Jimmy's Tacos

Jimmy's Tacos (St. Pete) — A Pre-Movie Pit Stop

The Setup

We had a 3 o'clock showing of Masters of the Universe this Sunday and needed to eat first. Tacos made sense. We parked on Central Ave and started walking toward Casita Taqueria, which is honestly one of our favorite spots and has great daily specials. Closed on Sundays. Of course. So we kept walking to the Grumpy Gringo food truck, which apparently is in the middle of moving to a new location and wasn't there either. Two swings, two misses.

The good news is all three places are within about two blocks of each other so at least we weren't driving around. We just kept walking until we found something open, which turned out to be Jimmy's Tacos right there on Central. We got there around 1:20 and needed to be out in under an hour, so the clock was ticking a little.

As for the place itself, it's pretty new. Jimmy's opened its St. Pete location earlier this year at 2534 Central Ave in the Grand Central District, making it the brand's second location. The original is over in Ybor City, and owner Jimmy Nunez started the whole thing with his parents back in Los Angeles before eventually bringing it to Tampa. So yeah, Jimmy is a real person and there's actual history behind it, even if the name doesn't exactly give that away.

The Vibe

Clean, modern, not super busy for a Sunday. The inside feels updated and fresh, more of a polished fast-casual kind of place than anything that feels traditionally Mexican. Not a bad thing necessarily, just worth knowing what you're walking into. It's got that contemporary look that a lot of newer spots go for.

They also have the Instagram wall with the fake greenery and a taco saying, which at this point seems like a pretty standard part of the new restaurant playbook for getting that social media moment. The music was actually pretty good though, a chill modern lounge vibe that kept things relaxed.

What We Ordered

We started with chips and queso for the table. The chips were good, salty and flavorful. The queso was just kind of plain white queso with no real seasoning to it. Nothing wrong with it, just nothing interesting either.

For tacos, we each did our own thing. I got three street tacos, birria, al pastor, and carne asada. Mitch got the birria special which came with three birria tacos and a quesabirria quesadilla (we spent a solid few minutes trying to figure out how to pronounce quesabirria día and never really landed on anything). Mike got three American style tacos, ground beef, lettuce, tomato on a flour tortilla. Mike is who he is and we respect it.

The Tacos

Honestly, they were fine. Not bad at all, just a little under-seasoned. My street tacos were mostly meat without a lot going on flavor wise. I kept waiting for that cilantro and lime punch you get at a really good taco spot and it never quite showed up.

The birria was the best thing we had. The consommé was good, Mitch was happy, and the quesabirria situation looked solid. Jimmy's calls themselves the best birria in Tampa Bay and while it's genuinely good, we've all had birria with a little more depth and richness to the broth. Still worth ordering though.

Mike liked his tacos. Moving on.

The Practical Stuff

Street tacos were around four dollars each. Large drinks were two fifty with free refills, which is a great deal. More importantly for us that day, we were in and out in about 45 minutes. The service was fast, the guy working was attentive, and we made our showtime without rushing. When that's the goal, that's a win.

Final Verdict

Jimmy's Tacos is a decent spot. It's clean, affordable, and genuinely fast. It wasn't our first choice or even our second choice that day, but it got the job done and nobody left hungry or disappointed. If you're in the Grand Central District and want something quick and easy, it works. Just don't go in expecting to have your mind blown.