Tacos Zapata has been catering taco carts across Southern California since 2003, and it is strictly a mobile operation — the company describes itself as committed to onsite taco catering rather than to a dining room. It runs out of Fullerton as the catering arm of a Taqueria El Rancho restaurant, under Mex Restaurant Inc.
The scale claims are the distinguishing feature: the business states it fields a staff of more than forty across multiple mobile set-ups and can serve events of up to a thousand guests, and it publishes a credential list to match — an active health department permit, a business licence, general liability insurance, and a certificate of insurance and W-9 available on request. That paperwork orientation is a corporate-buyer signal more than a backyard-party one.
Three packages, all built on an average of four tacos per person and a two-hour serving window. Revolucion is the base: three meat entrees, salsa roja and salsa verde, the standard condiments, and disposables with a table and tablecloth. Constitucion adds a side of black or refried pinto beans and Spanish rice, pico de gallo and guacamole, chips, and cheese quesadillas. Adelitas, which the business calls its deluxe special, moves to four meat entrees and adds cheddar jack cheese, rolled chicken taquitos and one agua fresca on top of everything in Constitucion. None of the three package pages publishes a base price. Each routes to a quote form instead, so the per-guest cost comes back from the business rather than off the page. Seven meat entrees come with every package: asada, grilled marinated chicken, shredded chicken with veggies, al pastor, carnitas, cabeza and chorizo. Al pastor served with pineapple is the one the business flags as costing extra, without naming the amount. Beyond those seven it publishes a per-person upgrade ladder — grilled veggies at $1.50, soyrizo at $2, seasoned or garlic grilled tilapia at $3, tripa, lengua and fried fish at $4, garlic or a la diabla shrimp at $5, grilled salmon at $6 and grilled mahi mahi at $7. Those are surcharges added on top of a package, not the price of the meal, and they sit on a page the business last updated in March 2023, so confirm them when you book. For guests not eating meat, the published lists carry soyrizo and grilled veggies among the priced entree upgrades, and portobello mushroom fajitas and a "Potato Veggie" option among the add-ons that carry no price. The wider add-on list runs to sour cream, cheddar jack cheese, cabbage, lettuce, grilled onions and jalapenos, five salsas including avocado and habanero, chips, quesadillas, taquitos, shrimp ceviche, bionicos, and five-gallon aguas frescas in about a dozen flavours, some of which the business notes are seasonal or priced differently. The business asks for one to two weeks notice, adds applicable sales tax, and says a travel fee may apply depending on location without publishing the amount. It serves Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Booking runs through a quote form capturing event type, package, guest count and county, or by phone.
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Michele Leocadio creates restaurant content for Elev8ed Table. We decide who's featured on merit alone and never sell placement or ranking. Figures above are read from each business's own published materials and dated when the source is old.
