Chavas Tacos El Original — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

Coming from Texas and having tried multiple tasty authentic Mexican restaurants, I would say Chavas Tacos falls "South of the Border" of tasty. In other words, don't waste your time and money on this 24 hour taco spot as the food is lacking Mexican Spices and flavor.

Food Ordered: Barbacoa Taco on flour tortilla - Medium sized taco with shredded beef that was mildly seasoned. The barbacoa was the most flavored meat I had purchased and it was a 4/10 on the spices. Tortilla tasted packaged and not homemade.

Tampiqueña - Grilled Steak with cheese enchiladas, refried beans, and rice. The steak was bland and super thin. It was like the steak had already been cooked and not seasoned. Then they warmed the steak up on the flat top, NOT a GRILL, so meat was then overcooked to where the meat had brown crispy spots from when it was pressed on the flat top. The meat honestly just tasted like meat with a dash of salt. No marinades or spices. (Would not recommend) Moreover, the enchiladas were very soggy. The rice was fluffy, but lacked any Mexican flavors and the beans were the same way.

Steak Taco on Corn Tortilla - the tasteless meat continued. This taco meat was just the unflavored meat chopped onto tiny pebbles and flat top charred to add saltiness.

Chicken Taco on Corn Tortilla - This was the most tasteless item I had ordered. This would rate a 1/10 on flavor. The chicken tasted like boiled chicken with absolutely NO SPICES. Canned chicken was similar to the taste of the pulled white meat breast. The onions and cilantro helped me eat the protein, but really where is the sabor?

Guacamole - freshly made but lacking spices that really make Guacamole tasty. It just tasted like mash avacados with tomatoes and onions mixed in.

As you can see, I tried to give Chavas an opportunity to light up my taste buds, but they couldn't even get a spark to emit. Please don't let the picture deceive you. The pictures on their menu may look delicious, but believe me the food is not quite there. If you want great tacos packed with flavor head 5 minutes northwest on Grand and you'll run into "Tacos El...

I’m an Afro American customer by the way, I called in my order for pick up for my one hour lunch break! and I asked what comes with the burrito dinner, I was told by the bleached blond haired Mexican lady what comes on the burrito, I asked again what comes with the dinner! I asked again what comes with the dinner, I had to ask do beans and rice come with the dinner, because she wasn’t comprehending! I placed the order! When I arrive there was another customer in front of me paying for his order! He was using a debit card! FYI! When I get to the register I said pick up for Sophia, I give her my debit card , she then asked me for iD! Which she did not do for the customer in front of me! I had several cards in my pocket with my name on it! She would not accept those! There is currently construction on the street, in front of and all along grand ave, which made it very difficult for me to find parking in the first place! I would have walked 1 block and a half back to my car to get my iD! but instead I just canceled the order cause I felt very discriminated against by someone whose a minority them selves, and didn’t ask the Hispanic man in front of me for the same thing that she asked me...

Went in with my husband originally to just get horchata. I've be been wanting a burrito and a few places have failed at flavor so I decided to give them a try. First the girl at the register was very cold. We were trying to make conversation with her and be fun customers and she was not having it at all. Not personable at all not wanting to build any type of rapport. Didn't even make eye contact. I asked her if they seasoned the chicken. She said yes. I watched as the cook was making the food. He threw a bunch of shredded pale chicken on the grill then He sprinkled something on it that I guess was supposed to be seasoning. I decided to cut it on half and taste it there before I left. Glad I did. The refried beans were super bland(Canned of course) chicken as suspected was flavorless. I was super disappointed. I took her the bag and said "I'm sorry babe this is not good." Without making eye contact with me and not apologetic in any way she simply stated "want to try another meat?" I just asked for my money back. She handed my money and that was it. Again no eye contact or apology.

Definitely no authenticity here. My hubby and kids love the horchata, but that's all they got going...