Taco Loco — Restaurant in Laguna Beach

I'm so confused by this place. Like I genuinely don't get it, is it just a tourist trap perhaps? How is this place rated so high? Because I don't see why anyone would come back here more than once, especially with the absurd prices they charge?

My girlfriend wanted a taco salad, and I saw that they had a beef taco salad. Simple enough. Went to check out the place and I was looking for a burrito, but after checking the menu it was 17 DOLLARS for a "beef" burrito. No thanks. Told her to just get her salad and I would eat somewhere else, already started to have a bad feeling. By the way, if you're not from California and you're reading this, general rule of thumb for Mexican food here is the higher the prices, the worse the food. I don't make the rules, I just live here.

The thing comes out ($11 for a "half" salad btw) and the beef is white. You may be thinking that it was chicken, but we asked and they said no it was beef. Never seen white beef before (I'm heavily implying that it was not beef. Vegie/vegan meat perhaps, maybe the worker just didn't want to remake her salad. Which is weird because there were like 2 other people eating here). Didn't help that the rest of the salad wasn't great either. Dressing was flavorless, "guac" was just diced avocado, no cheese, and the tortilla part was literally just 3-4 loose tostitos chip rounds. She got maybe halfway through with it, final verdict it was gross, "how do you mess up a taco salad". So yeah I don't know where they get their prices from, but I'm so glad I didn't order their $17 white beef burrito. Maybe the fish tacos are good? Wouldn't know, those things are like $8+ PER taco, so not paying that.

About a block away there's an incredible place called "Taco Stand". For two dollars more than that pitiful taco salad, you can get these loaded shrimp and high quality steak smothered fries that are so good. Went there after so I could eat, and we ended up sharing because she got nothing out of Taco Loco. Other prices for items there were great, it actually looked like real good Mexican food (staff was way nicer too).

Save yourself a trip, if you want some good food go to Taco Stand about a block away. The only "Loco" thing about Taco Loco is their prices and white beef. The only reason I'm giving this place 2 stars was because the decor was pretty...

If I could give 0 stars on this review I would. This was my 1st try at this place and DEFINITELY my last!! Just a quick review of my experience:

Pros:...................... I'm in Laguna??

Cons:

• Food a bit pricey (beside the point, if it was GOOD food I wouldn't care much).

** -- They got my order wrong. I had ordered 2 burritos for both of my kids (repeated it TWICE since they repeated my order back incorrectly the 1st time). Once the food was done (long wait) and I noticed I received 2 Tacos instead of 2 burritos, I immediately went to tell owner/worker that i received the incorrect order and handed my receipt. The owner/worker pointed out how "they" didn't get the order wrong since it showed correctly on the receipt. We stood there for approx. 5 minutes going back and forth as I was trying to explain I NEVER order the tacos to begin with (and the receipt isn't clear on it's itemization). Conclusion..... owner/work kept insisting " they " didn't hear wrong but that I had ordered wrong?!?! And even when I kept stating that I still need the burritos ordered as my kids are starving beyond this point, the owner asked for the tacos back (HELLOOO!!! COVID?!?! YOU WANT THE TACOS THAT YOU HANDED TO ME BACK?!) and advised he will still need to charge me for the burritos. I still paid for the burritos that "I had ordered incorrectly" because i have 2 starving kids that ate the tacos anyways since they still charged me and the tacos were not enough or fulfilling.

--food...

This was highly disappointing. I was so bummed. First, the woman at the counter seemed really impatient. We got our food unusually fast, but when we went to have our salsa and whatnot added, she didnt even tell me what was available and then when she did, she seemed irritated that I was asking her to put salsa and other condiments on 6 small tacos. She was practically handing the tray to me before they had anything on them and I had to tell her to wait until the salsa was added. The tacos shrank immensely from the last time I came here. They have increased the price on everything. Way over priced. Nearly 30 bucks for 6 tacos. The tacos were cold, which takes me back to how unusually fast they brought them out. Cold. Why were our tacos cold? The potato tacos were undercooked too. Huge let down. I won't be going back. Why were our...