I walked into Takiza expecting... nothing special. You know the vibe--new taco spot, cute name,…read moreprobably decent, maybe a little overhyped, I'll sip a beer and mind my business. WRONG. IMMEDIATELY WRONG. This place said "lower your expectations so we can absolutely destroy them." First of all--Karina. Bartender. Waitress. Possibly a time traveler?? This woman was at every table, shaking cocktails, dropping plates, checking vibes, probably solving world peace in the back between orders. GIRL. HOW. DO. YOU. DO. THIS. Fast, sharp, funny--Karina is the moment. Promote her. Protect her. Build her a statue out of limes and taco shells. Now let's talk about the chicharrones, because this is where we separate the amateurs from the legends. This is the one thing you cannot fake. Either you nail it or I start planning my dramatic Yelp exit mid-bite. These?I nearly fell clean off my barstool. CRUNCH that echoed through my ancestors. Juicy, decadent, perfectly salted--OH. HELL. YEAH. I haven't had chicharrones this good in years. YEARS. I blacked out for a second and came back whispering "we're safe... dinner is going to be amazing." Then the street corn showed up like it had a personal vendetta against bland food. Juicy, messy, unapologetic. I'm talking juice dripping down my elbow, chin glistening like I just ran a marathon through a summer street fair. I could feel the heat rising off imaginary pavement. If your food doesn't make you slightly feral, what are we even doing? And then, brace yourselves, the street tacos.FRIED. OUTER. SHELLS. WHO gave them permission to go this hard?? I stared at them like they just told me a secret. Golden, crispy edges with that soft, flavorful center... I was not emotionally prepared. Asada tacos? Oh she's elegant. She's balanced. She brought friends: fresh lime, guac, onion, radish, slaw, pickled red onion--like a full cast of characters and every single one understood the assignment. The steak? Tender, flavorful, not out here fighting for attention. Just a lovely, confident bite. We love a secure queen. Now... ceviche.Listen. I am insufferable about ceviche. I know this. I accept this. It was good--delightful, even--but I like mine to slap me across the face and steal my wallet. This one leaned a little sweet, a little polite. And I'm over here like, "where's the chaos?? where's the lime that makes me question my life choices??" Remember the rule: pain and poor decisions.(In my food. Relax.) Final verdict?Takiza did not come to play. It came to dominate your tastebuds, ruin lesser taco spots for you, and leave you texting Karina like "u up?" 5 stars. No notes. Okay... one note:I will be back, and I will be hungrier

We came for my husbands birthday celebration last week. Tacos are very pricey for what you get. Al…read morepastor taco pork was extremely dry and tough, it was well beyond well done lol The shrimp taco was good and asada taco wasn't bad. Guacamole was OK- you have to mix everything yourself and squeeze the lime in. Everything was honestly mediocre and service wasn't particularly great. The waiter didn't come around to ask how the food was so I didn't even have a chance to tell him the al pastor taco was extremely dry and didn't get to ask if they have any house made hot sauces. It was my husbands birthday and I thought about getting the churro dessert but we decided to get dessert elsewhere after trying the food.

Delicious! The green chili was so good and the flautas were so yummy. Their chips are seasoned so…read morewell, I couldn't stop eating them. Certainly a hole in the wall but a fantastic find!

So, you knew this was coming. You saw me check in. You saw…read moreme lurking. Somewhere in the kitchen, a cook probably felt a sudden disturbance in the Force and whispered, "The fluffy girl is judging." Correct. I am. Well, here it is. I am conflicted, but unapologetic. I fully acknowledge that when it comes to Mexican food, I can be an absolutely unbearable little diva. Now before everyone starts clutching their pearls understand this: I am deeply, irrationally, passionately in love with Mexican food. So when someone says, "Let's get tacos," I'm already in the car. Burritos? Absolutely. Enchiladas? Don't threaten me with a good time. Empanadas? Now we're having a conversation. But when you disappoint me? I'm left feeling... empty. I have forgiven exes for less than I have forgiven mediocre Mexican food. But disappointment? Disappointment sits with me. Disappointment follows me home. Disappointment rides shotgun. So we stopped in for an easy family dinner. The service was lovely. Beer was cold. Restaurant was clean. Everyone was nice. The reviews are glowing. People LOVE this place. Which makes what happened next even more confusing. For dinner, I ordered the Enchiladas Suizas, and the princesa ordered her usual, I will only eat food I can recognize and pronounce, plain beef tacos. Still judging her food choices, by the way. PLEASE. One day. Surprise me. Order something with a sauce. The tacos? No notes. They existed. They were tacos. The Enchiladas Suizas? Okay. Just okay. The sauce was mild. Very mild. Tangy, yes. Fire? Absolutely not. This is food for people who refer to black pepper as , getting a little wild! And that's fine. But I like food that makes me think about it later. I want a little sting. A little drama. I want it to slap me just enough that I'm sitting in my car afterward going, "Ooooooo." Instead, these enchiladas tucked me in, kissed my forehead, and reminded me to stay hydrated. Now. THE CHICHARRONES. Gather around. This is where the story takes a dark turn. Those who know me know this is my thing. My test. My line in the sand. My cardiologist would tackle me into traffic if he knew how much I love them. This is the one item that separates the contenders from the pretenders. Baby, you cannot fake a great chicharrón. So naturally, I ordered some to go. And friends... These weren't exactly chicharrones. They were maybe the memory of chicharrones. The suggestion of chicharrones. These were chicharrón particles. Pork dust. The fossil record of a snack. The tiny fragments left behind after all the real chicharrones escaped and started better lives elsewhere. I opened the container and genuinely thought someone had accidentally swept a countertop into it. Not leftovers. The crumbs left behind after the actual chicharrones had already gone home. They weren't whole, glorious, crunchy, porky masterpieces. They were tiny bits. Fragments. Scraps. Not leftovers. What comes after leftovers. The emotional support debris of leftovers. Because I am an optimist. Because I believe in second chances. Because every toxic relationship starts with maybe it'll be different this time. The next morning I put them on eggs, hoping for redemption. I ended up throwing the eggs away. THE EGGS. Do you know what kind of statement that is in this economy? Eggs are no longer food. They're a financial instrument. They're a retirement plan. They're tiny oval gold bars with shells. People are basically keeping them in safety deposit boxes. And I threw them away. Those eggs. Gone. So where does that leave me? Conflicted. The service was good. The restaurant was clean. The staff was kind. The tacos were fine. The enchiladas were aggressively polite. But the chicharrones broke my heart. And if you're going to break my heart, at least make it crunchy. Three stars for dinner. One star for the emotional damage. Five stars for giving me something to talk about for the next six months.

Absolutely delish! We got the Kielbasa rice bowl. It was perfectly grilled and seasoned. It was $15…read morewhich was not terrible for what we got, but still a little pricey. We got it at the Jackalope Arts Fair! They were also nice service wise! Definitely will look for them at future events.

My recent visit was not as great as my first one…read more Make sure to check your order before you leave if you buy food here! I didn't receive the grilled veggies for either of my combo plates. I only realized this after I got home and found a good portion of my order missing. These combos cost over $20 each. I ordered the Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Combo Plate and Crispy Coconut Shrimp Combo. Previously, they served jumbo butterfly shrimp and it was great. Unfortunately, the shrimp isn't the same anymore. The inside of the egg rolls were too cold, reminding me of frozen egg rolls that weren't heated enough.

I was really hoping to love this place and didn't. We tried it as we had a coupon from a local high…read moreschool fundraiser. We both had the grande treehugger burrito. They were huge but mostly made up of shredded hash browns, very little eggs or anything else for that matter. They were also pretty dry and didn't taste made to order.

Drove twenty five minutes and was excited to try this place since there are so many good reviews…read more The burrito was okay, nothing special. It could have been better. Took a star off because I found a hair half way through my burrito but did not want to make it into a big deal.

$20 for a bowl of lettuce ground beef and some rice is excessive. Tastes on par with Taco Bellread more

Dear Cilantro & Perejil,…read more I was lured in from the parking lot by your delicious aroma. In fact, I stopped in my tracks to place my order before heading inside at Green Mountain Brewing for a couple brews. Your staff was super friendly and wonderfully communicative about wait times. After a mere 15 minutes my buzzer went off and I dashed out to grab my chicken bowl. Holy delicious! My chicken bowl was loaded with rice, beans, marinated chicken, lettuce, tomato, guac, cilantro, cheese, sour cream, and pickled onions. It was hot, delicious, and just the protein packed meal I needed after a morning spent hiking in the mountains. I really loved the flavor combination! Needless to say, I will gladly come back to nosh on all your wonderfully delicious from-scratch Mexican eats. Your newest fan, Carly "All the Pickled Onion" W. PS - Finding you seems to be tricky. You are elusive and don't readily post your schedule for your eager fans. Please work on that! I'd love to stalk you directly.

Wow, so happy to stumble upon their grand opening at River North brewery!…read more We ordered the Bori Bowl with pork chops. Unfortunately their fryer was not working for their grand opening and a lot of the items were out before we got there. But overall the food was delicious. Not to mention we received complimentary flan for their grand opening that was so amazing. The fried cheese was so yum and so was the triple sandwich. Service was amazing and the food truck looked so clean. I hope to run into them again and please follow them on Instagram @demitierra. I want to try the mofongo next time, they were sold out this time. Thanks ladies!

Okay, so we've been at Puerto Rico a few times and the roasted pork bowl with rice and beans was…read morenot what I expected, but it was very good. Maybe my memory is shot from the food we ate there. In fact, when I started eating my bowl I wasn't thinking I was going to like it, but by the time I got halfway through I thought you know this is actually pretty good. My husband got a similar bowl but with fried pork and his was just as tasty, just different. So the moral of the story is never judgeable by the way, it looks until it goes down the pipe. So I think one of the bulbs could have easily been shared. Next time that's a strong consideration.

Located near Sloan's Lake, this is a typical build-your-own rice bowl type of place. The major perk…read moreis that it is a 100% gluten free facility making it a perfect place to eat out if you have celiac! You order at the counter and can eat there or take to go. The buffalo chicken bowl with homemade ranch was delicious and I'll be back!

We absolutely love Bowls by KO. Everything is fresh, healthy & incredibly delicious…read more We catered our housewarming party from them this weekend and our friends couldn't stop raving about how incredible the food was. People kept going back from 3rd and 4ths, which is when you know it's good. We ordered the Buffalo Chicken & Steak Hibachi bars, which came with all of the ingredients in trays. They included labels, serving spoons, bowls and utensils, so set up was quick and easy. We didn't have to worry about dietary restrictions or picky eaters since everyone could customize to their liking. Devon & Katelin are both extremely friendly and helpful. The restaurant itself is clean, has plenty of seating and is beautiful. We would eat at Bowls by Ko everyday if we could.

There's a lot of tacos in Olde Town, but this is the best! The fish tacos are always a go to. The…read morequesadillas are unlike anything you've tasted-so worth it. Churros. Oh my, the churros...