Great restaurant. They have three menus you can choose from so anyone you are with can find something they would like to eat. One of my favorite places in Evanston. read more

Taco Diablo - LuLus Ginger Salad with Chicken - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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Food is so fantastic and some of the best salsa I've had. Great tacos and margaritas.

We've been here several times since we moved to the area about a year ago and it's been delicious every time! Service is always great, very nice wait staff and hosts. Chips and salsa are fresh and delicious. I always order the chicken tinga tacos and I'm obsessed. Came here for my birthday too and received a birthday flan! We will never stop coming here. They get pretty busy on the weekends and don't take reservations so just keep that in mind before you visit. It's also nice that you can order from the Blue Horse Tavern menu too, no matter which side you're sitting on. This is nice for the weekends I want tacos and my boyfriend doesn't, that way he can have a burger or steak and I still get my taco fill!!!! read more

Taco Diablo - Birthday flan! - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Stopped by here with some friends after hitting the beach all day. Food was great. We all had three taco meals some that we tried were barbocoa, carnitas, asada, spicy shrimp, potato, bacon, and Crispy chicken. All of which were a hit with the table so it doesn't look like u can go wrong here. The waitress was also very attentive to the table and our needs. The food was full filing some of us didn't even eat all three tacos we ordered. As a desert we got churros which were also amazing. Would definitely stop by again if in the area and looking for tacos. Have to try them all. read more

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Service was appalling No drink refills, some issue with getting more rice and beans. Ordered Guac at $13 and they never brought additional chips. Waiter came to Our table once after the food and then to bring check .. Tacos were great though read more

I had heard of this place through a Yelp event and stopped by on a Sunday afternoon to check it out since they were participating in North Shore Restaurant month. I had the taco platter (3 tacos, rice, and either pinto or black beans). They also offer a lunch special 2 tacos with side salad for a little cheaper. Based on our waiter's suggestions I went with the spicy shrimp, smoked brisket, and pork carnitas. Even though the tortillas are small they definitely stuff them to the max and I really enjoyed the flavors. I had the black beans and tried some of the pinto beans and recommend those over the black beans. The rice was decent, more tomatoe-y than others I've had. As part of the restaurant month we got the bread pudding, even though we were stuffed. It's very good and you can definitely taste the Kahlua in it. Service was great, they brought out water, chips and salsa almost as soon as we sat down and before I even got my jacket off. They also refilled our waters and checked in with us a good number of times throughout our meal. Definitely give this place a try for a good selection of tacos both traditional and nontraditional! read more

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Taco Diablo is part of a restaurant group that also includes Lulu's and Five and Dime - I find this to be pretty ironic because of just how much Taco Diablo nickel and dime's you. While I certainly don't think the food is "bad" here (I would describe as mostly unremarkable), my main qualm is with the constantly escalating prices. Three tacos should not cost $16.50 no matter how bad the rent is getting in Evanston. Rice and beans on the side should be an expectation and not a justification for the price (any statement to the contrary should be considered gaslighting). In addition, it is silly to me that there is no option to order less than 3 tacos. If we can mix and match tacos, I really struggle to see why this minimum exists - no one is trying to eat a meal of just rice and beans. Having to pay for refills of chips is just icing on the penny-pinching cake. Unfortunately, there are really no good taco places in Downtown Evanston so us Evanstonians just don't have a choice sometimes (Tomate is the best bet but has limited hours). If you find yourself here, the best aspects of the restaurant I feel are the service and the drinks. Hot tip though: they serve the exact same drinks upstairs at Five and Dime. read more

Come here weekly's overall a good spot but had some really poor service the last visit unfortunately. That's and there was a mouse killed right in front of us. Hate to see this because I like this spot but this visit was not pleasant. read more

Taco Diablo - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

3.5 stars All right, let's level set on a few things before getting started: - This is not authentic Mexican, so don't come here expecting that and leaving disappointed. It is fusion. My review will solely be based on the food from the perspective of it not being authentic Mexican. Food: I enjoyed the appetizers more than the tacos (entrees). Friend also enjoyed the drinks. If I were to suggest anything, it would be to come here for the drinks and appetizers but not necessarily entrees! Atmosphere: Great for a girls' night out or for a Friday night out, but I probably wouldn't recommend Taco Diablo for a date night as it's difficult to converse over the loud music. read more

This was a cute place and we came for brunch rather than dinner. My mom and I shared the soup, which was butternut squash and deliciously creamy. We also split the shrimp appetizer which was delicious and big fried shrimp. I had the Chicken Enchiladas verde and my mom has the chicken enchiladas roja. TheSe plates were big and we had plenty to take home. Service was decent. Fun spot to hang with friends read more

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We wanted to get out of our neighborhood and try a new place. So we took a 20 minute road trip up to Evanston. I'm so glad we did because Taco Diablo was DELICIOUS!!! You can taste how fresh and homemade everything is. We started with chips and salsa...Probably the best we've ever had. Next my husband and I shared the queso with chorizo...OMG the homemade tortillas YUM!!! Next up the 3 tacos with rice and beans entree. 2 beer battered fish and 1 barbocoa taco, all EXCELLENT. Tacos Diablos also has a nice selection of IPA beers on tap from local breweries, we really enjoyed pairing our food with good beer. All this is to say eat here you won't be disappointed. Also, I can't forget to mention our really lovely server Michael...I hope I remembered his name correctly. read more

Taco Diablo - Ain't it the TRUTH!! - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

I wish they took reservations, but they communicate rather well about availability, and often provide easy spill over seating. The tacos are good, the guac is great, and the elote is pretty good. Margaritas are delicious. Just be warned, the restaurant is super dark, but worth going to! You can pick and choose tacos which is definitely a nice bonus read more

Taco Diablo - Elote - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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Overall Experience: 7/10 Pros: - The drinks were amazing! Strong (but not overwhelming), tasteful, and very unique. - Tacos: Fish, Chicken, & Shrimp... all three were flavorful. Normally you see a lot of non-authentic Mexican restaurants overdo it with the taco toppings and there are too many flavors to decipher but these tacos didn't. There was a bit of toppings but the flavors all meshed together well. Another pro with the tacos were that you could mix and match. - Music: Wasn't Latin music to stick with the cuisine but it was current, had variety, and upbeat. Not too loud. - We sat at the bar and the service was good! Checked on us a few times. Cons: - You are definitely in a local family owned Mexican restaurant, you are not getting a $9-$12 taco late and cheap margaritas. Expect to pay more than $60 on two plates with no drinks. - They did have seating in every other booth but when sitting in the tables, we were a bit close to the other table with about 10 people and requested to move. - Torta: def not the Torta we are used to, based on look and taste. Kinda like a regular sandwich & It was not yummy at all. - Beans were a bit bitter. Worth trying again but only if I wanted to get drinks and so happen to order tacos or an appetizer. read more

Taco Diablo - Beef Barbacoa "Torta" - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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Taco about delicious!! My husband I were planning a date night and decided to have a picnic at NU park on taco Tuesday. We ordered three tacos each from taco Diablo and they told us that it'll be a 20 min wait for pickup. No problem- we took our sweet time driving into downtown Evanston. There was plenty to street parking but you have to pay for it. We didn't know much about Taco Diablo except that it had greats reviews but once I was walking up to pickup our food, I couldn't help but notice how slammed the place was!! I picked up our order and headed to NU Park. My husband ordered the carne asada taco, chicken Tinga taco and ground beef taco and I got the carne asada taco, chicken Tinga taco and shrimp taco. I absolutely loved loved loved the shrimp taco, it was so savory and the spices were on point! The chicken tinga was really good too but the chicken was just a little dry but my least favorite is the carne asada. There is nothing wrong with the meat itself as much as it is a personal preference, there's a certain way I like the meat cooked for my carne asada. The rice and beans were really good as well and were a perfect compliment to the tacos. I highly highly highly recommend the tacos here! read more

Taco Diablo - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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We had an amazing time here! You walk in to a really nice space with a good vibe. You really feel like you are in a taco diablo with the devilish lighting and decor, very nice ambiance. The staff was friendly and as we sat down at the bar to wait for our table our cocktails came out fast and very good (and strong), always a great start to a dinner. On to the food. We ordered quite a bit, and honestly no weak dishes among them: Chips and Guac - their free table chips are really good! thin, light, salty...perfect to go with their guac. I've had plenty of different guacamole, this is right up there near the top. It was chunky and flavorful just how I like. Elote Esquite - elotes type of corn. They could have just slathered butter on this dish and called it a day but they didn't. It's more refreshing than heavy, the wife and I were big fans of this dish. Tacos - not the authentic style but more the Rick Bayless type of tacos. We ordered the shrimp, carne asada, pork belly with chicharron, chicken tinga, and bacon. All were very good. If I had to pick a favorite it would be the pork belly with chicharron - pretty original and amazing! Desert - We ordered 2 - The flan was SO very good and their nutella beignets addicting. Although they should have given more than 6 small beignets on that desert dish, my only small complaint of the whole dinner. We had a great dinner and after a drink it almost felt like we were at a trendy River North spot without the trendy downtown prices. Definitely a thumbs up for this place! read more

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Cool vibes and atmosphere: they have an awesome outdoor patio complete with games for a perfect summer afternoon or early evening Nice wait staff: very young, but attentive and offered good service Delicious food: DELICIOUS FOOD, I can actually not atop thinking about the tacos. The doughy tortillas paired with the seasoned meat or veggies (I tried the beef, the chicken and the vegetarian, which were all equally as delicious...except the beef was my favorite...) pair together perfectly for melt-in-your-mouth goodness. read more

Taco Diablo - Guacamole - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Good tacos! I like that you can mix and match different tacos and get a side of rice and beans with a taco trio. I had the crispy fish taco, barbacoa beef, and chicken mole taco. The sides were terrific and the chicken mole taco was my favorite. The crispy fish taco wasn't the greatest (it tasted like a fish stick, basically, and was really oily). However, the other two tacos tasted great and had a perfect amount of heat to them. read more

Driving around Evanston and we randomly found this place so glad that we did! The inside was pretty nice and cozy and the wall art was very nice went perfectly with the setup. The food was great. The best part they had elotes as an appetizer! was so excited to try it since I haven't had it in a long time and boy oh boy it was just as good as I remembered. They also had wide variety of different kind of tacos. I wanted to try something different so I went with crispy chicken Taco, lamb taco , carne asada. I love lamb and the lamb taco was really good along with the other two choices. Definitely loved the place will be going back for more. Can't wait to go back to get some more Elotes. read more

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Nice atmosphere to chill out have a drink and some food. They provided chips and 2 types of salsa for the table. The menu is simple not a huge menu that you would typically have. I liked it because it made ordering easier, even though I couldn't decide which tacos to pick for my meal. You can choose any from the list, comes with rice and beans and since I came with a friend we tried both types of beans. The rice and beans was shared between us. Tacos: brisket, pork belly, duck with chorizo I ordered the original margarita that was delicious not overly sweet and refreshing. The tacos was good, the beignets were eh overly soggy with oil didn't have that crunch. Maybe they need higher temp oil before frying them. Service was great though, she checked up on us and allowed us to just chill and have a conversation. Will definitely be back. read more

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The food here is always good. I appreciate the creativity of flavors in their tacos. Their salads are huge! Their ambiance is similarly creative with fun artwork in their Taco Diablo & Blue Horse Tavern spaces. The service laid back, pleasant & reliable. read more

No complaints here. Loved everything about this place. Food was amazing and so full of flavor. My OG margarita was so refreshing. The chips and dip were really good, our waitress kept bringing them out haha my kids loved them. I didn't catch her name but she was great. Very friendly and attentive at all the right times. It's like she knew when we needed her. Definitely will come back here if ever in the area again. read more

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I ordered take out so the experience may be a little different if dinning in. Let's start with the food... Of course I had to try the tacos. They have street tacos so, it is on the smaller portion. However, it packs a punch! The tacos had the right flavor and even if it is small I was full and happy. The brisket and Carnitas were soft and juicy. The shrimp was perfect, thank god it wasn't an itsy bitsy shrimp like other places. It wasn't spicy like the name suggest but it was good. The rice was a little on the plain side but I love the beans. I don't usually eat frijoles negra but this was good, a little sweet and it didn't give me a stomach ache, so I don't know what kind of beans they have but it was magic for me! Price wise, it may be a little late overpriced for the quantity but I do think they make it up with quality. I wanted to order some appetizers but I thought it would be too much for just one person and let's be honest spending $20/person for lunch for a grad student is a luxury! I will be checking this place out and updating for review of the venue and possibly other food selection. Must try again... read more

Taco Diablo - Smoked Brisket, Pork Carnitas, and Spicy Shrimp with rice & frijoles negra $16 - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Really like the options for tacos and drinks! Classic chips and salsa are always a hit here. Love how you can choose from the menu in the attached restaurant upstairs, and you can easily move upstairs whenever! Staff has been friendly every time we've gone! read more

Taco Diablo - Bar - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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So many great things to say about this place. One, the atmosphere is so cool. The decor is devil-Mexican inspired theme...as you could probably guess from the name. However, it doesn't feel tacky and is definitely a great place to hang out and get some food and drinks. Margaritas were fantastic, in line with a great mexican-inspired restaurant. You get a basked of chips and salsa with your meal and both the salsa and chips are incredible. I believe it costs $1 to get more, but it's well worth it. The tacos are a bit overpriced but are absolutely yummy. You do get unlimited beans and rice, which makes the price better overall to cope with. However, if you get Togo- ask for those refills, or else the price doesn't feel as worth it without the refills and atmosphere. Absolutely worthwhile to check out! read more

Delicious! I absolutely love their chips and salsa verde. The chips are very light and crunchy and you can taste the corn flavor in them which I really like. The Pork Carnitas taco and Braised Beef Tacos are both amazing, super flavorful and fresh. I also had the Chicken Tinga taco which was good but didn't blow me away like the other two. Taco Diablo is consistently yummy and we stop by wherever we are in the area! read more

Taco Diablo - (From the left) Beef Barbacoa Taco, Pork Carnitas Taco, chicken tinga taco - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

I was intrigued by the restaurant name. The Diablo part. Ordered a three taco (your choice) selection: Chicken, fish and lamb (the last one, the server's recommendation). From top to bottom in terms of a repeat order: lamb, chicken. Fish (never). The Diablo does not seem to be folded into the food: standard chips and ordinary salsa. The tacos (I had flour tortilla) were well prepared and tasty, but no Diablo. Cool décor for a walk-in place. read more

Taco Diablo - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Taco Diablo is a nice spot if you're in the mood for decent tacos, tasty drinks, and dropping a huge tab. $16.50 for 3 street sized tacos was pretty bizarre to me. After reading the menu, the "family style" served sides was what redeemed that price in my eyes, but as you can see in the photo, they must be catering to very small and low appetite families. Overall, my experience was just all around good.. not great. read more

Taco Diablo - 3 Tacos (fish, bacon, carne asada) - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

I would recommend checking out Taco Diablo for a fun casual night out. They have strong margaritas and really fresh guac. You can order single tacos which was a plus. I thought the tacos were very filling but average. I've definitely had better tacos in the city. The service is fast and friendly. read more

My first warning should have been the set of red and green Cholula bottles on the table. You don't really need a hot sauce at a reasonable taco shop, much less two. Chips and salsa are included, with ref and green salsa provided. The red is somewhat flavorful, but oddly sweet. The green is just roasted tomatillo and LOTS of sugar....completely inedible. Neither possess heat, but a habanero salsa is available, with a slight background of habanero (and very little heat), but this, too, is overpowered by sugar. Maybe the tacos will wow me. Not to be the case. The carnita includes a tomatillo salsa that is just sugar, and LOTS of it. I ate one bite and could barely swallow that without thoroughly washing it down. I highly recommend avoiding this particular taco. Carne Asada was not much better. Grisly, fatty beef with arugula greens that overpower the flavorless beef (ever heard of salt, or cumin, or lime?), but do little to help you ignore that you're chewing on a chunk of beef fat. I'd avoid this one as well. The Barbacoa was somewhat more reasonable, with a decent beef flavor and avocado salsa that worked okay. 'Okay' in that it didn't seem to have any sugar-based 'salsa' on it, so some savory flavor could prevail. Even then, it still quickly occurred to me this was the reason for the Cholula bottles, and the addition of heat and some flavor helped immensely, and I'm not a fan of Cholula. Overall, I'd avoid this place if you're looking for tacos or Mexican food. I ate one taco and had three bites of the remaining two, and left hungry. read more

Taco Diablo - Carne Asada, Carnita, Barbacoa - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

I love the food here it tastes amazing the waiter was amazing they were really nice and cool! The Shirley temple was amazing it was sweet but the right amount! Me and my daughter really enjoyed it here highly recommend for people who like tacos! read more

Taco Diablo - Shirley temple - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Taco Diablo is TECHNICALLY take out only however, FIVE DIME has their rooftop open and you can order take out from any restaurant near by and take it upstairs to eat. I found it super convenient and really cool. You get a cool view with some delicious food. They have a $2 beer special daily and it's such a steal. So we grabbed some IPAs, the queso fundido, and the elotes. Both were pretty good. The service was spectacular as well! Our server was very kind and made sure our heat lamps were up and running and grabbed any more drinks we needed. Cool spot during covid - you should check out as well. read more

One of the most noticeable aspects of a restaurant is its employees. With that being said, upon walking into Taco Diablo I was immediately greeted with a hello and a smile and politely escorted to a seat ( the bar). Being a party of one can be intimidating to begin with, however there's nothing worse than when a restaurant has an introvert for a bartender. Rest assured there is no such thing as an introvert in this place! My entire evening spent here was filled with delightful conversation ( thanks Rachel) lots of laughs and a feast of fun sized tacos. I ordered the two monthly specials; the bacon and Al Pastor, along with the potato. To my surprise the potato was excellent and had the perfect element of surprise; spicy! I left and headed upstairs to play trivia grinning ear to ear with my satisfactory experience. As we all know, no one is perfect, so the only flaws I would give them are: they don't have happy hour ( sigh), and they make you buy 3 tacos instead of being able to purchase individually. They noted that they do have specials when you can buy individually, but for someone who has a small stomach, forcing one to buy three was unfortunate. read more

Taco Diablo - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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I've been to Taco Diablo on several occasions. I really like the decor [the quote above the bar, dark/devil decor]. The ambiance is dark adding to the overall theme. The restaurant does not take reservations and at peak dining hours can get very busy with long wait times. The drinks are strong enough. I've had the OG margarita and the Yes Please cocktail on my visits. The guacamole is fresh and tastes good. The tacos, [shrimp, fish, potato and they used to have a veggie one] are tasty and have a decent kick to them. I do wish that they would have burritos and also additional vegetarian options. The menu is very meat oriented. The black beans are mediocre and the rice comes with peas, which I find does not add much to the rice. Maybe elevate the rice and black beans flavors in a different way somehow? Service is always prompt and good. Price is on the higher end for the amount of food, but the restaurant is in Evanston so maybe that is justifiable? Overall a good spot to get drinks/food with a friend. Just avoid peak dining times as table wait time will be long. read more

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Very good Churros! Very good and inviting staff and the taco are amazing. Very authentic.

This a newly opened restaurant at Evanston. You can order a combo of three different tacos for $15, and it comes with rice and beans. I had torta with lamb barbacoa. It has avocado salsa and jalapeño slices. The food tasted great and the portion was sufficient to fill you hungry stomach read more

Taco Diablo - Torta with lamb barbacoa (the other half was gone before I took the photo) - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Taco Diablo is one of our favorites. If you're in the mood for slightly upscale Mexican-fusion, it's a go-to in the area. Their cocktails are great (as all the Five and Dime group's are), the chips are always warm when they hit the table, and the mix-and-match tacos are always delicious. It's pricy, but filling. (Our tip: try not to fill up on chips - we know, it's hard) Some menu items to try... Appetizer we'd recommend: Elote Tacos we'd recommend: Duck & pork chorizo Margarita we'd recommend: Saint & the Sinner Lady (mezcal and aperol - yum!) read more

I want to like this place more, but it's just okay. The chips are very good - light and crispy, and the guacamole is refreshing and creamy. But they really need outdoor seating (the roof terrace is only for the five and dime place). Their tacos should be the stars, but they are just okay, even a bit bland. I feel they scaled down the seasonings for a general audience, and the result is bland, neither heat nor intense flavor. If there was no pandemic, I would come here with friends for drinks with lots of chips and guacamole. Since they serve the same guac on the rooftop, perhaps that's an option while the weather stays warm. read more

Food was fresh and tasty. Bourbon caramel Butter cake dessert was awesome. Service was excellent. Leftover packaging was not flimsy and bag was a brown paper one-easily recycled. read more

The best complimentary chips and salsa is here since the salsa verde is delicious. The carne asada taco stood out and the OG Margarita was amazing. Service was slow since it took a while to get our food even though it was after 9 pm and not that busy by that time on Friday night. We had to wait 30 min. For our table of four when we first arrived. Neat atmosphere, good margarita selection and long taco list makes this place worth checking out. read more

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Delicious tacos! We got the shrimp, fried chicken and the pork. They were all three so yummy and I'd recommend. We also had the OG margarita, which is one of the best margaritas I've ever had. Chips and salsa rule too! We will definitely be back sometime this summer to eat on the patio read more

Taco Diablo - Mexican Near Me - Evanston, Illinois