This Columbia restaurant came out on top in The State’s Taco Poll. Check out the results

There’s a palpable buzz that is somehow distinct to a packed Mexican restaurant.

There’s the noise and cacophony of diners talking and laughing as they share baskets of tortilla chips, dipping the chips into flavorful salsa or warm queso as they consider which entrees to order. Frosty beers and strong margaritas and glasses of sangria help to quench thirsts and lubricate conversations. Waiters hustle by to deliver piping hot fajitas and plates of tacos to tables filled with hungry families and date night couples.

Taqueria Jalisco has just that kind of buzz, and readers of The State recently acknowledged the restaurant for its excellence with one item, in particular.

Taqueria Jalisco, located at 612 St. Andrews Road in the Ashland Park Shopping Center, came out on top in The State’s 2023 Taco Poll. Readers were asked to select their favorite Midlands-area restaurant for tacos from a list of 20 local places selected by the newspaper’s staff.

Nearly 1,300 votes were cast in the poll, and, when the smoke cleared, Taqueria Jalisco finished first with 26% of the vote. Cantina 76 was second with 19% of the vote, with Tacos Nayarit (15%) and Real Mexico (14%) coming in third and fourth, respectively.

Taqueria Jalisco had the aforementioned buzz going when I recently visited during a weekday lunch rush. The restaurant was stuffed with customers, with tables taken by utility linemen, office workers, moms with young kids, retirees and at least one group celebrating a birthday. I grabbed a seat at the bar and scoured the menu, specifically looking for tacos, as I munched on chips and salsa.

The St. Andrews spot has a number of offerings on the taco menu, including grilled steak, grilled chicken, carnitas, marinated pork, Mexican sausage and potatoes, barbacoa, and more.

I opted for two steak tacos and a grilled chicken taco during my recent visit. The tacos at Taqueria Jalisco come just the way I like them, with onions and cilantro and a few lime wedges to squeeze on plenty of juice. The warm, soft tortillas are lightly grilled, offering an absolutely perfect amount of crunch, and both the chicken and steak were expertly prepared.

The restaurant also has a number of sauces available if you want to spice things up. I went with the El Yucateco green chile habanero hot sauce, which provided a peppery kick to the already flavorful tacos.

The Columbia and Lexington area is blessed with a plethora of restaurants (and food trucks) that sling tasty, authentic tacos. But it’s easy see why Taqueria Jalisco did so well in the recent reader poll. They’ve got that buzz — and the flavors to back it up.