The Best Taco Tuesday Deals in Denver

In 2023, fast-food giant Taco Bell went up against the much smaller, Wyoming-based chain Taco John’s in an effort to free the term “Taco Tuesday” from its long-held trademark. Last year, it won that battle, as well as an effort to move National Taco Day, which had been designated as October 4, to always fall on the first Tuesday of October.

This year, that’s October 7, and to celebrate what’s now called National Taco Tuesday, Taco Bell is offering $1 tacos all day to members of its Taco Bell Rewards loyalty program in its app, along with other special $1 deal drops throughout the day.

But Denver is a taco town, and there are a hell of a lot of options that are way better than Taco Bell, including Palenque Cocina y Agaveria in Littleton. Owner Brian Rossi is familiar with that Taco John’s trademark.

Two decades ago, Taco Tuesday hadn’t caught on in Denver, Rossi says. At the time, he was the general manager of Mezcal on Colfax. “This waiter that worked for us, named Allen, he was from Arkansas, of all places, and we were working one day, and he was like, ‘You know what I can’t believe? Nobody does Taco Tuesday here.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean? What’s Taco Tuesday?’ I’d never heard of it before, and it kind of stuck with me.”

Flash forward a couple of years, when Rossi took on the general manager role at a newly opened El Camino in Highland. Owner Grant Gingerich “was really looking for somebody to turn it into a Mexican restaurant. That’s when I said, ‘Let’s do Taco Tuesdays,'” Rossi recalls. But a few months into offering $1 tacos every week, “We got a cease-and-desist letter from a lawyer for Taco John’s.” So the restaurant had to find workarounds, like pushing it as the less catchy “Dollar Tacos on Tuesday.”

These days, though, Taco Tuesdays are everywhere — though dollar tacos are rare due to rising food costs — and Taco John’s has finally let its trademark go. To celebrate, Palenque is going back to that $1 deal for one day only on October 7, though its regular $2 Taco Tuesday offer remains a steal any week of the year.

Here are our favorite year-round Taco Tuesday deals in Denver:

Adelitas Cocina Y Cantina
1294 South Broadway
5495 West 20th Avenue, Edgewater
A longtime favorite in Platt Park, Adelitas added a second location near Edgewater Public Market in January. Both offer (mostly) $2 tacos every Tuesday, including carne asada, carnitas, pollo and al pastor; lengua and shrimp are a little extra. This deal does draw a crowd, so show up early, or be prepared to wait a bit for a table.

Adobo
3109 Federal Boulevard
This spot serves both Filipino and New Mexican eats, including quite the taco lineup. On both Tuesdays and Thursdays, you can score deals on a wide variety of options, such as the smoked carnitas taco that won Top Taco 2023 for just $2. Others will cost a little extra, but it’s worth it for tasty bites like prime brisket barbacoa and Baja fish.

Chivis Tacos
2101 East Colfax Avenue
Last year, the owner of a popular food truck added a Colfax brick-and-mortar, earning our 2025 pick for Best New Taco Joint. We love the Chivis taco selection and salsa bar any day of the week but especially on Tuesdays, when you can get tacos for just $2 each.

Don Carlos Taco Shop #3
5216 Marshall Street, Arvada
Our 2024 pick for Best Taco Tuesday is a truck that’s parked in a liquor store lot and often draws long lines for its weekly special. While the price has gone up from 99 cents each to four for $6.99, we’ll still wait patiently for a fix, served on two corn tortillas and can be loaded with self-serve add-ons such as raw and sautéed onions, cilantro, lime, two different salsas, radish and roasted jalapeños. 

El Camino Community Tavern
3628 West 32nd Avenue
The spot that may have offered Denver’s first Taco Tuesday is still celebrating every week, though now its delicious street tacos are $2 a piece. Served on a 4-inch corn tortilla with onions and cilantro, they can be loaded with options like carnitas, chorizo, red chile-braised brisket and more. To level up the experience, head in during happy hour (3 to 5:30 p.m. and 9 to close daily) when you can get more deals on food and booze, including an $8 house margarita.

The Irish Rover
54 South Broadway
Taco Tuesday at an Irish pub? Why not!? The Rover has multiple daily specials that draw in crowds, but one of the oddest — and best — is Taco Tuesday. The bar still dishes them out for a buck each from 3 to 10 p.m., and options include steak, chicken, pork, shrimp, fish and veggie.

La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal
2233 Larimer Street
One of the best restaurants in town also offers some of the best weekly specials, including Taco Tuesday. The deal here: an entire menu of street-sized tacos for $4 each plus $3 tacos with sirloin made on the trompo from 3 to 10 p.m. Pair options like cochinita pibil, chuleta enchilada (pork chop) or capulin (grasshoppers with guacamole) with half-priced pours of select mezcal.

La Loteria
42 South Broadway
This Baker neighborhood favorite dishes up a variety of daily deals but tacos star on Tuesdays, when the complete lineup is $1 off, plus $2 off pastor (making a taco $2.50).

Luchador Taco & More
2030 East 28th Avenue
Chef Zuri Resendiz opened his first brick-and-mortar eatery last year and nabbed our 2025 Best of Denver pick for Best New School Mexican Restaurant. He’s also got a new-school take on Taco Tuesday, offering an order of three tacos (asada, pastor, birria or calabacitas) for $10 all day plus happy hour drinks from 5 to 6 p.m.

Palenque Cocina y Agaveria
2609 Main Street, Littleton
A little slice of Mexico in Littleton, Palenque not only has a rooftop patio with a view, but also a killer Taco Tuesday deal. While its $1 taco offer is only good on October 7, stop by any Tuesday when most of its taco selection is priced at just $2 each. (Pro tip: You can also visit on Thursdays, for $3 smothered tamales.)

Bonus taco tip: Some spots offer tacos for around $2 each all the time, including the multiple locations of Tacos Selene ($2.50) and many of the food trucks and stands along Federal Boulevard.

Know of a Taco Tuesday we missed? Email cafe@westword.com.