Casa Del Taco

I’m from Dallas, so I know there’s a difference between texmex and authentic down here. I like authentic, but this place still had cheap substitutes for their meat and cheese. The chicken fajitas weren’t very good. It tasted like packaged chicken instead of fresh. It wasn’t grilled either. The tortillas were ok, but they seemed old and hard. The atmosphere and décor are nice. The waitress didn’t get all the order correct, and that was speaking fluent in her language, so there’s no excuse. I wouldn’t recommend this place for food, only if you want to drink because the bar is nice looking.

Even though it’s a bit faded looking, I do still like the Spanish/​New Mexican/​Mexican interior décor. One does need a «Spanish language decoder person» along for this place, as I did not see or meet any wait staff which actually spoke English. The waiter was fairly attentive, however. That was good. As were the chips and 2 kinds of salsa — one a fresh tomato based salsa and the other a warm, roasted green chile one — both were super good, especially the roasted pepper one. The charro beans were very tasty as well. However, the main dish we chose (a shrimp with garlic sauce), not so much. The shrimp were a decent size and portion and seemed fresh enough, but they were so very salty, it killed the flavor. Same with the not so very good sauce. The only way I could eat the shrimp was to put it in the tortillas which came along with the meal, tucked in with a generous serving of the lettuce salad. Perhaps some other dish would have been a better choice, like a plain olé RGV type of botana? IDK? I will not be hurrying back for sure…

Worst Mexican food I have ever eaten. The red snapper was fried into a brick like state. My husband’s beef enchiladas were so over salted, they were inedible.
Greasy chips.
Kind wait staff… our only misstep in McAllen

It was my first time here and I am rather new to the Valley but I’ve been to various restaurants but this one lacked the experience. The décor wasn’t very appealing; the complementary chips tasted bad and the waiter was really slow and their was two other tables. I did enjoy the main course though but it could have been prepared a little better.

La Casa Del Taco is one of my favorite mexican restaurants to date. The waiter that served us has been our waiter in the past and is one of the nicest men at the restaurant. Not only was he attentive, he was very helpful. For example, I had ordered a sombrero which is a dish of chicken and beef fajitas (as per my request, Only Beef or Only Chicken are options as well) with sauteed green peppers, onions, and tomatoes served with rice, charro beans (also per request) and fresh tortillas. I had been craving avocado so I asked him if he could bring me some guacamole, to which he replied that he had seen that the guacamole had begun to blacken since it was prepared earlier in the day. He instead offered to cut up an avocado for me. It’s this type of service that has me returning. Another favorite of mine is their fresh lemonade. When I say fresh I mean they have to request one from the bar each time because it has to squeezed for one glass. The tortillas are also a staple to this restaurant. Whenever we order the Queso Fundido with chorizo, we always request the corn tortillas and they never disappoint. If you are ever in McAllen and are looking for a great Mexican restaurant, drive on down 10^th and look for La Casa Del Taco.

I spent a year of my young adult life living and working in McAllen, TX. Casa Del Taco was one of my employer’s favorite places to dine and entertain colleagues some 17 years ago. On a recent visit to the Valley to attend a friends’ wedding I was happy to see the old Casa Del Taco was very much just as I had left it. A dimly lit authentic South Texas Mexican Restaurant with southwestern décor inside and out.
I am usually the type of guy that likes to try a everything on the menu at a restaurant but at Casa Del Taco I always get the same dish that is intended to be shared among several people. «The Botana Platter!» It’s a sinful multilayer mound of greasy and savory food. The platter consists of a foundation of thick colorful tortilla chips. These chips are mortared together under a layer of creamy refried beans. Then a couple of pounds of beef and/​or chicken fajitas with the full compliment of grilled onions and peppers are loaded on top of the chips and beans and the entire assembly is bonded together with melted cheese. As if that’s not enough white cheese is melted in several flour tortillas and laid across the top of the Botana tower. Counting the calories on this beast would be about the same as counting grains of sand on nearby South Padre Island. Pointless. The beef and chicken are well seasoned and juicy. The chicken fajitas are white meat prepared with achiote so they have an interesting flavor and an appealing orange color. The juices of the meat and grease from the melted cheese ooze into the layer of beans and tortilla chips at the bottom. Because the chips are thick they hold up well under the onslaught of the dripping flavor storm from above and actually soak up the juices really well. The secret to eating the Botana is to let the other folks start eating off the top. As your dining companions get full, you get left with the nasty (in a good way) soggy (but not too soggy) bottom. It’s very bad for you and extremely enjoyable! It’s huge so my advice is take what they list as the intended number of diners on the menu and add one. If the menu reads Botana for three then you can easily feed four.
If you hail from North of the Rio Grande Valley you might think I just described beef and chicken fajita nachos with a few quesadillas placed on top. Well you would be partially correct, gringo. Its the closest image I can conjure. Where The Botana differs from it’s Northern cousin the fajita nachos is the ratio of meat and trimmings to chips. These are not a few shards of fajita meat delicately plastered to a skinny chip under a thin layer of cheese. This is an avalanche of cheese and fajita meat with all the peppers and onions trying to squeeze the life out of the poor stalwart chips at the bottom. The Botana is a fajita nachos the same way a tiger is a domesticated cat.
So sadly I can’t speak to too much else about the menu because I have never gotten past the Botana Platter and I don’t think I want to get past the Botana Platter. That is saying a lot for a man with a normally adventurous and dare I say promiscuous palate.

This place was dirty and the food was flavorless. After seeing the other reviews, it makes me think it has gone down recently.

Don’t waste your time. Still hoping to find decent Mexican (or even Tex-​Mex) food in McAllen, we decided to give this a try. The 4 Unilocal reviews were pretty positive, if a little outdated. Upon entering the restaurant, the first thing I noticed was the cheap tables & chairs, crowded into dining rooms littered with papers torn from drinking straws. Not necessarily a deal breaker. The place was crowded with diners.
We were promptly seated & provided with menus. When the waiter arrived to take our order, he told us of the lunch special – basically the typical «Mexican Plate” – 2 enchiladas, taco, rice & beans. We ordered that, as well as two top shelf margaritas.
Have you, dear reader, ever eaten one of those frozen TV dinner Mexican plates? I must admit, that yes, I have upon rare occasion. Well, those TV dinners are so superior to the offal we were served at «Casa», it’s not even funny! The ground «meat» was barely seasoned, & the tortillas tasted what I would imagine soggy cardboard would taste like. Rice & beans were no better.
The margaritas were even worse. The first indication was the color. Instead of a bright, fresh lime green color, they were a sickly mint green color. Odd. Garnished with olives. They looked better than they tasted. The flavor was that of sweet & sour mix combined with Sprite (probably just generic lemon-​lime soda.) Very, very minimal tequila – most definitely not a cocktail shot worth. This is their top shelf? These margaritas would not be acceptable for free!
We gagged down a little of the nasty food, but not much. We ended up eating lunch at home. For what it’s worth, we weren’t charged for top shelf margaritas, at least. Still not worth the $ 4 price.
People were streaming into this place. I have no idea why. One of their claims to fame is that Bill Clinton likes the place. Let that, my friends, be your fair warning!

Service is great, but the menudo, not so much. Tacos on the other hand, well lets put it this way, when Bill Clinton visits the Valley, this is the one place he’ll definitely stop to eat at, and that’s a fact!

I visit McAllen 3 or 4 times a year for business and I always try to eat here at least once during each of my visits. The food is great as well as the service. If you are looking for good Mexican food close to the airport, I recommend Casa Del Taco.

I love coming down to McAllen to visit family during the holidays and one of the highlights of any visit to McAllen is coming to this Casa del Taco restaurant. Tucked away about a block from busy 10^th Street, lies the altar to all things non-​healthy and delicious. From the moment you walk in, their service is ol’ school through and through. If you’re lucky and if he still works here, ask for «Meme’s» section. This guy has been a waiter here for ages and is decorated with enough gold chains that would make Mr. T jealous. Believe me, this guy has earned every nugget link around his neck and fingers!
The Margaritas here are incredibly refreshing and strong so watch out. Try getting it with Herradura Silver and Grand Marnier, you won’t regret it. The appetizers are all incredible and my favorite is the «Chori-​Queso» with corn tortillas. This behemoth is lump full of cheese and chorizo, which is a food staple for anyone not wanting to live past their 30’s but love eating every second of it. They offer all the border usuals like fajitas and enchiladas, but for a real out of this world treat try their «Sombrero.» It’s basically a fajita plate but smothered with white cheese that glues all the meat, onions, peppers and flavor together. All you gotta do is slop it on a home made tortilla and instant taco nirvana!