Tacos El Tio

Small, cash-only neighborhood taquería in downtown Kansas City, Kansas, near the Central Avenue Latino corridor — known for street-style tacos, weekend menudo, and generous portions at low prices.

Description

Tacos El Tio is a small, independent taquería in downtown Kansas City, Kansas, located at 78 N 10th Street — a few blocks north of the Central Avenue corridor, the heart of the city’s Latino business district.¹² It is a compact spot, seating roughly 30 people, with a patio for outdoor dining and a high volume of carry-out trade alongside dine-in.²

The kitchen specializes in Mexican street tacos, offering around nine meat options including al pastor, asada (steak), chicken, and carnitas, served street-style with onion and cilantro and house-made salsas ranging from mild to hot.¹² The broader menu includes tortas, burritos, quesadillas, and other traditional dishes, with menudo offered on weekends.¹ Tacos run roughly $2 each, and the restaurant is cash-only; reviewers consistently praise the freshness of the meats, the house salsas, the friendly service, and the value.¹²

Ownership and history

Tacos El Tio is an independent, locally owned single-location taquería with no corporate parent or chain affiliation.¹² The seed record lists a founding year of approximately 2015, but this is not corroborated by any public source reviewed and should be confirmed.

The owner and operating family are not named in any publicly available source reviewed (review platforms, tourism listings, and a local dining blog). As a small neighborhood taquería, its documentary footprint is thin.

Note: the public records reviewed consistently place the business at 78 N 10th St, KCK 66102, not at 1709 Central Ave as listed in the seed record. The Central Ave address appears to be stale or erroneous and has been corrected here to the address verified across multiple current listings.

Links

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Tacos-El-Tio-100063743400769/
• Phone: (913) 281-7388
• Website: No own-domain site; the official Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/p/Tacos-El-Tio-100063743400769/) is the primary web presence. (The domain tacoseltio.com belongs to an unrelated same-name restaurant in New Jersey and is not this business.)

See also

• kansas-city-kansas
• Registry
• bonito-michoacan
• california-taco-shop

Menu

Last verified: 2026-06-21 · Source: AllMenus, Restaurantji, Visit Kansas City KS / TravelKS, Yelp, Our Changing Lives blog · URL(s): https://www.allmenus.com/ks/kansas-city/781439-tacos-el-tio/menu/; https://www.restaurantji.com/ks/kansas-city/tacos-el-tio-/; https://www.visitkansascityks.com/listing/tacos-el-tio/1787/; https://www.yelp.com/biz/tacos-el-tio-kansas-city · Confidence: Medium (HIGH on the core street-taco/torta/burrito/quesadilla concept, cash-only operation, and weekend menudo; MEDIUM on exact base prices, which come from aggregators and drift, and on the precise meat roster)

A tight, no-frills street-taquería menu built around made-to-order tacos in roughly nine meats, with tortas, burritos, quesadillas, and weekend menudo rounding it out — cash only, low prices, generous portions.¹²³

Signature dishes (street taquería)

• Street tacos — made-to-order corn-tortilla tacos topped with onion and cilantro, served street-style with grilled onion, grilled jalapeño, cucumber, lime, and house salsa verde and salsa roja; carne asada and al pastor are the most-praised.¹²³ (~$1.50–$1.90 each)³⁴
• Weekend menudo — traditional tripe-and-hominy soup, offered Saturdays and Sundays.¹³

Tacos — meat options

• Asada (steak), al pastor, carnitas (pork), pollo (chicken), chorizo, plus offal options including tripe and lengua (tongue) — roughly nine meats in all.¹²³⁴

Tortas, burritos & quesadillas

• Torta — Mexican sandwich. (~$6.50)⁴
• Burrito — filled with choice of meat. (~$5.50)⁴
• Quesadilla — choice of meat. (~$5.50)⁴

Drinks

• Horchata — house cinnamon-rice drink; a noted favorite.²

Cash only; an ATM is reported on-site. Prices are aggregator-sourced and should be confirmed against the counter before publication.¹³⁴

Sources

• Status verified active 2026-06-23 via Yelp — Tacos El Tio (Updated April 2026, 53 reviews) (accessed 2026-06-23). Open/operating at 78 N 10th St, KCK 66102; cash-only; current Wed–Sun hours (Mon closed); no closure signal; recent reviews through April 2026.

Footnotes

1. Our Changing Lives — “Backyard Dining At Tacos El Tio” (local dining feature) — https://www.ourchanginglives.com/backyard-dining-at-tacos-el-tio/ — accessed 2026-05-30 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

2. Yelp — Tacos El Tio, 78 N 10th, Kansas City, KS (reviews, menu specialties, cash-only, photos) — https://www.yelp.com/biz/tacos-el-tio-kansas-city — accessed 2026-05-30 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

3. Visit Kansas City KS / TravelKS listing — Tacos El Tio (menu offerings: tacos, tortas, quesadillas, menudo; weekend menudo; cash only; taco toppings — cucumber, lime, grilled onion, grilled jalapeño, verde + red salsa) — https://www.visitkansascityks.com/listing/tacos-el-tio/1787/; https://www.travelks.com/listing/tacos-el-tio/39736/ — accessed 2026-06-21 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. AllMenus — Tacos El Tio, 78 N 10th St, Kansas City, KS 66102 (menu categories + base prices: tacos $1.50, tortas $6.50, quesadillas $5.50, burritos $5.50; meat fillings incl. beef steak, pork cracklin’, chicken, tripe, tongue) — https://www.allmenus.com/ks/kansas-city/781439-tacos-el-tio/menu/ — accessed 2026-06-21 — note: aggregator carries a “may not reflect recent changes” disclaimer ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶