Backyard Taco - EDGARTOWN

We walked in to this tiny shithole and weren’t recognized by the young woman behind the bar where you order, even though were the only people in there. We had to tell her we wanted to place an order… she looked at us in disgust and said, “well, what do you want?” When we told her she said they were out of one of the four tacos we ordered, they wouldn’t put sauces on the side, but said we could buy the ingredients separately and mix it as we like. I ordered a margarita with salt. They made the marg then said they don’t have salt. What? “I hate my job…and people” order-taker asked a few people, then someone who looked like he was in charge came up and scolded her for not working the computerized menu screen properly (an error message was displayed in a dialog box covering some of the menu items), told her there was no salt, then produced a box of Morton’s and asked if I wanted it. I just took the marg as it was….I didn’t want to “put them out” any further because clearly I was a bother. There was no place to sit. When the food came there no napkins or utensils. We had to go in and help ourselves to the roll of bathroom towels they had set on the bar. The mushroom taco burned our eyebrows off…no warning that it was spicy. The cauliflower taco was loaded with curry…also spicy….again, no warning. Eggplant taco was as advertised and the favorite. Other customers were overheard complaining about the order-taker. DON’T EAT HERE!

Ok the place is a charming hole in the wall, with a menu that looks creative and interesting and veg friendly. So general issues first. They have a limited menu but were out of multiple items, including both falafel and yucca fries. We ordered five tacos, the vegan nachos, and an order of chips with a side of pico de gallo, two margaritas, and a sprite. Got the margaritas right away but for some reason not the sprite. “We’ll bring it to you.” We sat down outside to wait. After 30 minutes one sole eggplant taco arrived. After 10 more minutes we finally got the remaining tacos. I inquired about the rest of our order. “It’s coming” the server replied tartly. Finally after a total wait just shy of an hour, the nachos and chips arrived. No chance to inquire about the sprite, server only stuck around to inform us “sorry, we’re out of jalapeños.” Had to go back inside to get the sprite, after asking two different people about it someone finally managed to hand us a can. As to the food, the tacos were good. The vegan nachos were a pile of chips with some chopped tomatoes, some salsa verde, and squeezes of a “cashew cheese” that seemed to just be hummus made from cashews instead of chickpeas. Just as well the jalapeños were missing, they wouldn’t have helped. The nachos were disgusting. No idea why they took so long to make. The chips and pico (well we never got the pico so just the chips). Any taco place I’ve ever been to, an order of chips is just that — chips. Here though they were “house chips” which were essentially the same as the nachos except that they had several squirts of some sugary sauce and a pile of dairy cheese. Now, as it happens not everyone in our party is vegan, so these were eaten (though not enjoyed thanks to the weird sweet sauce on them) … but all of us were shocked that a menu item clearly enough expected to be not even a question of being non vegan came out covered in cheese. Some sort of indication that what the menu simply called “chips” were something other than what they are at every other taqueria would have been appropriate. I really wish this place were what it looked like up front. I so wanted to love it as a hidden gem. The potential is there. But the reality is very far from that potential. Updated from previous review on 2021-07-11 Updated from previous review on 2021-07-12 Updated from previous review on 2021-07-12

Decent tacos, would recommend, with guac, pico de gallo, hot sauce and cashew cheese for $2.50 Eggplant was our fave option. They also have a bar location in downtown Oak Bluffs.

Vegan friendly, amazing tacos! Tried the cauliflower, the mushroom, the falafel, and eggplant tacos. Guacamole great and sauces. Homemade shells, fresh, great hole in the wall atmosphere.

This is a cute little place with a nice selections of vegan options on the menu. The vegan nachos were delicious.