Nico’s Taco & Tequila Bar

Guacamole was delicious, but the enchiladas were pretty bad. The pork enchiladas was pretty bland, and the veggie enchiladas taste like minestrone soup… Yes that’s right. The enchiladas tastes like soup. Would maybe come back to try something different, but won’t be ordering enchiladas here again.

My boyfriend and I stumbled upon this place looking up «taco joints.» So glad we gave it a shot because our hostess was super friendly, she was nice and patient with us. The menu was weird at first, and we ordered way to much, but the guac was amazing and so were their tacos! Although I do feel it is over priced, I would still return.

I really wanted to like this place because of the cool patio options and atmosphere, food and service are subpar. My date and I stood in the doorway with multiple people walking by not acknowledging us for a good couple minutes until someone finally took pity on us and said they’d return in a moment.
We finally got seated on the upstairs patio and were excited about the looking over the menu only to have our waiter who looked as if he would rather be anywhere in the world, but at work stroll up and ask for our drink order. We ordered a tecate and a cucumber agave margarita. The margarita was okay, wouldn’t buy it again. We also put an order in for a double guac which was the star of the night, but had to wait a substantial amount of time for chip refills.
When it came time for dinner my date ordered a taco plater which came with three tacos and a side of nice and beans. The tacos had good flavor, the only thing bringing them down was the excessive grease of the meat that made the tortillas soggy. For future don’t bother with the platter option, opt for tacos alone. To say the rice and beans were lacking flavor would be a major understatement. Just awful.
I offered the sopes. I asked the server which meat between the shrimp and the tongue he preferred. He suggested one of each so I went with his suggestion. The shrimp had potential, but like most of their menu was lacking flavor. The tongue was awful. Just rubbery fat. I love lengua usually, but this was just awful.
Overall would not return. We ate half our food without any silverware or napkins. The table next to us got so impatient with their empty drinks and silverware they walking inside to the bar. Flagging your server down shouldn’t be your only thought at the dinner table.

Also, not the restaurants fault, but parking right in front of the restaurant the curb is oddly low. Three cars that pulled up, myself included, scratched their rims/​hit the curb.

When we walked in we were greeted by a friendly hostess, our food came quickly but it was exceptionally delicious! This was a great family friendly restaurant, if you want amazing Mexican food go to Nico’s!

Stopped by for a drink and a early dinner wanting to sit outdoors. The waiter was indifferent, Margaritas were good, food was not hot, I had to ask for the remainder of my meal. The atmosphere was great!

What’s going on Nico’s? I’ve had great experiences in the past. In early April, on my birthday, my friend and I made an impromptu stop in. As we waited up front to be acknowledged my friend picked up a large piece of broken glass of the floor?! Eventually we were seated out on the patio. We waited. We waited some more. We watched neighboring tables receive food other than what they ordered. Fifteen minutes went by and we hadn’t even ordered drinks. I would have loved to review the food because I know it’s good, but we ended up going for tacos at a different location in the neighborhood. I hope this experience isn’t the new norm. Disappointing birthday lunch attempt.

First, the positives: very cute place! It’s an old Victorian that has great indoor space and outdoor patios (out front and upstairs balcony). Our host and server were both great, despite having to run up and down stairs to serve our food (we sat indoors, upstairs). Everything was served promptly, and the house margaritas are very good with no overly sweet sour mix: just tequila, lime juice, and agave syrup.
Unfortunately, the food was mediocre, with the exception of the pozole – that was great. Honestly, the biggest downside was that basically all the food was cold when we got it :(That really killed whatever flavor there was to enjoy.
First, we ordered chips with the salsa trio. Restaurant chips are always better warm, but, no biggie! They were thin, salty, and crunchy, and the salsas were good.
Next, salad. I’m not super sensitive to spice, but my MIL is, and she couldn’t finish the salad bc the dressing was surprisingly spicy. It tasted fine, but it was spicy even to me and we would’ve liked to know about the spice level before we ordered it is all. Again, not a HUGE deal.
But, then the rest of our food came out: everybody got at least one tinga taco, and the flavor was fine – maybe would’ve been better if it was hot – but the meat was cool when we bit into them. In every single one.
Elote (grilled corn) was completely cooled off, too, which seems tough to do bc, if you’ve ever grilled corn, you know how long it takes for it to cool off enough to even bite into it, so it must’ve been sitting out for quite a while. Flavor was decent on the corn, but not great. Again, maybe would’ve been better if it was hot.
The highlight was really the pozole, which was hot out of the pot and (surprise! Don’t think it was noted on the menu) came with a veggie tostada.
Considering how fast our food came, I was disappointed with how cold everything was, kinda killed the whole meal :/

Absolutely terrible service. Reservation for 630. Took an hour for waitress to ask for our meal order and another hour for them to bring out SOME of our meals. At least 3 in the party never got their meal. While we were waiting for the two hours for our food we were not checked on a single time for more drinks/​water. Manager was incompetent and said that it was our groups fault because we had more in the party than reserved — except we called and changed reservation and were told it’s ok. The only thing the manager wanted to do was give us a gift card… Who would return after the service you provided? Also would like to know what’s so special about a taco that takes an hour to make?

UPDATE: since what happened below a manager and the owner have both reached out and apologized for what happened. They had some staff changes and they said they really wished the situation had been handled better, I felt it was a genuine apology. We will be giving Nico’s a second chance and will continue updating this review.
Made a reservation for 16 people to celebrate my wife’s bday on a Sunday at noon, which is normally pretty dead for restaurants in this area. Originally the restaurant was super helpful and accommodating, which made me think they appreciated my business. 2 days before the event I call to add 3 people to the reservation and make sure we were all set and I’m told that the person who helped me no longer works there. The person I speak to says that they need to charge me for a bunch of things and that the manager or owner will need to call me back. I try asking a few questions to try and get a sense of how bad this was going to be and receive no help, I’m told I just need to wait for the call. I try finding out when I should expect the call, nothing. I received no call from the establishment. This type of customer service is unacceptable and I had to scramble and find somewhere else to hold the party, luckily other restaurants welcomed me with open arms. Nico’s didn’t only lose me as a customer but also 20 other people that were disappointed of how this was handled.

Took a while to get seated. Drinks were good, but the food took forever too come out.
When we finally got our food, my girlfriends was cold and felt like it sat out as mine was being made.
If you go here stick to the Tacos.

Never have I ever experienced such impolite, rude customer service than the way we were treated at Nicos. We called ahead for a reservation and were told we did not need one. When we arrived, we were told the wait was about 20 minutes. After 35 minutes, the host (which was also the manager) told us it would be an additional 30 minutes because we didn’t have a reservation. He was the same man we spoke with on the phone who told us we would not need one that night. Once we were seated, not only was the service extremely slow, but it was very poor. We thanked the owner for getting us a table once we sat down and he rolled his eyes and ignored us. We will never return to Nicos unless they make serious changes to their customer service model.

Nico’s is a fantastic place for tacos and cocktails. I recently had the «Who Shot First» cocktail made with ginger beer, orange, and tequila. Definitely awesome. I was very impressed with the marinated meats they used in the tacos. That was some of the best chicken and al pastor I’ve had in my life. The chips and guac were fabulous as well. The food and service were great. Try it out!

Nico’s. Great spot to get some tacos, especially in nice weather where there is a lot of outdoor patio seating along Hennepin. Taco’s mostly good to great. Drinks pretty good. Service seeming to get better.
The first couple times my wife and I came here we had pretty slow service. It’s been better the last few for sure.
We don’t come here quite enough for me to remember which tacos I loved and which I didn’t as much when I am ordering. So I end up getting different tacos each time, but think I’ve got it dialed now. I love the shrimp and Al Pastor tacos. The cactus and bean taco is pretty good too. The carnitas are good, but the carne asada isn’t great compared to some other places I have been in the Cities. I prefer the shrimp very much to the Pescado as far as seafood options go here.
There is just something missing here to make it a 5 star place. Probably too expensive when you compare it to a place like El Taco Riendo in NE which is as good or better consistently, much cheaper and faster. But it is really a nice place to have a few tacos, sit outside and watch traffic go by on Hennepin on a nice day.

I remember back in the day when this place used to be a coffee shop… can you feel me?
Now’s there a ton of taco places around town and to be honest I will likely not come back here again. It was great to just check it out but will all the other options out there that taste better and are slightly cheaper I really have to pass on this spot.
Looking for parking sucks here. Our waiter said we couldn’t sit outside even though there was 2 parties outside and then another party behind us sat outside. Just sayin’…
And if your the type of person that hates restaurants where the tables are too close to one another and all you hear is the conversation next to you. Then, this ain’t your taco spot.
This place left me feeling meh.

I’ve lived in Minneapolis for nearly a year and a half and I’m just getting around to this amazing spot! I always pass it up and price how packed it is, now I understand why!
As a Mexican I’d like to think I’m not that picky when it comes to authenticity. However I have no complaints about nicos! I was a little taken back when we asked for salsa and then presented with a neon green bottle. Not «authentic» salsa at all. But to my surprise the cute little drizzle of green sauce on my tacos was plenty hot for me!
Sad I won’t get to enjoy many more patio nights this year but I will definitely be returning to nicos.

My boo and I ordered 6 tacos, one with a platter and the other with just elote. He got a Bells and I ordered a Michelada to drink. The drinks came first with a bowl of guacamole and chips. I found the guac to be a little flavorless. They either needed to use riper fruit or add some salt because it was bland.
I was also a little disappointed with the Michelada. It’s a traditional Mexican drink made with a light beer and cayenne, peppers, worchestire sauce as well as a few other things. The one I had at Nicos was certainly spicy but it tasted like a Bloody Mary mix. So not my favorite.
Thankfully the tacos were yummy. The shrimp taco was very flavorful with the right amount of seasoning and salsa on top. The cactus tacos had a lot of other shredded veggies and was mild for the folks who don’t like spice. I thought the fish taco could have used additional seasoning like some salt, but the barbacoa and pollo tinga tacos were perfect. I’ll certainly go back for more and to try others, however there are a few things I won’t be getting again.

The atmosphere is what makes this place. Lots of outdoor seating which makes it a perfect spot for those sunny days. The only downside of this place is the service is a bit lacking. I came here last week after our food came we were left without Napkins nor eating utensils for 10 — 15 minutes which was kinda of a bummer. Besides the slow service this place is fantastic! all their tacos are packed with flavors these tacos are so stuffed That juicy, flavorful deliciousness dripping onto my hands from the opposite side of the side I’m biting from. You don’t even know how legit these tacos are!

It’s Friday date night and it’s a warm summer night. I had my wisdom teeth out a week before and I’ve been craving
.BAD. Where should we go? NOT HERE.
I have been here twice now. This was not our original choice for the evening but my date had never dined here before, so we walked down the street without a reservation hoping for a patio seat around 8pm (ballsy). We walked in and right away we were seated outside… but on a porch. Now, this isn’t just any porch, this is a slanted, hold-​on-​to-​your-​drink-​because-​it-​will-​slip-​off-​the-​table porch. Ok, at least we were outside. It’s a cute venue because it’s literally in an old house and there is outside seating (the only way to truly enjoy guacamole in my opinion).
So, seating aside, we order guacamole and some various salsas. I remember their guacamole being good but not exceptional the first time I dined here (last summer with some friends). So, here’s the best part of the night… our guacamole was set down at a neighboring table and bam they started digging in… to OUR guacamole. Awesome right? We sat and hungrily watched in envy. Within five-​ish minutes, our server came over to apologize after yanking the guacamole from our neighbors who had already shoveled in a quarter of the chips. Sweet. SO DISGUSTING. So he brought us new chips, but what about new guacamole? NO.
Ok, so my date had some tequila drink and he was feeling quite amazing at this point (starving and just filling up on tequila), so we put our worries aside and dug in. I would say this was the highlight of the night. The guacamole and the salsas are good. Spicy salsas (or sauces rather) and pretty decent guacamole (traditional style).
The best part of the evening came when we were finally served our dinners 1.5 hours after arriving and about 1.25 hours after ordering. Really? I am a small person and I was starving even after the chips and guacamole.
I ordered the chicken enchiladas to share with my date and he ordered a tamale and shrimp taco (I believe??). Such a disappointment. Everything was cold. When our server dropped off our food, I debated asking them to warm it up but then we were forgo another hour at this horrific joint. We were starving at this point, so we dug in. The enchiladas were basic. Not spicy, not amazing. Nothing I would ever get again. The cheese never even melted they were so cold. Cool.
His tamale and taco were lackluster as well.
So, would we come back? Maybe only for guacamole and drinks in the future. Would we recommend this to anyone starving? NO. I understand it’s a Friday evening in Uptown and it’s busy, but it shouldn’t take over an hour for your food to arrive to you. And, if it does take over an hour, I expect hot food.
The worst part was the bill. It was a waste of money for the small amount of bad, cold food we had.
There are better places to go. This place just isn’t worth it.

Went here on one of the first days of spring and wanted to sit outside. It was just two people and there was no one there to seat us. We sat down at a table and were asked to move because it was for four people not two people. That’s okay, I get it.
The food in one word-​blah. The guacamole didn’t have much flavor and the chips tasted like they were out of a bag. Trio of salas-​one tasted like watery tomato sauce, the pico was pretty good and the green one was gross! Also got the enchiladas which were ok but totally overpriced. The horchata wasn’t sweet enough for my liking. I think it must be something about the location with the restaurants here. The old one in this spot was also bad and so I’m bummed that a great spot on Hennepin doesn’t have a place that has better food :(

Service is really fast, got my order in around 3 mins.
veggie tacos are delicious.
nopales taco is good but not great.
rice and beans which came with taco plate is just okay, nothing good about it.
what I didn’t like is, they don’t give you salsa with your order or any chips to start. Almost all mexican restaurants provide free chips and salsa or atleast salsa. I was hoping it would come with $ 14 taco plate.