Restaurant: Taqueria PortlandLocation: 7007 N Fessenden St, Portland, OR 97203Date: March 5th, 2010Ordered: Taco SaladCost: $6.99The first thing I thought when I entered Taqueria Portland is that it is, by far, much nicer looking on the inside than on the outside. The second thing I thought is that the people inside are incredibly warm and friendly. The menu is simple and, occasionally, quaint in its accidental misspellings. I, of course, ordered my usual: a taco salad.When it arrived, I was surprised. The beef inside was juicy and tender, and the shell was delicious and just perfectly fried. I devoured it pretty quickly, despite the reasonably substantial amount of food that was before me. It was pretty darn decent, at a pretty darn decent price. The atmosphere inside was pleasant and intimate; there were probably only 6 to 8 booths or tables, all in the open area at the front of the restaurant. The only drawback was the two televisions loudly broadcasting whatever was on the local Spanish channel. That was certainly a detractor, but just about the only one.In all, Taqueria Portland is a little gem that's got delicious food at a modest price, and is well worth visiting.Also, of note: they have real Coke there. It's delicious.

Restaurant: La SirenitaLocation: 2817 Northeast Alberta Street, Portland, OR 97211Date: December 31st, 2010Ordered: Taco SaladCost: $5.00La Sirenita is a small restaurant in Northeast Portland that I found notable for several reasons. First and foremost, it lacks atmosphere. That isn't to say that it's bland, is just doesn't feel like a restaurant. It feels like a very authentic Mexican food cart that happens to be in a building. Also, the taco salad - my standard order - was good, filling, but very bland. Now that's not to say that "bland" is "bad. The interesting thing was that La Sirenita had a reasonable selection of salsas available. After determining the bland-factor of the taco salad, I was able to spice it up a little with the salsa just to my taste. So, in the end, I had a tasty, flavorful taco salad that I was able to enjoy.Do I want to go to a every restaurant and have to season my own food? Of course not. But for $5, you can do far worse that La Sirenita's taco salad. Check it out if you have a chance.

Restaurant: Nob Hill Bar & GrillLocation: 937 Northwest 23rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97210-3005Date: July 5th, 2010Ordered: Tacos ($.50 each!)Cost: confidentialIt was Monday night and my stomach was on the prowl for cheap Portland eats. Suddenly it popped in my head; I'd heard friends mention cheap taco night before and this was my chance to sample it. Nob Hill Bar & Grill is an unassuming joint sitting on NW 23rd. It's a nice, clean bar with a pleasant atmosphere. On Monday nights, from 6 PM to 9 PM, one can order tacos there for 50 cents. These are not fancy tacos; you're handed a shell with warm, delicious meat in it; I'm going to assume it was seasoned beef. You're then directed to an area where you can add lettuce, cheese, tomatos, salsa, and other toppings. Like I said, nothing fancy - but man, it's delicious. I won't disclose how many of these cheap tacos I ate, but I can tell you that four people ate heartily for less than $10. Would I go to Nob Hill again? Sure! Aside from 50-cent tacos, the rest of the happy hour menu (2 PM to close) looked pretty darn good. I can't wait to give it a shot.

Restaurant: AprisaLocation: Corner of SE 8th & Division, Portland, OR 97214Date: February 24th, 2010Ordered: Taco SaladCost: $5.40Several of my coworkers and I decided to try Aprisa one day, as it's within walking distance of where I work. It's a surprising-looking place; it's entirely a drive-up restaurant that's roughly the size of a single-wide trailer. A cute-looking little place, but it doesn't scream "restaurant". I ordered my favorite, taco salad. It came in short time, as ordered. The water I asked for, while ordering, however, didn't come as ordered and I had to ask for it. Notably, my friend's burrito, ordered without cheese, was delivered (with verbal assurance) without cheese. Or so he was told; it actually came with cheese, as he later, unfortunately, found out. My taco salad, once I got a chance to eat it, wasn't all that great. It wasn't terrible, and was perhaps nicely authentic, but it wasn't all that great. The ingredients tasted fresh, but the proportions all seemed wrong. Still, if you're in the mood for authentic mexican food, it's a place to try.

Restaurant: La Isla BonitaLocation: 7670 SW Nyberg St, Tualatin, OR 97062Date: June 2nd, 2009Ordered: Taco SaladCost: $6.95I'm going to start out by saying that I have a very soft spot for Mexican restaurants that - in addition to tortilla chips and salsa - aslo bring a small bowl of refried beans in which to dip aforementioned chips. La Isla Bonita, I found, is such a place and therefore is automatically working from a favorable position.I ordered the Taco Salad (not a huge surprise) with chicken and no guacamole. Perhaps it was due to being the only customer in the store, but the food was prepared amazingly quickly - though I still managed to comsume a fair portion of the chips beforehand.Tragically, the food was a tad flavorless. It wasn't bad, per se, and I've certainly had worse, but it wasn't really noteworthy either. I still ate it, I still enjoyed it, but I wouldn't drive across town for it.The service was alright there, too. For being the only customer, it seemed that I was quite short (or out) of water quite often. The glasses were small, but I guess that's how things are. The decor of the restaurant seemed to replicate the generically inoffensive decor found in most small Mexican restaurants.In all, La Isla Bonita wasn't bad. If it were within walking distance, I might frequent it. However, it's in Tualatin and I have rare occasion to go out there, so I probably won't head back.