Tacos Tecalitlan in Burlington has been on my list of places to check out even before BhamByBus moved north to Bellingham last summer. In April 2023, after eating approximately 500 tacos from across Western Washington, Tan Vinh, a food critic at The Seattle Times, declared the chicharron tacos at Tacos Tecalitlan to be the best in the region. 

Unfortunately, Vinh ended up "racking up 1,000 miles driving around Western Washington doing research" to come to that determination, after numerous stops at taquerias and taco trucks, many located at gas stations. While there are many transit accessible taco spots in Bellingham and across the region — in the Seattle area, if you take King County Metro's Rapid Ride H Line to White Center or and/or Burien, you'll be very happy with your taco options — many others, unfortunately, are out of reach. I'm assuming that Vinh's regional taco trek would be impossible, or at least very challenging, to replicate with transit.  

If you live car-free in Bellingham or otherwise aren't able to drive over the Chuckanut Mountains to Skagit County, you're in luck! Tacos Tecalitlan is a short walk across Burlington Boulevard from the Chuckanut Park & Ride, which is served by County Connector express bus routes operated by the Whatcom Transit Authority and Skagit Transit — Route 80X (Bellingham Station to Skagit Station via Chuckanut Park & Ride) and Route 90X (Chuckanut Park & Ride to Everett Station via Skagit Station).

A transit center with peaked timber framing.
Skagit Transit's Chuckanut Park & Ride in Burlington is a short stroll or roll from some of the best tacos in the region. (Photo by Michael Grass / BhamByBus)

So on Wednesday evening, as I was en route to Everett (and eventually, Seattle) from Bellingham, I decided to attempt my first trip on the County Connector express buses and a taco break bus transfer at the Chuckanut Park & Ride. Examining the 80X and 90X bus schedules, there are only a few opportunities to grab the adjacent tacos when transferring between the two County Connector express bus routes.

Tacos are the perfect food for when you have a relatively small window of time to transfer between bus routes. In Seattle, for instance, the Central District location of Tacos Chukis (2215 E. Union Street at 23rd Avenue) is a great spot when transferring between King County Metro's Route 2 and Route 48. In Bellingham, while not too many people transfer between WTA Routes 105, 107, 108, 190, 196, and 197 serving the Blue GO Line corridor, the El Toro Loco truck (200 S. 36th Street at Bill McDonald Parkway & S. Samish Way) stationed on the southwest corner, is well located if you've missed bus after a grocery run to the Haggen at Sehome Village shopping center. (Taco Time is across the stroad, too, if that's your jam.) 

In the case of BhamByBus's Tacos Tecalitlan trek to Burlington, I had a 38-minute window, which was plenty of time.     

A plate of three tacos with an outdoor covered patio with some people in the background.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy some tacos. You should have plenty of time to transfer between the 80X and 90X! (Photo by Michael Grass / BhamByBus)

Vinh wrote in April 2023 in The Seattle Times:

When a sunbeam splashed across my plate of freshly-arrived food at Taco Tecalitlan, I should have seen it for a sign. Glistening in the light, those chicharron tacos looked mighty appetizing, with their sparkling pork skin and their jewels of juicy belly bits. This taco was essentially filled with pork cracklings and porchetta, plus some raw onion and cilantro stems on top to trick my palate into thinking the taco wasn’t as gluttonous as it appeared. So I ate four chicharron tacos. Then, five more — all in one sitting, which seemed perfectly reasonable at the time.

So, in hindsight, I should have ordered a chicharron taco as Vinh recommended, but instead ordered three tacos: carne asada, adobada, and carnitas. I wasn't disappointed. They were quite flavorful (especially the adobada), satisfying, and certainly worth follow-up visits. 

The exterior of a taqueria with a walk-up ordering window.
Tacos Tecalitlan in Burlington has ample covered spaces for rainy day taco treks. (Photo by Michael Grass / BhamByBus)

In addition to indoor dining, Tacos Tecalitlan has a generously covered walk-up window with a nice covered outdoor area if you're ever attempting a transit-oriented taco trip to Burlington when it's raining.

Tacos Tecalitlan's slogan is "saving the world one taco at a time," which aligns with my transit philosophy of saving the world one bus ride at a time. By taking the bus from Bellingham to Burlington to eat tacos, you can double your saving-the-world impact. 

How to Get There: Tacos Tecalitlan (702 Burlington Boulevard at Kirby Avenue) is about a 5 minute stroll or roll from the Chuckanut Park & Ride in Burlington, served by numerous Skagit Transit bus routes and the Route 80X County Connector bus (Bellingham Station to Skagit Station).