Tacos, an essential food group, tend to be associated with their traditional roots in Mexican cuisine. Although tacos have been altered and modified to incorporate a variety of different ingredients and flavors (the best, obviously, being spaghetti tacos thanks to iCarly), few have really shocked my taste-buds.
Pipeline Taco in Wayne, Pennsylvania—only ten minutes from Villanova’s campus—is a locally owned, hand-crafted taco restaurant. The atmosphere does not feel like it is placed in the cute, suburb-y town of Wayne. Once you step inside the doors you are instantly transported to the beach.
The surf-shop vibes and beach-y decor automatically elevate the restaurant to something unique and different from other typical small-town eateries. Artwork of waves crashing on the shore, real surfboards mounted onto the walls, and blinking Christmas lights all create the feelings of vacation and escape while you’re enjoying your tacos.
Adding to the contrast from typical East Coast food establishments is Pipeline Taco’s dedication to hand-made food using only fresh, natural ingredients. Their meat is grass-fed and sourced from farms and ranches that do not raise their cattle using any added hormones or unnatural additives. Pipeline Taco’s secret to their phenomenal taste might just be because of their commitment to providing great ingredients for their food.
Among the traditional Mexican dishes Pipleline Taco offers (like quesadillas, nachos, and burritos), their main attractions are their Hawaiian-inspired tacos. The Pipeline (was the taco named after the restaurant or was the restaurant named after the taco?) is $4.50 for mahi mahi fish, either grilled or tempura, with mango-papaya salsa, cabbage, and cilantro-lime sauce.
The Tatonka includes buffalo shrimp, lettuce, tomato, blue cheese, and cilantro-lime sauce for $4.50. The Yo Momma taco is a whopping $4.00 for grass-fed beef, cheddar cheese, lettuce, and pico de gallo all packed together in a crispy corn tortilla. The four other premier tacos they boast all actually decrease in price, the cheapest taco being $3.50 (not bad for your broke a** college budget).
Of course, they couldn’t be finished at just mouth-watering, insanely cheap tacos…Pipeline Taco also offers burritos, rice bowls, salads, “Killer Nachos,” guacamole and salsa trays, quesadillas, and organic smoothies and yogurt. To round out your meal, Pipeline Taco creates delicious smoothies using flax milk, coconut milk, organic fruits, and beneficial oils (over 20 grams of protein for us protein-deficient beings existing solely on coffee and French fries).
There are the traditional fruit smoothies of bananas, mangos, blueberries, and raspberries, but there are also green-smoothies loaded with kale and spinach. Their yogurt smoothies are similar but include organic yogurt in addition to the various fruits, chocolate, and peanut butter.
My experience at Pipeline Taco was much too short and did not include trying the entire menu, so I’ll definitely be visiting again soon. The laid-back vibes are a perfect college relaxer, and the amazing food doesn’t hurt either.