I’d Never Expect to Find Denver Metro’s Best Tacos in a Strip Mall in Centennial, But I Sure Did

Denver may not have the best Chinese food or pizza, but one category in which Colorado's capital city and surrounding area really, really shines is in Mexican cuisine. This should be no surprise to anyone, since Colorado is home to a vast number of people from Latin American countries, and the majority of those people have roots in Mexico. As a result, the Denver metropolitan area (and, more broadly, Colorado) is home to dozens and dozens of fantastic, authentic, and enticing Mexican restaurants.

Truly, any foodie with great enthusiasm for this type of cuisine - like me - could easily dine in a different Mexican restaurant every night in Denver metro and go for over a year without repeating a single spot.

I adore Mexican food and always have. In fact, it's probably my favorite of all the food genres. I was thrilled to find so many great places to eat this type of cuisine when I moved to Colorado in 2013 from New York. Now, New York has some great Mexican food for certain, but for the most part, it's not nearly as consistent or genuine or diverse as the Mexican food you'll find in Colorado.

I've tried countless Mexican restaurants in Colorado over the past decade and many of them have been quite good. A few have been disappointing, though, despite excellent reviews and high ratings. But you know what? It's still worth trying them all.

Somehow, I never even heard of Venalonzo's Tacos in Centennial until recently. This wasn't all that surprising for two reasons, despite the fact I spend a lot of time researching new places to eat near me. First, Venalonzo's hasn't been open that long; it was established in 2022. Second, it's in Centennial, and I have to admit - I don't make it down to that particular Denver suburb all that often.

In addition to writing for Only In Your State, I also own and operate a dog sitting business. I was dog sitting in Aurora one October weekend and wanted to meet my partner for dinner - as we often do when separated across town by a job - and I found Venalonzo's Tacos on the map about halfway between us. It had lots of reviews on every platform and its ratings were consistently high. The restaurant's website talked of awards galore. I was intrigued. I had to check it out.

My partner and I drove to Venalonzo's from separate directions and arrived at the same time. It was a Friday night and the parking lot and restaurant seemed busy from the outside, but I was a little skeptical. Sometimes, the best restaurants are in strip malls, but oftentimes, restaurants in strip malls leave much to be desired.

However, as soon as we stepped inside, I had a feeling this place was the real deal. And it was: from that point on, I was impressed with every aspect of every bit of this place. The interior is small, but warm and welcoming. The menu is written on a chalkboard and you order at the counter; when it's ready, servers bring it out to you. Service is fast and friendly and we quickly placed our orders with ease.

While we waited for our food to come, I did a little more research on Venalonzo's Tacos. First and foremost, its family owned and operated. Brother and sister duo Pako and Nati Venalonzo hail from Mochitlán, Guerrero, Mexico, and are both the chefs and management of this spot. It's clear they put their hearts and souls into every bit of it. Everything on the menu is made fresh and from scratch daily. It's obvious that this pair want both their staff and guests to feel like they're part of their family - and you will. I sure did.

What these two restauranteurs are doing there is definitely effective and working. So far, this restaurant has appeared on Yelp's "Top 100 Places to Eat in the Southwest," was listed on Yelp's "Top 100 Taco Spots in America," and won first place in the Denver Gazette's "Best Taco in Denver" competition. These are rather impressive awards for any restaurant, and especially for one that's so new - and there are sure to be more to come down the road.

After a short wait, our food arrived. It was beautiful! I ordered the tacos plate simply because this place was a taco place, after all, and I felt that it only made sense that I start there. It came with two tacos, and rice and beans, of course.

Now, I realize there are lots of great tacos out there, and many of them are quite similar to all the other tacos out there in the world. These tacos, though, were particularly impressive. The flavors and textures were exciting and blended together perfectly. I went with chicken tacos, but as you can probably imagine, the restaurant's other offerings include al pastor, asada, barbacoa, carnitas, and veggie as well.

My partner was really hungry - per usual - so he ordered a barbacoa burrito. It was huge and glorious, and he was just as impressed with his dish as I was with mine.

We looked around to see what other diners ordered as well. The presentation of each dish was notable, and again, the great care put into each dish by the Venalonzo family was clear. These people love food, love their restaurant, and love their customers - and it shows.

In addition to tacos and burritos, Venalonzo's Tacos offers all the other dishes you'd expect to find at a Mexican restaurant as well, and I can't wait to try all of them. Quesadillas, chimichangas, tortas, and enchiladas await! There's an entire section of their menu dedicated to birria dishes - Burger-Birria, Ramen-Birria, and Pizza-Birria - and since the Venalonzo's hail from the part of Mexico where birria is a staple, I look forward to trying those, too. Further, Venalonzo's opens early in the morning daily and serves breakfast all day long, so if you like starting or continuing your day with huevos rancheros, chilaquiles, or a hearty breakfast burrito, you're going to love this place for all of that, too.

We finished our meal with great gusto and were pleased with the entire experience. It was time to depart. My partner and I are in the habit of yelling a cheery "thank you" to whoever may be listening as we exit any restaurant we've enjoyed. These declarations are almost always acknowledged in some way - unless a place is very busy, and there's certainly no hard feelings when we receive no reply.

When we left Venalonzo's Tacos that night, full and very satisfied, we expressed our graditude per usual. Despite the fact that the cooks were working at lightning speed and the cashier was serving a growing line of guests, we were thrilled when every single employee returned our call with a hearty "thank you!" of their own.

We smiled at this enthusiastic response - and we knew they truly meant it, just as we did. We were so thrilled with Venalonzo's Tacos. This place is so special, so authentic, and so wonderful. We can't wait to return soon - and I'm excited that I found the very best taco place in all of Denver metro, on my own, and in a strip mall in Centennial. You never know when and where you'll find the very best food around - and its always a triumphant feeling when you do. Thank you, Venalonzo's Tacos, for one of the very best meals I've had in a while - and I'll surely be back very soon.