Taco Flats

We enjoyed it here and thought the staff was good and our drinks were good, as well. The taco we shared was decent, too.

Rude owner. That’s all I have to say.

Taco Flats is a blend of authentic taste and modern style combined perfectly in one restaurant. I’ve always thought that the tortilla makes the taco, and now I know it to be true. Pick from corn, flour, or jicama tortillas all made fresh in house by the owner’s mother.
Some of my favorites are the choriqueso, pollo asado, and the chilangro shrimp, but honestly everything I’ve tasted there has been exquisite. Bring some friends with you because you’re going to want to taste as much as you can, especially with their out of this world ooey gooey queso dip with lots of good stuff on top, and their incredibly fresh and well balanced tostadas de atun made with sashimi grade tuna.
I love this restaurant because you can spend a little or a lot, but you’ll always have a good time. They’ve got a ton of specials going on all the time as well, like happy hour 2−6pm M-​F with $ 3 off chips and queso or guacamole, $ 2 off the tasty signature cocktails, or $ 1 off any beer or wine there. Monday’s are also $ 3 Texas beer day there which basically means most of the beers they have there are $ 3 all day long.
If you like a laid back atmosphere with not just tasty but innovative tacos, appetizers, and drinks, you should definitely check this place out.

The space is nice and the collaborative service is friendly, but that’s honestly about all that I can say for Taco Flats. Tacos are small, bland, unoriginal, and expensive. I can purée a can of black beans at home and throw some spinach leaves and avocado slices on them, thanks, and the sports bar atmosphere doesn’t seem to justify the difference between the 35-​cents-​per-​taco that it would cost me to do that vegan option and the $ 3.50 you’ll pay there. We ordered some $ 12 shrimp ceviche and two tacos apiece and left hungry – but unwilling to drop money for anything else there (neither the chicken mole nor the mahi-​mahi convinced us that we should come back for more). And it ain’t Uchiko, folks; it’s tacos. No excuse for teeny tiny portions. Beer selection is decent, but that’s true everywhere in the central city, so no huge favor done there. Glad to see Burnet continuing to open up as an entertainment scene, and nothing was awful, but I can’t see any good reason to do this one twice when I can get a better and cheaper meal at Torchy’s more or less across the street.

Awesome tacos and super good service and friendly. We def recommend the carne Asada and chorizo.

This is a cool spot. Not a lot of parking in their lot, and the place wasn’t even full when we got there.
The tacos are pretty big and delicious. They have the crispy, melted cheese on the tortilla directly before adding in all the other fillings– different and delicious.
The Margs were yummy with a jalapeño flavor, I would not say they are spicy, just good flavor.
The service was a little slow, there were only two waiters and it started to pick up with a large party. But it was hard to even get the attention of our server to get another round of drinks.

We love TF! We live within walking distance, and we walk past other places for the TF experience. We have never been disappointed! The food and cocktails are consistently spot on. We will be back again, and again.

Had a few tacos here today. Very solid overall. Fresh and fast. I was able to park out front but extra parking in the rear or across the street. Vast drink list and local beer selection. Nice TV’s. Asked for more salsa for my chips and still waiting. I’d go back as there are other things I’d like to try.

I love this place. Super casual with flavorful tacos. Nice options different than what you’ll get at Torchy’s or Taco Deli. Love the Gringa and their veggie options are great too. Place is a bit small but as long as you’re not trying to go on Cinco de Mayo it always seems to be busy but manageable. It’s also next door to Hey Cupcake in case you need something sweet after your tacos.

Best Bloody Mary’s I’ve ever had! We had the papas with queso and garlic sauce. The flavor is just right best flavor on the tacos the tortillas melt in your mouth and the Bloody Mary flavor are out of this world!!!

It’s getting three stars because there isn’t anything original to it and it’s expensive (for tacos) BUT they do have good tacos and drinks. Also, it’s the only place I’ve found jicama tortillas which are fantastic.
On a Friday night, my hubby and I went to dinner in the neighborhood and decided to give Taco Flat a try again. I had been there for happy hour before and thought it was a good place. We started off with the trio appetizer and the jalepano poppers. For the trio, we got the salsa, guacamole, and queso. The guacamole was definitely fresh made as it still has large chunks of avocado and the queso was absolutely delicious with the hand made chips. The poppers were spicy, but very good (bacon always makes everything great).
We ordered tacos: I had the fish al pastor and the barbacoa with jicama tortillas. Both were flavorful, but the fish piece was too big for the tortilla. I had to eat most of the fish prior to eating the taco because I couldn’t even pick it up. The tortillas were crisp and you couldn’t tell it was a veggie/​My husband had the al pastor and liked it, but nothing incredible.
The drinks were really good. The jalepano margarita had just enough heat. Very good.

I like Taco Flats a lot. The Jalapeño in the frozen margarita can make my day. TF Original is a solid crispy taco, and the Al Pastor is on point with plenty of pineapple and cilantro.
My girlfriend said she didn’t like Taco Flats so I went without her. Maybe she can still be convinced, but either way I’m in it to win it.
Cheers, Taco Flats!

TACOS!!!
What? Do you need to know more? I said «TACOS!!!» How much clearer do I have to be?
Still here? Fine, I’ll elaborate, Taco Flats is a great place to enjoy delicious TACOS!!! and BEER!!! It actually feels more like a bar that happens to serve tacos than the other way around, but either way it is good.
Because I live in Practically Mexico (El Paso) I don’t like eating Mexican or Tex-​Mex when I visit other cities, but my friends convinced me on the grounds that this place was so good it was being featured on the Food Network and we were going to the viewing party.
They had ½ off tacos during the show, and I took advantage of that, even went as far as trying the gluten-​free, vegan-​friendly-​hipster-​approved jicama tortillas, which are good, but not on par with their fresh-​made evil-​gluten-​laden tortillas. Al Pastor, Barbacoa, and Gringa were my favorites. Love the lineup of local beers, as well.

Great tacos and good service! A very chill spot with a cool bar and no crazy line to wait in. The hippie taco and shrimp taco were excellent– I’d rate it higher than Torchy’s food, that’s a bold statement (especially when I am a Torchy’s fan!). This place is definitely worth checking out and I know I’ll be back again!

Decided to check this place out, finally, after drooling over the menu for a while but being lazy and sticking closer to home. I’m really glad I did.
We came in for lunch on Presidents Day, which was an interesting mix of people grabbing a quick bite before heading back to work, and people obviously off work and having a wonderful lack of urgency to vacate their tables. The staff seemed friendly, and it was a fantastic people watching setting.
Onto the food! We ordered chips and salsa — at first I was cranky about paying for it but the chips were wonderful, fresh and crispy and seasoned with some lime and… paprika, I think. The salsa was definitely a good blend of spice and flavor and we got an extra refill once we were out (no charge!).
They also had Pacifico on tap. I wasn’t planning on a beer, but I just kinda had to at that point. All of a sudden, between that and the way the light was coming in the slightly frosted window, I was on vacation for reals.
The tacos were pretty solid. I got a picadillo beef, and the best way I could describe it is the grown up version of a taco bell crunchy beef taco. That is… with ingredients you actually feel okay with putting in your body. I liked it a lot! My other taco was the asada chicken and it was HUGE! I had to eat half of it with a fork. The slaw was fresh, the chicken was perfectly cooked, and it paired really well with that magic salsa.
There are so many other tacos there I want to try, and I’ll definitely be back to drink Pacifico drafts while I do so. :)

Love it!
This is one of those places that seems like your average «Let’s give it a pass» type places on the outside, but when you go through the doorway you enter a wonderland of flavorful food, craft drinks and a warm, semi-​divey ambiance.
Great selection of beers on tap (translation: they have 512 Pecan Porter!), great selection of liquors (translation: they have Pim’s), delicous tacos and sauces, fun collegiate atmosphere.
Not tons of seating, but the bar usually has a little space and comes with built-​in about-​to-​be new friends who are all very friendly, chill and enjoying the corner bar vibe.
The tacos are a little pricey but worth the money. Tip: 1 barbacoa taco will be enjoyed, but it needs to be followed by one or two of his hermanos to make your tummy truly happy.
If you haven’t stopped in yet, do it tonight. There’s no good reason this isn’t one your favorite Allandale neighborhood bars.

Taco Flats is self-​seating, and the seating layout is interesting. I have several improvements that I think would make this place better: The tall table seating seems a bit too close to the shuffleboard tables. I think having some more room behind would be better for those playing as well as those walking around to be seated, given that they are large tables.
The atmosphere is nice, but still has a few kinks to work out. The lights are surprisingly dim, and although they look great with the space, I thought it was interesting that our waitress had the right tacos but found it difficult to read her list because there simply wasn’t enough light. Another host seemed stressed when we relocated to a large table for a group of 5 of us, but one of the small bar tables would have been a squeeze.
I was surprisingly disappointed in the size of the tacos, and served in paper baskets, they didn’t seem very impressive and it was hard to feel like it was worth what I was paying. The chicken that I got was quite dry, but I did love the pork and the flavors on that. My roommate’s chips and guac looked amazing.
I want to like this place. I’d be willing to come back to give it another go and would recommend others to do the same. I think it’s got personality, it’s in a great location, and it could offer a lot, but based on my first experience and the saturation of the taco scene, quality evening hangs, as well as the nightlife in Austin, it’s been a while since I’ve been there, but I’m open to going back!

So this strong four star is a combo of: 5-​stars for the drinks/​service/​décor and a 3-​stars for the food. Zero complaints with the quality of the food provided. The Al Pastor and Barbacoa tacos were top notch. My gripe really comes down to the cost to portion size of the salsa and queso. You will find this is the only review in which I complain about price. This is a bit of a hair-​splitting review but I feel as though if either the price-​point was 1 – 2 $ cheaper for the portion given of the queso or the price remained the same and the portion was increased slightly (based on my experience 2 months ago, things may have changed since), I would have had no complaints.
Of course, outside of that minor gripe, my wife and I love this place! The cocktails are GREAT and the beer selection is beyond solid. We usually start or end our night here to get some apps and have a few drinks. One of the places we always try to bring our out of town friends to.

Taco Flats is the kind of place that is marketed perfectly towards people like my boyfriend and the kind of place that I always want to avoid. I hate what I call «yuppie tacos.» If I’m eating a taco, it better consist of only four things: a tortilla, meat (preferably barbacoa), cilantro, and onions. That’s it. I realize Austin has some weird obsession with tacos and trying to be creative and I just like to keep it simple.
So, every time my boyfriend suggested Taco Flats, it was always a hard no from me.
I finally relented because I was in a rare mood where I was not being a stubborn butthead about what I was going to eat and he was so excited.
The parking lot is super small and I’m not entirely sure if there is parking in the back. Shout out to the asshole couple that pulled into one of three spots in front of Taco Flats and then WALKED AWAY for the entire time we were there. I hope your car got towed, ya jerks. Pro tip: don’t be those people. If your spot gets sniped by some jerk couple, it looks like you can pull into the Hey Cupcake lot and park alongside the wall nearest Taco Flats. We did that with no issue.
You seat yourself and I liked the stools they used — it looked like two step stools stacked together and I really like that I then had somewhere to place my feet while eating. (I hate sitting on a stool and there’s no place to set my feet, so they just awkwardly dangle.) Service was attentive — we were immediately brought waters and our drink orders were taken. We tried to get the stuffed jalapeños, but they were out, so we opted for the queso.
I had the Setenta y Cinco and it was so good. The drink itself is very pretty since it has pomegranate juice and it was a great cocktail. I’d come back just to have another one of those. Several of their other cocktails sounded great, too, and the prices are all reasonable. My boyfriend said his margarita was awesome and I like that they added a jalapeño slice to it. Next time, I want to try one of those.
I only ordered one taco — the Shrimp Aguachile. It was pretty dang tasty. The taco had four large shrimp that filled the tortilla, so everything was off to a good start. Shrimp tacos that don’t skimp on the shrimp are a definite win. The salsa provided with it was awesome and had a great spice level. (I believe it was the verde salsa mentioned at the bottom on the menu.) It went really well with all the other flavors in the taco. My taco was very drippy, which didn’t bother me, but keep that in mind if you tend to be a messy eater.
The queso was decent — not my favorite, but not bad, either. I liked the fresh cilantro and jalapeño chunks mixed in and the guacamole and chorizo were nice touches. The chips were nice and thick, which is so nice when you are trying to dip them into something thick like queso. No weak chips at this joint and that is much appreciated.
We received solid service throughout our entire dining experience, the food was delicious, and the cocktails were fantastic. I didn’t want to like this place, but I really have no complaints. Good job, Taco Flats. Way to set yourself apart from every other fancy taco joint in this town.

I wasn’t that impressed. Definitely over priced, over hyped, and, over heated. Seriously, the bathroom was the coolest spot in the place. We started out front, but, eventually moved to the back by the restrooms because of the temperature. You walk out of the bathroom and head towards the front of the bar and BAM! You are sucker punched by a thick wall of heat. What’s up with the AC guys?
I like that they have a scratch kitchen and make it all fresh. They even make their own corn and flour tortillas which is a win win. We got the papas which are hand cut, but, under fried for my taste. Some things I just don’t like limp, but, I’m not a big fry fan anyway. We also got the pastor, gringa (which is pastor minus cilantro add deep fried cheese), and the carnitas. The pastor was uneventful as it was dry and bland. We were both disappointed with those tacos, and, when we complained we were comped. The carnitas, however, deserve a little shout out. The pork had nice flavor and was tender and juicy. The slices of radishes that they put on them really didn’t bring anything to the taco. In other words the only reason I knew they were on the taco was because of the texture, not, the flavor.
Once we got our check we were looking over it and saw a charge for an old chub scottish ale for $ 6! We called the waiter over and pointed it out. He didn’t seem surprised and only said «oh, that must have been from earlier». Ummmm. WTF does that mean? It was our first and only time to have been in there. I don’t know what that was all about, but, one opinion could be self-​tipping. But that is a theory, not a fact. The waiters response was troubling. Left us feeling like it was purposely done. Not saying it was. Just how we felt. Any hoot, nothing makes me want to come back, and, if you go, watch that check and sit in the back by the bathrooms if you want a decent room temperature.