West Edmonton Mall doesn’t make picking a restaurant simple. Bourbon Street alone throws pub food, pasta, Asian, and half a dozen other cuisines at you before you’ve even settled on being hungry, all of it lit up along one long promenade like a strip mall that got ambitious. Audrey and I ended up going Mexican, and if I’m honest, the deciding factor was Taco Shop’s neon sign — it looked like more fun than anything else on the street, and that turned out to be a perfectly reliable way to pick where to eat.
Bourbon Street Is a Restaurant Row, Not a Food Court
Worth knowing before you go: despite the name, Bourbon Street isn’t a food court. It’s a full sit-down restaurant row, closer to something lining a casino floor in Las Vegas than a mall food hall — real tables, real servers, and in Taco Shop’s case, a bar stocked with more tequila than I’d know what to do with. They take reservations, and on a busy weekend I’d use that option, because this isn’t a grab-a-tray-and-find-a-seat kind of place.
The Guacamole: Made Right at the Table
Our first course was guacamole made right at the table. A server wheels over with all the components and mashes it together in front of you — heavy on the avocado, lime, a handful of fresh ingredients folded in while you watch — with a mountain of warm corn chips to go with it. It’s a small piece of theater that makes an appetizer feel like more than an appetizer, and it’s still on the menu today, still made the same way, for around $17.50.
Chicken Tinga Tacos: Soft Shell, Loaded, Smoky
For tacos, I ordered the Chicken Tinga — soft shell, never hard, a preference I carry with me no matter where in the world I’m eating a taco. They arrived loaded: smoky, chipotle-heavy shredded chicken with real spice behind it, spilling out past the tortilla before I’d even picked one up. Three of them come with a side of Mexican rice for around $21.75, and they’re good enough that I spent half the meal mentally filing the whole experience under practice for the trip to Mexico I keep telling myself I’ll actually take, tacos very much included.
The Ceviche, Judged Against Peru
The ceviche is the dish I trust myself least to judge on my own, which is exactly why it mattered that Audrey was the one eating it across from me. She’s half Peruvian, and ceviche isn’t a novelty for her — it’s something she grew up on and still seeks out every time she’s back in Peru, where it’s cured fish done at a level most of North America doesn’t come close to.
So when the fish ceviche showed up — citrus-cured, red onion, cilantro, avocado, chunks of tomato — I wasn’t expecting an easy pass, and she didn’t give it one automatically. Her actual verdict was more useful than a simple yes or no: genuinely good, the citrus and herbs doing exactly what they’re supposed to, but not what you get eating it a few steps from the Peruvian coast, because almost nothing outside Peru manages that. It’s an honest ceiling, and about the fairest kind of criticism a dish like this can get — most reviews of a mall restaurant never have anyone at the table qualified to make that comparison in the first place. It runs around $14.50 today, now finished with a bit of garlic oil that wasn’t part of what we had, though everything else about it matched what showed up at our table.
The Three Dishes at a Glance
| Dish | What’s In It | Price | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Table-Side Guacamole | Avocado, lime, tomato, white onion, cilantro, serrano peppers, made fresh at the table | ~$17.50 | Order it first — the theater is part of the point |
| Chicken Tinga Tacos (3) | Smoky chipotle shredded chicken, chipotle mayo, white onion, cotija cheese, soft-shell corn tortilla | ~$21.75 | Loaded and genuinely good — my favorite of the three |
| Fish Ceviche | Citrus-cured fish, pico de gallo, jalapeño, avocado | ~$14.50 | Good, though Audrey rates real coastal Peru higher |
Prices reflect the current menu as of this writing and may change — worth a quick check before you go.
Hours, Reservations and a Place to Stay If You’re Coming From Out of Town
One logistics note if you’re planning around this specifically: Taco Shop tends to stay open later than you’d expect from a mall restaurant, well into the evening on weeknights and past midnight heading into the weekend, though mall hours shift around events and holidays enough that it’s worth a quick check before making the trip just for dinner. You’ll find it right on Bourbon Street itself, easy to spot by the neon before you even reach the door. If you’re making a special trip to West Edmonton Mall from out of town rather than dropping in locally, it’s worth knowing the mall has its own hotel built into it — travelers can check current rates and themed rooms at Fantasyland Hotel, which connects directly onto Bourbon Street, putting you a short walk from Taco Shop without needing to leave the building.
Is Taco Shop Worth the Stop?
None of this makes Taco Shop the best meal in Edmonton, and I won’t pretend a restaurant on a mall’s restaurant row competes with whatever I eventually find in Mexico itself. What it delivers is real: guacamole worth watching get made, a taco with genuine flavor behind it, and a ceviche that held up against a standard most places never get tested against. If you’re standing on Bourbon Street trying to choose among a dozen options the way we were, that’s more than enough reason to let this one make the decision for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Taco Shop at West Edmonton Mall a sit-down restaurant or a food court counter?
It’s a full sit-down restaurant. Bourbon Street, where Taco Shop sits, is a row of proper restaurants with their own tables, servers, and bars — not a shared food court, so plan on being seated rather than carrying a tray.
Does Taco Shop take reservations?
Yes, and I’d use that option on a busy weekend, since Bourbon Street draws a crowd and this isn’t the kind of place where you can count on walking straight to a table.
What should I order at Taco Shop?
I’d start with the table-side guacamole, made fresh at your table, then the Chicken Tinga tacos — soft shell, loaded with smoky shredded chicken — and the fish ceviche, which I trust because Audrey, who’s half Peruvian, judged it against the real thing.
Is the ceviche at Taco Shop actually good?
Audrey’s verdict was genuinely good — citrus-cured fish with red onion, cilantro, and avocado that gets the balance right — though she was clear it doesn’t match ceviche eaten a few steps from the Peruvian coast, which almost nothing outside Peru does.
How much does a meal at Taco Shop cost?
Based on the current menu, the table-side guacamole runs around $17.50, three Chicken Tinga tacos with rice are about $21.75, and the fish ceviche is roughly $14.50 — though prices can change, so it’s worth a quick check before you go.
Is there somewhere to stay if I’m visiting West Edmonton Mall from out of town?
The mall has its own hotel, Fantasyland Hotel, connected directly onto Bourbon Street, which puts you a short walk from Taco Shop without leaving the building.
What are Taco Shop’s hours?
Taco Shop tends to stay open into the evening on weeknights and past midnight heading into the weekend, though mall hours shift around events and holidays — worth confirming before you make a special trip just for dinner.
This article is also available in Spanish. [Leé la versión en castellano: Taco Shop en West Edmonton Mall: reseña de tacos, guacamole y ceviche]
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