There are three main food options on the menu at Lalo’s Taqueria in Lebanon: tostadas, quesadillas, and of course tacos. 

“Since I was 9, I’ve been cooking with someone,” said Eddie Morán, owner of Lalo’s. He was featured in NHPR’s Our Flavors of Our Neighbors series. “I liked the process of making tamales,” Morán remembers. “My grandma would make the meat, and the dough. My aunts would put that on the corn husks, and we’d add the meat.” 

Morán got his start at his parent’s restaurant Gusanoz, and after 13 years struck out on his own operating Taco’s Tacos food truck where he built a faithful following for three years. 

Now, Lalo’s is celebrating its first anniversary. “I’ve wanted something like this for a while,” Morán told Valley News last September. Opening in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t easy, but he credits the quick turnaround of his menu – perfect for a takeout restaurant.

Morán’s cooking isn’t the only attention getter at Lalo’s. Art is a big part of the experience.

Artist Sam Paolini painted a colorful mural of chickens and corn across one of the walls of the restaurant — two key ingredients in Morán’s cooking. Tattoo artist Brian Barhelmes designed Lalo’s sign depicting a strutting rooster.

“Food should make you want to dance, or be just happy or bring memories to certain places,” Morán said. ‘I think it’s just them realizing that, and just the idea of what a taco can do.” 

Lalo’s menu may be small, but the taste is BIG as reviewed by Offbeat Eats:

The menu at Lalo’s remains simple and true to both the taqueria concept and the food truck approach: the menu basically [i]is[/i] “Tacos”. A rotating set of fillings are available, usually including both meat (carnitas, al pastor, pollo, and carne asada on my recent visit), fish (I’ve recently seen both shrimp and cod), and vegetables (I’ve seen roasted zucchini, squash, and hen of the woods mushrooms on recent visits). Each filling can be served up either as “taqueria” style on a freshly-made tortilla with cabbage, pickled red onion, queso fresco, pico de gallo, and salsa, or as a simpler “street style” with cilantro, onion, lime, and salsa. Otherwise, at least for the moment, aside from beverages (including Jarritos), that’s the menu, it’s really focused and simple for now.

Lalo’s Taqueria is located on 24 Hanover Street. It’s opened Tuesday – Saturday from 11AM to 8PM, Sundays from 11AM to 4PM, and closed on Mondays.

Their number is 603-727-9327.