Ramirez Fast Food

Yuck! I’ve lived in the area for three years and have always noticed this place but was skeptical since it looks pretty beat up from the outside and serve hotdogs and Mexican food which is always a red flag. However, my bus was delayed and I was hungry so I figured I’d give it a shot. I walked in and thought turn around. I didn’t go with my gut and continued to the counter. I ordered the steak torta and sat at one of the cleaner tables. Every table (approx 7 – 8) were dirty with food or used napkins. I usually just have water but I wasn’t very trusting so I ordered a Coke which I had to pry of the cap with my lighter since the employee was nowhere to be found. First bit yuck, second bite this is like greasy lunch line food from high school. Third bite I grab the massive squirt bottle of salsa verve and sploosh! The top came off immediately after turning over and nearly the entire bottle drenched the torta, table and floor. After I got over what had just happened I wiped off my hands and shouted,“Hello?” The employee came out and told her the food is not good and the salsa cap came off and spilled everywhere. With a dead stare she says nonchalantly say, «Oh, do you need new food or you just want money back?» The fact that she gave me the option for my money back appreciated but, woah, I’m stunned that this place is still open. Besides the messy tables the entire interior is just disgusting. I dine out a lot and know a hidden gem/​hole in the wall from a hole that needs to be boarded up and this is certainly the latter.

I found this gem while I was filling up on gas across the street at the shell gas station. Coming in the place was clean, smelling awesome. Nice amount of seating, everything on the menu is affordable. The two ladies are spot on with putting love in making your meal. Me and my wife had the special. 3 steak tacos they were tender, juicy, tasty damm so good.
#you have to give them a try.

Bought the groupon.
Bland/​dry chicken in big chunks, mealy maters, whitest tortilla available.
All together, a $ 5 lesson in personal standards.
I’ve take more expensive college courses, that’ve taught me less.
The 2^nd star is for groupon, cuz they be hookin it up with dat wisdom at wholesale numbaz.

I drove by this place regularly for 4 years without stopping in for one simple reason — it doesn’t look great from the outside. In fact, it doesn’t look that great from the inside either. This is not Big Star or Taco Joint (a couple of my favorite gourmet taco places). I’m kicking myself for not stopping in sooner because this is the best Mexican street style taco in the city and it’s cheap.
I’ve only had their tacos and burritos and both are amazing. The reason is simple: They’re meat is incredibly well cooked. For example, most places, if you get chicken, it’s tasty enough but it’s always a little bit dry.
Not here.
The chicken is perfectly cooked. So is the skirt steak they use for their carne asada. On top of that (literally) they have incredible red and green salsas with the green packing a pretty nice punch.
So if you like Mexican street tacos with meat, cilantro & onions on a couple of corn tortillas, you have to try this place out. Don’t let the exterior fool you. You’ll love it.

You can’t judge a book by the cover! It looks sketchy from the street but it’s very clean inside and the service was fast and very friendly. I’ve lived down the street for 6 months and regret not coming sooner. I opted for the steak taco dinner. The steak was plentiful and all lean quality cuts. They were amazing with the simple onion and cilantro garnish but both sauces had a nice homemade roasted taste and complemented nicely. Too bad they’re not open for dinner.

This place is wonderful. The huge parking lot in the back is truly worth 5 starts on it’s own. I had steak, with a side of refried beans with eggs with vegetables. The steak was made to order and filled with flavor. Tasted like the type of steak my mom (who is Mexican) would make. The refried beans were traditionally seasoned and complimented the steak greatly. They served me my plate with a fresh batch of hot tortillas. I put the eggs, steak and beans all in the tortilla and I was more than satisfied with my meal. Tasty food for a fantastic price. Definitely coming here again.

Used a groupon for a steak torta. The place looked a bit unappetizing, but I try not to judge a book by its cover, or the food by the state of the restaurant’s appearance– though maybe I should?
The torta was unfortunately not a pick up-​able sandwich type situation. Maybe if I had ordered it to go and had it wrapped? But it’s large and filled with (fatty) steak, which isn’t bad for the price. The green sauce that comes with it is spicy and really adds some kick to the meal, which is needed because the steak on its own was quite salty. I enjoyed it well enough, but it wasn’t the greatest torta I’ve ever had.

I like to consider myself a taconnoisseur. This place meets the standard. Very inconspicuous joing along Grand. Quick, easy, delicious tacos.
I’m shocked I havent reviewed this place earlier because it’s on my short «go-​to» list in the neighborhood. It should be on yours too.
(I haven’t had anything else on the menu but why would you when the tacos are so freakin yummy?)

I love eating at a place with no expectations, then the place ends up being fantastic.
There are so many Mexican-​American food joints now. Often times the American food isn’t very good. I ordered an Italian sausage and fries. I know, why would I do that. because I saw someone else eating it and it looked good. The meal cost me $ 4.13, yes, the prices here are very reasonable. Mother sh! t! The meal was awesome! The bread was dipped perfectly, generous amounts of giardiniera and a delicious sausage. The fries were seasoned with a slight orange tint. I love these fries. I haven’t had fries like these in years. I know places won’t carry these fries because of cost and how long they stay fresh out of the fryer, but I’m glad to have found a place that carries them. Other food items looked good also. The staff was nice and on point.
I was told on Tuesdays you can get 3 tacos for $ 4.75! They’ll know me by name pretty soon.

We had a groupon, my husband and I came in and got a few sandwiches, everything was great! The staff was friendly and the chicken sandwich was amazing. I am glad we live in the neighborhood, we will be back again.

Some of the most unassuming places can have the best food! That was certainly true about Ramirez’s. This is right in my neighborhood, which has too many restaurants to count. I picked up a Groupon so I gave it a shot. The outside doesn’t look too appetizing, but that perception changes once you walk inside. My eyes went straight to the area where the food was being kept and it looked good! The two workers inside were very friendly. The guy who took my order was very awesome and had no problem explaining what certain dishes were.
I ordered the Barbacoa dinner. That came with a few corn tortillas, frijoles, arroz & lettuce. I also got one of the sweet breads that was filled with a custard.
This is hands down the best short-​order Mexican cuisine I’ve had in a long time. My order had a HUGE helping of barbacoa. It was so much meat but delicious! The meat could have been flavored a little more, but was savory enough. The frijoles were just how I like and I was very pleased with those. The custard sweet bread had the right consistency inside & out. This was definitely a treat and I was delightfully stuffed! Even though I got a groupon for the visit, i will definitely be back within the week.

Walked in after having passed it a bunch of times. Tried some tacos. Pretty good. Green sauce is nice and spicy. Is it the best place for tacos? Probably not, but it’s decent.

Since they are not open for dinner and seem to cater to an early morning crowd until late afternoon, I stopped in when my lunch plans changed while working from home. It’s a small spot that might have room for 10 – 12 people sitting inside there, so if you get lucky you can a seat — otherwise plan on taking it to go. Given the size, you aren’t getting much for ambiance. I get that this is a fast food joint, so there can’t really be high expectations except that I’ll get my food relatively quick. I mean there are tubs of pre-​made meats and other items like the chicken fajitas, carne asada, enchiladas, rice, beans, etc. that are in sitting underneath warmers. The tortillas get warmed on the grill. I get my chicken fajita dinner with a salad, rice, beans, and 6 tortillas. I get a red sauce and a green sauce, and grab a few pickled jalapenos in a tub to go. I paid $ 7.15 and just had the leftovers for dinner, so it was a very inexpensive, well-​portioned, and a filling meal. The chicken seemed to be all dark meat, and I would have liked to have had both. It was cooked with jalapenos and onions, and was a little disappointed that they weren’t green peppers. The rice and beans were pretty good. The salsas weren’t very spicy, but there was some flavoring in it and my meal which I appreciated and made it worth the money. The staff is no-​nonsense and about filling everyone’s orders — which is how I like it if I’m getting fast food cause I’m already hungry and grouchy, and sometimes the pleasantries make me feel like I’m being patronized.

This place is amazing! One of the best taco’s I have ever had! I was visiting a friend and Ramirez’ is located just down the street from his apartment. While he was at work I asked about places nearby for lunch. Ramirez was his recommendation as he generally could not make it in during their 5am-​5pm normal business hours.
Another plus was I went on Mexican Independence day, so the taco’s were only 99cents! I both steak and chicken tacos. I was shocked by the quality of the steak. The taco’s were loaded so full with steak, I had to take some out just to pick up the taco. I do not think I can stress enough the quality and size of the steak pieces either! Other than steak, the taco was real simple with just a bit of cilantro to garnish the taco. The chicken taco’s were above my expectations as well. The chicken taco’s came with grilled peppers and onions. Again, the amount of meat and quality blew me away!

I used to eat at this place all the time basically cuz I could see it from my widow and I get lazy. But they do have an indoor charcoal grill which makes everything cooked on it taste INCREDIBLE!
However…
I will never eat here again simply because their service SUCKS! I observed that most of their biz comes from, as one reviewer so eloquently put it, «roach coach» drivers. So maybe the staff hasn’t honed that whole «customer matters» approach…
So here’s the deal… I work myself into a frenzy for a burger with a nice char on it. Not enuf of a frenzy to travel more than 100yrds from my door tho, so that means Ramirez! I try to play it smart and call ahead to avoid the earsplitting music blaring in the background. I realize I’m in a little trouble when she asks me «when are you coming?»
I reply…“when it’s ready“
She tells me ten minutes. Nine and one half minutes later I’m walking thru the door of the place, greeted by the ear splitting mariachi-​esque tunes. I am informed, after waiting 2−3mins to be noticed, that my food will be ready in 5 more minutes…
No biggie. I can wait five.
20 minutes and not a word of explanation later, my food is damn near tossed to me without so much as a «thank you». Never mind a «sorry for your ridiculous wait». The woman actually managed something like a sneer! I suppose I was interrupting her mass «roach coach» preparations with my boring burger.
Anywho! I take my long awaited meal home to eat… Kinda enjoying the fact that I’ve suffered enuf ear damage from the mariachis to not hear the constant traffic…
Unwrap to find a double cheese with ALL THE FIXINS! And the lettuce, tomatoes and onions looked SUPER FRESH! A healthy/​unhealthy (?) dollop of mayo to top it off… Only problem is that I DOUBLE SPECIFIED mustard, ketchup and pickles ONLY!!! WTF? IM DONE!

This is one of the best taco’s in town! Ya, its no bistro, I mean the name says «Fast Food» in the title, you’ve got to know what you’re getting into. BUT, damn, they make some great taco’s. The meat is hot, spicy, and flavorful, and they hook it up! The 3 taco lunch special could feed Augustus Goop three times, or for me, it’s good for two meals. These things are so loaded that they double wrap them in corn tortillas. AND they give green sauce (spicy tomatillo) to go, which I like.
The service is always great, and the meals put together fast. If you’re looking for a lunch spot in West Town, this is the place to go. (they also have decent pizza by the slice for a buck.)

This is a great place for a burrito but a bad place for most other things.
On a nice spring day a few weeks ago, I visited Rickard Circular Binding nearby for work-​related stuff. I was planning on finding a lunch spot in the area. I had my windows rolled down in the car. As I neared the corner of Grand & Ashland, I picked up the scent of really good beef grilling somewhere nearby. Seeing a cloud of smoke on Grand, I turned right and went into Ramirez Fast Food to find the source of this wonderful aroma.
As I walked in, I saw a heaping mound of chopped steak grilling. Of course, I had to run my benchmark steak burrito test on the place. After ordering, I sat down and looked around. The place has a mismatched décor, with various-​colored chairs, tables and stools. A battered old rabbit-​eared antenna TV sat on a ledge and played a Spanish-​language show. Ramirez looks worn-​out old inside with a small dining area. I noticed a roach-​coach driver came in and picked up a huge bag of things for his truck.
Then I got my steak burrito dinner — more like 2 burritos. The steak was perfect and the two halves of the giant burrito fully loaded with lots of meat, sour cream, lettuce & tomato. The rice was a bit bland but not sticky. The refried beans were chunky but very good-​tasting, a bit different than what I’m used to. The green hot sauce went well with the burrito. I was very pleased.
Then I was at Navy Pier recently with the family and I thought I’d come back instead of eating overpriced Pier food. We ordered a burger, Polish, and grilled cheese. The beef on the burger seemed inferior quality — more like the roach-​coach burgers. The grilled cheese really couldn’t be called that, as the bread was pale and the cheese barely melted. The Polish seemed small in comparison to the Vienna Polish we’re accustomed to. The fries were the shoestring variety and felt a bit greasy.
In conclusion, come for the burrito and avoid everything else unless you drive a roach-​coach.