There’s no denying that the food truck phenomenon has taken downtowns, parks and even wedding celebrations by storm. But Las Palmitas—an illuminated & immobile Taco Bus—is a West Yellowstone restaurant that has truly taken the food truck concept to another level.

That’s right. I said Taco Bus.

After our 6-hour self-guided bike tour through the western edge of Yellowstone National Park, all this girl could think about was carbo-loading to the extreme and devouring all of the warm deliciousness I could get my hands on. That is, as long as this deliciousness was close, fast & easy.

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The best West Yellowstone restaurant on 4 wheels

The Las Palmitas Taco Bus is the type of place that will bring comfort to your soul—and the feeling back to your legs—after a 28-mile bike ride in near-freezing conditions.

It’s also one of the few places in West Yellowstone that’s open during the off-seasons. This is an important little tidbit for you off-season travelers! We visited during the “early” off-season, and we were saved by the Taco Bus…twice.

travelhelix tip: there are 2 off-seasons in Yellowstone—early (Spring) & late (Fall). The early off-season is a 6-8-week period after the winter season has officially ended but the park gates haven’t yet opened for summer. If you don’t mind taking some chances with the weather, this is a spectacular time of year to visit the park. The gates are closed to cars, but open to humans (walkers, hikers, bikers). Two days before the gates opened, we explored 28 miles of unadulterated wilderness by bike.

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Finding taco salvation during the offseason

You shouldn’t have any issues finding the Taco Bus…for a few reasons:

• West Yellowstone is a pretty small town
• The Las Palmitas Taco Bus is quite centrally located
• At night, it’s illuminated with flashing Christmas lights (made us want to inquire about private events!)

Distance to other local landmarks:

• Half a mile from the West Yellowstone entrance by foot
• Right around the corner from Freeheel & Wheel—an awesome bike rental shop
• Less than half a mile (8-minute walk) from the Explorer Cabins where we stayed (full review here)

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Step inside their office

This is where the Taco Bus concept really distances itself from your run-of-the-mill food truck. You place your order inside the bus. The salsa bar is inside the bus. And you can eat on the bus.

Time to step your game up, food trucks!

There’s something entirely more personal about those 1980’s bus doors swinging open and welcoming you inside, before approaching the counter to place your order. We can only hope that the chef moonlights as a bus driver.

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What’s on the menu

In a word: tacos.

Although Las Palmitas has an extensive offering of Mexican deliciousness (burritos, tostadas, assorted combo platters…), the tacos are the way to go. You will not be disappointed. Adam might have also snuck a quesadilla somewhere in there…but tacos are my final answer.

Our food came out in less than 5 minutes, and it was devoured in possibly definitely less time than that.

A couple days later, we returned.

Total Taco Bus taco tally: 10 tacos in 48 hours (plus or minus a quesadilla)

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We’d like to thank our new friend Darren over at the Explorer Cabins for giving us this life-giving, off-season gift of a recommendation. We won’t soon forget this West Yellowstone restaurant experience.

We’ll see you again next time…back on the Taco Bus.

Cheers!

-DnA