Lopez Taqueria and Mariscos

Nashville Restaurants and Food
Lopez Taqueria and Mariscos
3901 Nolensville Road
Nashville
615-833-6434

You have to give Lopez Taqueria a tip of the hat for some of the most creative building recycling in Nashville. They have converted a Nolensville Road gas station into a fun and bustling restaurant. The best part is the creative use of the massive gas station canopy overhead. Since the building itself is small, they built a deck next door. The canopy protects patrons from the sun and rain, and the deck provides a festive atmosphere, even at lunch on a recent work day.

Lopez specializes in tacos, seafood, tortas and gorditas. The seafood includes ceviche, a citrus marinated seafood salad. They also serve up menudo and pozole. I was actually just going to sample a taco or two when I got a glimpse of a torta coming out of the tiny kitchen. I could see the thick chunks of ripe avocado and the steaming grilled bread. I quickly added a torta to my order.

Tortas are basic Mexican sandwiches, where the ingredients can change due to region and taste. At their wildest, as in the Torta Cubano, they can be kitchen sink affairs filled with pork, refried beans and about six other ingredients including hot dogs. The more restrained tortas are basically meat, refried beans, lettuce, tomato and avocado on grilled bread. That bread is important. It really needs to be grilled to make the sandwich ooze together, which is exactly what they do that Lopez. Every piece of the Lopez torta is fresh. The carnitas pork is rich and full or flavor. In short, I have to say the Lopez torta is the best I’ve had so far in Nashville.

I also sampled the Al Pastor tacos. Al Pastor is pork in adobo sauce, and the Lopez version has plenty of spicy taste. The taco itself was kind of dry and ho hum. Not bad, but certainly not in the same league as the torta. I did witness also sorts of other interesting and tasty looking dishes coming out, so I think a return trip for more sampling is needed. I was especially entranced by a plate of char-grilled chicken.

The service is friendly and the waitresses really hustle. If you can, eat out on the deck. It’s quite a bit of fun and you can often share a table with other folks. The total for torta, taco and bottled water was $8.50 with tax and tip.