The parking lot on South Thompson was already half full when I pulled in at 11:40 on a Tuesday, which is how I knew I was in the right place. Taqueria Tequis doesn’t advertise much. It doesn’t need to. The lunch crowd — construction guys, office workers, a family with a stroller wedged between tables — had already figured it out.
Walking in, the first thing you notice is the smell: rendered pork fat, charred onion, something citrusy underneath all of it. The room is simple. Booths along one wall, a few tables, a counter where you order. A handwritten specials board. Framed photos. The kind of space that tells you the owners put the money into the food rather than the décor, which is exactly what you want from a taqueria.
I ordered at the counter and picked up a number. The menu covers the basics — tacos, burritos, tortas, quesadillas — and then goes a little deeper with daily specials that rotate through things like chiles rellenos and pozole. On this visit the pozole rojo was on the board and my server, who had exactly zero patience for indecision, confirmed it was the right call. She was correct.
The pozole came out in a wide bowl, a deep brick-red broth with hominy and shredded pork that had clearly been cooking for a long time. On the side: a small plate of garnishes — shredded cabbage, dried oregano, sliced radishes, lime wedges. I used all of it. The broth had that low, resonant heat that builds slowly rather than hitting you upfront, and the hominy had just enough chew to make every spoonful interesting. It’s the kind of dish you finish and then sit with for a minute before you do anything else.
I also got two tacos — one al pastor, one barbacoa. The al pastor was good, the pork properly caramelized at the edges with a dab of pineapple that didn’t overstay its welcome. The barbacoa was better. Tender without being mushy, a little fatty in the best way, with a corn tortilla that had been warmed on the griddle rather than steamed into limpness. Topped with onion and cilantro, nothing else. That’s the move.
Total for the pozole and two tacos: just over twelve dollars. I left a cash tip and felt like I’d gotten away with something.
Taqueria Tequis is on South Thompson Street, roughly a mile south of downtown Springdale. It’s a neighborhood spot in the truest sense — built for the people who live and work nearby, not for visitors hunting an experience. If you show up expecting ambiance, you’ll be confused. If you show up hungry at noon on a weekday, you’ll fit right in.
They’re open for lunch and dinner most days, but the specials run out, so if you have your eye on the pozole or anything written on that board, go early. Weekend mornings sometimes bring menudo, which I haven’t tried yet but have heard enough about to put it on the list. Parking can get tight during peak hours, but there’s usually overflow on the side street if you’re patient.
It’s not a destination in the Instagram sense. But it’s exactly the restaurant you want to discover in a city — the one that’s already full of regulars who aren’t interested in sharing the secret, and who you can’t entirely blame for that.
