Taqueria El Torito: Terrific street tacos that are really, really cheap

• Ashford Stamper
• Simple, but utterly satisfying tacos from Taqueria El Torito are inexpensive enough that you can really indulge yourself.

The newly opened suburban taqueria, Taco Republic, at 500 County Line Road in Kansas City, Kansas, has been wildly busy since it opened last week. On Sunday night, well after 8 p.m., there was still a large group of people waiting for a table to sample the “street tacos” at the new Bread & Butter Concepts restaurant (the company that brought you Urban Table and BRGR).

For hungry customers who don’t want to wait for a table to open on the West Side of the metro, there’s always the spiffy Taqueria El Torito over on the East Side – at 6126 Independence Avenue and located in a former Burger King – which is owned by the family that operates the popular grocery and carniceria next door, the Torito III market.

Unlike the Taco Republic tacos, which range from $3 to $3.50 each, Taqueria El Torito’s tacos – asada, pollo, chorizo, carnitas, cabeza and lengua – go for a buck. The tripe tacos cost 50 cents extra.

The three-year-old taqueria on the eastern stretch of Independence Avenue is a full-service restaurant, by the way (you can eat in or carry out) that offers more than tacos. There are excellent burritos, tortas and platters and desserts, boxed in clear plastic, imported from one of the local panaderias; a combination of moist chocolate cake and caramel flan is particularly delicious.