This local fast-casual chain makes Sacramento’s best tacos, readers say

The people have spoken, and Chando’s Tacos reigns supreme.

Chando’s eked out Nixtaco as makers of the Sacramento region’s best tacos, The Bee’s readers said in a poll that ended at noon Friday. The local fast-casual chain earned 196 of 786 total votes, or 25.1%.

Lisandro “Chando” Madrigal left a career with Apple in 2010 to adapt family recipes at the first Chando’s Tacos stand. Chando’s regional popularity swelled rapidly throughout the early 2010s, and Madrigal’s reach has since expanded to locations in east and southeastern Sacramento, Arden Arcade, Citrus Heights and West Sacramento, with a Fair Oaks location and two more in Georgia on their way.

Chando’s also has food trucks based in Davis and Atlanta, plus full-service Chando’s Cantinas in downtown Sacramento and the El Dorado Hills Town Center, and makes tortilla chips for sale in local grocery stores such as Corti Bros.

“You should see my face right now,” Madrigal said over the phone from Atlanta. “We’ve just been working so damn hard lately, and just to see that we’re still on top with all this great restaurants ... I’m at a loss for words, man.”

Nixtaco was a close second with 190 votes (24.3%). The Roseville eatery, which nixtamalizes corn for its tortillas in-house and has higher-end fillings such as chicken in housemade mole or octopus, was named one of The Sacramento Bee’s Top 50 Restaurants earlier this year.

Another local chain, Jimboy’s Tacos, finished third with 69 votes (8.8%). The 67-year-old fast food concept was followed by 51-year-old El Novillero Restaurant (4.5%) just south of Curtis Park, then Tres Hermanas (3.7%) in midtown Sacramento and Mas Taco Bar and Zócalo (3.5% each).