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Jenni Moore
Jenni is an Alaska-born, Oregon-raised writer living in Portland. Read More
Taqueria Mis Tacones: Cultivating Community and Cashew Cheese
Authentic vegan Mexican food and mutual aid in Portland’s Alberta neighborhood.
Jenni Moore
Jenni is an Alaska-born, Oregon-raised writer living in Portland. Read More
On Killingsworth, a round pink sign featuring a gender-nonconforming character wearing red lips, a collared shirt and a sombrero welcomes all to one of Portland’s top taquerias: Mis Tacones, a vibrant, warm, queer-centered space serving a menu of 100% vegan, authentic Mexican cuisine.
Partners and co-owners Polo Bañuelos (they/them) and Carlos Reynoso (he/him) have each been vegan for over a decade. With more than 20 years of combined experience with veganism and a lifetime’s worth of culinary hustle, it’s no wonder their colorful pop-up-turned-Northeast Portland-brick-and-mortar Mis Tacones has garnered a loyal following — and hundreds of positive reviews.
Mis Tacones’ Vegan Beginnings
“I don’t wanna sound super dramatic — but like whatever, I am hella dramatic — it kind of started with pain, with missing home,” co-owner Carlos Reynoso said.
For both Reynoso and Bañuelos, home means memories of food. Bañuelos recalls being “a nosy kid in the kitchen,” learning to cook from his mother and aunts: “They were trying to teach me a lesson, and they did teach me a lesson, a really important one: how much I actually love food and love being in the kitchen,” they said. Bañuelos carried their passion for cooking as a hobby, encouraged by their mom, who would take them out to eat and then try to recreate their favorite dishes at home.
After struggling with dietary issues in their youth, Bañuelos took to vegetarianism to eat less fast food and incorporate more vegetables into their diet. It wasn’t until meeting their partner, Reynoso, who was already vegan, that Bañuelos eliminated the remaining animal products in their diet. Bañuelos says having a partner who was already vegan made it “a lot easier for me to transition and be able to just enjoy really good vegan food together.”
Reynoso’s passion for cooking was born from an act of rebellion against his family and the traditional household’s rigid rules. Reynoso’s experience as an immigrant also informed his proclivity for food. “Illegally crossing — when I was a kid, the [street] vendors in the border crossing [were] a huge inspiration for me,” he explained. “Seeing what they offered and what we were able to buy from them was a distraction from crossing the border. It felt very dangerous and uncomfortable for the rest of my family. For me as a kid, the food vendors were a fascination for me, [and are] still.”
Those memories helped them find a new direction when they moved to Portland. “Moving from LA to Portland was a culture shock, big time,” Bañuelos said. “Polo and I moved to Portland, and we don’t have a lot of family here, so we had to draw on each other,” Reynoso added. They dreamed about all the foods they were homesick for, what they’d like to cook and what they loved to eat. In search of community, the two wanted “to do something for ourselves and start something special.”
The couple launched Mis Tacones in the summer of 2016 as a recurring pop-up. Bañuelos cooked up their house-made seitan “meat” while wearing stiletto heels — a fitting choice, considering Mis Tacones translates to both “my heels” and “my tacos.”
Later on, the original owners of Food Fight! Grocery, Chad Miller and Emiko Badillo gave Mis Tacones a platform to vend on the weekends from the mini strip mall’s parking lot, where they sold a trio of tacos to a lengthy line of customers, rain or shine. They also spent a short time as a cart outside of Jet Black Coffee Company before closing to raise money for much-needed repairs. Right as they secured funding, the pandemic forced them back into pop-up mode, and they did residencies at the now-closed Café Reina and gay bar Local Lounge (which reopened in 2023 as Back 2 Earth).
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In the fall of 2021, Reynoso and Bañuelos met with Tiffin Asha owner Sheila Bommakanti to discuss taking over the Indian restaurant’s former space on Northeast Killingsworth Street, feeling that it was important that another BIPOC or queer-owned business carry on the space’s legacy. They decided that Mis Tacones was a perfect fit, and Reynoso and Bañuelos took over the spot in February 2022, giving the restaurant a permanent home.
Vegan Eats and Mutual Aid
First and foremost, the vibrant Mexican food spot serves positive vibes, followed by colorful plates and strong, tasty drinks. Alongside big, hearty burritos like the Cali B (California burrito) and eloté-stuffed empanadas, the share-worthy plate of nachos stands out with choices of protein including seitan and pollo soy curls.
On hand-pressed Three Sisters Nixtamal masa tortillas, Mis Tacones serves up spicy and savory house-made proteins like cilantro-lime marinated seitan and ultra-filling burritos, quesadillas, tortas and a mulita with soyrizo crumbles and glorious, melty quesillo, the restaurant’s signature. Reynoso says the key to their melted quesillo’s oozing cheese-like texture — which is more of a smooth sauce, sans the stickiness associated with retail vegan cheese — is that it’s made in-house with fermented cashews.
You’ll come for the friendly atmosphere and California Baja- and LA street-style eats, and you’ll stay for the margaritas, friendly conversation and desserts like fried ice cream, flan, peanut butter cheesecake and paletas from Ice Queen PDX. The restaurant is small but cozy, and the energy is always welcoming, energetic and homey.
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A Mission to Support the Trans Community
Inspired by West Oakland pop-up Gay4U, the owners of Mis Tacones give back with a pay-it-forward model, providing free meals for trans people of color. “There’s a lot of folks who might not be able to afford the meal because either they just can’t, or they’re transitioning, and they probably have enough bills racked up for their surgeries or just for whatever reasons, whatever hardships,” Reynoso said. “It’s good to just be able to, at the bare minimum, offer somebody a free meal.”
Anyone who wants to pay it forward can go into the restaurant and donate to the free meal fund. “There are donations that we track, and then people from the community who identify as a trans POC can come in, and we pull from that donation pool to pay for their meals,” Reynoso added. “And since we started providing that resource, a lot of people in the community use it.”
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The Future of Mis Tacones
With all the obstacles and adversity they’ve faced during Mis Tacones’ evolution, the two business owners are humble and say the restaurant’s success wasn’t just their doing. They give major thanks to their loyal customers and Portland’s small business community, including folks from other vegan, queer- and BIPOC-owned businesses, for allowing Mis Tacones to shine.
“From pop-ups to brick and mortar, it’s a completely different world,” Bañuelos said. “It’s been great to see all of these faces throughout the years, just watching them grow with their families … and then bringing their families to what was once just a little pop-up in a parking lot to having a space for them to bring their entire family and sit down and enjoy a pretty tasty meal. That part has been really special.”
The couple also successfully paid off their investors, Justin King of Black Heart Collective and Ben & Esther’s Vegan Jewish Deli and Lisa Stanger King of Black Thorn Mercantile.
When we say that the community is really special out here in Portland … it’s something else. It really is.
Mis Tacones co-owners, Polo Bañuelos and Carlos Reynoso
“We definitely want to grow right now,” Bañuelos said. “I feel like we’ve already kind of outgrown the little space that we have.” In the not-so-distant future, the co-owners hope to procure a larger location that could accommodate larger events, and they’d also like to be able to pay forward the support and pave the way for another business the way Portland’s entrepreneurial community did for them.
Portland’s strong small business community, along with its propensity for inclusive dining options outside of vegan fare like gluten-free or sober spots, makes it easy for visitors and locals alike to feel welcome and at home.”When we say that the community is really special out here in Portland … it’s something else. It really is,” Bañuelos and Reynoso said.
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