Price: $5
Generous portions are the name of the game at Chivo: The tamal is nearly large enough to be a meal in itself. The soft corn masa dough is made with chicken stock and feels as comforting as grandma’s cooking. The chicken-potato filling is soft and tender, and while the chicken pieces themselves are a little bland, the delicious masa and the condiments of curtido and salsa verde more than compensate. Add a taco and you really do have a meal, since Chivo serves them with the scooping philosophy of an ice cream shop in rural Maine: A “single” taco comes with two tortillas and enough filling to stuff them both. And all that, plus tax, for less than $10. We visited the joint not long after it opened in 2023 and liked its quesadillas and breakfast burritos too; there’s been no drop-off in quality at this cheery neighborhood taqueria.
Chivo Taqueria, 1728 Massachusetts Ave., Neighborhood 9, Cambridge
Share your own 150-word snack costing $10 or less with photo to editor@cambridgeday.com with the subject line “Snack.”
This post was updated Nov. 17, 2025, to correct that the author is Travis Dillon.
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