos, steak street tacos, deep-fried burrito, breakfast tortas, asada, shrimp and al pastor tacos, gorditas); “very amazing owners and staff.” ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Yahoo Local — “A & J Molcajete in Kansas City, KS.” Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: 2610 State Ave, 66102; (913) 281-4547; hours Mon–Sat 10:30–9, Sun closed; 4.5 stars / 15 Yelp reviews with dates 07/19/25, 02/26/26 (×2), 06/11/26; the carried-over description “Family owned & operated since 1991. Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant has been serving the Kansas City area since 1991.” ↩ ↩² ↩³

6. Restaurant Guru — “A & J Molcajete, Kansas City.” Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: Google 4.6 / 187 reviews; Facebook 5.0 / 22; hours; a reviewer’s mention that the family also operates a food truck. ↩ ↩²

7. Yelp — “Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant — CLOSED — 2610 State Ave, Kansas City, Kansas — Mexican (30 photos, 21 reviews).” — Confirms: the predecessor at the same address, marked closed. ↩

8. Yelp — “A & J Molcajete — Updated July 2026 — 33 Photos & 15 Reviews — 2610 State Ave, Kansas City, Kansas — Tacos.” — Confirms: address; category; listing active July 2026; search-index text describing the restaurant as recently opened in the space previously occupied by Los Amigos. Body not machine-readable. ↩

9. Anxelita Valdez (@a_j_molcajete), Instagram. Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: account held under that name; bio “#A&j Molcajete” with the SpotOn link; 521 followers; story highlights “A & J Molcajete” and “Antojitos”; posts December 2025–May 2026; a reel captioned “A & J Molcajete we are located at 2610 state …” (instagram.com). ↩

10. “A & J Molcajete – Authentic Mexican Restaurant in Kansas City,” hey-restaurants.com (unofficial profile; footer: “This is not an official website”). Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: address, phone, hours Mon–Sat 10:30–9 / Sun closed; the “founded by a family with deep Mexican culinary roots … recipes passed down through generations” blurb. Provisional. ↩