täkō — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

Went here for dinner on 4th of July before fireworks. Never made it to fireworks because we had to go to the emergency room due to nut allergies. We checked the menu and there wasn’t anything that mentioned nuts in the things we ordered. We told the waiter we were sharing everything and he asked us about food allergies. We obviously told him my boyfriend had nut allergies. After one taco my boyfriend started to show symptoms and went to throw up in the bathroom. We each only had one drink and one taco each even though we put an order in for three (each order had 2 tacos) and one more round of drinks for each of us (which we barely had a sip). While my boyfriend was in the bathroom I checked with the waiter again to make sure that nothing we ordered had nuts on it and he assured me there was not. I told him for the future to be careful in the kitchen because I thought it was probably cross contamination at the time. The waiter went back in the kitchen which I assumed he was informing the cooks. We had to Uber back home immediately after paying our check in full plus 20% tip (I will say I did ask to pack the rest of the food bc it would’ve been thrown away and I was going to give it to my sister - who doesn’t have nut allergies). We ended up having to go to the ER shortly after. Just wanted to post this bc thinking back we made it seem like everything was ok with taking the food and paying in full but we actually had to spend the rest of the night in the ER until 1am (4 hours!). I was so confused how cross contamination would’ve caused such a reaction so I checked every single item we ordered on the menu again. There was no nuts mentioned. I proceed to look up potential ingredients on every order. Turns out one of the sauces (which can be made without nuts) could’ve been made with nuts!!! There were many items on the menu which out right stated the nut ingredients so we stayed away from those except one which had “romesco sauce”. Pleaseeeeee keep your employees informed of what items on the menu have nuts or at the very least place warning symbols on those items with nuts! Regardless, this is something you should know as a waiter especially when you confirmed with the customer that they have allergies! I’m confused why the waiter still assured me there were no nuts in any of the dishes when I asked if there were nuts. He went back in the kitchen which I assumed was to ask the cooks about the food and still did not inform us! This could’ve ended way worse! What’s done is done but please take our situation seriously and do better for the next customers. Food allergy is not something to...

I want to start this review with positive statement that Every time visiting Pittsburgh we make sure to visit couple of Richard Deshantz's restaurants. We've been to B&R next door and M&P around the corner. tako was the third restaurant of this group that we wanted to try. And up until this experience we loved everything about the other two. This time it was different. They seated us (in spite of the reservation) at the worst table possible (right in front of the WC (restroom) door). And though I noticed two tables available upstairs the hostess refused to change table reasoning that party of 4 they expect to be seated there. Well, after a little while she seated a party of 2 (just like us) and that was the end of it. To tell you the truth we wouldn't be that irritated by the situation if the good people of Pittsburgh would show their nice attitude to the fellow patrons by closing the door on the way out of the mentioned WC. But guess what, 99.9 % of the people didn't!?!?... Either because of the luck of their manners or might be they thought it would be so appetizing for us to add some additional smells and the "beautiful" site of the restroom to our culinary experience, but who knows what they were thinking? One thing is for sure we know what we were thinking about the "beautiful" culture of Pittsburgh. To make a long story shorter: food (except of desserts which were good) was unremarkable at best; service was hectic, unprofessional but trying to please (thank you at least for that); ambiance was described in the first part of the review; drinks were the lowest quality we ever had; and value for all of the above was really bad. The saving grace was done by the manager who took desserts off the check and agreed with our concerns about the WC door (hopefully something will be done about it for the sake of future customers sitting at this spot). So if it wouldn't be for him handling the situation my rating would be 1* period. Conclusion: no go for us, and you decide...

My dad and I are traveling around pittsburgh trying to find the best tacos in the city. Täkō is the third stop on our tour. Täkō is our new favorite shattering the competition. While pricier than the first two taco establishments, the tacos are not a terrible value. My dad and I went with some family to dinner here. We were greeted by a cramped, dimly lighted, modern, restaurant. My family and I were seated on the top floor. When ordering we decided to start with an appetizer of papas bravas. This potato dish was very good. The whole family gave it a universal thumbs up. For the main course we decided to get the taco board. This board of 12 tacos was a decent value. The tacos were 2 pairs of octopus tacos, a pair of fish tacos, a pair of carnitas tacos, a pair of chicken tacos, and a pair of chorizo tacos. All of the tacos were incredible. They were the best tasting tacos I have ever had by a long shot. The tacos were all very filling. My family decided to split the tacos so everyone could get a little of everything. The groups universal favorite taco was the carnitas. If you can only choose one taco I would recommend this. My second favorite was the octopus. The octopus was cooked to perfection and it melted in my mouth. The chicken tacos were excellent and could hold their own. The chorizo tacos were paired with an egg creating a very unique combination of flavors. The fish tacos were solid as well. The thing that stood out from Täkō is that the chef is so good at creating unique combinations of flavors that all blend together to create an incredible taco. Täkō served me the best tacos I have ever had. If budget is not a concern it would be ludicrous to pass up this restaurant. Even with a budget the prices are not terrible. A pair of tacos is very filling and is definitely a full meal. Täkō surpassed my expectations and showed that modern Mexican can compete with...