Flickr shot by SpeedM

It’s Tuesday, you know what that means? Yep, Taco Tuesdays! Why not celebrate surviving Monday with all the delicious tacos you can eat for cheap and a satisfying happy hour?

Duke’s Barefoot Bar up in Malibu offers $2.50 fish tacos for their Taco Tuesdays 4pm to close. You can order up the fish grilled, beer-battered or very spicy. The tacos are simply fish strips with some pico de gallo in flour tortillas but it’s so tasty in its simplicity. I usually order up two spicy fish tacos and put some hot sauce on ‘em. And then soothe the burn with a bottle of Bohemia.

The happy hour at this surfer bar by the sea, unfortunately, is one of the shortest only going from 4 to 6pm, meaning I can never seem to make it in time. By the time I get past the rush-hour traffic on PCH, happy hour is over. Just as well though, happy hour here means half-price Barefoot Bar entrees. Even though I’ll miss out getting my fave mango BBQ burger (half-pound Angus beef, mango BBQ sauce, onion rings and cheddar) for only $4.38, at least I have the fish tacos to keep me company. Well, that and all the cute guys. On Tuesdays, this place gets packed with locals and tourists so good luck finding a seat.

21150 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, California
(310) 317-0777

If you don’t want to have to worry about trying to maneuver PCH post-happy hour, then I highly recommend you try El Torito’s 99-cent Taco Tuesdays.

This has so much more going for it than the others: cheap tacos (fajita-style steak or chicken), $3.25 house margaritas (pretty potent stuff), 2-hour validated parking, available seating, happy hour til 8pm (!), and it’s located safely inland away from curvy coastal highways.

3360 Ocean Park Boulevard
Santa Monica, California 90405
(310) 450-8665

Check here for other SoCal locations 

Now, I hear that Baja Sharkeez in Manhattan Beach has their own Taco Tuesdays but I’ve never been. Just as well cuz it sounds like trouble. Happy hour runs from 3 to 6:30 pm, meaning buy one get one free (any drink size, including pitchers and buckets!), and their tacos (fish or chicken) are $3. Friends who have gone have offered their nearby pads to crash at after happy hour, cuz you can get that wasted, obviously.

3801 Highland Avenue
Manhattan Beach, California 90266
(310) 545-6563

Now for a truly “get fat” Taco Tuesday, check out West Hollywood’s Marix Tex Mex Cafe where it’s all the tacos you can eat for $7.95. That’s right: beef, chicken, carnitas and veggie tacos. You order from the menu and they just keep coming. Happy hour is from 4 to 7pm with $4.25 house margaritas, $3 domestic cervezas and $3.50 Merlot or Chardonnay. Haven’t been here either but judging from the reviews, the lines are long and the patio gets packed so plan ahead.

1108 N. Flores Street
West Hollywood, California 90069
(323) 656-8800