lloyd Taco Factory — Restaurant in Town of Amherst

Lloyd Taco Factory is not the kind of place you go for authentic Mexican food, nor is it the place you go for a cheap Americanized taco. Lloyd's is where you go when you want to eat something delicious and creative that happens to be wrapped in a corn tortilla.

Starting with the food, I have to say it is some of the best tasting stuff in town. I am usually a picky eater, but I dare not order anything from Lloyd without all that it is supposed to come with. I have come to understand that every single item (especially their rotating specials) is crafted to bring each element together for a unique and unbelievable taste. It may sound like I am exaggerating, but it is true. The food might as well be advertised as gourmet. At first, the menu might seem a bit small, but no smaller than Chipotle or Moe's to name a few examples. The real important part of the menu is the special--usually a taco and/or burrito. With great regularity, Lloyd changes the special to something thematic or clever, and it is ALWAYS something delicious and worth trying. For example, the special at the time of my most recent visit was "The Dyngus" in honor of Dyngus day. It was your choice of taco or burrito with house-made polish sausage, sauerkraut, dijon mayo, and parsley. I usually dislike sauerkraut, but you can bet your savings I ate "the Dyngus" with all the fixings and loved every bite!

The atmosphere is what I like to refer to as "industrial artistic". Lots of exposed paneling and pipes and an artistic flare to the decor. It is a comfortable place to hang out with friends, though maybe a bit less ideal for a family with multiple small children. There is a full bar there as well so you can enjoy some booze with your swanky gourmet tacos, nachos, and burritos. As far as I have seen, it is always kept clean and tidy.

The staff is friendly and genuinely seem to be enthusiastic. I have never encountered an openly grumpy employee, and most times the cashier is friendly and genuinely interested in giving me a good experience--even if our interaction is only for as long as it takes to cash out. A small, but noteworthy point is that they sell jarritos and other glass bottle beverages, and rather than make you open them yourself, they always offer to do so for you.

Overall, Lloyd is one of the best restaurants to grab food that will taste delicious. It isn't very cheap, and it isn't authentic Mexican, but their tacos and burritos are some of the best in Buffalo. Bonus points: they are extremely friendly for those with Celiac disease and others who eat...

I was skeptical when a co-worker told me that this was insanely better than a Chipotle, Qdoba, Moe's bracket. I'm biased as I absolutely love the salsa variety that Moe's provides. So I went in already a staunch chip on my shoulder, ready to defend Moe's with this wanna be burrito provider (I don't buy tacos when I could make them myself, weird I know). When I went inside I was impressed with the open feeling of good energy. One side had an open bar with a couple patrons who must have just gotten off work and started drinking, good on them. The other side was a food line where the magic apparently happens. I walk towards and notice a shorter man behind the counter (I was taller and had a better position to defend Moe's). I mention I've never been here before and the gent explains without any boredom present in his voice. Moe's people are bored of their job, it shows in their quality at times. He answers my questions on burritos and mentioned a couple details like locally sourced and probably pesticide free, it's a cool detail but doesn't matter if the food doesn't taste good. He mentions a spicy chicken signature wrap that has Frank's hot on it, not a fan. I openly douchebag the fact that I don't eat Frank's. The man isn't phased, he says they can make it without. He hands me the dice and I am making them make a signature without the hot sauce, a disadvantage. Moe's victory seems tangible by the second. I requested freah jalepenos and cilantro added, no extra cost, cool. It doesn't take long to cook it and I take it back to my vehicle and get ready to drive home. I unwrap it and take a bite. Moe's not only lost, but Lloyd's had written a eulogy at the funeral that I hadn't been invited to. The chicken tender strips had a dry rub that had a nice heat and not overly breaded, crispy to add texture, which I believe the shredded cabbage inside aided in. I'm not sure if it was cabbage but it was crunchier then any lettuce I've ever had, guess this is home grown quality. Not too much sauce that it never dripped at the bottom while eating, plenty of fresh vegetables and I had devoured it at 4 red lights away. I was tempted to turn around but traffic is enough to join Moe's in the casket so I continued on my journey home, a new convert mystified over the revelation that I had just been made privy to....

We visited the Williamsville location. The tacos and burritos are very interesting. Unique flavor combinations. The two of us tried almost all of the burritos (Dirty South, Skinny Thai, Crispy Fish, Chicken, and Big Lloyd). Definitely not authentic Mexican, but very good nonetheless. Everything is a-la-carte, which is expensive. We chose burritos thinking that the higher price would mean substantially more filling than the lower priced tacos making it easier to share tastes. Not so. Burrito filling portions were small and served in cardboard take-out dishes which are too small to catch all the filling when it falls out, which it inevitably does with this type of food, and you would want to catch every bit at these prices. The desserts were ok...again expensive, and barely enough to get a good taste.

The atmosphere, well, there is none. Cold. Uncomfortable seating. I don't know about the bar, we didn't sit there. It didn't look inviting. Overall, I'd say that the food tasted great, just too expensive for the amount served. One interesting thing is the ability to see the machine making the tacos. It wasn't running at the time we were there... disappointing. That would have been cool to see. I'd like to point out that the photos on their website show larger portions that we were actually served. The photos show that the taco and it's filling take up a good amount of the cardboard dish. In reality, at least when we were there, they didn't fill up as much of the dish.

So I rate it a 3. (5 for taste, but minus 1 for price and minus 1...