3 Heights Taco Spots for Your Next Lunch Break

For tacos in Houston’s Heights, start with The Taco Stand on North Shepherd, Torchy’s on West 19th Street, and Velvet Taco just north of 20th Street. Choose from fresh tortillas, fried chicken with queso, or fillings built around tikka sauce and Thai basil.

The Taco Stand: Fresh tortillas and a straightforward order

2018 North Shepherd Drive, Houston, TX 77008
Google rating: 4.0 out of 5

The Taco Stand makes its corn and flour tortillas fresh daily, giving you a clear starting point before choosing a filling. The menu includes carne asada, carnitas, barbacoa, chicken, and other options, with onions and cilantro on its meat tacos.

Try carne asada on flour for a simple lunch, or explore the mushroom taco with grilled mushrooms, onions, cilantro, and queso fresco. The Heights restaurant offers dining in and drive through service, so it can work for either a lunch break at a table or a pickup on the way home.

Website | Menu | Directions

Torchy’s Tacos: Make room for the queso

350 West 19th Street, Suite A, Houston, TX 77008
Google rating: 4.3 out of 5

The West 19th Street location is a useful choice when you want tacos with plenty of toppings. Start with the Trailer Park, a fried chicken taco with green chiles, lettuce, pico de gallo, mixed cheese, and poblano sauce on a flour tortilla.

For the restaurant’s “trashy” version, the lettuce comes off and queso goes on. If you would rather keep your dip separate, order Green Chile Queso and Chips for the table. The menu also includes beef, seafood, and breakfast tacos, giving a mixed group more than one direction.

Website | Menu | Directions

Velvet Taco: A different flavor in every tortilla

2001 North Shepherd Drive, Houston, TX 77008
Google rating: 4.6 out of 5

Velvet Taco suits a lunch where you want to try something beyond your usual filling. The Spicy Tikka Chicken combines crisp tenders, tikka sauce, basmati rice, raita crema, and Thai basil in a flour tortilla.

Pair it with a Rotisserie Chicken taco for a different combination of queso blanco, corn pico, and ranchero salsa. Before heading over, note that the official Heights location page currently directs guests to enter the parking lot from Shepherd Drive because of construction.

Website | Menu | Directions

Choose The Taco Stand for fresh tortillas and simple fillings, Torchy’s for a queso centered lunch, or Velvet Taco for a pair of contrasting flavors. What would you order first?

Google ratings reproduced by Wanderlog for The Taco Stand, Wanderlog for Torchy’s, and Birdeye for Velvet Taco. Menus and addresses from the official websites above.

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Dillon Loren is a Houston, Texas Realtor with Tradition Realty Group at KW Memorial and the founder of Tradition Local, where he helps people buy and sell homes and settle into Houston neighborhoods with honest local guidance on food, coffee, parks, and daily life across the city.