Taco Shako — Restaurant in Jefferson Township

The second we stepped out of the car, we were hit with the most amazing smell. We were excited walking in, already planning to come back before even tasting anything. Turns out that heavenly smell was coming from the restaurants next door- Halal Burger and Hyderabad House. Not Taco Shako. Do yourself a favor: save your taste buds and your money, and just follow that smell over there instead.

When we walked in, the place looked great at first. Super cute, nicely decorated, had a modern vibe. But once we actually sat down, the illusion died fast. Seats were covered in crumbs, grease, and random stains I couldn’t even guess at. Tables were dirty, like no one bothered to wipe them since the last people left. Still, we stayed optimistic and ordered. Big mistake.

The food came out and it was just downhill from there.

Steak tacos: Total jumpscare. Looked exactly like my cats’ dry food, but somehow even drier. Drenched it in sauce and still had to choke it down with gulps of horchata. Horchata: Cinnamon water with chunky bits. Zero creaminess, zero flavor balance. Just… unsettling. Chicken tacos: Literally tasted like someone took old shredded chicken, blended it with watery tomato sauce, and dumped it in a tortilla. Texture? Off. Taste? Worse. Shrimp tacos: I don’t know who thought this was a good idea, but they clearly needed to add shrimp tacos on the menu with minimum cost and effort so someone came up with the genius idea to advertise basically Costco popcorn shrimp with Costco guac thrown into a tortilla. Guess what? Not so genius. Rice: Looked like red kichri. Tasted like someone emptied an entire chicken powder packet into it and called it a day. Beans: Mostly hot bean water with a sad sprinkle of cheese trying to hide the fact that there were barely any actual beans. Birria tacos: The only REMOTELY edible item, but still not actual birria tacos. More like nihari tacos. Tasted exactly like the chef (none other than someone’s brown mom) dumped a Shan nihari packet into a pot, shredded up some meat, and decided to proudly market it as birria.

And the bathrooms? Honestly felt like the set of a low budget horror movie. Lights barely working, floors gross, watered down soap that did nothing. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Bottom line: Total scam. Given how hyped up this place is and the prices they charge, it was disappointing. We left most of the food on the table, just trying bites of each thing hoping something would redeem it. Spoiler: nothing did. We walked in excited, thinking we were about to have an amazing taco night, and left feeling like we just paid to be part of someone’s lazy desi family kitchen experiment. If you’re craving nihari masquerading as birria, sad Costco shrimp, and watered down beans, by all means, enjoy. Otherwise, do yourself a favor and pick literally any other taco place. Wouldn’t recommend and definitely won’t be back.

This place is proof that good decor doesn’t mean good food- sometimes it just means a prettier place to regret your...

Maybe those who tried the food have lower expectations. I know authentic Mexican food when I see/taste it and what I received was not it. I ordered flautas and the meat was so hard to chew the outter part was not crispy but more like stale the toppings were barely there and pretty much had slid off when I opened the container. They didn’t give any sauce like u normally would get at an authentic Mexican joint, the beans and rice were about a spoonful. Anyone who knows real Chicago Mexican cuisine knows the generous size of beans and rice you get with your meal and my meal was $15 plus tax so I definitely expected the portion to be very reasonable. The rice was plain, beans tasted like they came straight out of a can and actually tatsed a bit watery. I’m just being completely transparent! I threw it in the trash. Maybe their other dishes are better but not sure I want to spend the money to find out. I lived in Cicero for many many years, grew up dining frequently in little village visiting my Mexican cousins and ate plenty of real Mexican food....

It was lunch time when I went their with family it was extreme hot in the Resturant I can totally see that ac was not working when ask the reception she said it is hot outside later on I notice they turn on as it started cooling, I atleast ask 3 items on menu and they said they were out of stock. Resturant was empty so I was surprised just to give an example they did not have beans. The gluc they served was black in color like how avocado turn black after certain time. I made of place not sure if I can post it food was not worth taking pictures ppl who made videos about the place I think they do not know how Mexican food taste like. Bathroom was dirty and dark. I order fajita platter which do not look like fajita platter it look like shredded boil chicken waste of time and money never returning. They are new place need to work on everything taste, atmosphere...