Best Tacos in Memorial, Houston: Taquerias, Late Nights and Tex-Mex

The best tacos in Memorial, Houston are on two short stretches of road: Gessner Road at Memorial City, where The Taco Stand and Torchy's Tacos are almost next door to each other, and the Katy Freeway, where Velvet Taco, Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina and Lupe Tortilla serve everything from tikka chicken tacos to mesquite-grilled tacos al carbon. If you only try one, make it The Taco Stand at 1016 Gessner Rd for al pastor on a tortilla made that day.

Here's the line to send the group chat: in Memorial you can eat a taco at almost any hour. The Taco Stand on Gessner opens at 5 a.m. on weekends and, on Friday and Saturday nights, doesn't close until 5 a.m. And a few miles west, Los Tios on Memorial Drive says it poured Houston its first frozen margarita in 1975.

How do we define Memorial?

For this guide, Memorial is the Memorial Drive and Katy Freeway (I-10) corridor from Loop 610 West to Dairy Ashford Road, between Buffalo Bayou on the south and the I-10 frontage roads on the north. That includes the Memorial Villages' commercial strip in Hedwig Village, Town & Country, and Memorial City around Gessner Road. We left out Spring Branch along Long Point Road to the north and the Energy Corridor west of Dairy Ashford, because those areas have their own guides.

How we chose

We picked places where tacos are a real reason to go, not just a line on a long menu, and every one was confirmed open in November 2026 on its own official website or official social page. We couldn't verify a regular street-side taco truck inside Memorial; for trucks, see the citywide guide linked at the end. We wanted range: a drive-thru taqueria, two Texas taco chains, a fast, cheap stop and four Tex-Mex dining rooms with house-made tortillas. Hours and prices change, so treat every schedule below as typical and check the official site before you go.

Taquerias and taco shops

The Taco Stand, Memorial City

1016 Gessner Rd, Houston, TX 77055 · typically Mon–Thu 6 a.m.–midnight, Fri 6 a.m.–5 a.m., Sat 5 a.m.–5 a.m., Sun 5 a.m.–midnight

The Taco Stand comes from the team behind The Burger Joint, and its Memorial location on Gessner Road is a dine-in and drive-thru taqueria. The restaurant says its corn and flour tortillas are made fresh daily, and you can buy a dozen flour tortillas to take home.

What to order: a pastor taco on corn, the barbacoa (beef cheek), or the quesabirria, three beef-and-cheese tacos with consommé for dipping. The adventurous move is the tongue taco.

Why go: the hours. This is Memorial's after-midnight taco, and breakfast tacos start at 5 a.m. on weekends. Leashed dogs are welcome on the patio, according to The Taco Stand, so it also belongs on our dog-friendly patios list. Check the official location page before a late run.

Torchy's Tacos, Memorial City

1035 Gessner Rd, Suite A, Houston, TX 77055 · typically opens 7 a.m.

Torchy's Tacos began in 2006 as a single food trailer in Austin, which makes it the closest thing to truck-born tacos in Memorial. Its Memorial City shop is on the same stretch of Gessner as The Taco Stand. Torchy's says it presses its own tortillas and makes its queso fresh all day.

What to order: the Trailer Park, a fried chicken tender with green chiles, lettuce, pico de gallo, cheddar jack and poblano sauce on a flour tortilla. Add the Green Chile Queso & Chips, which comes topped with guacamole, cotija, cilantro and diablo sauce.

Why go: a dependable, crowd-pleasing menu a two-minute drive from Memorial City Mall.

Velvet Taco, Memorial City

10201 Katy Fwy, #100, Houston, TX 77024 · typically Sun–Wed 10:30 a.m.–11 p.m., Thu until midnight, Fri–Sat until 1 a.m.

Velvet Taco on the Katy Freeway in Memorial City is the place for tacos that don't follow the rules, with chicken, beef, pork, fish and vegetarian tacos that borrow freely from other cuisines.

What to order: the Spicy Tikka Chicken, the menu's fan favorite: crisp tenders, spicy tikka sauce, basmati rice, raita crema and Thai basil on a flour tortilla. Then check the Weekly Taco Feature, a new taco every week, and finish with the red velvet cake.

Insider tip: on Mondays, Velvet Taco sells Backdoor Chicken to go: a whole rotisserie chicken with queso, guacamole, pico and tortillas. It's Memorial's easiest taco-night-at-home. Details are on the official location page.

Taco Cabana, Patchester and Kirkwood

11441 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX 77079 · typically Sun–Thu 6 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri–Sat 6 a.m.–midnight

Taco Cabana's store on the Katy Freeway near Kirkwood is the fast, cheap option on this list, with pickup, curbside and delivery. It's the stop for a quick taco between errands or a box of breakfast tacos for the office.

What to order: the Brisket Taco, hickory-smoked brisket on a flour tortilla, or the Carnitas Taco. Feeding a crowd in the morning? The Dozen Breakfast Taco Box is built for it. The menu also lists a Double Happy Hour with discounted margaritas and brisket tacos; ask the store for current times.

Tex-Mex dining rooms with standout tacos

Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina, Memorial

9005 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX 77024 · typically Mon–Wed 11 a.m.–9 p.m., Thu until 9:30 p.m., Fri until 10:30 p.m., Sat 9 a.m.–10:30 p.m., Sun 9 a.m.–9 p.m.

Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina on the Katy Freeway grills over mesquite wood, and that smoke is the reason to order tacos here. The Memorial dining room is built around a big horseshoe bar.

What to order: Tacos al Carbon on handmade tortillas with beef, chicken or carnitas, or the Tacos de Mariscos, mesquite-grilled redfish or shrimp with cabbage slaw, avocado pico and spicy lime mayo. On weekend mornings, the brunch menu adds breakfast tacos with pork and green chile guisada or South Texas barbacoa.

Escalante's, Town & Country

12821 Kimberley Ln, Houston, TX 77024 · typically Mon 11 a.m.–9 p.m., Tue–Thu until 10 p.m., Fri until 11 p.m., Sat 10 a.m.–11 p.m., Sun 10 a.m.–9 p.m.

Escalante's opened its first Houston restaurant in 1993, built on the recipes of co-founder Pat Torres' grandmother, Barbara Escalante. The restaurant says its tortillas are made by hand to order.

What to order: the Street Tacos, four steak tacos with onion, jalapeños, cilantro, lime, habanero sauce and salsa verde, or the Tacos de Camarones with grilled shrimp, cabbage, cotija and avocado.

Lupe Tortilla, Katy Freeway

9313 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX 77024 · typically Sun–Thu 11 a.m.–9 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–10 p.m.

Lupe Tortilla's store on the Katy Freeway in Hedwig Village, which the chain lists as its Spring Branch / Hedwig Village location, is a family Tex-Mex room with a weekend brunch, typically Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

What to order: the Puffy Tacos, with carne molida, lettuce, guacamole, cheddar and tomatoes, or the Barbacoa Tacos with braised brisket, cilantro, onions and queso fresco on corn tortillas. Happy hour is typically Monday to Friday, 3 to 6:30 p.m.

Los Tios, Memorial Drive

14006 Memorial Dr, Houston, TX 77079 · typically Mon–Thu 11 a.m.–9 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Sun 10 a.m.–9 p.m.

Los Tios has served Tex-Mex in Houston since 1970, and it says it introduced the city's first frozen margarita in 1975. The Memorial Drive location near Kirkwood is the old-school pick here, the kind of room where families have had the same order for years.

What to order: the golden tacos, crispy shells made fresh daily with taco meat, lettuce, cheese and tomato. For something newer, the fresh fish tacos come with grilled Texas redfish, red cabbage, avocado and raspberry chipotle sauce. Los Tios also serves Sunday breakfast from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Save this: Memorial taco cheat sheet

• Latest tacos: The Taco Stand, 1016 Gessner Rd, typically until 5 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights.
• Earliest tacos: The Taco Stand from 5 a.m. on weekends; Taco Cabana and The Taco Stand from 6 a.m. on weekdays.
• Drive-thru: The Taco Stand on Gessner.
• Most unusual taco: Velvet Taco's Spicy Tikka Chicken.
• Born in a trailer: Torchy's Tacos, which started as an Austin food trailer in 2006.
• Mesquite smoke: Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina's Tacos al Carbon.
• Crispy and old-school: golden tacos at Los Tios or puffy tacos at Lupe Tortilla.
• Bring the dog: The Taco Stand's patio.

A Saturday taco route: start with breakfast tacos at The Taco Stand on Gessner, walk it off on the trails at Memorial Park just east of Loop 610, then end the day with Tacos al Carbon and a margarita at the horseshoe bar at Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina on the Katy Freeway. If the night runs late, The Taco Stand will still be open.

More tacos and Memorial eating

For the full Tex-Mex picture in the neighborhood, see our best Mexican restaurants in Memorial, and for mornings, our breakfast in Memorial guide. Citywide, start with the best tacos in Houston and, if you want real street-side trucks, our taco trucks guide. Everything else in the area is in our best restaurants in Memorial.

Last verified: November 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I get late-night tacos in Memorial, Houston?

The Taco Stand at 1016 Gessner Rd in Memorial City is typically open until midnight Sunday through Thursday and until 5 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. Velvet Taco at 10201 Katy Fwy typically stays open until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Are there taco trucks in Memorial, Houston?

We couldn't verify a regular street-side taco truck inside Memorial. For trucks you can walk up to, see Houston.com's citywide taco trucks guide; for sit-down tacos in Memorial, The Taco Stand and Torchy's Tacos on Gessner Road are the closest equivalent.

Which Memorial taco spot has a drive-thru?

The Taco Stand at 1016 Gessner Rd offers dine-in and drive-thru service, with breakfast tacos from 5 a.m. on weekends.

Where can I bring my dog for tacos in Memorial?

The Taco Stand on Gessner Road welcomes leashed dogs on its patio, according to the restaurant.

What area counts as Memorial for this guide?

We define Memorial as the Memorial Drive and Katy Freeway corridor from Loop 610 West to Dairy Ashford Road, between Buffalo Bayou and the I-10 frontage roads, including Hedwig Village, Town & Country and Memorial City.