Taco Place & Steak House

As someone who seeks out all things capsaicin oriented, I was quite intrigued when I saw this on Taco Place & Steak House’s website:
Challenge #2 — Taco Inferno Challenge (Please eat at your own risk!)
Can you handle the heat? If so, try our Taco Inferno Challenge. Here’s how it works:
* Finish 1 taco and you only pay half.
* Finish 2 tacos and you don’t pay anything.
* If you are tough enough to eat 3 tacos, you don’t pay anything and we buy your next meal!
Being as though I’m one who has never backed down from a heat-​based challenge, I thought I might have found a free lunch from now until the demise of TP/​SH.
You know that maxim about free lunches? Turns out they’re not so far off.
I stopped by at about midnight tonight (that’s MY lunch time… if you wanna judge, start a Unilocal page on my behalf). I asked about the Inferno Challenge and was informed that they no longer honor the offer that is still currently posted on their website.
Stee-​rike One.
I decided to order a «taco inferno» anyway, along with an al pastor. Upon hearing my order, the gentlemen in charge of the restaurant (who were the only two people in the seating area), got up to take care of my order.
They were gracious enough to give me a sample of the «inferno» salsa, apparently mixed with their standard salsa, to see if I could «handle it.» It had a mild to moderate amount of heat, but to be honest, this was the first time I met a salsa/​hot sauce that I couldn’t handle. Unfortunately, it had NOTHING to do with the level of heat. The salsa had enough salt in it to torture an army of slugs.
Foul Ball (gotta give ‘em credit for making contact with the honest attempt).
When I finally received my «taco inferno,» the salsa was identical to their sample. It is now about an hour later, and I can still feel that my blood pressure level is through the roof, a sensation which I can honestly say that I’ve never felt before.
The al pastor tasted as though it had been roasting on the spit for about 8 hours. Then again, it was midnight, and there was nobody in the restaurant, so I should have known better than to order it in the first place.
Foul tip… into the catcher’s mitt. Yer Out, TP/​SH.
I’ll give them 2 stars for having the cojones to experiment with a habanero salsa in the first place. That said, I came for the flavor, the sting, and the glorious buzz of the habanero, not the shame and disappointment of feeling as though I completed my first day on the job as «rejected margarita glass licker.»

Update — Ok I’m not sure if there are new owners again? But now they take credit/​debit card, so it’s not just cash only. Prices were raised a little too, but the food is still just as good!

Basic Mexican food, well prepared, with fresh ingredients and evident care. I’ve been twice in the last month, and both times was really happy with the meal.
The place is clean and the people are very friendly.
Exceeds my expectations.
They DO take credit/​debit cards. It’s not cash-​only.

I placed my order at 8pm online. After waiting an hour and a half I called them to check on my order. They told me it was out for delivery. Exactly two hours later at 10pm I got a call from the driver asking me for directions… I live on Diversey. I explained to her how to get here. 20 minutes later nothing. I called her back using my caller ID asking where my food was. She said, «oh, you haven’t cancelled it yet? Yea we couldn’t find Diversey»

We were craving for something middle of the night, so we looked and picked first random place we found on
. We ordered big burrito dinner/​steak/​, chicken enchiladas, 4 regular tacos and salsa/​chips. The food was over-​all alright. Steak has a taste of a grill /​exactly the way I like/​Delivery was almost on time, 5 minutes late but what would you expect 1.30 in the morning, right? Beans were kinda salty. I’ve had better but we liked food. Only thing is I don’t get why they charge for salsa/​chips? Food was 35 w/​delivery and we paid 40 for all of them. It was my first time and I was bit scared because of bad reviews. I will order again and if that will be bad I’ll post it here.

food-​wise, eh. i’ve had better. the steak tacos and chicken tacos were kinda dry. the fish taco was apparently the best thing we ordered; i wouldn’t know because the whole thing was in my girlfriend’s tummy before i could take my coat off. the guac-​y salsa was yummy, but spiii-​cy, so watch out.
the reasons they are getting 3 stars instead of just 2 are:
*they were incredibly nice and friendly.
*they were the only place open on our way home. don’t even git me started on erick’s tacos, who turned off their lights as we reached for the door. the funny thing is as that happened i had déjà vu. i think erick’s tacos and i keep missing each other. their loss!
*taco place & steak house is cute and clean. PRISTINE compared to almost every other late night mexican joint i’ve ever set foot in. yep, even the bathroom.
good service goes a long way, people. therefore, i’m sure i’ll be back to try the rest of the menu.

Why does this place have so many bad reviews?
The inferno taco holds true to it’s name. My brother loves spicy food and this taco is always a high level of spice. I tried the guacamole taco… it was pretty good as well. We didn’t have to wait that long which was nice, but the wait can vary depending on when you go.
I’m glad that Taco Place & Steak House is open again. Plus it has a decent location right around Lawrence and Damen.

Geez, why the bad rating? I haven’t tried them all yet, but so far for me, this is the strongest presence among the crowd of taqueria contenders on Lawrence between Broadway and Western. Their meat is consistently very good; I rarely have to use any salsa – it’s just that flavorful on its own. The steak and the barbacoa are standouts. Even the chicken is surprisingly tasty. AND – the chorizo is somehow not at all greasy but not dry either. How do they do that?! I’ve never had a non-​greasy chorizo taco. The governor taco is shrimp and pico de gallo, but it’s kind of mushy and a little light on flavor. Stick with the formerly four-​legged meats. I would love to see what these guys could do with a tofu version like at Rockin’ Taco.
The guacamole portion is small but the product is very solid. It doesn’t quite measure up to the local champ, Erick’s, but it is good enough to add to my order whenever I stop in for tacos. The chips are good, and a couple of the salsas are very nice, particularly the tomatillo. I probably wouldn’t choose to dine in because the space is spartan and empty, but the people are friendly.

Holy shit, I had no idea food could be this disgusting.
The only good thing I can say about this place is that the food showed up quickly — though I would have preferred it to not show up at all.
I ordered a carne asada torta and it was inedible. First of all, the bread was hard. Not hard like lightly toasted, but hard like it’d been sitting out for several days. Second, they did not cut the meat. It was two steak patties that looked processed, similar to salisbury steak. They were so chewy and overcooked that I could not bite through the sandwich. I finally got a fork out and discovered that my fork couldn’t even do the trick. After sawing through the thing with a steak knife, I discovered that this magical meat somehow manages to be salty enough to make me cringe, yet also oddly devoid of flavor.
My dining companion ordered a steak chimichanga and two steak quesadillas. His chimichanga had about 90% cheese and 10% meat. He described trying to eat this much cheese in his ‘changa as like chewing cheese and steak flavored gum. But not even tasty cheese and steak gum. As another reviewer mentioned, their cheese is not particularly cheese flavored, and is instead some kind of Velveeta-​esque white cheese. We peeked at the quesadillas but neither of us were brave enough to put anymore of this awful food into our mouths.
Their salsas were good, as other people have mentioned, but despite ordering 3 full meals worth of food, we only received a thimble sized container of salsa verde and a thimble sized container of some kind of hot sauce.
If you enjoy edible food I would encourage you to avoid this terrible place.

You should really avoid this place at all costs. I’ve tried the Chicken, Steak and Beef. All 3 have been bad. Mexican rice and black beans are ok. They do offer delivery but you’re looking at 60 – 75 minute wait time. I think I’ve given them my business for the last time.

We ordered food for about 4 people at 7pm. The food arrived at 9:15pm and it was all wrong.
I only ordered Mexican food because I was craving for guacamole and quesadilla and they were both missing.
The guys were so hungry that we just got what they brought and I didn’t like anything…

This place is pretty good! It’s so nice having late night grub available close to home… their pork torta’s are AMAZING! I like their taco’s a lot too… all the different salsa are fun to try. Definitely recommend trying this place out… gets the job done when are craving some yummy Mexican food!

I also went the Grub Hub route and was pleasantly surprised. I was a little afraid to try this place because of the bad reviews on here and Grub Hub but I’m glad I took the chance. The food was exactly what I would expect from a Mexican restaurant that isn’t in Mexico. The guacamole and shrimp ceviche I had were pretty good and it was delivered on time from a nice delivery guy. I guess I got lucky with my experience.

Awful awful awful.
I had my dinner delivered and hated it. If it were even slightly authentic Mexican food, I could have found something I liked about it.
First off, the quesadillas were made with some white «Velveeta”-like cheese. I order quesadillas in order to enjoy the flavor and stringy texture of the cheese. This stuff was ready for a fondue pot. Ecch.
I had a Burrito Suizo – full of everything except flavor and the meat I selected. Plenty of beans and rice, though. It was BLAND. And the order screen features the accompanying salsas like it’s a big deal – the containers were just thrown in the bag with no way to tell them apart.
My dinner guest had a Chimichanga which is a fried version of the burrito I mentioned above & could only make it through two bites before he said «enough». I expect Chimichangas to be a bit greasy, but the grease had sort of a fishy (old?) flavor that completely ruined the plate.
Next time I will save my $ 30 and spend $ 5-​$ 6 on microwave burritos and enjoy the flavor and texture more.

I ordered delivery from here on Grub Hub, since I had a hankerin’ for tacos while at my sister’s place. It was OK but not amazing. I had a chicken taco, beef barbacoa taco, and al pastor taco. The tortillas were a little dry, but most of the meats were well seasoned and juicy.
It came with rice and beans, neither of which I was expecting. I ordered chips and guac, which were ok — the guac was a little too oniony and not limey enough for me.

Placed a delivery order, they jerked me around for 2 hours and claimed they’d left to deliver it – which kept me from placing an order with a restaurant that would have actually delivered – then FINALLY admitted that they hadn’t even planned to deliver the order, they didn’t have a delivery driver and nobody was planning on delivering the food.

This is a solid three-​star review. Not as good as Cabana de Don Luis but far better than Garcia’s. I still don’t understand why people like that place so much. I assumed Taco Place is BYOB, but we forgot to bring any beer with us: (
We had taco dinners, which were plentiful and tasty. The food came out piping hot, but it didn’t feel like the heat was on in the dining area, so the food was cold by the time we finished eating. They have several salsas to choose from, and you just have to ask. Service is friendly, and they have a lot of items on their menu. This is one of the few places that has fish (grilled talapia) as a filling option.
They also offer something called «Tacos Inferno» (a mixture of steak and chorizo) and a challenge: if can finish two you don’t have to pay. My husband tried one and said it wasn’t all that hot but it did have a kick. The foot-​long burrito challenge is also tempting. If you can eat it in under 30 minutes it’s free. I don’t know of anyone who has tried that yet.

The great thing about the Taco Place is that they flame broil their meat. It is like eating a delicious steak taco in someones backyard! The burrito was packed with the tasty meat with rice and cilantro and all the other fixings. Thier green tomatillo salsa was perfect. Great steak taco.

Skeptical ol’ me overcame her skepticism to visit the somewhat jinxed location on Lawrence between Hoyne and Hamilton. Has been several places — mostly middle eastern. Now Taco Place just opened up and has been relatively empty over the past couple weeks post-​Grand Opening. However, I’m in the hood and I love a taqueria, so I gave it a shot. Was not disappointed.
I opted for the Veggie Burrito (only $ 4.50 and HUGE) because skeptical ol’ me is always a little meat-​phobic on first visits. It was really, really good. Hot, large, grilled — with rice, beans (whole, not refried), lettuce, avocado, cilantro, tomato, sour cream, cheese. With such a cheap main course, I could splurge on an appetizer of Guacamole with my lunch, too (only $ 3.50). It too was fresh and tasty. Chips were hot when served, as well.
The crown jewel of this, though, was their green sauce. I started with their red, which was just ‘meh.’ But the green is not your typical tomatillo salsa. It’s like a jalepno creamy hot thing. So delicious! Do not skip this if you like a little heat.
So anyway, I’m in full support of the new Taco Place, despite their bad signage and empty-​ish dining room. They serve a variety of other more interesting options like a $ 15 foot-​long Super Burrito, which if you eat within 30 min, you get $ 15 in food, or something called a Taco Inferno, if you’re feeling adventurous. They also have some American Grill type stuff, of course, but so far, the burrito and salsa on it’s own will have me coming back! Such a great surprise!
Oh, and the counter guy /​cook was very nice and reminded me that they are on
, even though I live like ½ a block away.