The seventh annual Concord Taco Trail ends Thursday, October 15, and Visit Concord names the winners the next day, Friday, October 16. The official trail lists 40 restaurants, and 24 of them are competing this year. Whoever collects the most stickers by the end of the challenge becomes Taco Trail Champion and wins a $250 taco party and taco-themed swag. East Bay Times adds a trophy to that list.
That leaves two weeks. Most of the competing restaurants sit in a few tight pockets of the city, so the champion will likely be whoever plans the best driving route, not whoever eats the most tacos.
A sticker doesn't require a full meal
Visit Concord's event page spells out a rule that changes your strategy. At any participating taqueria you get a taco sticker, and "no minimum purchase is required." You can buy a single taco, a drink or nothing at all. Ordering something is still the polite move when a family-run kitchen hands you a sticker, and East Bay Times says most stops on the trail are family-owned and have been open for years.
So what limits you is time and driving, not appetite. Ten stops is a lot of food but not much driving, as long as the stops are close together.
There's one more piece of logistics. If a restaurant has no stickers out, take a selfie there or keep your receipt, then bring it to Visit Concord for the sticker. The Concord Visitor Center is at 2151 Salvio Street, Suite T, on the ground floor, open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It isn't open on weekends. A Saturday spent collecting receipts means a weekday trip downtown before the trail closes on Thursday the 15th.
Where the 24 competitors actually are
The official 2026 map covers all 40 trail stops. East Bay Times published the list of the 24 competing this year. Putting the two together shows where the competitors cluster.
| Area | Competing restaurants the map places here |
|---|---|
| Monument Boulevard, Detroit Avenue and Meadow Lane | Salsa Verde Mexican Cuisine, Carrillo's Tacos Mexican Food, Las Montañas Supermarket, El Faro Mexican Foods, La Morenita Market, Herencia Hidalguense, Pancho Villa, Tortilleria El Molino, Mercado Del Sol |
| Downtown: Willow Pass Road, Grant, Colfax and Salvio | Taqueria Los Gallos, Taqueria Los Gallos Express, Cocina Hijole Maria–Oh Whateva', Salsa Mexican Grill, Las Montañas Supermarket |
| Clayton Road and Ygnacio Valley Road | Lisa V's, Taqueria El Escamol, Guadalajara Grill, Vero's Taqueria |
| Stand-alone stops | Rancheros Taqueria, Puesto, Papi Clary's Kitchen, Los Pinos |
Las Montañas shows up twice because East Bay Times lists both its Willow Pass Road and Monument Boulevard locations. Los Portales Taqueria and Alpine Pastry and Cakes are also competing, but their addresses didn't come through in our copy of the map. Get a printed card from the Visitor Center or any participating restaurant to place them. The map and the newspaper list spell a few names differently, such as Rancheros and Ranchero, Los Pinos and Los Piños, and La Morenita and Los Morenrita. These are the same businesses.
Monument Boulevard holds more than a third of the competition
Nine of the 24 competitors are in the Monument Boulevard, Detroit Avenue and Meadow Lane area. No other part of the trail comes close.
The best concentration is at 1500 Monument Boulevard. Pancho Villa is in suite F13 and Tortilleria El Molino is in F1, so you can collect two competing stickers in one parking lot. Mercado Del Sol is down the street at 1450 Monument Boulevard. The rest of the area's competitors are spread along Monument from the 1600 block to the 2900 block, with more on Detroit Avenue and at 1120 and 1140 Meadow Lane.
The 1500 Monument center also has map stops that aren't competing this year, including Taqueria Mariscos, Restaurante CDMX and La Cabana. They're still on the official trail and worth a visit some other time. For a sticker count, though, the event page says stickers come from participating taquerias, so check your card before going in.
Tortilleria El Molino and El Faro have earned outside praise before. A September 2025 review of the trail by Bay Area Telegraph praised both, along with Taqueria Los Gallos and Las Montañas.
Downtown is the second loop, and it ends near the Visitor Center
Five competing stops sit around Willow Pass Road, Grant Street, Colfax Street and Salvio Street: Taqueria Los Gallos, Taqueria Los Gallos Express, Cocina Hijole Maria–Oh Whateva', Salsa Mexican Grill and the Willow Pass Las Montañas. This year's challenge kicked off at that Las Montañas.
The downtown loop works well because the Visitor Center at 2151 Salvio Street is on the same streets. You can collect stickers, trade selfies and receipts for the missing ones, and pick up extra cards for friends in one trip. Just finish before 4 p.m. on a weekday.
Thursday evenings have another option for one more week. The Thursday Concord Farmers' Market runs 4 to 8 p.m. through October 8, according to the market's operator, the Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association. That leaves Thursday, October 8, as the last chance to combine a downtown taco loop with the evening market this season. The Tuesday market keeps running year-round from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The stops that take a real drive
Four competitors aren't near any cluster, according to the map:
- Rancheros Taqueria, 1099 Reganti Drive
- Puesto, 2035 Diamond Boulevard
- Papi Clary's Kitchen, 2186 Solano Way
- Los Pinos, 3375 Port Chicago Highway
The Clayton Road side makes a loose third group. Lisa V's is at 5100 Clayton Road, and Taqueria El Escamol sits in the map's Clayton Road group. Guadalajara Grill is listed at 5446 Ygnacio Valley Road. Vero's Taqueria is at 4673 Clayton Road, Suite G. Bay Area Telegraph featured it in August 2025 as a small spot with a chef locals kept recommending.
One competitor is already off the table. Los Tacos in Your Belly was a booth at Concord Pedal Fest in Baldwin Park on Sunday, September 27, and stickers were given out at the Visit Concord booth at that event. If you weren't there, 23 competitors are left for the final two weeks.
Your route is also a vote
There are three prizes, and you only compete for one of them. Visit Concord gives Fan Favorite Taqueria to the restaurant with the most visits, so every stop on your route counts toward that title. Best Salsa is decided by votes emailed to [email protected]. Visit Concord's homepage says you can email your Fan Favorite pick to the same address.
The defending champion is Las Montañas, which won both Fan Favorite Taqueria and Best Salsa in 2025. The year before, Los Portales was Fan Favorite, according to the Mercury News, which called it "last year's winner" in its September 2025 coverage. Las Montañas has two competing locations this year, one in each of the two densest clusters, so routes through either cluster are likely to pass one of them.
One date needs clearing up. The homepage banner at Visit Concord says the campaign runs through October 11. The trail page, the event listing and East Bay Times all say October 15. October 15 is the end date the organizers use everywhere except that banner. If you're aiming for the trophy, turning your card in before the 11th avoids any risk.
Here's what's left on the calendar:
- Thursday, October 8: the last Thursday evening farmers' market downtown, 4 to 8 p.m.
- Weekdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: the Visitor Center at 2151 Salvio Street, Suite T, is open for selfie and receipt redemptions.
- Thursday, October 15: the last day of the challenge.
- Friday, October 16: the Taco Trail Champion, Fan Favorite Taqueria and Best Salsa are announced.
If your Taco Trail route takes you down a Concord street you'd never driven before and you start wondering about the homes there, let's compare notes over a taco. Lauren Deal is always up for that conversation. Let's Connect.
