Lil Hombre Smoked Taco Joint: Experience Flavorful Smoked Tacos in Clayton, NC

Lil Hombre is a unique restaurant situated just off of Main St. in Clayton. It's front enterance is located on Lombard St. however parking is off of East Second street which is South of the restaurant. The outdoor smoker reminds you that this isn't just your average taco joint. The wonderful smoked aroma spills out and surrounds the restaurant in it's smoked meaty glory, urging you to enter for a taste. Whether you like to sit at the bar and enjoy eyeballing your food as it's made, sitting at a window table, side tables, or even enjoying the outside seating, you will find that there is ample seating all around. The simple decorative touch makes the restaurant feel fun and gives it personality. We showed up early Friday evening and were greated by the three extremely friendly employees at the bar/kitchen area. They were more than happy to answer any questions we had as well as gave suggestions on personal favorites and popular choices. The service overall couldn't have been any better. The food was really quite delicious. The menu is actually a pleasant change to the massive book of nearly hundreds of options you typically see these days. You have the choice of Pork, Steak or Chicken. Prepared in your choice of 3 different ways. You can make some minimal options to the choices, but the fact that you pretty much have 9 different options for meals puts their menu somewhere near food truck territory, and I love it. It means that they are focused on what they do well, and keeps their meals simple. I sampled all of the meats and stuck with the same style for each. Here's what I found. The pork was the most flavorful and tender option. The chicken was good. The steak on the other hand was good if you get a tender section, but tough if you don't. So the steak ended up being our least favorite of the 3. That's not to say that it was bad, just the tough sections were strange. Chicken - $5 Pork - $5 Steak $6 There are only 2 things I would suggest. First thing is a tad more quality control on the steak. The hard pieces of steak were a bit tough to chew at times. I honestly would love to see some sort of fish taco. Something that feels less heavy than the rest of the options. I think they could do it very well. We really enjoyed Lil Hombre and will absolutely be back. Thanks for the great time.

I've had a lot of tacos in my life, and Lil Hombre is a top 5 for me. They smoke their meats and generously fill the tacos. You also get a side of pickled veggies to put on top if you want. The atmosphere and concept is really cool, and they also have a great outdoor patio space when you want to enjoy a taco and some drinks on a nice day/night. I can't recommend this place enough! 5/5 stars.

Just happened to walk by this spot today and knew I had to go in. Tacos and drinks are fantastic, vibe and music are great. Thank you to Mercedes for the great service! Really excited to find a spot like this in Clayton.

Nice lil spot in Clayton! Definitely check it out! I had one of each (beef, pork, chicken) "Hombre" style.

5/23 This is a smoked taco joint, and I must say they really got some good tacos. It's definitely different since there isn't a lot of Mexican restaurants that do smoked meats. We tried a bit all of the different styles (hombre, fajita, and traditional). I loved the hombre style. I would come back again.

One of our favorite spots in Clayton. The chicken and steak tacos are a must-try. 3 options for protein, 3 options for toppings, bar service only. Drinks have always been great, and there's a couple dozen hot sauces available at any time. Have been here at least a dozen times and will be back plenty more.

Taylor was the absolute best! We came here on a Saturday night and sat right at the bar. We ordered 3 tacos with different meats and styles. Probably the best tacos I’ve had in a while. I love when restaurants keep their menu simple and do ALL THINGS WELL. The blue margarita was yummy and one was just enough. My husband and I will definitely be back— especially with the late night hours!

We love Mexican food and I specifically love classic steak tacos. The restaurant is bar service only so no waiters, you fill out a paper to order your food. They only have self serve water and bottled drinks. The food was really good, I liked the fajita and hombre the best. The star lost is because for $5 a taco you get so little meat. I can get three tacos for $10 at mezcalito with much more substance. It’s a small building which gives it character but I can only imagine how tough it is to order when they’re busy. The employees were nice and the food was good so overall pleased. Wouldn’t rave about it though.