A close look at King Tacos, the birthplace of Okinawa's gourmet dish "Taco Rice"! Check out the menu details and access to the Kin main store

There are many unique gourmets in Okinawa, but one of the representatives is "Taco Rice"! Lettuce, cheese and meat, which are served like mountains on rice, have a strong visual impact. I went to the birthplace of such a taco rice "King Tacos Kinbu Honten".

What is "taco rice" in the first place?

Tacos is a Mexican dish in which minced meat and other ingredients are wrapped in corn skin and tortillas. It is also familiar in Mexico's neighboring United States, but in the United States, the hard type with crisp texture is the mainstream because tortillas are fried in oil. Hard-type tacos became widespread in Okinawa as it was under American rule for 27 years after the war. King Tacos tortillas are also of this type. Taco rice is a menu in which the ingredients of such tacos are placed on top of rice.

Approaching the history of the birth of taco rice!

"King Tacos" is a taco and taco rice chain with six stores on the main island of Okinawa. The main store is in Kin Town in the northern part of the main island, and this store is said to be the birthplace of taco rice. When you enter the store, there is a sign in one corner of the counter with the words "the birthplace of taco rice" written on it. We spoke to Shimabukuro Sayuri, the third-generation owner, about how taco rice was created.

Shimabukuro's grandfather, Gibo Matsuzo, the founder of King Tacos, opened a restaurant called "Parlor Senri" near the US military facility in Kin Town in 1984. Upon opening, he began to think up a new menu item that would be a highlight. Because of the location, many American customers would come to the restaurant, so he thought of a "cheap and filling menu item," and that's how he came up with taco rice.

When Gibo served tacos at a restaurant he once managed, he noticed that many of his American customers removed the vegetables from the tacos, so he decided to make taco rice with just taco meat on top of rice, and offer cheese, vegetables, or cheese and vegetables as toppings. Although it was a pain to come up with the taco rice, it didn't sell at all at first, and he struggled to get it to sell, even staying open until late at night so that customers could stop by on their way home from drinking. One night, an American customer happened to walk in and ordered taco rice. The customer liked it so much that he started bringing a friend later, and from there taco rice started to gain popularity. The name of taco rice eventually spread from Kin Town throughout Okinawa.

I went to "King Tacos Kin Main Branch"!

King Tacos has gained a reputation for its taco rice and is now known affectionately by locals as "King tacos". The main store in Kin has seats on the second floor and is also OK for eat-in. We also recommend taking it out and eating it on the beach!

Taco rice is gaining popularity for locals, tourists alike. Taco Meat is the deciding factor in its taste. It uses minced meat and concocts spices with recipes inherited from its founders, so it is firmly familiar with the minced meat.

In addition, the photo in the article is served on a plate, but now the whole menu is served in a food pack as shown in the above photo.

Not just taco rice! Surprise with a full-volume menu in American size

"King Tacos Kin Main Branch" has a lot of American customers, so the non-taco menu has a surprising volume. Let's introduce two representative products this time.

First of all, it is "chicken pieces". There is an impact of naming. It is fried chicken finished with original spices, and five parts such as peach and mune are set. It takes about 20 minutes to fry after receiving the order, but this is very delicious! The skin is crisp and fragrant with a crisp texture, and the chicken is well-accustomed to salt and pepper. Some people seem to be able to flatten one pack by one because it is fresher than it looks.

This is a "Taco Cheeseburger" with taco ingredients in a giant bun. When I actually measured it, it was about 13cm in diameter and about 11cm in height. It's going to take a lot of time to finish eating. It's big anyway, so it's going to be exciting.

In addition, the rice part of the Tako Chicken Frii Rice Cheez Vegetable, which is made into fried rice (fried rice), is also a very popular menu.

■King Tacos Kin Main Branch

Address: 4244-4 Kin, Kin-cho, Okinawa

* Some of the photos are provided by King Tacos

• This article is created based on the contents of "Rurubu Information Edition" or "Rurubu & more." "Rurubu +".
• The data listed are as of March 2025. Prices, business hours, regular holidays, menus, etc. may change or may not be available due to temporary holidays. Please check in advance when using it, as the content may change.
• The holiday of stores and facilities omits the year-end holiday, Obon holiday, Golden Week, and temporary holidays in principle.
• The published fees are in principle the fee including consumption tax that we have confirmed at the time of the interview, and the entrance fee is the adult fee if there is no special mention.
• In principle, the published times are open (hall) to closed (hall). Please note that the last order or entrance (hall) time is 30 minutes to 1 hour before the normal closing (hall) time. The last order is denoted LO.
• For the spring quality and efficacy of the hot springs listed, manuscripts are prepared based on answers from each facility.