Best Tacos in Sharpstown and Gulfton: 8 Taquerias and Taco Stops

The best tacos in Sharpstown and Gulfton, two neighborhoods on either side of the Southwest Freeway in southwest Houston, come from Tampico-style Tacos El Jaibo on Bellaire Boulevard, the two Taquerias Arandas shops on Gulfton Street and South Gessner, and La Cruderia’s $8 lunch of street mini tacos. Round it out with the in-store taquerias at Supermercados Teloloapan, fresh tortillas from Tortilleria La Real, late-night street tacos at La Tapatia and a brisket breakfast taco from the Pappas Bar-B-Q drive-thru.

Here’s the line we’d put on a sticker: in Sharpstown and Gulfton, your next great taco might come from a grocery store, a tortilla factory or a barbecue drive-thru, and that’s the point.

Where are Sharpstown and Gulfton? How we define them

We use the City of Houston’s super neighborhood lines and checked every address on this list against the city’s official super neighborhood map. Sharpstown (Super Neighborhood 26) is bounded by Beltway 8 on the west, the Westpark Tollway on the north, the Southwest Freeway (I-69/US-59) on the east and Brays Bayou on the south. That takes in Bellaire Boulevard from the freeway to the Beltway, plus long stretches of Fondren Road and South Gessner. Gulfton (Super Neighborhood 27) is the dense wedge across the freeway, just outside the 610 Loop and north of the city of Bellaire, with Gulfton Street, Rampart, Renwick and the 5000 to 6000 blocks of Bellaire Boulevard.

Three boundary notes save you a wasted drive:

• The Beechnut strip near the Beltway is not Sharpstown. On the city map, 9900-block Beechnut falls in the Westwood super neighborhood, so Fonda Santa Rosa and the Beechnut Teloloapan store aren’t on this list.
• The City of Bellaire is its own city. Bellaire Boulevard spots east of Gulfton, such as Candente, live in our Bellaire taco guide.
• West of Beltway 8 is Alief. See our Alief Mexican restaurant guide.

The quick list

• Tampico-style tacos and birria: Tacos El Jaibo (Gulfton)
• The family taqueria open until 1 a.m. on Saturday: Taquerias Arandas on South Gessner (Sharpstown)
• The Gulfton Street standby: Taquerias Arandas No. 25 (Gulfton)
• Street tacos with a full bar, open past midnight: La Tapatia (Gulfton)
• The cheapest sit-down taco lunch: La Cruderia’s $8 lunch menu (Sharpstown)
• The grocery-store taqueria: Supermercados Teloloapan (both neighborhoods)
• Tortillas for taco night at home: Tortilleria La Real (both neighborhoods)
• A brisket breakfast taco from a drive-thru: Pappas Bar-B-Q, I-59 at Bellaire (Sharpstown)

How we chose

Every pick sits inside the Sharpstown or Gulfton boundary above and was confirmed as operating on its own official website in November 2026. The tacos we name come from those official menus. We favored places with a clear order-this taco, and we included two non-taquerias (a tortilla shop and a grocery taqueria) because that’s honestly how a lot of the neighborhood eats.

We left out several well-known names, including Tacos La Bala, the food court at PlazAmericas and many of Gulfton’s taco trucks, because we couldn’t confirm them on an official site or official social page. That doesn’t mean they’ve closed. Hours change, so treat every schedule below as typical and check the official site before you go.

Gulfton taquerias

1. Tacos El Jaibo

Gulfton, 5821 Bellaire Blvd · Tampico-style taqueria · typically open daily 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Tacos El Jaibo on Bellaire Boulevard in Gulfton cooks Mexican food in the style of Tampico, the Gulf port city in the state of Tamaulipas; its own tagline promises Mexican food with the flavor of Tampico. That shows up on the menu as cecina tacos and a crab soup, caldo de jaiba, that you won’t see at most Houston taquerias.

What to order: the cecina specialty taco, topped with grilled onion, avocado and sour cream; birria tacos in beef or lamb; quesabirria; or the plate of five minitacos with chiles toreados.

Insider tip: breakfast is served all day with handmade tortillas, but the official breakfast menu adds $1 to breakfast tacos, burritos, gorditas and tortas after 2 p.m. An extra handmade tortilla is a small add-on on the regular menu.

Why it’s here: it’s the most distinctive regional taco in either neighborhood. For more Tampico-style breakfast, see our Sharpstown and Gulfton brunch guide.

2. Taquerias Arandas No. 25

Gulfton, 5560 Gulfton St · family taqueria · typically open daily 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Taquerias Arandas is a Houston taqueria chain that says it has been family-run since 1981, with about two dozen locations across Texas. The shop on Gulfton Street is the one in the heart of Gulfton, and it opens early enough for breakfast tacos on the way to work.

What to order: breakfast tacos in the morning; a plain taco with your choice of meat at lunch; or quesabirria, three tacos served with consommé for dipping.

Why it’s here: an all-day, sit-down taqueria that does breakfast, lunch and dinner without fuss.

3. La Tapatia (Bellaire)

Gulfton, 5710 Bellaire Blvd · Mexican restaurant, cafe and cantina · typically open until midnight, 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday

La Tapatia is a small Houston group of Mexican restaurants, and its Bellaire Boulevard location in Gulfton typically opens at 10 a.m. Monday to Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday, then stays open until midnight, or 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. That makes it the easiest late-night taco in Gulfton with a full bar.

What to order: street tacos al pastor or asada, sold by the four or six; grilled tilapia fish tacos; or tacos al carbón with chicken or beef.

Insider tip: happy hour typically runs Monday to Friday from 4 to 7 p.m.

Why it’s here: tacos and a margarita after 10 p.m., with a table and a waiter.

Sharpstown taquerias

4. Taquerias Arandas (South Gessner)

Sharpstown, 8111 S Gessner Rd · family taqueria · typically 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, to midnight Friday, to 1 a.m. Saturday

The South Gessner Arandas, south of Bellaire Boulevard, is the late-night half of the family. It keeps the same menu as the Gulfton shop but stays open until midnight on Friday and 1 a.m. on Saturday, matching La Tapatia as the latest verified taco stop on this list.

What to order: tacos al carbón; five taquitos; or a bowl of menudo, which the menu lists every day, with a side of tacos.

Why it’s here: when you want a proper taqueria plate at 12:30 a.m. on a Saturday in Sharpstown.

5. La Cruderia

Sharpstown, 8394 Bellaire Blvd · Mexican kitchen, ceviche and micheladas · call for hours

La Cruderia on Bellaire Boulevard in Sharpstown is a Mexican restaurant with a second location in Spring Branch. Its story page says the menu mixes traditional recipes from small towns across Mexico with street food the owners found traveling the country.

What to order: the $8 lunch menu’s street mini tacos, with a choice of al pastor, bistec, birria, chicken or cochinita pibil. Pair them with a fresh fish ceviche.

Insider tip: everything on the happy hour menu is $5, according to the restaurant. Hours aren’t posted on the official site, so call 832-623-7298 before you go.

Why it’s here: a sit-down taco lunch for $8 is the best deal on this list. For more of the strip, see our Chinatown Mexican restaurant guide.

The taco stops locals use every day

6. Supermercados Teloloapan

Gulfton: 5330 Chimney Rock Rd · Sharpstown: 8446 Fondren Rd and 5885 S Gessner Rd · grocery store with in-store taqueria

Supermercados Teloloapan is a family-owned Hispanic grocery chain that the Ayala family opened in 1994, and it has stores in both neighborhoods. Each store runs its own taqueria, cooking with ingredients from the store’s own shelves, next to a tortilleria that makes corn tortillas the company calls 100% natural.

What to order: tacos from the taqueria counter, then a bag of warm tortillas from the tortilleria on your way out. The official site doesn’t publish a taqueria menu, so look at the board when you arrive.

Why it’s here: this is the neighborhood’s everyday taco, the one you grab with the groceries.

7. Tortilleria La Real

Gulfton: 6275 Bissonnet St and 6711 Rampart St · Sharpstown: 5710 Fondren Rd · tortilleria · typically open daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Tortilleria La Real is a small Houston chain of neighborhood tortilla shops, and three of them sit inside Sharpstown and Gulfton. The company says everything it sells is made in its own kitchens seven days a week, including tortilla chips cut from its own corn tortillas. It’s the sister business of Ostioneria La Reyna, the Mexican seafood restaurant on the same stretch of Bissonnet.

What to order: a stack of fresh corn tortillas for taco night at home, plus chips and chicharrones. La Real takes online orders for pickup and delivery through its website.

Why it’s here: the best taco you make yourself starts with a tortilla made that morning.

8. Pappas Bar-B-Q (I-59 at Bellaire)

Sharpstown, 7007 Hwy 59 South · Texas barbecue with breakfast tacos · drive-thru

Pappas Bar-B-Q, the Houston barbecue chain, has a location on the Southwest Freeway at Bellaire Boulevard in Sharpstown, and its official menu includes breakfast tacos alongside the hickory-and-mesquite-smoked brisket and ribs.

What to order: the Beef Brisket, Egg & Cheese breakfast taco. The menu also lists bacon, chorizo and sausage link versions.

Why it’s here: a brisket taco from a drive-thru is the most Houston breakfast on this list. Lunch ideas are in our Sharpstown and Gulfton barbecue guide.

Save this: a one-day Bellaire Boulevard taco route

Bellaire Boulevard runs straight through both neighborhoods, so you can eat your way across without a single turn. Here’s the order we’d do it in:

1. Breakfast, Gulfton: Tacos El Jaibo, 5821 Bellaire Blvd. Get there before 2 p.m., when breakfast tacos cost $1 less.
2. Pick up tortillas, Gulfton: Tortilleria La Real on Rampart or Bissonnet, for taco night later.
3. Lunch, Sharpstown: La Cruderia, 8394 Bellaire Blvd, for the $8 street mini tacos.
4. Groceries and a snack, Sharpstown: the Supermercados Teloloapan on Fondren or South Gessner.
5. Late night: La Tapatia, 5710 Bellaire Blvd, until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, or Taquerias Arandas on South Gessner, until 1 a.m. on Saturday.

Before you go: a quick checklist

• Check hours on the official site the day you go; late-night hours often apply only on weekends.
• Bring some cash as a backup, especially if you end up at a taco truck.
• Ask about the tortillas. Some spots charge a little extra for handmade.
• Don’t skip the salsa bar or the grilled onions and chiles toreados.

More tacos and Mexican food in Houston

Start with our citywide best tacos in Houston guide, then go hunting with our taco trucks guide and best breakfast tacos in Houston. If you’re in Gulfton, the Salvadoran kitchens are just as good: see our best pupusas in Houston.

Last verified: November 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Where can you get the best tacos in Sharpstown and Gulfton?

Tacos El Jaibo at 5821 Bellaire Blvd in Gulfton is our top pick for Tampico-style cecina and birria tacos. Taquerias Arandas, with shops at 5560 Gulfton St and 8111 S Gessner Rd, is the dependable all-day taqueria.

Which taquerias in Sharpstown and Gulfton are open late?

La Tapatia at 5710 Bellaire Blvd in Gulfton is typically open until midnight, and until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Taquerias Arandas at 8111 S Gessner Rd in Sharpstown typically stays open until midnight on Friday and 1 a.m. on Saturday.

Where can you get cheap tacos in Sharpstown?

La Cruderia at 8394 Bellaire Blvd runs an $8 lunch menu that includes street mini tacos with al pastor, bistec, birria, chicken or cochinita pibil. Call ahead for hours, which aren’t posted on its site.

Where can you buy fresh tortillas in Gulfton?

Tortilleria La Real has shops at 6275 Bissonnet St and 6711 Rampart St in Gulfton, plus 5710 Fondren Rd in Sharpstown, typically open daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Supermercados Teloloapan at 5330 Chimney Rock Rd also has its own tortilleria.

What are the boundaries of Sharpstown and Gulfton?

Under the City of Houston’s super neighborhood map, Sharpstown is bounded by Beltway 8, the Westpark Tollway, the Southwest Freeway (I-69/US-59) and Brays Bayou. Gulfton sits across the freeway, just outside the 610 Loop and north of the city of Bellaire.